A Food and Wine Odyssey in California

With its dizzying ocean views and constellation of Michelin-starred restaurants, free-spirited ’Frisco is a feast for the senses. A famous bastion of counterculture, its parks, bookshops and vintage boutiques each have a story to tell. It’s famously hilly, too; its characterful neighborhoods – Haight-Ashbury, the Mission, the Castro, Fisherman’s Wharf – are best navigated by historic cable car or with a private driver. Don’t miss steep Lombard Street in Russian Hill with its eight hairpin bends, or the Painted Ladies, the seven pastel-hued Victorian houses that cling to the slope of Alamo Square Park and grace every postcard. 

Nestling between the Pacific Ocean and the Mayacamas mountains, Sonoma is the personification of chilled out, Northern Californian charm. With nearly 60,000 acres of vineyards, it’s a paradise for oenophiles but its diverse landscape – complete with ancient redwood forests, dramatic coastlines and pastures irrigated by the Russian River – also nurtures a network of excellent artisan food producers. Your days will be dominated by wine tastings and evenings spent lingering over farm-to-table dinners in candlelit gardens. 

The word “iconic” is thrown around a lot but this wine-producing region really does loom large in the imagination of aficionados all over the world. Your A&K guide will whisk you around the crème de la crème of the 400 wineries that are open to the public where you will conduct some serious tastings and learn more about the terroir that nurtures these esteemed labels. An e-bike tour through white-fenced farms offers a glimpse into the region’s seductive brand of the good life, while a hot air balloon ride offers a bird’s eye view of its lush hills and rolling vines.