What better way to experience wine country than by pedaling through it on a bicycle? Twenty years ago, the folks at Bicycle Adventures, a Washington-based vacations company, started designing wine country tours through the area. Now they also offer a four-day bicycle trip that takes vacationers from the redwood forests of Armstrong State Reserve to the vineyards of Napa Valley and to the sumptuous restaurants and plush hotels that have cropped up in between. Accommodations include the sleek Hotel Healdsburg and central St. Helena’s tasteful Inn at Southbridge (right across the street from Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, so you can get your post-cycling milk shake fix).

You’ll bike about 100 miles during the trip, taking one day off for massages and spa treatments, all the while drinking some of California’s finest wines at vineyards like Domaine Chandon, Ferrari-Carano, and Monticello Vineyards. And it wouldn’t be a Napa trip without a feast or two—cyclists enjoy theirs at Healdburg’s Cena Luna, plus a winemaker’s dinner with pairings at Wine Spectator Greystone. With an average route of 30 miles per day, this package suits both beginners and more experienced riders.

Having a great time! “The logistics of these trips are very well handled,” says Herb Pollock, who ventured out from Michigan for the wine country trip last year. “They kept our leg sizes in their computer from a previous trip we’d done, so they were able to have the exact bike sizes we needed. We’re not inexperienced—my wife and I bike in France every year—but we thought the Bicycle Adventures trips stood up to everything else we’ve done.”
-Matt Bloom

THE NEXT FOUR-DAY TRIP DEPARTS ON MAY 19, 2008, AND TAKES PARTICIPANTS TO FIVE WINERIES, THREE RESTAURANTS, AND TWO HOTELS. THE $1,860 PRICE INCLUDES ALL RENTAL EQUIPMENT AND ALL MEALS, EXCEPT ONE LUNCH. 800-443-6060, BICYCLEADVENTURES.COM.