Great historical park in the Sonoma square behind the visitor center. Free admission and…read moreknowledgeable docents. Worth a stop

Stumbled upon this incredible FREE historic park in the heart of Sonoma. I was on vacation with the…read moreladies in my family here and we were walking around down by the Square of Sonoma and walked upon this spot. First of all, I love that this is a free attraction. So incredibly amazing. At first, I thought it was just the open area with some old buildings and a few signs that explained a little bit about the history. But as we continued walking down the street, we realized it was a lot more to see! There's a hotel you can look in and see how it was setup back in the day (1800s/early 1900s) which was so cool. They also had artifacts enclosed that you could look at as well. They even had a room where you could watch a movie playing that told more about the history of Sonoma. It was seriously such a cool experience and I honestly don't want to give too much away. A good experience even for kids to run around and see. Definitely think it's worth stopping to enjoy and love that it's free to the public!

Our Buena Vista winery tasting experience was exceptional! Mary was warm, welcoming, knowledgeable,…read moreand made the experience incredibly enjoyable and memorable! We had the opportunity to experience three different caviar types with three champagne pairings. We learned about sturgeon and their eggs, flavor profiles, Buena Vista's impressive relationship with French champagne, and overall how to best enjoy the delicacies as a pairing. On top of the exceptional champagne and caviar tasting itself, we enjoyed jovial conversation with Mary about life memories worth celebrating. Oh, and the room that hosted the tasting was packed full of elegance and history. We highly recommend this experience!

We had an amazing cave tour with caviar today with Jake. The caviar tasting is a newer offering and…read moreJake was great. He made the whole experience with his knowledge of the wines/origins and also provided great conversation. His attention to detail is unmatched. The caves are gorgeous and give you so much to look at and learn about. The grounds make you feel like you're in Jurassic park. All in all can't wait to come back. Incredible wines too. We left with 3 bottles of quality wine we will save for a special occasion. Go! You won't regret it

Jack London's gravesite and ruins of Wolf House. We came for the abandoned house and were very…read moreimpressed by the scale and size, Jack London must have been very wealthy for the time to have a house like this. The sad thing is it burned down right before completion so they never got to live in the house. The use of stones and rock kept a lot of the walls despite the fire and it reminds me of of an oversized version of a Greene and Greene style Craftsman Bungalow I saw in Pasadena, CA. If you are a fan of abandoned places you will like coming here. It's fenced off for safety so you can't go running around the structures but you can do a full 360 walk around and there is a platform you can walk on that's about in the middle of the house and you get a good view of the pool and different floors from here. The hike from the parking lot to the museum and to the grave sites and house are easy, my senior parents and young kids were able to do it easily. I would stop by the museum on the way back, there are some nice artifacts from Jack London as well as a scale model of what the hosue was supposed to look like.

Can def spend all day here. Interesting to learn about Jack London. Loved that he lived such a full…read morelife even when cut short. Thankful that his wife Chairman left everything for us to learn and explore. There a $10 fee per vehicle to enter. Def worth it as there are numerous sites to see. I started with the museum as it opens at 9 am. Short hike to his once dream house unfortunately got burned down. His resting place all can be done in a short hikes on the other side the cottage open at noon. Meanwhile I did a few hikes in area. Def worth to visit

The Maysonnave House belongs to the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation. It was built in 1910…read more While the house itself has been beautifully preserved, it's mainly an events venue&office space. Don't expect to see anything about life back in 1910 Sonoma. When you drop in, it feels awkwardly like walking into someone's private home. People use it for events- and that makes sense. It's an events space rather than a historic one. The people are friendly. It's historic, but not impressive. Its nearby cottage, also built in 1910, has been up for debate, and was nearly demolished back in December- http://www.sonomanews.com/opinion/5362964-181/editorial-maysonnave-cottage-raises-question Will the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation preserve and restore its companion?

Absolutely wonderful. We attended an event here for the Sonoma International Film Festival,…read moresponsored by Yelp, and it was fabulous! The employees (not sure if they work for Maysonnave, or if they were hired for the event) were so helpful and attentive! Would love to come again.

General Vallejo's House is located in Sonoma, CA, in the Sonoma State Historic Park…read more The grounds (including trails) and visitor center was free to walk about. Parking was free as well, they had a nice size parking lot. To view the inside of the house, it's $3. The visitor center was the carriage house nicknamed the Swiss Chalet. It was built in 1852. The timber came from Europe. It's now the museum with history information boards about the General Vallejo and his family. So you may ask, who is General Vallejo? What's the hubbub? Mariano Guadalupe Vallejwas born in Monterey, California, in 1807 as a subject of Spain. He served in the California military which was under Spain. He served as commander of various presidios and establishing them and the controversial workforce. His last command was the Sonoma presidio. The house is furnished and staged as it was in the mid to late 1800s. It was built in 1852, Vallejo lived there until his passing in 1890. The architecture is Victorian Carpenter Gothic. It was prefabricated back East and shipped around Cape Horn (pre railroad). The rooms are viewable through the barred doors. The fireplaces are made of imported marble. The kitchen was another building behind the house. The family cook lived onsite in a room adjoining the kitchen. Behind the kitchen is a body of water, a water reservoir. Back in the day, it was a natural spring. The General sold water to the town and folks by transporting the water in redwood pipes. It proved a steady income. He even tried his hand at winemaking. But suffered severe losses in the 1870s blight and didn't get his winemaking business off the ground. He never fully recovered to his previous economic heyday, living out the rest of his years modestly than before.

Great introduction by the park ranger! Enjoyed how they sell plant bulbs and fruit from the…read moregrounds ! I bought a delicious grapefruit! Plenty of signage regarding rattlesnakes.

Located on the Sonoma Plaza, this monument depicts General Vallejo sitting on a park bench. He is…read moreentirely approachable and if you wanted to, you could get a nice selfie sitting with the man. In 1833, Vallejo was dispatched north by the newly appointed Governor José Figueroa to visit Fort Ross and choose a suitable site for a presidio north of the Bay of San Francisco. The ten-year-old Mission San Francisco de Solano site in Sonoma was the location of Vallejo's approved military camp. Later, Vallejo was named military commander of all of California north of the Bay, director of colonization of the Northern Frontier, and administrator of the secularization of the Mission at Sonoma. Governor Figueroa sent an order to Lieutenant Vallejo on June 24, 1835, instructing him to found the Pueblo de Sonoma. He quickly designed Sonoma's main streets and started construction of a barracks to the west of the mission. Vallejo supported the successful proposal to outlaw slavery in California as well as the Californio proposal to maintain separate property rights for women. With this monument is a large plaque thanking the committee members, the major donors and this statement, "The General Vallejo Monument Committee dedicates this monument as a gift to the Citizens of Sonoma on Pueblo Day, June 24, 2017, which date is the 182nd anniversary of the founding of the Pueblo de Sonoma by then Lieutenant Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. A special thanks to the City of Sonoma for the allocation of this site on the Sonoma Plaza and for its support in helping make this project a reality." [Review 21009 overall - 526 in California - 1994 of 2023.]

We visited the winery on April 9th 2026. My wife and I were excited to share the winery with our…read morefriends and family only to be disappointed by the lack of attentiveness and dismissiveness by our server Jo. She was too busy talking with her coworkers. As being wine club members since 2013 we were truly saddened by the lackluster wine tasting experience. Since moving to the east coast this was our first visit back to the winery since 2018. We are wine club members to multiple other wineries and have a good understanding of how you should be treated. Knowing that there are an abundance of other wine club membership options GunBun should pay attention to their wine club members and make sure they have a wonderful experience. We cancelled our membership based on this experience.

Gundlach Bundschu is the winery that's hard to say but has good wine. They offer tastings, wines…read moreby the glass (or bottle) and memberships. We visited on an early Spring Saturday afternoon close to closing time but we never felt rushed. We opted for a glass of wine, and I was excited for such a generous pour. We all ordered different wines and we all enjoyed them. There are many picnic tables with umbrellas. We were told the tables were for tastings, and the area up a hill was for guests who did not order tastings. The scenery stole the show, it was gorgeous.

*Halloween themed review. Boooo!*…read more Stumbled onto this beautiful cemetery as it is right next to the Sonoma Overlook Trail. After hiking that trail down by the staging area where the cars are parked, I noticed an open gate leading to the cemetery which is in the same hills. I don't find cemeteries scary or creepy but rather reverent and humbling. Ive visited many cemeteries whether a family involvement or just to pass through and observe. And I have found that all are different, some are more interesting than others. I like ones with more landscape features such as hills, more plant life/trees, well laid out/organized. I don't care for one's next to modern commercial buildings or when there are more dirt or concrete than plant life. That is just a personal aesthetic preference. This Mountain Cemetery fits its name, as well as my eye and senses. It is beautiful just to stroll around if you are not scared of the nature and essence of death. Every culture handles it in its own ways and i can respect them all. It's how we honor and remember those who pass and gave is what's more important to me. The older headstones most with birthdates from the 1800s seemed to be higher up in the hills. The more recent ones seem to be lower. But I loved all the oak and cedar trees, lots of shade. There was even a thick patch of prickly pear cactus. There's also a veterans cemetery right below this public one. That one is very manicured and succinct. There are trails that weave through all this. To hike these hills, you will not only get a great dose of fresh air and exercise, but you may also get a moment to thank those that have lived and contributed; and more importantly to me, to appreciate those who are still currently here. A very humanizing experience.

One of the best "hiking" and historical cemeteries I have been to! Noticed the more older plots are…read morelocated higher up and meanders along the hillside. Beautiful walk, views and discoveries of families, years and stone styles. It is an active cemetery, so be respectful of the environment. There is a parking lot and it is connected to a bunch of trails. In fact there is a street sign in the middle of the cemetery guiding you to the main forest trail. By the parking lot, there is also a Veterans memorial and an open-field park. Peaceful and beautiful.

This plaza has everything in it and surrounding it! By that, I mean it has a playground that has…read morebaby swings and kid friendly, of course, and delicious eateries around! Sonoma city plays a lot of live music here and the plaza is well maintained. Ambiance is warm and a pleasure to simply be here. It's a great pitstop if one is wanting to eat and get a taste of the wine country life, leisurely stroll and explore a historical city in wine country all the while spending time with family and friends! How to put it - it's easy going in this plaza and taking in the culture of Sonoma!

It's a magical wonderland at Sonoma Plaza, where twinkling lights and shimmering stars transform…read morethe streets into a festive dream. Each glow invites you to embrace the magic of the season. And...Every path takes you to sips and eats. Sonoma magic! The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear--and illuminating the night with dazzling lights!

Lots of details about this interesting corner of the Bay Area provided by our guide Dan G. He was a…read morewealth of information, pretty funny and as a local was able to share a lot of perspective on the islands changes. Great day trip and I wish we had more time to poke around.

Wonderful tour led by Jim. History + nature! A great morning spent on the island…read more For people who are looking to visit the Naval Museum on the island, it is no longer open, but this tour is operative and you get to see the naval chapel and walk around the area. I was originally looking for information about the museum and arrived at this page: https://www.mihpf.org/tours. I hope this will help you find their tour options and dates! All digitalized, no fuss. And it turns out I was the only who signed up for today's tour, and they did not cancel on me because of that. I really really appreciated it. One last thing, the money you spend on the tour goes into helping this foundation : ) Yay!