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San Francisco & The Wine Country
The 'City by the Bay', San Francisco, is set on 48 hilly square miles at the tip of a slim peninsula surrounded by San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It is arguably the most beautiful city in America, and certainly the most liberal, a place of unrivalled natural and man-made wonders. Visitors cannot fail to be impressed, from the iconic Golden Gate Bridge to the fantastic shopping around Union Square. The streets of downtown rise at impossible gradients up to exclusive Nob Hill, and then tumble down the other side to the harbour and tourist attractions around Fisherman's Wharf, with its resident sea lions. Make time to explore the city's funky neighbourhoods too, from the Italian restaurants of North Beach, to the hippy culture of Haight-Ashbury.
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California Wine Country
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Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, which together make up the California Wine Country, lie around an hour's drive from San Francisco heading north over the Golden Gate Bridge and around the shores of San Francisco Bay. Though only half an hour apart, the two valleys couldn't be more different in character - each have their own charm and attractions, and both boast an exhaustive range of estates catering to all tastes, from beginners to expert wine connoisseurs.
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Napa's wines merit their reputation as amongst the finest in the world, and the region is known for its merlots, sangiovese and especially its cabernet sauvignons. Popular with locals and visitors alike, the region is focused around the town of Napa where you'll find Copia, the American wine and culinary centre. Stretching north along the broad Napa Valley, you'll find scores of vineyards offering wine tasting and charming towns to explore including Yountville, upmarket St. Helena and laid-back Calistoga.
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Less high-profile than Napa, the Sonoma Valley still boasts its fair share of leading wine estates, many of them fiercely independent, where you can sample local varietal specialities which include zinfandels and syrah. The pace is much slower here, and many of the estates will let you linger over a leisurely picnic. The main villages of Sonoma and Glen Ellen have a low-key appeal and old-fashioned charm, but nevertheless boast some highly-acclaimed restaurants that will take you on a journey to foodie heaven!
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