| Sonoma county is a perfect place for wine lovers, | | | | lighthouse opened in 1908.* Luther Burbank Home and |
| people searching for soothing relaxation, romantic | | | | Gardens: Life and work of the horticulcurist who |
| ambience and much more. Its conveniently located 30 | | | | introduced 800 variety of flowers, fruits, nuts etc..* Fort |
| miles north of San Francisco and spanning 1575 | | | | Ross State Historic Park: The site of trading post and |
| square miles containing about 1,00,000 acres of lush | | | | fort established by Russians in 1812.* Train Ride: On |
| wine growing land. Having over 200 award winning | | | | Santa Rosa 12, a 20 minute steam train ride through a |
| wineries and about 60 miles of Pacific coastline and | | | | forested railroad park past scaled down reproductions |
| beautiful beaches, the Majestic Russian river, Golf | | | | of buildings ad waterfalls.* Being so close to San |
| courses, museums, shopping, botanical, gardens, | | | | Francisco you may also consider visiting the GOLDEN |
| galleries, camping locations, bike & hiking trails and | | | | GATE bridge, Pier 39,Alcatraz, China Town and the |
| diverse festivals all year around, Sonoma county is the | | | | famous Crooked street of SF Downtown.* Napa |
| place you should definitely visit.Sonoma has 5 distinct | | | | county which is again a very famous vineyard |
| wine-growing disticts: Los Carneros District, Sonoma | | | | community is located just east of Sonoma county, |
| Valley, Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, and | | | | activities there include wine tasting, Balooning, visiting |
| Alexander Valley, with small towns in each. You will | | | | Pertified forest and old faithful |
| find the premium quality wines of both white and red | | | | geyser.Weather:Sonoma Country has wet, mild |
| wine, famous categories include Cabernet Sauvignon, | | | | winters and warm dry summers. Summer evenings |
| Merlot, Pino, Syrah, Zinfandel, Shiraz and very often | | | | are mostly cool. The best time to visit is both decent |
| vineyards have their own special. Winery hospitality | | | | weather and smaller crowds is November or |
| staff are knowledgeable, friendly and eager to discuss | | | | February-March. The wineries are most quite during |
| the wines and how they were made. Winery tours | | | | December through March. You will find good |
| take visitors behind the scenes to barrel rooms, crush | | | | information at sonomacounty.comGetting there: |
| pads, bottling lines, cellars and caves. You will find | | | | Sonoma County has its own Airport in Santa Rosa |
| vineyards all around the county, just driving around the | | | | but most people prefer arriving at San Francisco |
| place is very pleasant and relaxing.Additional things to | | | | airport and then drive north. Oakland airport is also |
| do | | | | close. There are shuttle buses (Airporter Express) |
| | | | directly from airports to the county.Article submitted by |
| * Wine county Ballooning: On US Hwy 101, Airport Blvd | | | | Swati A |
| exit from Kal's Kaffe Mocha.* Point Arena Lighthouse | | | | for more informative articles on travel. |
| and Museum, 115 ft tall and Steel reinforced concrete | | | | |