San Francisco: Top five sips, cooks and walks

California's Sonoma region is famous for its many vineyards. Photo / Thinkstock

Less than an hour's drive from San Francisco is Sonoma County, where Megan Singleton sips, cooks and walks.

1. Taste wine!

Sonoma County is huge, with 400 cellar doors, so when planning your tasting itinerary make sure you're not driving an hour between sips. Sonoma Valley has 66 grape varieties. Chardonnay, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon are the heroes, but try pinot blanc, sangiovese or petite sirah (pet). For wine with a view head to Paradise Ridge, or spend a summer's day at movie director Francis Ford Coppola's pool and enjoy a splash - of both kinds.

2. Take a cooking class

I love a hands-on activity when I travel, so went to Relish in the cute town of Healdsburg to make "Holiday Appetisers" with a bunch of locals on a winter's night. Chef Anne Cornell took us through spicy samosas, lamb skewers, battered goat's cheese balls, shrimp with tomato and vodka sauce and, to finish, little apple caramel tarts.

3. Walking and drinking tour

The Wine Country Walking tour is a great way to taste and not drive. Owned by husband-and-wife team Kirsten and Harold Jones, it's three hours of strolling around Healdsburg Square. The highlight was starting at acclaimed restaurant Mateo's where the man himself arrived to whip up a pork loin and fresh mushrooms with marsala sauce. We visited four wine outlets and an icecream parlour, drinking, eating, buying bottles and making new friends.

4. Bodega Country Store

This out-of-the-way store is the most eclectic shop I've ever been in. If you're a Hitch fan, put Bodega Bay on your must-do list. Hitchcock's famous flick The Birds was filmed here with Tippi Hedren in 1961, but without CGI technology it wasn't finished until 1963. The owner of the Country Store is a huge fan and collector of Hitch memorabilia. Much of it is for sale, including spooky little blackbirds to adorn your boudoir.

5. Visit The Barlow

This former apple-processing plant in the town of Sebastopol has been open just over a year and is the latest place for hipsters to hang. It's a foodie mecca with restaurants, bars, an icecream parlour that uses dry ice to make your cone and a Tibetan gallery where the artist has so far taken two years (of five) to create a two-storey mural using centuries-old techniques.

Click here for Megan's blog on five things you didn't know about Sonoma.

Megan flew Air New Zealand to San Francisco.