My daughter likes to go to Hawaii,and she only goes for 5 days and people think that’s nuts. However, she lives in Denver (still takes a whole day to get there and another to get back), and she’s 26 years old. They get there at like noon, they are on the move with hiking, surfing, going to the coffee farms, volcano, etc. for the full 4 days, then leave at 5 am.
Again, she’s 26 and that’s the vacation she likes. I wouldn’t enjoy that vacation because I’m old. For a beach vacation, I agree with staying on the east coast (I’d pick Maine or Canada, even in September). To go west, I’d pick the Utah national parks or the Grand Canyon or even Yellowstone. In September they are shedding tourists so it is easier to book hotels and tours.
My 20 year old flew from NJ to Rome and then took a train to Florence - 3 nights to visit a friend. It was thanksgiving break and she wanted to be home for thanksgiving. She’s nuts, but loves to travel. It was on her dime.
OP, I like the suggestion someone me about Quebec City. Have you ever been? I went last August and it was adorable. We were there 4 nights, I wish we had more time.
I’m the one who threw out Quebec as a potential; sadly decades since I’ve been there. Restaurants, art, history, scenic wonders, and more.
As an indifferent wine drinker with a limited palate, I would not want to spend more than one day touring vineyards. So not Napa alone, but I could easily see combining it with the Monterey Peninsula. Assuming no forest fires, and assuming any damage from all the rains is long repaired.
For a special birthday, a one week cruise to Bermuda could be fun, if you’re open to cruising currently.
From NYC, I would fly out to Bermuda and have 5 days there.
I have done few days or day trip to Napa, but not sure if I would spend 5 days there.
I also like the idea of going to Canada too.
Agree both with thinking that is a lot of travel for 5 days in Hawaii and that spending five full days in Napa is more than I would want to do. However, even without driving all the way to Monterey there is a lot to do in Northern California. Beaches, Muir woods, Point Reyes are all within the same area and San Francisco is not that far.
If you chose California, be sure to have a Plan B in case there are fires or significant smoke where you plan to stay.
Sonoma is right next to Napa, and Santa Rosa is not too far away. We have done all three with a trip along the Russian river to the coast. The restaurant near the delta has spectacular views.
There are places for hiking, too. Our favorite is Jack London park near Sonoma.
A word of warning. Hotels in the CA wine country fill up quickly, and weekend rates can be double weekday rates! That’s because Napa is a favorite weekend playground of SV techies, and September is a prime month for weddings.
I love Maui, but I think that 5 days is just too short a trip to do it from the East Coast. I’d go with California. With all the rain that they’re having, maybe fire season won’t be so bad this year.
I’m so sad to hear that happened . My experiences have always been positive. I lived on Big Island for a year & my D lived on O’ahu for a couple, we’ve both had nothing but positive experiences.
Also, if OP wants to do some wine tasting, we took a wine tasting tour on this adorable island 20 minutes from Quebec. I think we went to 4 wineries. The whole experience in QC and that island really made me feel as if I were in a foreign country.
We stayed in Old Quebec, but would have liked another evening to explore outside the walls.
I also like combining Napa with other places, but with just 5 days, I wouldn’t want to be spending it driving too much.
What about about Santa Barbara? They have really nice wine tours, also. You know the movie Sideways? That was filmed at the Santa Barbara wineries, not Napa. Santa Barbara is such a sweet town to visit, right next to Montecito. I think 5 days there is too much though.
We flew to LA, Ubered to Santa Monica and rented a car at Enteprise and drive the 90 minutes to Santa Barbara. It was easy-peasy. Beautiful drive up. Then we stayed 3 nights, then drove back to Santa Monica, dropped off our car and stayed there 2 nights. Then ubered to LAX.
Thank you everyone for the great replies and your experiences. I chose five days, outside of travel time, because that is usually the amount of time I enjoy a place unless there is more to do. I can stretch it another two days but then more than that, I will have pet-sitting issues.
I did consider a couple of days in Santa Barbara before flying out to Maui, but could not find a decent hotel that didn’t break the bank. For a stopover, I would want to not pay so much. I will keep looking though.
I am used to the travel stuff. We just got back from a week’s vacation in Lisbon in December. In March, I will go to Puerto Rico with my daughters. I chose Maui or Napa because these are two places I have not been. I have other places that I will save for when we retire. In Napa, I believe the scenery will be beautiful. We will probably only do a day of wine tasting, a day of spa and other days exploring the northern California beauty. We have vineyards here in NY and we go often during summer and fall as they are only an hour away from where we Iive. They have grounds you can picnic with live entertainment, beautiful hiking or interesting towns nearby. It is all very casual, whereas, I think Napa may be more about luxury. I will perhaps get a little spoiled for my birthday.
Maui sounds more about relaxation on the beach but I also expect the beach to be stunning and have a different vibe than the Caribbean. We have been to St. John’s and it was stunning at Trunk Bay and also when we took a day catamaran cruise to the Baths in BVI.
Anyhow, I am looking for a bit of a different experience but am concerned about the fires so still on the fence.
If you want to be a little bit “spoiled,” I recommend looking at the Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii. Not cheap, but not as expensive as their Napa one! The one on Oahu occasionally has fourth night at no charge. There is a FS hotel on Lanai that we almost (almost!) got to experience as HI just opened to travel and they were offering great deals, but Lanai had a major Covid outbreak closing it to visitors, and our plans went poof!
Napa definitely has some cool wineries. Hess Collection has a modern art exhibit. Far Niente used to include a look at the owner’s car collection in their tour. Opus One is a really chichi place. Mumm Napa has a wonderful patio overlooking the valley. Rombauer winery tasting areas overlook the valley, too. Sara Hall’s winery is modern and the bunny welcoming the visitors is worth stopping by to look at and take a few photos. And so many great places to eat! We love Charter Oak, Angele’s, Brix, just to name a few.
If you don’t mind the travel, then do Hawaii. Santa Barbara is a long way from LAX, so a layover isn’t really convenient. You could spend 3 hours getting there and 3 hours back. When the traffic isn’t moving, there isn’t anything you can do about it. I think I’d power thru the travel and get to the relaxing part of the vacation.
If possible, get home a day early as traveling through all those times zones is a killer.
Second the suggestion of the Hess Collection. The private tour was wonderful when we went. Last time we were in the area we finally got ourselves to https://www.dirosaart.org. It’s a quirky art collection, and the grounds are just lovely, good for a half day’s stroll. You can luxuriate in Napa, but it’s quite casual compared to New York. Years ago we enjoyed the mud bath at https://www.indianspringscalistoga.com/
I live here on the West Coast, and I would strongly, strongly caution against scheduling a trip to California that couldn’t be easily cancelled during fire season. It’s not just “a little smoke” but can very well be evacuations, and choking levels of smoke in which there will not be wineries open, or places to go. Until someone’s experienced what it’s like on the west coast when there’s a fire, it’s hard to convey how awful it is - even if you’re hundreds of miles away from the fire itself. You’ll have headaches, fatigue, taste the smoke, your eyes will be stinging…be absolutely prepared to cancel a trip.
On the other hand, traveling from NY to Hawaii is 15-20 hours in airports and planes, and I’d say Maui isn’t worth it for that - it’s nice! Don’t get me wrong, but the “road to Hana” is something that everybody does and it’s you and every other rental car on the island slowly snaking their way around the curves and pulling over at the stops. The pictures don’t show the traffic and crowds.
All that said, I’m going to Kauai next month; I love it there and we go to Kauai on a semi regular basis. But we have direct, 5-6 hour flights to Lihue.
As you’re traveling from NY for a 5 day vacation, I’d look south for beaches and go to the Turks & Caicos or Bahamas, and head to Montreal as some have suggested for wine and touring. And have a wonderful birthday!
An alternative to Napa would be Healdsburg. I know of several friends who went in 2022 and stayed at the Montage. You could do day trips in both Sonoma and Napa counties.
. My experiences have always been positive. I lived on Big Island for a year & my D lived on O’ahu for a couple, we’ve both had nothing but positive experiences.
The one on Oahu occasionally has fourth night at no charge. There is a FS hotel on Lanai that we almost (almost!) got to experience as HI just opened to travel and they were offering great deals, but Lanai had a major Covid outbreak closing it to visitors, and our plans went poof!