Yountville, Yountville, CA

Yountville is the compact town on Washington Street where some of the Napa Valley's best-known kitchens share blocks with ordinary houses, close enough to walk between them. The neighborhood is small, flat and quiet once the dinner crowd has gone home. Housing in Yountville runs from a few places that date to the 1890s to recent builds. Single-family houses line Yount Street and Mulberry Street, there are condominiums along Washington, and Oak Circle and Vineyard Circle form their own pockets within town. Vineyard Park at 1800 Oak Circle has a tennis court, pickleball courts, outdoor fitness equipment and rows of vines in view. Hopper Creek Park sits beside the French Laundry Culinary Garden, where visitors can look over the planting rows, and the town's Art Walk threads 29 sculptures through town on a two-hour loop. The community park off Lincoln Avenue has picnic areas and a playground, and Veterans Memorial Park adds bocce courts and an amphitheater. Dogs get their own off-leash space at the Canine Commons on Yount Street, open from 8 to dusk. Yountville Coffee Caboose is where the early coffee gets poured. For a sandwich, Yountville Deli at 6498 Washington does breakfast sandwiches, bagels and hot sandwiches, and Bouchon Bakery at 6528 Washington has been selling pastries from its courtyard since 2003. Daily life is on foot or by bike, since town is only a short loop from end to end. The Napa Valley Vine Trail runs through, and Highway 29 gives the quick way to Napa. Everyday shopping runs to small specialty stores, while the larger supermarkets are down valley in Napa. Booking ahead is part of life here. The most sought restaurants fill their tables early, and weekends bring day visitors to the sidewalks. Early on a weekday, with the bakery doors just open and the vines turning gold across the road, the town feels like a village again.