Napa County, California

How to: Travel On a Budget - San Francisco & Napa Valley

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• published: 25 Jun 2015
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Come with me to San Francisco and Napa Valley! My best friend and I booked a relaxing weekend getaway to Napa through Expedia, which has amazing travel deals when you book your flight and hotel together. We are both on a budget, so we decided to rent a car at the San Francisco Airport, as opposed to paying shuttle fees, which, over the course of the weekend amounted to over $200 just to get back and forth from the airport. Napa Valley is about an hour or so drive out from San Francisco, and since we were able to rent a car (total cost for the weekend $120) we were able to spend our first day in San Francisco and visit Fisherman's Wharf. When we arrived at our hotel in Napa, we were greeted by all hotel staff, and given a concierge for the weekend. The concierge is included and is mainly a go-to for reservations, activities, and transportation arrangements. Our concierge made a dinner reservation at an amazing Italian restaurant for the weekend, and recommended a few wineries we should visit, based on our tastes. Our hotel room at the Vino Bello Resort, had a washer/dryer in our room, a kitchen, free water, and a bottle of wine. They also have a shuttle which runs every 90min that will take you and your guests back and forth to downtown Napa, which is only about 5mi away from the hotel. Instead of using money to pay for wine tasting tours, we used the map, and suggestions from our concierge to visit the wineries of our choice. When you book a set wine tour, you cannot pick and choose the wineries you will stop at, or the amount of time there, but don't let that discourage you. We saw many wine tour groups along our route, and they looked like they were having fun! Travel Tips: 1) Use your hotel concierge for coupons, reservations, and your travel plans while in town. 2) Eat a large breakfast and graze for lunch, that way you can splurge on dinner. 3) Buy snacks like granola, fruit, water and nuts to keep in your hotel room, so you don't spend money on room service. Those prices are insane...a $30 hamburger, not unless it's attached to Idris Elba! 4) Pack lightly and bring one pair of: pants, flats, and heels in neutral colors. Bring sneakers, and a fancier outfit for dinner, also in neutral colors so you can pair it with anything. 5) Try new things: food, adventures, bars, and make friends with the locals, they will take care of you. 6) Don't go overboard w/gifts for your loved ones. You don't want to have to pay fees at the airport for checking a bag do you? Either buy everything you want and ship it ahead of you, or only buy small accessories as gifts. 7) Set a limit for yourself financially. Bring the amount of cash you know you can spend, and don't go over that limit. Choose wisely. 8) Share your meals. Ordering a few appetizers instead of two oversized plates, can really save your wallet and waistline in the long run. 9) Choose your travel partner wisely. If you are very adventurous, don't pick your friend who never wants to try anything new. Otherwise, you'll both end up mad you're stuck with each other, and your friendship is over. 10) Relax, but don't waste your days. Use this time to meditate, write, explore, or go crazy, but don't just spend all your time watching movies in your room. And put your damn phone away (unless you look really fly and have to take that selfie!) Info: Trip booked through: Expedia Airline: Delta Hotel: Vino Bello Resort Napa Valley Rental Car: Enterprise Costs: Flight (Delta Airlines-Round Trip from LAX to SFO) & Hotel combined $788.24 ($394.21 each) Rental Car for the weekend: $120 ($60 each) Wine Tasting: $20 (each) How to Reach Jonesie: Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/awkwardgirlla IG: http://www.instagram.com/awkwardgirlla Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/awkwardgirlla/ Blog: http://toliveanddateinla.co