Temecula Wine Country Travel Guide [Secrets to one of the best places in California]

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So I just got back from a lovely little vacation to a one of my favorite places in California
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and that is Temecula Valley. Now if you've never heard of Temecula it is the wine region of
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Southern California and though it's not quite Napa it still is really amazing and that is what
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I want to talk to you about today. really quick before we jump into it uh i've been getting a question a lot lately and it's something
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that i'm often asked over my 20 years of working in this industry and that is with so many travel
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websites available today how in the heck do i know which one to go to that's gonna really give
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me the best price that's gonna actually give me information i can trust that i can actually rely
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on. So what I've done is we've put together a free resource to help you to help, well
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answer that question. So we've called through all of the travel websites available today
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We found the ones that give you the best pricing that give you a reliable information most of the
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time. Uh, and, but the best pricing most of the time. And we put together a cheat sheet
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a travel planning cheat sheet. So it tells you exactly who to go to for what, depending on what
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it is. It tells you what order to go in so that you can plan the most spectacular vacation possible
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It helps you save time. It helps you save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. And it helps save
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stress when you're on your vacation because it covers all the little details. So if you'd like
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your copy, you can download it for free in the link below. Okay, enough of that. Let's go ahead
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and get back into it. So as I said, I want to talk to you about Temecula, California. Now
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This is a great option if you are planning to visit the LA area, the San Diego area, and you're wanting a really either a day trip or perhaps a weekend trip away from those main cities
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If you live in any of those areas or live in Orange County and you're looking for a great weekend getaway, if you are anywhere in California or Arizona or Nevada or anywhere within driving distance, or if you're willing to fly flying distance from Southern California, Temecula is a fantastic place to go
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It is one of my favorite places in California, one of what I would consider a hidden gem of California
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And today I wanted to talk to you about how to plan a trip there, what the possibilities are
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and the ways you can maximize a trip to have a really spectacular vacation to Southern California
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So this is meant as travel inspiration, as well as maybe some tips and tricks on where to stay, what to do, where to eat
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and all of the fun stuff that goes along with it. So let's go ahead and dive in. So the first thing I want to talk to you about when you're going, as I said, it is in Southern California
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So it's an easy day trip or weekend trip from L.A., Orange County or San Diego
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It is only about an hour ish from San Diego, about an hour and a half from Orange County and I guess about two hours ish from L.A., depending on traffic
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And and then if you're coming in, if you want to fly into any of those three areas, it would be easy to get to
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Also, if you happen to be staying in San Diego, LA, or Orange County, a lot of times they actually
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have tours where they will pick you up at your hotel in any of those three areas and take you
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to Temecula for the day or however long that you want to go. It's really integrated in that. And so
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it makes it a really easy trip. If you're flying in any of those three airports would work for you
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And then you could either hire a car to take you out. You could rent a car to take you out
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to the city. Uber would be a little bit too far because the minimum time frame you'd be going
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would be about an hour. So that might be a little bit too far. You can also come into Ontario would
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be a tiny bit closer, but that's still about an hour. So that'd be a little too far to Uber
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So I would recommend if you're flying in to go ahead and rent a car to drive out to the area
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or if you wanted to hire a car and do it that way, that would be a good way to go
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Okay, so now that you're there, where should you stay and what you should do
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Now, if you're going to be staying for the night or the weekend, which I definitely recommend
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staying for the weekend because there is really quite a lot to do and see
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And if you're only there for the day, you're really stuck and minimized on what you can do
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However, like I said, it is a good day trip. So you can always go hit some wineries, go to a really great restaurant, and then go home
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at the end of the day. That's totally fine. And it would still be a fantastic day trip
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But if you have the time, I would spend the night. And when it comes to lodging options, there are so many different things that you can get
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You can get everything from the budget-friendly, cheaper hotels. They won't be in where the wineries are, but they're only maybe 15, 20 minutes away, so it wouldn't be that far
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It would be an easy either drive if you wanted to, though I don't recommend driving yourself when you're wine tasting
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or it would be, you know, a quick Uber or taxi ride
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So they have some definitely some lesser expensive options. Now Temecula in general is not exactly the cheapest place to go
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A lot of times we I'm always seeing prices from anywhere over $100, maybe $120, $130
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depending on the time of year, all the way up to $300 and $400 if you're staying at a resort
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So it's not the cheapest place to go, but it definitely is a more, well, it's a wine region
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So it's just a tiny bit more upscale in regard to the feeling that you're getting
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It has really great food, wonderful wineries, a lot of things to see and do
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So it's just a tiny bit elevated. I don't know if I'm explaining that correctly, but that's kind of the idea that you have
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So when it comes to lodging you could do the budget lodging a little bit outside of where the wineries are and then easily get to them Or you can decide to stay closer into the wine region and stay at one of the wineries that has a resort on the property Now some of my favorite places to
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stay is the Ponte Winery. Their resort is gorgeous. I absolutely love staying there
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I've stayed at South Coast Winery. South Coast Winery is a great place to stay because it's very
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centrally located and you could actually walk to let's see I think three to four wineries from
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South Coast Winery in addition to doing the wine tasting and the food and everything at South Coast
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um they have a fantastic restaurant as well lots of event space and different things and and tons
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of wine to choose from whether you're a white or a red lover or rosé lover or sparkling lover they
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have just about everything the only thing I don't like about staying there is and this is where we
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stayed this past weekend, so it's very fresh in my mind. Their tower rooms are a little bit odd
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Now, the tower rooms are the less expensive of the rooms that are available, but it was very
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oddly laid out and everything didn't really make sense. The beds were uncomfortable. I hate to say
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it. The sheets were the kind where you felt almost like you were sleeping on plastic because you would
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be cold but sweating which I still don't understand how that happened um so I wouldn't necessarily
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recommend staying there unless you're staying in one of the nicer rooms but I can't imagine the
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bedding is much different in the nicer rooms maybe I'm wrong maybe it is better uh but this is just
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what our experience was this past weekend so south coast winery is a great central location if you're
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wanting to stay in wine the wine area and easily be able to get to a lot of different wineries
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However, maybe don't stay there as far as lodging goes. Right next door to it is the Ponte Vineyard, which does have a resort and they are fantastic
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Also, a kiddie corner to them and across the street is Carter. However, Carter Winery is owned by the same people that own South Coast
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So I'm not sure if the lodging will be comparable or better. But in addition to that, there are other wineries that have a lot of lodging options, a lot of bed and breakfast type situations
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a lot of times you can get the room and it comes with wine tasting or it comes with dinner or it
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comes with other packages and things that you can do. And so it makes it a really fantastic, uh
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getaway. Uh, I love to go here when it's our anniversary, my husband and I anniversary
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we go there all the time. It's a very romantic place to go as well as there's tons of, um
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bachelorette parties and, and things of that nature and baby showers and things like that
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a lot of people do there as well but it's also fun to go just for like a girlfriend's weekend or
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friend's weekend or something like that um so lodging i'm sorry i keep straying from the point
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so you can stay in a winery you can stay a little bit more budget friendly you can stay at the
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casino there is pechanga casino as available there as well which you can stay and it's your typical
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casino uh resort where they have a spa and a pool which uh it's covered right now so those things
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aren't open but they will be eventually and then you have the full casino which is open during
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COVID, you just have to wear your mask when you go there. So if you want something that has more
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nightlife and more stuff to do all throughout the day, that might be a great option for you
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There's also resorts like Temecula Creek Inn, which is near the casino. Now the casino is a good
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20, 30 minutes away from where the wineries are. But again, if you've driven or if you're willing
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to take an Uber or a taxi, or if you take a wine tour, say you get a limo or you do a sedan that
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takes you on a tour it's still within reason it's still in the Temecula area so it's not like you're
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way far away out in that area where the casino is is also a resort called Temecula Creek Inn
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which was the first place I stayed when we went to Temecula it is a fantastic resort and I do
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recommend it a lot of times they have packages that include a day of wine tasting all of your
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wine tasting tickets picnic lunch dinner they have some really really great packages that are
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available. And then they are also on a golf course. So golf is also something that you can do
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if you enjoy that as well as a spa and wonderful, wonderful food. So lodging, a lot of different
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options. My recommendation, if you are going to be staying there is to look first on Google hotels
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And I have a video about how to do that and the little tips and tricks to find the absolute best
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pricing. And I will link that in a card above. I always forget what side it's on. And then
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And then go ahead and book where you find that works out the best and can find the best price for that
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So that is lodging. Now, let's move on to the main star of the show when you're going to Temecula
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And that is the wineries. Now, the wineries there are fantastic, I personally believe
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And I've been to a few wineries in California, but I've never been wine tasting in Europe
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So I can't really compare the experience there. But the wineries in Temecula have some fantastic wines, fantastic food
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It's just a really, just a really fun day because you go and they usually have patio, especially right now during COVID
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They have patio seating and it's lovely gardens overlooking the vineyards. They have misters when it gets a little too hot because it can get up into the hundreds in the summer
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Not always, but it can get quite hot in the summer. In the afternoons, I start about three o'clock, a really lovely breeze blows through
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So even on the hottest days, it's actually very pleasant at night and in the evening and at sunset
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So when you go to the wineries, it's just a very relaxing, enjoying the wines, having a lot of different things to explore and taste and just having gorgeous views, good food
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It's just it's just kind of that experience. I hope I'm conveying it fully so that you can fully understand and appreciate what you could do there
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They have during COVID if you decide to go now a lot of the wineries require reservations to go So what I would do is simply look on the websites on YouTube perhaps or Yelp find out which wineries you would like to hit or go to
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And then you would just need to look up each of those wineries and find out what their current
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COVID regulations are, if they require reservations, or if you can just go first come first serve
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And right now I would say it's about 60, 40, about 60%. I had to have a reservation about 40%
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I was fine. So that is one of the options that's available
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There are dozens of wineries available. You could literally spend every single day going to wineries
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If you stayed the weekend and not hit the same winery twice, there's that many different wineries
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And then also there's some that are known for the reds, some that are known for their
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whites and a good mix. So just depending on what you like, also some sparkling, there's some of the
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some really fantastic sparkling wines available as well. So depending on what you like, you can
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really focus in and hit those wineries that more cater to your preferences and your tastes with
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regard to your wine. Now, one note that I personally prefer, but this depends on you
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If you are the kind of person that loves, you get really energized from crowds and lots of people
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and lots of things going on, then I recommend going to the wineries that are on Rancho
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California. Now Rancho California is the main road through the wine country, the wine region
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and it has a ton of wineries on it. It is also where most of the tours, most of the buses
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most of the things will drop people off. So those wineries are typically more crowded
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If that is something that excites you and gives you energy and you really love, fantastic. Stick
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to the wineries that are on Rancho California. Now, if you do not like crowds and you want to
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have a more intimate setting you maybe want it to be a little quieter much fewer people a little
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bit different ambiance which is my personal favorite I really don't like crowds all that much
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so my favorite is to go on the other wineries and you want to get off of Rancho California
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and spread out and if you look at the maps and you look at the Temecula Valley
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wine website which I will go ahead and link below you can see that there are a lot of wineries kind
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of on the outer streets from there and up into the hills and other areas from there
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One of them I highly recommend is Lumiere. I do not know if they're open during COVID because I was unable to find information about
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them when we just recently went, but they are one of the older wineries in the region
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and the wine is fantastic. It's incredible. So I always highly recommend everybody go to there
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But honestly, this past weekend, every winery I went to, I always found something fantastic
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I don't always like all of the wine, but I can usually, they have enough of a choice
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that I was always able to find something that I really enjoyed. So just depending on crowds, if you want to stay on Rancho California wineries
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if you want to stay away from the crowds, hit the ones on the outside. Now, with regard to wineries, you could always do it yourself and either drive
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which I, again, don't recommend driving if you're wine tasting because it really sneaks up on you
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And you might plan to hit three wineries and you hit two and then you're stuck and you can't drive
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So I always recommend either taking an Uber or a tour. So many tours available
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And again, I'm going to link that below because the main Temecula Valley website has a link to a lot of tour companies
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They have things like your traditional limo tour where you would go maybe to three to four wineries
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And it usually includes lunch. You could have it be private. You could have it be in a group
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There is a bus that is called the Grapevine bus or Grape Line bus
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And it takes you through a set number of wineries. And usually when you buy room on the bus, they usually give you the tasting tickets as well
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The tastings at the different wineries. And it's an air conditioned bus and they just go stop
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You go do your wine taste and get back on the bus and keep going. They also have the cable car, the Temecula cable car, which is what we did this weekend
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which I thought was a lot of fun because it's literally an old San Francisco cable car that
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was converted into a truck. Uh, and it is open air and you're going to the different wineries
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We went to, I believe it was three wineries. It included lunch, which was, I was so astounded by
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the lunch. I can't even tell you it was so good. Uh, so you, so you go to those, they make it very
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interactive. So on the cable car in between the wineries, they were singing, they were doing
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karaoke. It was a really fun experience. And then when you're on that tour, then you don't have to
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worry about driving. And also they include all the tastings and they know the wineries and what's
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good at each winery. So it makes it kind of a neat experience. Years ago, we did a limo with a group
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of friends of us and us, and we went around tasting. And the really cool thing about when
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you're doing a private tour like that or a small group is your driver typically knows a ton about
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the wineries, knows all of the secret hidden places to go, all of the best places to go
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and can give you some fantastic guidance. So I always recommend if you have the ability to take
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a tour, they're usually 99% of the time well worth the investment. Okay, so you can go wine
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tasting in Temecula, but what if you don't want to do that or you're not a drinker or you just
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don't want to do that non-stop the entire time. Well, fear not. There is so much more that you can
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do in Temecula as well. In addition to eating, they have some of the most incredible restaurants
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that I have experienced. A lot of really fantastic different cuisines and things available. Lots of
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them on the wineries, so they have fantastic views, patio seating, which is absolutely lovely
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But also in town, they have some of the best Italian restaurants, steakhouses, and just so
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many different things So eating is always a top pick of mine when I go to Temecula but there other things to do as well One of the other things that actually very well known for is hot air balloon riding And from this video you can see I went out on my balcony one bright and early
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Saturday morning and had this descending over my head. It turns out that they launched the balloons
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from across the street. So this was really actually a kind of fun way to greet the morning with seeing
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seeing the hot air balloons coming, coming over the top, but hot air ballooning is a huge thing
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In fact, they also have a balloon festival every year, or at least once they're able to come back
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they will. And I've not been personally, but people who have been friends that have been said
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it's absolutely just a blast to go during the hot air balloon festival because there's just
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tons and tons of balloons in the air. It's just a really, really fun environment and thing to do
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But you can always go hot air ballooning. The only thing is you have to go bright and early
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in the morning. But if you don't mind, you have some of the most amazing views and it really is
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a remarkable experience. Another thing you could do is go horseback riding and do horseback riding
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tours through the different wineries. They actually have one that you take the horseback
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riding and you actually go to a few wineries and do your wine tasting via a horse instead of via a
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car. So that's always an option. And then they also have more traditional trail rides and different
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horseback riding that you can that you can do uh one thing you not everybody knows about
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Temecula is there are a lot of horse uh raising um and training ranches out there there's a lot
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of horse property where they will breed and um train horses and so there's a lot of horseback
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riding opportunities available in Temecula as well and then in addition to that uh we have the
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casino that I mentioned earlier if you'd like a little bit of nightlife uh dancing food casino
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type activities. There's also a ton of spas. All of the resorts have spas. The other thing that you
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can do is four-wheel driving. There's lots of tours where you can take a jeep and go four-wheel
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driving into the desert around. One thing I don't know if I mentioned, Samaquilla is in the desert
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It is out there so it gets quite hot in the summer as I mentioned and it is a more of a desert
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environment than what you maybe would find more towards the beach. Although technically at the
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beach. We're still the desert, but it is hotter and drier out in Temecula. So it would be a
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different atmosphere than if say you're staying in San Diego or on the beach in Orange County
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So those are the top, some of the top things that you can do there. There are also other things that
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you can do once COVID is over that you might be able to do, such as escape rooms, which are always
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fun. Yeah. And she loves those. And thank you. And movie theaters and things of that nature
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that your typical city would have. So there's always plenty, even during COVID
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there wasn't a moment that I was bored. There was always plenty to do, to see and to explore and to enjoy
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And to really, if you wanna be active, you can be as active as you wanna be
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And if you wanna relax, you can certainly do that as well. All right, so my last note that I wanna cover
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on going to Temecula is the events. Now, during COVID, of course
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none of these are really happening that much, but you might be able to find hopefully when they come back and it's hopefully soon because where
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I'm at right now it is just the beginning of September of 2020 and Riverside County which
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is where Temecula is located have come off of our California watch list so more is starting to become
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available and they are going to be starting their events. So they have city-wide events like the
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Hot Air Balloon Festival that I mentioned before. I believe they have a harvest type of a festival
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dirt around harvest time for all of the wineries. Some of the wineries will have crush house
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festivals where you can actually go and step on the wines and do things like that. They usually
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have things in the springtime to kind of welcome the new fields and things. So they have citywide
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events that they offer every year, and you'll be able to find information about that in the link
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below from Temecula Valley. But they also have individual winery events as well. So when you go
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and you find a favorite winery, a lot of times they each have their own, their own thing. One
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of my favorite wineries and one that we personally belong to, and by belonging, it's simply you
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agree to buy a certain amount of wine and then you become a member of the winery. Um, so it just
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depends if you have a favorite, sometimes it's really worth it to become a member because then you get a discount on the wines. And if they have a hotel, you get a discount on the hotel
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and lots of other perks and things like that. But one of our favorites is Oak Mountain Winery
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And the reason is they actually have a cave built into the side of the mountain or the
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hill, and they have a lot of really cool events in the cave
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So they'll have murder mystery dinners and different wine. You know, chefs come in and do a wine pairings with a certain chef that hosts the evening
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Some of them even have different galas and balls. Some of them have movie nights
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Some of them have vacations that you take and different things that you can do
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So depending on when you're going and the wineries you'd like to go to, they might be having an event that might make it extra special and something you can add to your trip just to kind of give it a little more to make it just the perfect vacation
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Okay, so that is my wrap up on Temecula Valley. Now, if you have questions about it, I am more than happy to share what I've learned and what I know from years of going there
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And please go ahead and comment below or ask your question below. I'd be happy to answer and respond
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if you are planning to go soon and you'd like to go ahead and start planning your lodging
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i have a video that talks about uh all about google hotels and how to all the little tips
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and tricks in order to find the best rates and find the best hotels for you and i'm going to go
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ahead and put it right here so go ahead and watch that if you would like to move forward with booking
23:45
that lodging and if you enjoyed this video if you could give us a thumbs up and consider subscribing
23:50
we would love to have you and other than that we'll see you on the next video thanks so much
23:54
have a great day bye

Temecula Wine Country Travel Guide [Secrets to one of the best places in California]

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Temecula Wine Country Travel Guide [Secrets to one of the best places in California]

craftedtravelco.com