Play: Biking, Cooking, Hot Air Ballooning, Music + More

For Food Lovers

The new sister campus to St. Helena's Culinary Institute of America, CIA at Copia is geared towards the public than students. Sign up for daily wine and cooking classes (think Cooking with Beer or How to Taste Wine in 90 Seconds), dine at The Restaurant, shop at the culinary store, go wine tasting, and view art, like Williams-Sonoma visionary Chuck Williams' 4,000-piece collection of vintage cookware, all in the same giant building. 500 First St. (Napa), ciaatcopia.com. // Open April through November, the Farmer's Market at Oxbow lets you shop fresh fruit, veggies, herbs, flowers, meats, seafood, and eggs from more than 40 small, local farms, plus homemade, artisan products, like honey, cheeses, and jams. Enjoy chef demonstrations and have a chit-chat with the farmers and makers, including regulars Ohn Coffee Roasters, Sweetie Pies, and The Hummus Guy. Oxbow Public Market Parking Lot, Tuesdays and Saturdays from 8am to 12:30pm, napafarmersmarket.org.

Jam Out

The swanky jazz club Blue Note Napa just celebrated its one-year anniversary in one of Napa's most historic venues, the Napa Valley Opera House. You can catch a show almost daily, and dine at their in-house restaurant before or after. It's come to Wine Country by way of the people behind the famous Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, so you know the talent, like six-time Grammy award winner David Sanborn, playing three nights in October, is top notch. Get your tickets now for actor Dennis Quaid's rock band, Dennis Quaid & The Sharks, playing two live shows on November 7.1030 Main St. (Napa), bluenotenapa.com. // For a small town, Napa's historic Uptown Theatre, a restore Art Deco building from the 1930s with a classic marquee, attracts a surprising amount of big-time musicians and comedians, from Willie Nelson to Snoop Dogg.1350 3rd St. (Napa), uptowntheatrenapa.com. // Head to Silos after dinner for live music from Wednesday through Saturday. Tucked away like a speakeasy, Napa's "Music Room" features live blues, jazz, rock, reggae, smooth jazz and Motown performed by the best local acts around, from nationally-acclaimed Jazz pianist Mike Greensil, to top Bay Area rock and soul band, Rubicon. 530 Main St. (Napa), silosnapa.com.

Choose Your Adventure

Hot Air Ballooning

Soaring above the fog and over vineyards in the morning sun is an iconic Napa Valley bucket-list item, is what dreams are made of, and is totally worth the before-the-sun-comes-up call time. Make a day of it when you splurge to add a champagne breakfast, bike tour, or wine tasting experience to your package. Book your peaceful flight with one of the few, highly-experienced hot air balloon companies located in the valley, like Balloon Over the Valley, Napa Valley Aloft or Napa Valley Balloons, Inc.

Kayaking and Stand-Up Paddleboarding on the Napa River

If you get a bit "tired" of all the eating and wine tasting, or want to burn off some of the calories, paddle away on the Napa River, which thanks to a wet winter, is happily flowing through downtown. As you float along, you'll pass parts of the Napa River Flood Project, like dikes and flood walls, put in place after serious flooding consistently plagued Napa Valley. Luckily, they proved successful after the recent especially-rainy winter. For locations, rates, and times check out Napa Valley Adventure for kayaking and Napa Valley Paddle for stand-up paddle.

Biking

Prefer getting around on two wheels? For tours, locations and rates, check out Napa Cycle Sport or Napa Velo. For extended guided tours check our Napa Valley Bike Tours. The casual and most-popular half-day tour ($124) includes a visit to two of the local wineries, like Rutherford Ranch Winery or Turnbull Wine Cellars. Go at your own pace on the Napa Valley Vine Trail, a new bike trail that you can hop on right from downtown. It's recently been expanded all the way to Yountville (where lunch and plenty of wine tasting awaits) and is planned to eventually span 47 miles.