Page 96 - 2019 Travel Guide to California

GILROY
Year-round foodie retreat
»EAT, PLAY,
WINE-TASTE,
HIKE
Gilroy Visitor
Information
visitgilroy.com
THIS SANTA CLARA COUNTY city is
well known as the Garlic Capital of the
World, but the annual festival that cele-
brates the pungent plant is only one of
Gilroy’s many attractions. With year-round
garlic, a wealth of wineries, miles of trails,
amusement parks full of gardens and agri-
cultural mastery, there is plenty in Gilroy to
please everyone in the family.
PREPARING THE FEAST at the Gilroy
Garlic Festival, above; enjoying tasting all
along the Wine Trail, below.
Road to Garlic
Dedicated garlic heads come to the Gilroy
Garlic Festival the last full weekend of July (July
26-28, 2019). The three-day celebration of food
and drink, music, arts and family entertain-
ment is where festival-goers consume up to
two tons of garlic each year—in the form of siz-
zling calamari and scampi, pepper steak
sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, garlic bread
and garlic fries. The recently launched Road to
Garlic map helps visitors find great garlic offer-
ings 12 months of the year at 40 different
shops, restaurants and other attractions, from
the Garlic Twirl ride at Gilroy Gardens to Gilroy
Garlic Festival dishes at Mama Mia’s Ristorante
Italiano to the many forms of garlic items at
Garlic World. There are even six different loca-
tions in town that serve garlic ice cream.
94 2019 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
B Y J I L L K. R O B I N S O N
World of Wine
Gilroy is also part of one of California’s
oldest wine-growing regions and is home
to more than 30 family-owned wineries
and tasting rooms. The wayfinding signs
along the Santa Clara Valley Wine Trail
help oenophiles and first-time tasters to
award-winning wines, beautiful vineyard
views and a casual atmosphere that makes
wine tasting fun and not intimidating.
Download the Wine Trail Map for your
adventure (visitgilroy.com/wineries), and
find the best options for your personal
tasting tour.
Welcome Center
Long a trusted stop for visitors to find
helpful maps and guides as well as fun
mementos and coupon offerings from local
wineries, the Gilroy Welcome Center
morphs into a California Welcome Center
in 2019. As the only one in the Silicon
Valley area and just one of three on the Cen-
tral Coast, the California Welcome Center
in Gilroy continues to provide information
that enhances travelers’ experiences,
including suggestions on where to eat,
what to see and where to stay.
VISIT GILROY