i just want to drink wine and hike (bach destination help!!)

What do you mean old lady homes in the finger lakes? It's a great cheaper alternative for hiking and wine.

When do you plan on going and what's the est budget?

A few locations in the Midwest that come to mind are:

Galena, Illinois (lots of wineries, plus a waterfall, and good hiking spots)

Traverse City, Michigan (or really anywhere along Lake Michigan - there are a bunch of wineries also in southwest Michigan, plus lots of places to hike)

Carbondale, Illinois (especially Giant City State Park for hiking, and lots of great wineries nearby)

Door County, Wisconsin (a handful of wineries, plus beautiful hiking)

I had my bachelorette party in Greenwood Lake, NY. While hiking wasn't part of my itinerary, there are some good trails nearby and decent wineries. We rented a house right on Greenwood Lake, so also had some gorgeous lake sunsets to enjoy. The town of Warwick is super close and has some good restaurants as well!

View Quoted Comment LOL thank you Lisa. I am actually from Chicago and got engaged in Galena. Love that town but since most of my gals will be coming from the Midwest I’m looking for other unique locations.

View Quoted Comment Hi Alyssa, maybe it’s because I have 15 people in my party but most of the homes available are severely outdated compared to other cities.

View Quoted Comment I second Door County. Peninsula State Park has very easy through very challenging hikes, and there's winery's everywhere.


I know you're trying to avoid the Midwest, but if something comes up where you do need to stay local, I fully recommend Door County

Fredricksburg, TX has lots of wineries and there’s a regionally-known hiking spot there called Enchanted Rock!


I had my bachelorette trip here and had a lot of fun! Didn’t get to go hiking but the wineries were fun and I’m actually going back there with my husband in 2 weeks to do the hiking that I missed

Michigander here, totally recommend Traverse City, one of my cousins works in the wine industry there and you can rent a bus that will shuttle you to all of the wineries on the peninsula. It's pretty cool.

Could try WNY we have the niagara wine trail, and there's the niagara gorge. And of course niagara falls.

Why won't you stay in an older house though?

The Columbia River Valley in northern Oregon/ southern Washington is gorgeous. You can start taste testing wines from the Willamette Valley and other regions at home to see if they meet your flavor palette 🤠. I don't remember mosquitoes in my time in Seattle (fingers crossed now).


If still thinking of Cali, Sonoma is more laid back, less expensive, and has different varietals than Napa to its east. Paso Robles in central Cali is also laid back fun. Can get hot in summer, though. Both Sonoma and Paso are accessible by San Francisco airport (with a drive). Good luck!

Maybe Asheville, NC? Biltmore has a winery and the Blue Ridge mountains would probably be good for hiking!

Is it that the travel to Napa would be too much?

My bachelorette was in downtown Napa (though we live in SF, so we mostly drove with the exception of my Man of Honor who had to fly in from TX), and we only stayed the weekend (check in Friday night, check out Sunday morning). We ended up going super cheap on hotels (like, got a 2-star hotel) because we figured we'd be out most of the time and the hotels would just be a home base to shower and sleep; we didn't spend money on transportation to wineries and made reservations at walkable wine tasting galleries/rooms in downtown.

Agreed that you could find surrounding areas of Napa that are slightly less expensive (like Sonoma or Calistoga).

Again, if California is still in the running, there are also wineries in Livermore (closer to the Bay Area) and there's hiking at places like Mount Diablo; it's less elegant, but also makes the city (SF) accessible via public transportation from that area.

I think finding a good hiking area or National Park area where there are cozy cabins or areas could be the priority, and if anything, just bring a bunch of wine to hang out with! We've enjoyed places like Three Rivers by Sequoia National Park, or Yosemite and getting a hotel right outside the park so it's not as expensive.