Must stay towns in sonoma county

Healdsburg is a very appealing town with an old square, wonderful restaurants and access to the Dry Creek Rd a beautiful wine growing region.  My favorite winery there is Unti Vineyards: it's small and you have to make a reservation to taste.  I also like Seghesio Family Vineyards.  Santa Rosa (California) is a large city and not very charming. Yountville is in Napa County  The town of Sonoma is a historic town square with restaurants.  You did not mentionPetaluma which is charming, has a great craft brew scene, beautiful nurseries ("Cottage Gardens"), Marin Cheese Co and a historic downtown.  I also recommend Matanzas Creek Winery, one of my favorite wineries on Bennett Valley Road.  Another option is to drive to Bodega Bay.  Many people enjoy it.  Sonoma is a large county which has an epic coast road going up to Jenner, but it is avery windy and demanding drive. To assemble your trip, study a map.  Highway 12 runs up Sonoma and you can base out of two locations. Healdsburg would definitely be my first choice, followed by Petaluma. (St Helena is in Napa county: OK if you want to visit Napa County).

HI Rachel,

Your should check out The Barlow in Sebastopol on your way up.  Cute spot!!  Also head into St Helena.  Absolutely gorgeous. 

Good Luck,

Gwen

They're all close, so you don't really have to stay more than one place. But if you don't mind packing and unpacking, then I would stay a couple of days in Healdsburg, a few minutes north of Santa Rosa (California) (city, not a village) in Sonoma County, which offers lots of walkable wineries (Williamson has my favorite tastings: they match gourmet small dishes with each wine), breweries, restaurants and shops.  Yountville is the Napa equivalent, although it's more spread out along Hwy 29 than clustered around a plaza like Healdsburg. Excellent farmers' market.