EXPLORE THE TOWN
MORNING
Honestly, the downtown stretch of Lincoln Avenue is only 1,000 yards long, so most dining and browsing is walkable. That said, most of the resorts and hotels are starting to offer loaner bicycles for getting around. Rise early, grab a bike and survey the options on Lincoln. Stop at Calistoga Roastery for a scone ($2.75 each) and coffee ($2 for 16-ounce cup), or at one of the great diner-like cafes such as Cafe Sarafornia, where odds are that breakfast is the best meal of the day. The menu includes a Mini Breakfast (a pancake, an egg and a slice of bacon) for $9, and a half waffle for $5. Get just enough food and caffeine to fuel a leisurely hike up the Oat Hill Mine Trail, near where Lincoln meets Silverado Trail (across from La Prima Pizza). The entire 4.8-mile trail and back could take most of the day, but it only takes 30 minutes on a mild grade to get high enough above Calistoga for sweeping views of the Napa Valley.
MIDDAY
For a tasting that isn’t going to blow your budget in two stops, pop into Calistoga Olive Oil and sample the olive oil (as well as imported balsamic vinegar and black truffle salt) at no charge. Learn about the cold-pressed local oils and how to identify the varieties (hint: Some are spicier). Instead of three sit-down meals, try a “grazing” strategy — snacks and appetizer at a host of places, spread out over the day. Start at the Cal Mart store, which has great picnic supplies — imported cheeses galore, shelves and coolers full of house-made and packaged side dishes and desserts, and an above-average sandwich counter. Get a few small things here ($10-$15 for two) or get a BLT ($7.75) across the street at the Palisades Deli Cafe, and do a picnic lunch at Pioneer Park on Cedar Street — or at one of the other quiet, grassy spots in town. If you’ve always written off Old Faithful as just a tourist trap, consider taking your picnic there. Since the fire in June, the complex has been rebuilt with new visitor center, a petting farm with llamas and goats, and cabana structures around the geyser with couches for lounging and eating. There’s a kitchen inside the visitor center specifically for prepping your picnic staples before taking them outside. (At $15 per person, this stop will eat 30 percent of your budget, but admission and the picnic will still be less than lunch at most cafes in town.)
AFTERNOON
Stop by the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce office and ask for the map for a self-guided tour of downtown’s historic buildings. While some of the buildings are gone or were rebuilt (there were a lot of fires), the history paints a picture of a 19th century California town much larger and richer than you might assume. History buffs can get the full story a block off Lincoln at the Sharpsteen Museum ($3 donation) and review the history and possessions of Sam Brannan, the state’s first millionaire, as well as a miniature version of the town in the 1860s and an exhibit about Robert Louis Stevenson’s stay in Calistoga. After 4 p.m., hit Johnny’s Restaurant and Bar for happy hour prices (4-6 p.m. weekdays). This time of day, the menu includes fried chicken sliders at $3 each, pork carnitas tacos at $2 each, oysters at $1.75 each — all about 40 percent off regular prices — and wine, $6-$8 a glass. Don’t order too much — you’re grazing.
EVENING
If you’re interested in wine tasting, a few restaurants downtown offer wine flights. Bosko’s flights are three glasses, 2 ounces each, for $12 — less than half the price of a tasting at most of the local wineries. Bosko’s is also a great option for your last grazing spot. Happy hour goes until 6:30 p.m., even on weekends, and all appetizers are half price ($6-$8.50). The lemon baked artichoke ($6.50) is killer, and all wines by the glass (some regularly as much as $16) are $7. If your tastes are pulling you more toward a hearty affordable dinner, walk a few blocks to Highway 128 and Buster’s Southern Barbeque. Get the tri-tip meal or the pork ribs meals (both with garlic bread and two sides, $12) and you will not go hungry. Or broke.