Wine Travel
What better way to bond with your fellow travelers than over a glass of wine? Whether you want to sip your way across France’s Burgundy region, or settle in for a weekend in Napa Valley, the Web sites in this guide can help you plan your trip. Learn about wine travel in Europe and the United States, link to vineyard search tools and wine travel tour providers, and find out how to plan a wine trip on a budget.
Expand All Guide SectionsPlanning for Wine Travel
On the Web, you’ll find everything you need to plan your wine travel getaway. Learn the basics of wine tasting, get introduced to the best wine destinations, and find wine tour companies with all-inclusive package tours.
Dulcinea's Insight
- The findingDulcinea Wine Web Guide is full of online tools and insight for wine beginners and experts, including information on the health benefits of wine, tips for buying and selling wine online, and lessons on how to make your own wine.
- France is perhaps the most famous and popular wine travel destination, but there are plenty of wine travel options closer to home. Many locations in the United States, including New York and Oregon, have renowned vineyards.
Dulcinea's Picks
For an introduction to wine travel …
The Wine Anorak is a British online wine magazine with an extremely thorough section on wine travel. Most of the content is written by a single wine enthusiast who tours vineyards worldwide. This site gives an overview of several wine regions and vineyards around the world, and is a good place to look for ideas if you’re not yet sure of a destination. For a better understanding of the author’s opinions, go to “Tasting notes” to see if you agree with the wine reviews.
For European wines and regions …
WineIntro.com has an interactive map of wine regions in Europe, including Italy, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Spain. Click each country to learn more about the wines produced there before you decide which wine region to travel to.
WineEducation.com has an interactive map of wine regions in France, perhaps the most popular wine travel destination in the world. Click on a region to get information about the types of wines produced in each region.
For U.S. wine travel ideas …
Wine Spectator suggests wine regions around the United States. Get a taste of the local scenery and wine varieties for each region, as well as recommended hotels and eateries. Try the “Useful Tools” section (some content is only for subscribers) to access restaurant and wine reference material and rankings.
Food & Wine presents “America’s 50 Most Amazing Wine Experiences,” a rundown of wineries, restaurants and wine shops around the country that feature outstanding wine events or unique wine lists. Instead of only focusing on big, expensive cities, this list includes a varied assortment of places, from Alabama to Alaska to Minneapolis. Each wine-related event or locale is briefly described and supplemented with practical details like prices and dates.
Winetravel.com is a New York Times Company site with a database of wineries, hotels and spas in California wine country. Use the search tool to learn about a specific winery, or browse feature articles like “Secret Napa,” on the “Get Away” tab.
To find U.S. wineries …
Appellation America helps you locate appellations (wine growing regions) across America. Don’t miss the “Wine Info” section of the homepage: it explains what an appellation is, and covers different wine varieties and grape types in detail. The site also offers a vineyard locator and lets you buy wine directly.
Winerybound helps you find places to enjoy wine in the United States, including vineyards and restaurants. Use the customized search tool to modify your criteria using keywords and your state of choice, or pick from one of the suggested destinations featured on the home page. You can also create a custom wine tour through this site.
For maps of wine regions …
Wine Enthusiast has maps of wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, Napa Valley and Australia. Zoom in on each map to get a better view of individual regions. Although some town names within regions are difficult to read, these maps are great for learning the overall layout of each country’s main wine-producing areas.
For wine tour companies …
Food & Wine Trails offers epicurean tours in Napa/Sonoma, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Although there are many similar wine-touring travel services, this organization has frequent tours and cruises to select from, and its well-designed site makes browsing easy. The company also emphasizes gourmet food and dining along with wine, and even lists favorite recipes from Saveur magazine on its site.
DuVine Adventures has bike tours around wine regions in Europe, South America, and Napa and Sonoma that are a combination of adventure and luxury travel. Bicycles, dinners with regional wines and deluxe accommodations are included in each tour. Browse this site for tour dates and prices, destinations and to make reservations. Also view the virtual tour and trip photos to get a better idea of what these scenic tours entail.
French Wine Explorers is a luxury French wine tour specialist with organized tours of wine regions in France and Italy, as well as customized private tours. Consult the Tour Schedule to find package trips around French wine regions like Burgundy and Bordeaux, including luxury accommodation, food and transportation.
For wine-related events …
LocalWineEvents.com posts upcoming wine events around the world, including tastings, wine dinners, cooking classes, festivals, homebrew competitions and more. Events are organized by location; browse wine happenings in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and across Europe and Asia.
For wine travel on a shoestring …
Budget Travel magazine has a section covering wine trip ideas with feature articles on both classic and unexpected wine destinations, interviews with wine travel experts and profiles of newsmakers in the wine world. Each article provides enough essential, practical information to help you plan a trip, as well as photos and brief descriptions.
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