Napa

Vineyards – Here's a couple of vineyards, fun for kids and adults:

Sterling (Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga) – Start out with a ride to the top of the hill on an aerial tram. The view of the surrounding countryside is stunning.

At the winery, follow a self-guided tour to see shining fermentation tanks and huge barrels for aging the wine.

For tasting, adults can sample the wines, while kids are offered juices or water, plus crayons and coloring books.

St. Supery (Highway 29, near Rutherford) – Take a self-guided tour of the winery, past the Crush Pad (see the berries being crushed in the harvest season), the Red Room where the berries are pressed between huge rollers, to the Barrel Room where the wine is aged.

At Smell-a-Vision, poke your nose into plexi-glass tubes to smell different pungent aromas, typical of red or white wine – black cherry, cedar, bell pepper, black pepper, green olive, new mown hay, grapefruit or wildflower.

Right next to Smell-a-Vision, see the bottling machine in action, popping corks into the tops of the wine bottles (very cool).

Travel for Kids has lots of fun things to do with kids in the Napa Valley, but you'll need a fun place to stay.

Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels in the wine country, all styles and price ranges, in areas near to places you'll want to explore: