Your partner reminded you it is your turn to plan date night this weekend. Uh oh. Do you bring them to that same happy hour again? Or “mix it up” by trying that new Italian restaurant. No, you need to step it up and remind them how much you care. But where?
Just 90 minutes outside San Diego is a fantastical land abundant with boutique hotels, world-class wineries, Michelin-star restaurants, epic scenery, and a truly relaxed vibe.
No, it’s not Anaheim, bad guess. It’s called Valle De Guadalupe in Baja California, Mexico, and it’s the answer to all your (date night) dreams. Forget Napa (yes, we said it) and forget Temecula, and instead go down to Valle De Guadalupe. Now that you’ve heard of it, read below for one of the best date night ideas (not quite in San Diego) with your sweetheart.
The Itinerary
1. Essential information
2. Drive to Valle De Guadalupe via Tijuana on Ruta 1D
3. Stop at the Vinicola Alximia winery
4. Check in to the Boskenvid Hotel
5. Go to Damiana for dinner
6. Hot tub and wine time
7. Get breakfast at Huevo Republic
8. Drive back home through Tecate
Essential Info
1. Bring your passport. You will need it on the way back.
2. Get Mexican Car Insurance. It’s cheap, and worth it in the unlikely event something happens. Buy it online here.
3. Bring cash (USD or MXP) for tolls. There are a couple tolls and it is around 2 bucks. Don’t forget.
4. No, don’t drink the tap water. Bottled water only.
5. Yes, Valle de Guadalupe is a safe area. Relax.
6. Yes, your phone will work. Just put your phone data on roaming and connect to WiFi, no problem.
7. Yes, you can bring back wine. We recommend bringing back a lot.
8. Do I need to speak Spanish? It’s Mexico.
Drive Down To Valle De Guadalupe
We have a lot of intriguing neighbors around San Diego, but getting to them will test your sanity (we’re looking at you, LA, and you, Temecula…). But what is not celebrated enough is having an international neighbor only 15 minutes down the road. Let’s say that again: Mexico is only 15 minutes away. Make that trip 90 minutes, and you will find yourself in Valle De Guadalupe, Baja California, one of the best wine regions around, and one of the most romantic spots for a date night (or weekend) with your significant other.
While driving down to Valle De Guadalupe is easy, you are crossing an international border and need to pay attention when navigating. This is not to instill any fear or doubt – we’ve done this trip dozens of times. But there are easy-ish, and not easy, paths to this land of wine and food.
To help you out, here are the driving directions we follow when heading down from San Diego to Valle De Guadalupe (note that we have different return directions, see below):
Go To Vinicola Alximia Winery
The quality of wine in Valle De Guadalupe cannot be overstated, and this was reinforced for us at the Vinocola Alximia Winery, which should be your first stop for imbibements. We have all had our pinot noirs, and our Timothée Chardonnays, and you can find them down here. But at Vinicola Alximia, they also offer some more unique wines and vintages that will your intrigue your taste buds and challenge your conception of wines, in a good way.
Emphasizing organic and sustainable agricultural techniques, they are true oenologists here (new word for us too, it means the study of wine). With a special reserve cellar which you can tour, we are certain you won’t find wines like this anywhere else, including their “Elemental” vintages, which include the Primitivo Cabernet, or their Magma, which is a Carignan-Grenache. It’s ok, we aren’t entirely sure what those names exactly mean other than “damn fine wines,” but their excellent staff will be happy to indulge your curiosity and explain the process and art behind their wines.
In addition, they have an incredible restaurant on site that pairs perfectly with their wines. Don’t skimp out, you are here to indulge with your partner.
Other great wineries:
1. Don Tomas Vineyard
2. Vinos Pijoan
3. Bruma Wine Resort
Check In To Boskenvid Hotel
Valle De Guadalupe has a seemingly endless choice of beautiful and very unique hotels. And we mean that sincerely. Just google map “hotels” in the area and you will be hard-pressed to find anything that is not stellar. But one of the best hotel in Valle de Guadalupe is the Boskenvid Hotel.
More like elegant tree houses, the rooms at Boskenvid are beautifully integrated to the natural landscape with oak trees literally built into your room, accompanied by chic, rustic decor and exceptionally comfortable beds. Step out to a small private deck and sip on some wine under the shade while you admire the quiet, natural landscape. As you can gather this scenery screams (or rather whispers) relaxation and nature. Kudos to the staff and designers.
The rest of the hotel itself reflects this homage to nature, with beautiful boardwalks adorned with soft lighting, archways with flowers, and a calming pond with a fountain near the entrance where you can sit down and sip even more wine. Likewise, a hot tub and pool sits up on a hill above the rooms, overlooking the gorgeous valley. Another great place to sip that wine.
Get Dinner At Damiana Restaurant
To be clear, you do not visit Valle de Guadalupe for the street food. Sure, you can find that down in Ensenada and a few roadside stops along the wine highway (ruta de vino). But like the wine, the food here is elevated, sophisticated, and damn delicious. And by far our favorite place to eat – and arguably one of the best restaurants in Valle de Guadalupe – is the Michelin-star rated Damiana Restaurant.
Founder/owner Chef Esteban Lluis crafts a 6 course tasting menu for his guests, with everything hand-made and sourced locally from the valley. Each new item that came out elicited the same reaction of, “whoa,” as in “whoa I’ve never had something that delicious before.” We would share a description of the tasting menu – like grilled octopus and braised beef with homemade tortillas – but this would be slightly misleading because a) our descriptions are lackluster and don’t do it justice, and b) the chef adjusts the menu based on the season, available ingredients, and his inspiration. Rest assured, you will be enamored with the food just as we were.
To add to the experience, the restaurant is situated on a small but gorgeous property with a garden in the back. The dining area is glowing with ambient light and decor hanging from the Pirul trees that stretch their branches delicately above your head. The tables and furniture are hand-made, highlighting the attention to detail that Damiana takes to create not just the best food, but the best vibe for their guests.
If it was not obvious, this is not Taco Bell, and you should indeed make reservations here.
Other restaurant recommendations:
1. La Justina Valle
2. Corona Del Valle
Get Back To Hotel And Drink More Wine In Hot Tub
No instructions needed for this one.
We hope…
Get Breakfast At Huevo Republic Restaurante
A evening filled with delicious wine and food demands a morning with even more delicious food, and possibly some breakfast drinks. That is why you should head to Huevo Republic to nurse that hangover, where you can get both your classic American and Mexican breakfasts, like bacon and eggs, or chilaquiles.
Open early and closing late in the afternoon, you will be glad this place exists. If you’re a breakfast fan in general, check out the best breakfast sandwiches in San Diego.
Drive Back Through Tecate
You came down through Tijuana, so it makes sense to head back that way, right? Unless you wish to experience the most stress-inducing, diesel-inhaling, aggressive border crossing for 3-4 hours, our answer is a resounding NO.
Tecate’s border crossing is one line, it is more predictable, and it is (typically) way less people. This does not mean you won’t hit any traffic, but it is night and day compared to the Tijuana border crossing. It does add additional drive time back to San Diego, about one hour, but at least it’s on an open road through the beautiful mountains as opposed to 4 hours spent on a 1/2 mile strip of hell.
We warned you. Here is the route:
