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A thirty-mile strip of gently landscaped hillsides, the Napa Valley looks more like southern France than a near-neighbor of the Pacific Ocean. The one anomaly is the town of Napa itself, a sprawling, ungainly city of 60,000 best avoided in favor of the wineries and small towns north on Hwy-29. Nine miles north, first up is YOUNTVILLE , named in honor of the valley's pioneer, George C. Yount. Today the town is anchored by Vintage 1870 , 6525 Washington St (daily 10.30am-5.30pm), a shopping and wine complex in a converted winery that rents bikes, helmets and a map of wine country for $20 per day. Of the large wineries at the valley's southern end, Robert Mondavi , at 7801 St Helena Hwy in Oakville (daily 10am-5pm; $10; ), offers the most informative and least sales-driven tours and tastings. A little further up the valley past the pretty village of ST HELENA, Beringer Vineyards , at 2000 Main St (daily 9.30am-4.30pm; $5; ), is modeled on a German Gothic mansion and has graced the cover of many a wine magazine. Spacious lawns and a grand tasting room, heavy on the dark wood, make for quite a regal experience. Homey CALISTOGA , at the very tip of the valley, is well known for its mud baths, whirlpools and mineral water, though its wineries are just as appealing. South of town, Clos Pegase , 1060 Dunaweal Lane (daily 10.30am-5pm; tel 707/942-4981, ), is a flamboyant, high-profile winery that emphasizes the link between fine wine and fine art, with an excellent sculpture garden around buildings designed by postmodern architect Michael Graves. Tastings are $2.50, and there are tours at 11am and 2pm. The Chateau Montelena , 1429 Tubbs Lane (tel 707/942-5105, ), just north of town, is one of the valley's oldest and smallest wineries, with an impressive medieval facade and a reputation for first class chardonnays. This is where the 'Judgment of Paris' came down. A mile further up the road, the Old Faithful Geyser (daily 9am-6pm; $6; tel 707/942-6463) spurts boiling water sixty feet into the air at forty-minute intervals. The water source was discovered while drilling for oil here in the 1920s, when search equipment struck a force estimated to be up to a thousand pounds per square foot.
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