When Mark and I were researching for our trip to California this past summer, we were trying to figure out a cost-effective* way to tour the wineries in the Sonoma and Napa wine regions.

*Cost-effective relative to the area, which I would consider a luxury destination!

We weighed our options: There are many companies that cater to groups, but as we were just a couple traveling, that was cost-prohibitive for us. We read various forums online that told us Ubers were not totally reliable in the region, so didn’t want to depend on them. We also wanted to enjoy the tastings at the wineries, so it wasn’t practical to drive ourselves around. You can bike around the wineries, but in the middle of summer, we were hoping to not arrive at the wineries sweaty and overheated. 

Scratching our heads with what we should do, we finally landed on Platypus Tours. Platypus Tours offers small-group join-in bus tours of both Sonoma and Napa. They’d be able to pick us up and shuttle us around to the wineries so we could enjoy our wine-tasting stress free. 

Here’s how our experience went WITH PLATYPUS TOURs:

Since Mark and I wanted to see both Sonoma and Napa wineries (two neighboring wine regions), we booked two tours and did one each day. The Sonoma tour we took on a Wednesday and the Napa tour we took on a Thursday.

Each day, we would get picked up a few minute’s walk from our AirBnB at a nearby hotel in the downtown Napa area (in hindsight, I am sure Platypus would have just picked us up from our AirBnB if we had asked). Pick up was around 10:30am and the buses were punctual.

We’d then get introduced to our driver-come-tour-guide. We’d complete all the pickup stops (there were never more than a few stops) and then have a quick around-the-bus introduction with everyone on the tour. The guide would give us a run down of the day and the first winery we’d visit, and also provide us with waters that are kept in a cooler on the bus. Each guide we had was more than just a driver and kept us entertained with stories as well as information about the wineries and the local area.

Each tour visits three wineries, with lunch being provided at the second winery of the day. Platypus does pick the wineries you visit, but if you have any preferences, you can share that with them ahead of your tour. The wineries we were brought to tended to be smaller and/or family owned and Platypus had coordinated with each winery for us to have a tasting. The tastings were done in a private or semi-private setting, which felt very customized. We had plenty of time at each winery, which was great to not feel rushed. 

A perk of visiting wineries through Platypus is that they also negotiate for each tasting to be a $25 per person fee. Sonoma and Napa wine tastings can be costly – we saw pricing up to $75 for a tasting (and have heard of even higher) – so $25 is reasonable for the region.

Note: A common practice for wineries in Sonoma and Napa is to waive your tasting fee if you buy a certain amount of bottles of wine (usually two bottles).

Lunch each day was a boxed lunch with a sandwich, side, drink, and dessert. We appreciated the attention to detail that Platypus had in noting that Mark and I had two back-to-back tours booked and giving us a different lunch option the second day. I wouldn’t say the meals blew us away, but they were satisfying enough and kept our stomachs padded amidst all the wine.

On the bus and during the wine tastings, we enjoyed chatting with other Platypus guests, and felt that was a nice aspect of being a group setting. The bus brought us back to town around 5pm. You can either request to be dropped off where you were picked up, or can be brought somewhere else in town. Mark and I were able to get dropped off near where we wanted to eat dinner one night, which was appreciated.

Overall, we felt the price for our Platypus tours was worth it for the convenience of being able to get around the wineries easily, having the tasting fees negotiated for us, and not having to coordinate the visits to the wineries ourselves. Tours are $129 Sunday – Fridays and $139 on Saturdays. Tours are offered every day. 

To learn more or book, visit: https://www.platypustours.com/