So Napa isn’t really known as being a budget destination– and for good reason.  Wine tastings add up quickly and cheap food and accommodation are not readily available.  However, there are ways for poor college students like myself (also other budget travelers) to experience Napa and still be able to eat for the next month!  Here’s my top 5 tips for cutting down on expenses when in wine country.

1.  Split the tasting– or skip the tasting

As I mentioned, wine tasting fees really add up.  If you go to 3 wineries in a day, you could spend $60 just on tasting fees (not including any bottles of wine)!  This isn’t feasible for many travelers.  To save on the fees, split a tasting if you’re with someone.  There’s several benefits to this approach: you save money and stay more sober, both of which allow you to try more wineries in a day.  There’s also the option of skipping the tasting altogether– lots of wineries have beautiful grounds that you can walk around for free if you don’t want to do a tasting.  Beringer Winery is one example.

2.  BYOF (Bring Your Own Food)

Although there’s a great selection of restaurants in Napa Valley, many of them are upscale and thus expensive.  A fun alternative is to bring your own picnic supplies!  Many wineries have tables and grassy areas where you can enjoy your own food.  My favorite is to bring bread, cheese, and cured meats.  You’ll save even more money if you buy this food a little outside of the wine tasting region, as the Oakville Grocer, Dean and Deluca, and other deli options in the area are somewhat overpriced.  Downtown Napa would be a good place to find cheaper picnic food.

3.  Don’t do a bus tour

I’m all for taking a tour if you plan a drinking a lot.  Part of the fun (at least for me) is getting drunk in Napa!  I am a college student though, after all.  Needless to say, It is NOT safe to drink and drive I am not condoning that.  But if you’re planning on just doing a small amount of drinking and spreading out each winery visit (and eating lots of yummy food in between), then it is so much cheaper to rent a car every day than take a bus tour.  Renting a car only costs about $15 a day, while bus and limousine tours can run between $90-200 a day, which does not include tastings fees.  This could easily add up to several hundred a day if you’re doing all the tastings and buying wine!  The one advantage to taking tours is that they sometimes take you to wineries off the beaten bath.  However, if you read their Yelp reviews, the reviewers often mention which wineries they go to.  Read the reviews and visit the wineries yourself!

4.  Look for discounts online

Many wineries offer discounts on Yelp and Facebook (especially if you check in), so do your research beforehand.  A common deal is to offer two tastings for the price of one.  Discounts can also be found in the wine region magazines, which are given away for free at the Visitor’s Center, your hotel, or in the wineries themselves.  Another place to check is Groupon or other daily deals sites.  I’ve seen coupons for wine tastings, bus tours, and other special events at wineries on these sites.

5.  Check out other activities besides wine tasting

Believe it or not, there’s other stuff to do in Napa besides wine taste.  A few wineries have Bocce Ball courts.  Some have art exhibits: Mumm Napa currently has an Ansel Adams photography gallery on display.  Another option is the Culinary Institute of America, where you can participate in cooking demonstrations or take a tour.  There’s many festivals that take place in Napa throughout the year– check the Napa Chamber of Commerce for more information.  Napa is also a beautiful place to bike, and there’s several bike tour companies to choose from.  There’s also the Napa Museum, if you want to see some art.

So I hope I proved that you don’t have to have lots of cash to spend to enjoy Napa.  There’s plenty of free activities and ways to cut costs, so don’t think you have to skip Napa just because you aren’t spending tons of money!