Girls Getaway to Healdsburg

Discover Downtown Healdsburg

The morning calls for Costeaux French Bakery. If a bakery has been open since 1923, as this one has, it has to be doing something right. Just one example of that something is pie, made with wholesome ingredients like farm-fresh eggs, butter, and real vanilla. Fruit pies have deep-dish, 8-inch flaky, buttery crusts. Besides pastries, the chic café offers quiche, omelets, and yummy salads with good things like greens, smoked duck breast, sliced almonds, chèvre, crostini, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Once full, it’s time to explore. The downtown neighborhood around Healdsburg’s historic central plaza brims with wine-tasting rooms.

Thumbprint Cellars is a favorite for its chic setting of brick walls hung with colorful monk portraits, porthole-style wine racks, and colorfully labeled bottles decorated with big thumbprints. Relax in the groovy grotto lounge and sample locally grown and produced glasses.

Nearby Stephen & Walker Trust Winery Limited woos with mini-cheese pairings served with wine tastings. Sample Dry Creek Zinfandel, Russian River Pinot Noir, and port. In between sips and nibbles, admire the store’s art gallery.

There are dozens of boutiques on these small, walkable blocks with special and unique finds.  Stop in to admire custom handmade furniture, woodwork, and uncommon home décor and art at Dovetail Collection. 

Stop for lunch and enjoy the farm-fresh, local cuisine that Sonoma County is famous for at Barndiva. Here, the beautiful dishes consist of seasonal ingredients from boutique farms and food producers in the area. Savor mouthwatering dishes in this mahogany barn with pitchforks on the walls. Or dine in the lushly landscaped outdoor patio. 

Pick up a bottle of wine or two for later at Banshee Wines nearby in the town of Geyserville. One of the newer tasting rooms off the plaza, it’s a modern, art-filled space with reclaimed wood floors, distressed leather furniture, spinning vinyl records, and a vintage communal table for sampling an excellent array of wine like Sonoma County Pinot Noir and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. 

When it’s time to check in and refresh, consider the nearby Geyserville Inn.

The town of Windsor offers national-brand hotels: Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Windsor Wine Country, and Hampton Inn & Suites.

In the evening, head back downtown to Portalupi Wines for more tasting. It’s open until 6 or 7 pm most evenings, so it’s a nice option for a pre-dinner sampling. The sleek, sophisticated lounge specializes in Italian varietals like Vermentino and Barbera.

For dinner, head to Barndiva, where your meal is just as much as treat as the view! Or find the cuisine you crave in our Guide to Healdsburg restaurants.

Explore Local Wine Regions: Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys

Start with a free Sonoma Wine County vineyard walking tour to get in some steps and some interesting education while enjoying fine wines. 

No appointment is needed for this self-guided tour at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Just pick up a guide and follow signs along the creeks and vineyard rows to learn about the winery and its commendable methods for sustainably growing grapes.

Stop in the tasting room to sample excellent wines and marvel over displays of movie memorabilia, including real props and Coppola’s Oscars. This chateau-style winery offers a variety of tours and activities, including bocce ball and a swimming pool to enjoy in warm weather.  

For your next stop, visit the charming, farmhouse-style Medlock Ames tasting room. You won’t be able to resist sampling the organically produced Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Sit on the patio to enjoy the fragrances of the edible garden. 

Grab lunch in downtown Healdsburg at Willi’s Sea­food & Raw Bar for a delicious focus on the fresh, coastal ingredients that make this area so special. Discover tasty plates like Point Reyes and Drake’s Bay oysters, local Dungeness crab, duck carnitas with smoked chile-pear barbecue sauce, lamb and mint skewers, or “mac ’n’ cheese” studded with local uni and sweet bay scallops.