Hunter Valley Wineries and Wilderness Small-Group Tour

Sydney, Australia

Take a day trip from Sydney to tour the beautiful Hunter Valley and learn about Australia's pioneering history. You'll visit boutique wineries, sample wines, chocolate and cheese, see native animals at the Australian Reptile Park and enjoy a gourmet lunch at a vineyard cafe.

You will begin the day with a visit to the award winning Australian Reptile Park. The park is home to creatures great and small, slippery and scaly, fluffy and furry. One of the most important functions of the park is the collection of venom from a vast array of snakes and spiders to make antivenins that save human lives. Enjoy a morning tea and meet and greet the animals.

Next you will travel along the Great North Road, built by convicts in the early 1800's to provide a route from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, passing through the historic town of Wollombi and on to the first of the three winery visits of the day.

With more than 120 wineries, the Hunter Valley produces excellent wines, loved both locally and abroad. Today you will sample the local vintages and learn how to tell the difference between chardonnay and a pinot noir!

The day ends with a trip to Pokolbin for a tasting of artisan cheeses and chocolates, before returning back to the city

USD $192.84

Review by: Janet D	March 2011
Small group enjoyed a trip via the reptile farm for close ups with a koala and kangaroos amongst other animals and then through some lanes where we saw kangaroos in the wild. Wines were tasted at broken Ridge, rather too many without any dry biscuits or something else to mop up some of the alcohol, then lunch at Hunter valley resort with more wine and then another winery before stopping at a rather overpriced chocolate and cheese shop, very sleepy on the way back! Arangements good in terms of pick up etc, wineries mainly large corporate type although last a bit smaller. Personally could have done without the chocolate/cheese stop but on the whole a good tour.

Review by: Laura	March 2011
This was a wonderful tour that helped acquaint me with the wines of Hunter Valley. The tour guide/van driver picked me up at the appointed time at my hotel and was a knowledgeable and entertaining guide for the entire 9 hour trip to several wineries, wild animal park and a delightful lunch.

Review by: HSUN-JEN H	December 2010
One word sums it up... Excellent

Review by: Bevin D	October 2010
Great day Vanessa our bus driver was excellent. we had only 6 people on our trip. The day did seem rather rushed, even though we were all on time for the pickup which put us ahead of time. This meant we were back in Sydney early. I would rather have had more time at the Wild Life and Reptile Park. That was a high light for us.

Review by: William F, United States of America	July 2009
A great day though the wineries. However they didn't make it clear about how easy or not it is to ship wines abroad.

Review by: Jason F, United States of America	June 2009
This was very enjoyable, and our tour guide was excellent. There were only two couples on the tour, and it wasn't cancelled due to the small group, for which we were thankful. We saw the beautiful country and tasted excellent wine and cheese. The meal was okay. We didn't care that much for the food, but that was personal taste. We also learned a lot about Australia and the area.

Review by: Stephanie K, Canada	May 2009
This was a really fun tour. Feeding the kangaroos was great, and the tour guide was very good. We got to taste more wines than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. The stop at the chocolate factory was not really worth it, in my opinion.

Review by: Kristina F, United States of America	March 2009
The tour was nice. The chocolate stop was very lame. I recommend either not having it as part of the tour or doing something more substantial, even just some explanation as to how chocolate is made. One additional winery stop would be nice too. But the countryside was great, the tour guide did a very nice job, and the wineries we visited were very professional.

Review by: David L, United States of America	February 2009
Wineries were good and fun. Liked the cheese and chocolate tastings. Excellent lunch. Terrible pickup scheduling...we spent a bit more than 1 hour driving back and forth through Sydney to the various hotels. It was awful, and even the driver was very frustrated. As a result, the rest of the trip was very hurried. Whoever was making up the route has no clue about where the various hotels are. Given the poor roads, you really need to use better riding buses...we bounced badly, with a couple of guests getting motion sickness. Liked the stop at Dr. Jurg's, but it was too hurried. Great driver/tour guide. I believe that your advertisement indicated 30 wines to be tasted, we probably only did about 12. Liked the reptile place, but again, the visit was too short, most likely because of the pickup issues.

Review by: Richard W, United Kingdom	November 2008
Good but rushed tasting sessions.

Review by: Abraham Jacobus O, South Africa	July 2008
Excellent!

Review by: Yvonne K, Singapore	March 2008
This was the highlight of our 9-day honeymoon in Australia! I have not the foggiest how much wine we gobbled up but our taste buds were extremely satisfied throughout the whole trip._br /__br /_The driver / tour guide really made all the difference to the trip with his great sense of humour and stories. We had another similar day tour in Barossa Valley, Adelaide, with another tour operator a few days later and did not have the same enjoyable experience as we had at Hunter Valley. I also recommend this for those who prefer a smaller tour group to the big coach tours. Pricing would most likely be cheaper than the private tours which I have been on a previous trip and you would receive similar experiences._br/__br /_The morning trip to Calga Springs Sanctuary was a refreshing and delightful experience for us. Something not to be missed if you visit Australia! Many thanks for making our trip a great one!

Review by: Tze Yi K	March 2008
This was the highlight of our 9-day honeymoon in Australia! I have not the foggiest how much wine we gobbled up but our taste buds were extremely satisfied throughout the whole trip._br /__br /_The driver / tour guide really made all the difference to the trip with his great sense of humour and stories. We had another similar day tour in Barossa Valley, Adelaide, with another tour operator a few days later and did not have the same enjoyable experience as we had at Hunter Valley. I also recommend this for those who prefer a smaller tour group to the big coach tours. Pricing would most likely be cheaper than the private tours which I have been on a previous trip and you would receive similar experiences._br/__br /_The morning trip to Calga Springs Sanctuary was a refreshing and delightful experience for us. Something not to be missed if you visit Australia! Many thanks for making our trip a great one!

Review by: Peter E, Switzerland	December 2007
The driver was knowledgeable and entertaining. The wine tasting was professional and informative. We gained a greater appreciation of wine enjoyment while having a comfortable and excellent tour around such a beautiful region. Definitely Top Rating!

Review by: Gillian P, United Kingdom	December 2007
This was a brilliant day, tasted loads of different wine and saw some lovely countryside.

Review by: Gill	December 2007
This was a brilliant day, tasted loads of different wine and saw some lovely countryside.

Review by: Graham G, United Kingdom	October 2007
Friendly and knowledgeable driver/guide. Good wineries visited with generous tastings!!

Review by: Lynne S, New Zealand	October 2007
An awesome day with great company. The experience was made even more enjoyable by the wonderful tour guide/driver. He provided great commentary and a wonderful sense of humour.

Review by: Hilary G	October 2007
Friendly and knowledgeable driver/guide. Good wineries visited with generous tastings!!

Review by: Ian W, United Kingdom	April 2007
A long day, but brilliant driver/guide and the extra bits on the way to the wine tasting absolutely worth it.

Review by: Liz P, United States of America	November 2006
This wasn't just a wine tour - this was a culinary, historical, wine and wildlife adventure for the senses. I chilled with kangaroos, emus, and wallabies at a wildlife sanctuary. Up close and personal with the animals feeding them and giving them hugs. The guide in our mini-bus (quite comfy actually) gave us an extensive history lesson on all things Australian. I even walked on the original Convict Road on our way up to the Hunter Valley. His knowledge has even prompted me to ask all my Aussie friends where they descended from. The Hunter Valley was beautiful. We hit three very different wineries that allowed for a range of experiences - a large family-owned, a corporate-owned and a small boutique winery. I bought wine all around and had smiles throughout the private tastings at each winery. The tastings included Semillon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, and Desert Wines to name a few. The lunch was a class act with small plates of meat, cheese and vegetables and yes, more wine (obvvviousslllyyy). We also had a delicious cheese tasting at the boutique winery paired perfectly with their wines. And of course I must not forget the roadhouse and chocolate shop stops. Two thumbs up, a must-do for a day outside of Sydney.

Review by: Kelly G, United States of America	November 2006
My official review: This was a really fun tour. Our guide was really knowledgeable about Australian history, which made the drive out to the Hunter Valley educational and interesting. We stopped at an animal reserve to see kangaroos and other native animals, which was cool. The wineries we visited were great and we learned a ton about Australian wine. _br /_ My non-official review: I loved Coopers so much that I shipped out a case of their wine. Seriously. Everyone on the tour was like, crazy American girl shipping out cases of wine.

Review by: Anonymous	November 2006
This wasn't just a wine tour - this was a culinary, historical, wine and wildlife adventure for the senses. I chilled with kangaroos, emus, and wallabies at a wildlife sanctuary. Up close and personal with the animals feeding them and giving them hugs. The guide in our mini-bus (quite comfy actually) gave us an extensive history lesson on all things Australian. I even walked on the original Convict Road on our way up to the Hunter Valley. His knowledge has even prompted me to ask all my Aussie friends where they descended from. The Hunter Valley was beautiful. We hit three very different wineries that allowed for a range of experiences - a large family-owned, a corporate-owned and a small boutique winery. I bought wine all around and had smiles throughout the private tastings at each winery. The tastings included Semillon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, and Desert Wines to name a few. The lunch was a class act with small plates of meat, cheese and vegetables and yes, more wine (obvvviousslllyyy). We also had a delicious cheese tasting at the boutique winery paired perfectly with their wines. And of course I must not forget the roadhouse and chocolate shop stops. Two thumbs up, a must-do for a day outside of Sydney.