#PLATYPUS WINE TOURS NAPP VALLEY DRIVER#

They say a picnic is included.but that lacked any imagination, when it could have been really nice, with maybe some charcuterie & cheese etc, but instaed we got a ham roll in a box.Įveryone had told us these people were the best, well I would hate to see the worst!īy contrast, the next week we took our hire car to Napa, and did our own wine tour.

At one of the destinations we were left (that is all 12 of us on the bus) upstairs with no guide and no wine expert.! At that point we asked to be taken back to our hotel. To top it off, apart from 1 of the vineyards, the tours were terrible. So that is an additional cost of $150 per couple, so that day out cost us $390, unbelievable. When you get on the bus they tell you each wine tasting is $25 per person. $120 per person for a bus ride -that is what it is. This does not represent value for money AT ALL. Really put a damper on a pretty decent experience otherwise.ĭon't do this tour. I'm not sure what's worse since this company purports to be local wine experts.

#PLATYPUS WINE TOURS NAPP VALLEY DRIVER#

Either the Platypus driver swindled us or he was operating under false information. Thus, we wound up paying another $50 to buy Southwest's special bubble wrap carriers. Alas, when we arrived to check our bags, we were immediately told by Southwest that styrofoam packaging was not permitted when checking a box with alcohol. We were given very specific instructions on what to do when we got to the airport and everything (leave the box untaped and write your address on the outside), leading us to believe that the driver knew the airlines' policies regarding checking alcohol. Seemed legit, and despite the $15 price tag (actually $20, since the driver didn't have change.sigh), we purchased one since we wanted to bring back some wine to further memorialize our trip. That said, at the end of our trip we were sold a box with ready fitted styrofoam that we were told would be sufficient to bring back the bottles of wine we bought on the trip. It's a good value and we had a great time during the excursion.

Overall we enjoyed Platypus's service and the wineries that were picked out. If you think that sounds like a good deal, go for it. I’m pretty sure the guides are getting kickbacks otherwise why would these places even been an option. So we as a couple paid $286 for a ride to one winery, one construction site, and one storage unit. To add to this we were forced to tip 20% since we were a group of 8. Totally unacceptable when we were told there are a thousand wineries. Three in our group didn’t even go in and one wouldn’t get off the bus. We complained and asked to go to another place but we were ignored. I thought he was joking and we were going to pull into a spectacular place, nope, it was a storage building in an Industrial warehouse area. The next winery was “flooded” from the rain the day before so he said we were going to their warehouse. It was kinda ok because it was under umbrellas by the vineyard, but still construction noise. The second winery was a construction zone with the tasting room being built so we tasted and had lunch in the parking lot.

We only went to 3 wineries instead of 4 as I had read. The first winery was beautiful with a cave tasting. We had to reschedule from Tues to Wednesday last minute and the Platypus office was very accommodating which was appreciated. We were a group of 8 friends who took this tour on May 11 with Jared as our guide.

Platypus wine tours napp valley