You could call Sonoma Napa’s best kept secret. Separated from its more famous sister by the Mayacamas mountain range, the Sonoma Valley offers world-class hotels, restaurants, and wine—the main reason you’re here, presumably—without the pomp and circumstance that reigns in certain parts of the more rarified valley to the east. Sonoma’s less crowded. Sonoma is often cheaper. Sonoma is home to a Snoopy-bedecked airport so charming and convenient, it ought to win an award. (It’s located in Santa Rosa, far north of the Bay Area’s notorious traffic, and named after Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, who lived in Sonoma for more than 30 years.)

Encompassing approximately 60,000 acres of vineyards and more than 425 wineries, Sonoma got into the wine business earlier than its more famous neighbor. Hungarian immigrant Agoston Haraszthy founded Sonoma’s Buena Vista Winery in 1857, four years before Charles Krug put down roots—sorry, couldn’t help it—in Napa. But because Sonoma lacks Napa’s name recognition, it still feels appealingly under the radar. Sonoma and Healdsburg, the county’s two towns that boast a bevy of places to wine, dine, and unwind, generally lack the crowds that have become endemic to Napa, especially during peak season. 

Some make the mistake of coming to Napa and skipping Sonoma. You should not. In fact, you should stay here awhile. It takes at least an hour to drive between the valleys, and zig-zagging between them is a spectacular waste of time, unless you want to spend your wine country vacation in the back of a rideshare or (perhaps worse) behind the wheel. Spend a night—or two, or more—in Sonoma. You just might leave with a new favorite version of “Napa.”

Lodging

Imagine a Nancy Meyers movie set in wine country, and you’ve got a pretty good picture of MacArthur Place, a resort and spa a mile from Sonoma’s town square. Comprised of craftsman cottages, elegantly manicured gardens, and lush lawns, it strides the line between cozy and elegant. Its rooms are spacious enough that you can fantasize about moving in and not mind at all that you don’t have a kitchen, because the food on offer at Layla, the on-site seasonal Californian restaurant, is that good and ostensibly good for you. (Note the “healthy fries” of tempura string beans. Fret not: there are also regular fries.) 

The big hotel chains have also planted their flags in Sonoma—there’s the Lodge at Sonoma, a Marriott property, and the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. For more locally rooted lodging options, head up to Healdsburg, on the northern end of Sonoma County, with its own buzzy town square. That’s where you’ll find the Madrona, a 19th century mansion reborn, in 2022, as a boutique hotel under the ownership of San Francisco-based designer Jay Jeffers. He selected the art, curios, and furniture—some of it is also from the 19th century—that fill the property’s 24 rooms and bungalows. There’s an outdoor saltwater pool, Flamingo Estate products in the bathrooms, and caviar and onion dip on the menu, but the real draw of staying at the Madrona? Access to its warmly lit bar, a meeting place for the valley’s cool kids and the place to go for a dirty martini. (The olives are grown on site.) 

If you’re looking for a place to hang your hat and kick up your feet, you’d do best to check into the Montage Healdsburg. “The state-of-the-art spa will make you want to extend your stay,” says Kendall Busby, the director of marketing and communications of Healdsburg’s Jordan Winery.  (The “masterpiece facial” includes six masks, several peels, and a blast of oxygen presumably purer than the stuff you breathe.) Sprawling out over 258 acres, with multiple swimming pools and activities like vineyard yoga, the Montage is the sort of place where you could check in and never leave. It does, however, offer a complimentary shuttle to and from downtown Healdsburg, should you care to wrest yourself from its warm embrace. 

There are advantages to staying in downtown Healdsburg—namely, the ability to walk to tasting rooms—and the Hotel Healdsburg is one of the best options. “You can’t beat the location, right on the town plaza,” says Busby. Plus, there’s a—you guessed it—spa with its own array of wellness treatments.

Dining

Some credit SingleThread, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by Kyle and Katina Connaughton, with putting Sonoma on the map of globetrotting gourmands. The restaurant and its five sumptuously appointed guestrooms occupy an echelon of their own. Booking an overnight stay is one way to secure a dinner reservation, which can be chronically hard to get.

But there’s also plenty of less lofty, eminently satisfying eating to be had. “El Molino Central for tacos, tamales, and a great atmosphere,” says Kim Elwell, of Halcyon Wines. Located a couple miles north of downtown Sonoma, it draws fans from Napa and beyond. “You can sit outside and bring your own bottle of wine—that’s not advertised, but a lot of people do it,” says Elwell. The Girl & the Fig, in downtown Sonoma, has been serving up Provençal-inspired fare for almost 30 years. The nearby Valley has won raves for a menu dominated by local ingredients and international flavors (think black cod in tomato curry with corn). The new-in-town Buck’s Place has won over winemakers with a simple proposition: pizza, beer, and cocktails.

If you’re heading to Healdsburg, you’ve got to go to the Matheson. Not only for its food—“modern Californian,” says Busby, “locally sourced and expertly crafted by the beloved chef Nate Davis”—but also for its wine wall. Wrapping around the Matheson’s ground floor bar, the wine wall is a rotating collection of one hundred wines from around the world—some from such prized houses as Château d'Yquem — that you can taste by the ounce thanks to an army of Coravins and a pre-loaded debit card. Swipe, sip, work your way down the line.

A block away from Healdsburg’s town square is Valette, which puts a fine-dining spin on Sonoma County’s bounty. There’s also Little Saint, an all-day, plant-based restaurant that counts plenty of omnivores among its regulars. “They have a killer cocktail and wine program,” says Jennifer Chiesa, the Montage Healdsburg’s director of public relations. “If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic option, my go-to is the Carrot Skin Tepache made with carrot, cardamom, lemon, gentian root, and sparkling water. I get one every visit, at least.”

Breakfast lovers, rejoice: Healdsburg’s got options for days, including the century-old Costeaux French Bakery, whose cinnamon walnut bread has won a cult following. Acorn Café is a new addition serving hangover classics, like a breakfast burger with bacon from the local cured meats purveyor, Journeyman, as well as globally inspired skillets, like a green olive tapenade-dappled shakshuka. And “you’ll want all the bagels at Grossman’s,” in nearby Santa Rosa, says Chiesa. “Make a reservation. The lines to get in can be long and vast.” 

Worth the trip: Diavola, an Italian emporium in Geyserville that occupies a landmarked building from the early 1900s and feels like a cross between the Wild West and the pizzeria from Eat, Pray, Love. Chef and owner Dino Bugica spent a decade in Italy learning how to butcher, and all of the meats are cured in house. Come for the wood-fired pizza and pasta, stay for the bar scene—it’s always a packed house.

Bars & More

You might have discerned by now that some of the best bars in Sonoma are part of restaurants, but there are few more worthy of mention. In Healdsburg and above the Matheson is Roof 106, which shakes up specialty cocktails like a crystal clear “modern margarita.” (They’re coy about how they do it, but it involves “clarified” lime juice.) Roof 106 also serves pizza and brunch, because this is not a town that lets a good rooftop go to waste. Case in point: the Rooftop at Harmon Guest House. “A great wine selection,” says Chiesa, as well as firepits and sweeping views of Fitch Mountain, the Sonoma hills, and downtown Healdsburg.

For a trip back in time, head to the Dry Creek General Store, established in 1881. Commandeer a worn leather stool at the long wooden bar and sip an ice cold beer while you ponder the provenance of the knickknacks hanging arrayed on seemingly every flat surface. Near downtown Sonoma, the newly opened Dos’ Bar serves as a communal tasting room and meeting spot for folks in the wine world; it’s the kind of place where you could come for a glass and end up spending the day.

Eventually, you might crave a break from consumption. Head to the hills: specifically, to Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain. It’s one of this county’s prime hiking spots. There’s also Shiloh Ranch Regional Park, in southeast Windsor. Situated in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains, it’s got more than seven miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. A local favorite: the Ridge Trail, a loop that offers panoramic views of Sonoma County, and just enough ambulation to, perhaps, make you crave a glass of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir once more.