Change of Greenery BlogThings to See and Do in Napa Valley that's GREEN!

So you want to get to Napa Valley without a car, eh?

There is a relatively new kid in town, called the VINE 29 Express Bus, which is a Napa commuter bus that leaves 4 times in the morning from Napa Valley and 4 times from a Bay Area BART station in the early evenings (The El Cerrito del Norte BART station to be exact).

This route is actually ideal for Bay Area residents who want to get to Napa Valley for a quick weekend escape on a Friday evening and leave early Monday or Tuesday morning. So let’s say you leave your house in Berkeley around 3pm on Friday. You can take the BART to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station, jump on the commuter 29 VINE Express bus at 4:10 or 5:10pm, arrive in Napa in about an hour and then take it back home  Monday in the AM (from 4:40am – 8:22am).

You can find some great hotel deals around the new Park and Ride at Solano & Marriott stop such as The Napa Valley Redwood Inn, The Chablis Inn and of course, The Napa Valley Marriott. All of these hotels are walking distance from this stop and it is perfect to use this stop to jump on the 10N Bus ($1.25 per ride) to use for sightseeing on the weekend (St. Helena, Bothe State Park, Calistoga, etc)… but more on that in another post.

Napa Vine Bus

I was actually able to utilize the VINE Commuter 29 Express Bus, www.ridethevine.com, from San Francisco last week (San Francisco to Napa Valley). The total price is a whopping $5 each way and you can also snack on the bus! Here are some great routes to take along with some prices… This is of course for people who don’t want to spend $200.00 for a cab ride to/from Oakland or San Francisco Airports. It takes approximately 1.15 hours to get to/from Oakland Airport and around 2 hours to/from San Francisco Airport and that’s only if there is hardly any traffic! Plus, let’s not forget there is a toll on the way to Napa for $5.00.

From BART to VINE Napa - when you exit the BART station, go directly across to the island and find the VINE bus line sign

Park and Ride Solano & Marriott

FOR TRAVELERS:

If you are coming from OAK (Oakland Airport) or SFO (San Francisco International Airport), there are commuter buses on WEEKDAYS only. You will need to take the BART (our Bay Area subway) to El Cerrito del Norte BART stop.

San Francisco BART Map

From OAK:

- Take bus shuttle (AirBart) to Oakland Airport BART. Don’t worry… they run every 10 minutes.
- Oakland Airport BART, take the “Richmond line”, which is either red or orange on the map.
- Get off at El Cerrito del Norte BART.
- The Vine 29 Express Bus comes at 4:10pm, 5:10pm, 5:55pm and 6:45pm. Don’t be late!*

Cost: $6.00 BART + $5.00 Commuter VINE = $11.00

From SFO:

- Take the SFO BART, located inside the airport, and any BART and head towards San Francisco. Make sure you get on the red or orange line before leaving Oakland. You have 10 chances.
- – Get off at El Cerrito del Norte BART.
- The Vine 29 Express Bus comes at 4:10pm, 5:10pm, 5:55pm and 6:45pm. Don’t be late!*

Cost: $9.05 BART + $5.00 Commuter VINE = $13.05

*If you’re late, find the Vallejo bus stop and take Route 80. They run every 30 minutes from 5:15am – 10:54pm Monday-Friday.
- Get off at York & Marin and find the VINE 10N bus line.
- The VINE 10N bus leaves every hour starting at 1:50pm – 8:50pm from this stop.
- The VINE 10N bus line stops at various places… but it can take you all the way to Calistoga!

This route also applies for EAST BAY RESIDENTS.

For San Francisco residents:
- Jump on a BART train and head up to Embarcadero stop
- Go the the Ferry Building and jump on the Baylink ferry to Vallejo
- Take  the Vallejo ferry, find the 10N bus line and it will take you all the way to Napa town > St. Helena > Calistoga.

Cost: $13.00 Vallejo Ferry + $1.25 VINE 10N bus = $14.25 plus your BART fare.

You can actually get to Napa Valley from Sacramento via Super Shuttle for $80.00 RT as well.

The Wine Train also has a fantastic deal for people who are coming from San Francisco if you give them a day’s notice for $45 RT per person plus cost of the lunch or wine tour package. Check out their website for more details.

Napa Valley Car Free

For more ideas on using NOT to use your vehicle, check out Napa Valley Car Free.

Not too many people know about this so please do share! See you around Napa!

Dogs in Napa Valley

Want to know what you can do in Napa Valley that’s different? How about renting an electric bicycle from Change of Greenery? Our ebikes go in excess of 30+ miles using pedal assist and we have 30+ different partners where you can make pitstops and get all these great incentives! Also, we provide roadside assistance should you get a flat and we also do wine and retail pickup from our participating green partners!

For the month of September and October, we are currently offering $10 off. Please use promo code “CRUSH” or you can call us directly at 707-596-0499 and tell us you read about our Napa Crush special! Also, please feel free to read our Yelp reviews!

We are located at the #1 hotel in Napa… The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa!

See you soon!

Oakland Raiders in Napa

Did you know that every year The Oakland Raiders (ya know – the awesome football team in The SF Bay Area) have training camp in Napa? They ALL stay at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa every year as they play BEHIND the hotel. There are wooden fences so you can’t see them from the hotel, but if you rent an electric bike from us, you might be able to get a good view of them as I am sure the parking lots will be packed around the high school where they play. I also discovered a new spot… but it’s my secret!

I’m sure there will be plenty of parked cars at the field that they play at, so you just might as well rent an ebike from us, watch them play for a bit and whizz on over to Silverado Trail and check out Judd’s Hill Winery and Trefethen Vineyards!

The Raiders check into the hotel in about 2 weeks, so you may catch a glimpse of them around the hotel.  So book now before all the rooms are sold out!

Then, come reserve your ebike at www.changeofgreenery.com…

I met the owner of The Cottages of Napa Valley and he told me that our ebike riders can picnic on their property. You can call them before heading out or ask one of Change of Greenery’s staff members to call just to make sure there’s no one is utilizing the tables. I actually got a tour of this unique place last week and it was gorgeous! When you rent an ebike from Change of Greenery, you can get 10% your picnic basket from Characters BBQ menu from the Napa Valley Marriott or get 15% off your food bill from The Red Hen Cantina. They are both on the way to The Cottages of Napa Valley… approximately 3 miles from where we are located… 1/2 way to Domaine Chandon!

The Cottages of Napa Valley

Please call (707) 252-7810 ahead in advance for availability!

One of the reasons why Change of Greenery Electric Bicycle Rentals & More was started was to get people back onto bikes in a fun and unique way! How about some team building for your company? How about a Scavenger Hunt in Napa or a mini-spin on “The Amazing Race” ? I’m  sure we can conjure something up for fun activities for your group and some fun prizes!

Anything creative, just holla! We have ideas and we have participating partners!

Take them with you on your bike ride. Yup, we have baby carriers and tag-alongs to hook up to your electric bike rental from Change of Greenery Electric Bicycle Rentals & More. Yes we have kids helmets and knee pads. This little one is wearing Spider-Man gear on his Solano/Yountville/Silverado Trail ride today. The nice part of Giovanni’s ride today was that he got to stop and play in Yountville Park - a great place for families and a picnic and dubbed as “one of the best parks for kids, boasting a unique assortment of play equipment.”

Hook it up to your electric bike!

We also have a jogging stroller for the mom who want to go for a Napa Valley jog/stroll! Inquire within.

One of the reasons why I created this blog was to reiterate what our ebike riders experienced. We’ve only had positive feedback from ALL of our guests who tend to come back with stories of their *electrifying* journeys on the ebikes in Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga (yes, we had a couple of determined New Yorkers in their 60′s who rode all the way to Calistoga via Silverado Trail to visit a vineyard! I will eventually write a post about that soon!).  Just recently, we’ve had a couple get engaged on our egreenery bikes (check out the huge bling on our Facebook page) – had a couple ride their bikes 2 days after their Napa nuptials and had a wife who was FINALLY able to ride with her bike-enthused husband!

Baskets filled with goodies!

Over the fantastic Memorial Day weekend, we had a fun couple from Miami, Florida, who went all over town looking for Change of Greenery. For some reason, they thought we were located at a different hotel and their concierge had called me to ask where our location was at. Thirty minutes later, a couple was at my door wanting to reserve 2 ebikes for the following day after their 5:30am balloon ride.

They arrived at 1pm the next day and they came back 7 hours later elated! They had told me that they had trekked to one of our partners, O’Brien’s Estate Winery, where they had delicious wine tastings and even got a private tour of the vineyard from Bart O’Brien himself. Mr. O’Brien has an amazing IT (Information Technology) past and has an incredible love story to tell. I won’t blurt them out online, you’ll just have to find out for yourself about this individual by visiting him and the winery himself. Impressed by Mr. O’Brien, his passion for wine and their love of Seduction, they signed up as Wine Club Members!

After O’Brien’s, they got their 2-for-1 wine tasting at another one of our Napa Valley Green Card partners, Domaine Chandon. After Chandon, they headed to the town of Yountville where they had wine tastings from Cornerstone Cellars and ate at Bistro Jeanty. They raved about their ham sammich and said it was sooooooo scrumptious and delicious! They made their way up to Silverado Trail and came back to The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa to return the ebikes.

Their baskets were filled with bottles of wines from Domaine Chandon and Cornerstone Cellars! It was a successful day for these glowing ebikers! They did a total of 22 miles on a beautiful day!

They told me that they had so much fun on the ebikes that they winded up losing track of time! Well we are glad you did! Thanks to Jenn & BJ! We hope you make it back again soon and we’re glad we helped make your trip so memorable!

Are you thinking about coming to Napa? Well now is a good time to come! The weather has cleared up (if you haven’t heard, Northern California has forfeit most of this year’s Spring for the droughts we had in the previous years) and Napa’s “Sprummer” has arrived! The mornings here are absolutely perfect and the sun is shining bright in the afternoons! It’s a fantastic time to be outdoors (esp on a bike), out on a vineyard’s patio or sit by the window at your favorite establishment. I am lucky enough to be at The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel to talk to guests about their Napa journey (pre- and post-) as well where they are from. Traveling is one of my favorite things to discuss as I have traveled cross country. Despite being well traveled, I have yet to see a cherry tree until Saturday! Located by the entrance at The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa, I discovered these sweet edibles as I was walking along the property. Whoever planted these cherry trees is a genius because cherries are sweet and so is staying at The Napa Valley Marriott!

A "Sweet" entrance to your stay!

Cherries at The Napa Valley Marriott

Yes I ate one and I am still alive! They weren’t ripe yet, but then again, would I tell you if they were ripe even if they were?

Come check these cherry trees out on Solano Ave. It is located next to the bike lane going southbound.

Happy Memorial Day!