San Francisco & Napa Valley

Experience San Francisco and vacation in the "City by the Bay." Our San Francisco vacation packages include getaways to Napa Valley. Learn more about this unique area below.

San Francisco - The original inhabitants of this area, the Ohlone Indians, were all but wiped out in 1776, just a few years after of the establishment of the Mission Dolores. This was the sixth mission in the chain of Spanish Catholic missions that ran the length of California. Two years after the Americans replaced the Mexicans in 1846, the discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills precipitated the rip-roaring Gold Rush. Within a year fifty thousand pioneers had traveled west and east from China, turning San Francisco from a muddy village and wasteland of sand dunes into a thriving supply center and transit town. By the time the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, San Francisco was a lawless, rowdy boomtown of bordellos and drinking dens. The moneyed elite - who hit it big on the much more dependable silver Comstock Load - worked hard to civilize the city, constructing wide boulevards, parks, a cable car system and elaborate Victorian redwood mansions.

In 1906 during the height of the city's golden age most of the town was wiped out by a massive earthquake, followed by three days of fire. Rebuilding began immediately, resulting in a city more magnificent than before; in the decades that followed, writers like Dashiell Hammett and Jack London lived and worked here. Many of the city's landmarks, including Coit Tower and both the Golden Gate and Bay bridges, were built in the 1920s and 1930s. By World War II San Francisco had been eclipsed by Los Angeles as the main west coast city. It achieved a new cultural eminence with the emergence of the beats in the Fifties and the hippies in the Sixties, when the fusion of music, protest, rebellion and, of course, drugs that characterized 1967's "Summer of Love" took over the Haight-Ashbury district.

Campton Place a Taj Hotel

Overview

Named one of "The World's Best Places to Stay" by Condé Nast Traveler's 2007 Gold List, Campton Place A Taj Hotel continues to enjoy a reputation as one of the world's finest upscale hotels. Conveniently located – just off Union Square, the hotel is known as a refuge for the sophisticated traveler, providing an elegant, quiet, and intimate boutique atmosphere. Exquisite interiors maintain the hotel's old-world charm, while distinct 21st-century touches update its ambience. San Francisco’s financial district, art galleries, designer boutiques, department stores, theater, and cable cars are all within walking distance, while the San Francisco Airport is just 25 minutes away.

101 rooms and 9 suites, each with a writing desk, refreshment center and a television tucked into an elegant maple wood armoire.  The limestone bathrooms feature a separate shower and oversized bathtub

Bernardus Lodge

Overview

Nestled on verdant acres with stately pines and California oak trees, surrounded by a vineyard and the Santa Lucia mountains rising majestically in the background, Bernardus Lodge is a premier luxury resort that combines the simple elegance of fine country living, with the high quality of service and luxury amenities found in only the choicest European hotels. Here, discriminating travelers can experience the finest accommodations, cuisine, viticulture, spa services and recreational venues in a singular environment. The resort has 57 sumptuous guest rooms located in nine, single and two-story adobe village-style buildings along a terraced hillside, a luxurious spa, ballroom and function space, swimming pool, two tennis courts, a croquet lawn and vineyard

Calistoga Ranch

Overview

The rich heritage of the Napa Valley makes Calistoga Ranch the ideal destination for experiencing fine wine, organic regional cuisine and elegant country living. Ideally situated in the Napa Valley, the luxurious 157-acre Calistoga Ranch offers remarkably expansive guest accommodations. The majority of the 46 lodges, many of which feature fireplaces, are free-standing, one-bedroom suites with 1,200 square feet of indoor/outdoor living space

Napa Valley - The name "Napa" is reportedly a word from the language of the Wappo Tribe of Native American Indians who once shared the lush green valley with deer, grizzly bears, elk and panthers. The first recorded exploration of Napa Valley, led by Padre Jose Altamira, was in 1823. The population at the time was estimated at between three and six thousand Indians.
 In the 1830's, the Napa Valley became one of the first in California to be settled by American farmers. In 1850, when counties of California were first being organized, Napa became one of the original 27 counties of California with "Napa City" (later shortened to Napa) as the county seat. By 1870, the white man had inhabited the Valley and the Native Americans who once roamed freely were wiped out by smallpox and other white man's diseases.
 In 1848, Napa City was laid out by Nathan Coombs on property he acquired from Nicholas Higuera's Rancho Entre-Napa, an 1836 Mexican Land Grant.  It was the gold rush of the early 1850's that caused Napa City to grow. After the first severe winter in the gold fields, miners sought warmer refuge in the young city. There was plenty of work on the cattle ranches and in the lumber industry. Sawmills in the Valley were cutting timber that was hauled by horse team to Napa City where it was then shipped out via the Napa River to Benicia and San Francisco.