Aging barrels; Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma, Calif. RELATED LINKS Return to City Guide: Sonoma

Sonoma has no shortage of fine restaurants, but come prepared for a picnic and you can enjoy an atmospheric alfresco feast for a fraction of the cost of lunch at the Girl & the Fig or the General's Daughter. Choice spots include:

— Sonoma Plaza
The pleasant park in the middle of the Plaza offers shaded picnic tables and a wholesome small-town atmosphere, with lunch provisions available at a number of places around the square.

— Depot Park
This community park a block north of the Plaza is a good spot for families with small children, with plenty of playground equipment adjacent to the picnic tables.

— Bartholomew Memorial Park
Many visitors drive right by this lovely municipal park without realizing that it's an ideal place for a picnic and a stroll. Enter from Old Winery Road just south of the Buena Vista tasting room, or across the vineyards from Bartholomew Park Winery on Castle Road.

— Historic Buena Vista Winery (www.buenavistawinery.com)
Buena Vista's working winery is now located in the Carneros district about halfway between Napa and Sonoma, but the original winery site a few minutes east of the Sonoma Plaza is maintained as a tasting room and visitor center, with a nice shaded picnic area that's open to the public.

— Gundlach-Bundschu Winery (www.gunbun.com)
This well-regarded winery a few miles southeast of the Plaza has several inviting picnic areas, including some isolated hillside tables.

— Kunde Estate Winery (www.kunde.com)
Exquisite old oak trees shade the picnic area at Kunde Estate, in the Valley of the Moon district about 10 miles north of Sonoma.