Visitors Information in Napa Valley
"The town of Napa is the valley's largest, and visitors who get a glimpse of the strip malls and big-box stores from Highway 29 often speed right past on the way to the smaller and more seductive Yountville or St. Helena. But Napa doesn't entirely deserve its dowdy reputation. After many years as a blue-collar town that more or less turned its back on the Wine Country scene, Napa has spent the last few years attempting to increase its appeal to visitors, with somewhat mixed results. A walkway that follows the river through town, completed in 2008, makes the city more pedestrian-friendly, and new restaurants and hotels are continually popping up (there are even plans to open a Ritz-Carlton on the river's banks in 2011). But you'll still find a handful of empty storefronts among the wine bars, bookstores, and restaurants, and Napa's biggest tourist attraction, a food-and wine-theme museum and educational center, closed in late 2008.
Many visitors choose to stay in Napa after experiencing hotel sticker shock; prices in Napa are marginally more reasonable than elsewhere. If you set up your home base here, you'll undoubtedly want to spend some time getting out of town and into the beautiful countryside, but don't neglect taking a stroll to see what Napa's least pretentious town has to offer."
- www.fodors.com
