Home > Dunedin > Dunedin Shore Excursion: City Sightseeing with Olveston House Tour
USD $51.00
Dunedin Shore Excursion: City Sightseeing with Olveston House Tour
Dunedin, New Zealand
Discover Dunedin’s roots when your ship is in port on a shore excursion that takes in the city's central sights and historic Olveston House. You’ll see Dunedin’s highlights -- including Otago University on a two-hour sightseeing tour which includes guided tour of the stately Olveston mansion and its landscaped gardens.
While your cruise ship is in port in Dunedin, see the many architectural and cultural highlights of the second-largest city in New Zealand’s South Island on a two-hour sightseeing tour with complimentary transfers to and from the Port of Dunedin.
Your one-hour tour of Olveston House reveals the history behind this 35-room mansion, and details how it was built for a merchant and his familyin the early 20th century. Built in a Jacobean style, and filled with the sumptuous furniture and ornaments collected by the home's wealthy owners, Olveston House is surrounded by century-old trees and manicured lawns. Take a stroll through the gardens before being returned to The Octagon where you will enjoy late morning and early afternoon free time, a spot of shopping and lunch (own expense).
In the afternoon re-board the sightseeing coach listening to informative onboard commentary detailing Dunedin’s history, travel around the city centre and discover how scenic Dunedin is built on a series of hills surrounding a volcanic bay, looking onto the Otago Peninsula. Then see how the city's buildings and roads ring the harbour when you visit the world's steepest street!
Head past Otago University, New Zealand’s first university, and drive past pretty sights like the city's neo-Gothic churches, Edwardian train station, neoclassical town hall, opulent theaters, imposing banks and other grand 19th-century buildings. Then see the beautifully landscaped trees and plants of the Dunedin Botanical Gardens before being returned to Dunedin port.
Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your excursion ends
with ample time for you to return to the Dunedin port for your ship’s
departure. In the extremely unlikely event your ship has departed, we
will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship
is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will
be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
This was a good tour with an expert guide. Olverston House was very good.
Review by: Margaret J, March 2018
Highly recommend this tour especially Olveston House. Driver was experienced and informative.
Review by: Stephen A, February 2018
The guide was fantastic. There was a major delay getting off the ship and the buses were kept waiting for us. The small group, with only 18 on the minibus was also Olveston House was well worth the visit and we enjoyed lunch and our free time in Dunedin, as well as the introductory tour of the City.
Review by: Leslie Clive M, January 2018
Tracey our tour guide was welcoming, friendly and informative. We enjoyed seeing the highlights of Dunedin and Olveston House was very interesting - we really liked the tour of the house and hearing about its history. We would recommend this tour.
Review by: Peter C, January 2018
Well organised. House well worth visiting.
Review by: Navidreza M, January 2018
The guide was informative and friendly. The places we visited were very nice. The tour started on time and we were dropped off on time to get back on the cruise ship. would recommend this tour
Review by: Bruce E, April 2017
Driver was efficient picking us up and giving us information as we drove into Dunedin. Olveston House was excellent. Disappointed that we could not take pictures inside the house, but the furnishings were amazing and the guide was very good. _br/_ We had free time in the city centre - visited the art museum and the Anglican and Presbyterian churches - very interesting and imposing buildings._br/_ The Dunedin Railway station was good. Only drawback was that all the tourist buses were parked in front of the building with the result that we could not get good pictures!_br/_ The sightseeing tour was essentially a two-hour bus ride. I wished we could have gotten off the bus from time to time to see some of the local highlights. However, if you only have a short time, this is one way of getting an overview.
Review by: tina w, March 2017
Olveston house is definitely one to see on your visit here it is totally in tack and the tour really interesting. It was good to have some time in town before the highlight tour a great tour..
Review by: Rhonda H, February 2017
Dunedin - what a town - we will be back! The excursion undertaken was one of the highlights to New Zealand, it was value for money, not rushed and our driver 'Richard' was exceptionally knowledgeable and conveyed it in a way that everyone could understand he must have been a radio announcer in a previous life. we would recommend this excursion to any traveller.
Review by: George C, February 2017
Things were disorganised at the port as we were brusquely sorted into groups. We were taken to Olveston for an excellent one hour guided tour. This is an amazing place. This tour can be taken independently for 20 nz. We were taken into the town centre at 10.45 and told to be at the station by 14.00. This is too long to hang around in Dunedin even with lunch. When we went to the station at 1350 Richard told ùs we would have a long wait for people to join us from another tour They arrived about 1420 but lack of organisation led to two people getting on the wrong bus and another 20 minutes hanging around. We were treated throughout in an offhand manner and Richard clearly wanted to be somewhere else? We took several tours on our time in New Zealand and this was by far the worst. No doubt Viator business will keep the Good Tour company afloat but they need to give themselves a shake and treat cruise passengers better.
Review by: Kaz, February 2017
Booked a coach tour for two elderly ladies. Got picked up from our cruise boat by one bus then rushed through investing house. We didn't even get to see outside in the garden. One of their interests. Then a different driver picked us up and dropped us off on the Shopping Centre for four very long hours. A feet and ankle swelling experience for the feeble old dears. Who had to walk a fair way back to the train station. Our next driver didn't really want to take us on our haha 2hour tour this consisted of a drive around the outskirts of Dunedin, the look out and the way back to the ship. Very expensive taxi ride really. Olvesten house was worth the visit. Pity they rushed us off. Not recommended at all
Review by: sanayhah, January 2017
One of the worst organised tours that we have had the misfortune to be on. Mainly because after we were taken to Olveston House from Port Chalmers and had a look round that, which was fine, we got onto a coach provided by the company and were then told by the driver that we were going to be dumped in the centre of Dunedin and abandoned for half a day, ie three and a half hours. We were told to hang around Dunedin from 1100 till 1430 when we had to make our own way to Dunedin Train Station and look for our sightseeing coach. This was totally unacceptable behaviour by the tour company and at no stage was it explained in the tour details or even by the driver who first picked us up from the ship that we would be dumped by the tour company in the middle of the tour for half a day working day. If we had known in advance we would never have even dreamt of booking this tour.
Review by: sueb, January 2017
Olveston House was wonderful, a beautiful home bought to life by our great guide! The city tour was extensive and very informative. We saw so much of Dunedin. The spare time, approximately 4 hours in the city was great for us as we wanted to do some shopping and take a look at the Station. Our driver was very informative and personalised the drive around the city. Great day out.
Review by: Diane M, November 2016
was a great day
Review by: ogordon7, April 2016
Excellent tour!
Review by: stevet1003, April 2016
We enjoyed visiting the Olveston House with its history and furnishings intact from the 1900's. Sort of a smallish Downton Abbey! We then had a few hours in downtown Dunedin to wonder about and eat lunch before resuming our city tour. We had some excellent viewpoints from the hills about Dunedin to see the city and the countryside. We had a very nice day there!
Review by: Nettie, April 2016
Well organised and punctual. Gave us a real insight to Dunedin and it's surrounds
Review by: Anthony P, April 2016
Excellent tour
Review by: John H, March 2016
Loved Olveston House and the surrounding sights. Well done.
Review by: KEVIN C, March 2016
Great tour we enjoyed it immensley.
Review by: DonnaW, March 2016
An excellent tour of the Otego Peninsula and Olveston House. Great guide and timely sightseeing all around. A very hilly and scenic city. The railway station was beautiful. Time to walk all around the city was valued and enabled visiting sites instead of just driving by them. A very worthwhile tour!
Review by: Pauline B, February 2016
Well organised trip, plenty to see at Olveston House.Unfortunately weather was not kind so did not have much opportunity to view gardens or sight seeing but really pleased we booked the tour
Review by: John R, February 2016
A very interesting and well-presented tour. The highlights of Dunedin were covered, along with a one-hour guided tour to the fascinating Olveston House, which is still as it was when lived in during the 1930's. Not to be missed - a good value tour for an overview of this interesting city.
Review by: elvie, February 2016
enjoyed this tour thoroughly, learned a lot about Dunedin from a very informative guide.
Review by: R CRAIG A, February 2016
It was an outstanding way to experience Dunedin. I highly recommend the Olveston House Tour
Review by: Peter O, February 2016
For lovers of Edwardian style and design this is a must.
Review by: Mary K, February 2016
I was not happy with this tour as after the 1 hour tour of the Olveston House we were dropped at 11am in the City Center and were told we were to be picked up at the Railway Station at 2.55 pm that meant 3.5 hours of walking the shops. I could have been told that I had enough time to take a 90 min. ride on the train but was given no idea what to do in 3.5 hours except have lunch an shop. When I booked my tours I made it clear that I had a back operation and cannot walk for a long time. By 12.30 I was in a hell of a lot of back pain and could not walk any more so till 2.55 I had to sit on a bench in the Railway Station Park and wait fort the coach to pick me up. I tried to get back on every other coach that stopped but none where going to the wharf as by this time I just wanted to get back to the ship and take some pain killers and rest. After this ordeal the rest of my holiday was ruined and I am still suffering the pain from the long useless time in Dunedin. You must make it clear to the customers that there is a 3.5 hours free time as if I knew that in the first place I would not have booked this tour. I hated the rest of the tour as I was in a lot of pain and very angry as well.
Review by: Robert P, January 2016
Olverson House and tour well worth the time. Old Settler's Museum unique and an interesting glimpse at 1890. Our 30th country and Hobart much more interesting than we had anticipated.
Review by: Lynette Joy S, January 2016
Great tour and experience with Good Company Tours. Fantastic guided tour of Olverston house, a good amount of time to explore Diunedin itself before the highly scenic and informative afternoon city sight tour. Tour actually explored more of the district of Dunedin, than just the city. The scenery was beautiful and we were given fantastic historical information.. Would highly recommend Good Company Tours.
Review by: Douglas S, December 2015
This was the best city tour we have done and Olveston House was wonderful
Review by: flockhound, December 2015
Brilliant Tour. The viewing of Olveston House was a real insight to the way of life for the wealthy people back in history. The house is preserved in it's original condition complete with furnishings and decor. The City tour was interesting and informative. For a short time in Dunedin as a cruise visitor this trip gave a genuine feel for the place, one of the nicest ports of call. A break was built into the tour to allow time to explore the City centre should you wish to do so. Great value and efficient booking and organisation.
Review by: zorro, November 2015
This is a great tour for the price. Our tour guide provided an excellent Dunedin city tour after we finished visiting the house. The house is gorgeous.
Review by: Susan D, November 2015
Excellent trip to Olveston House with driver/guide Adele, who saw us settled into the house with the volunteer house guide. She then went out of her way to take us to the Botanic Gardens and collected us afterwards for a drive back to our ship. Very good service, very good company, very good value.
Review by: Melinda C, November 2015
Wonderful guide!
Review by: victoria p, October 2015
Very good value for money. Easy to find driver when we got off ship. Everyone involved was very nice. I personally found the trip too long since I had been to Dunedin before and did not need so much independent time in town. Would have been nice to have an option for returning to ship earlier. Really loved the tour of Ovelston House.
Review by: Max B, June 2015
Interesting tour
Review by: Anthony, April 2015
Great value for money we were on a cruise and were collected from the port and returned in time for our departure. We were taken to Dunedin first then we transferred to a smaller vehicle and visited Olveston House and were given a very informative tour of the house by our guide. We then went to Dunedin where we had time to walk round the city at our own pace before we then went onto another bus for a tour round the area. The whole excursion was well organised and the staff were helpful and informative.
Review by: Shimon G, March 2015
Very nice tour, the people who are running the tour company were very friendly and informative.
Review by: Don C, March 2015
Friendly and informative tour which was well organised and good value.
Review by: Brian C, March 2015
This was a great tour for someone who had a limited time to explore Dunedin and to see the beautiful Olverston house._br/_
Our guide was very knowledge and provided an excellent commentary on the history and sights of the town
Review by: Peter R, March 2015
Olveston house is wonderful. The amount of time we were given (on our own) in the city was a wee bit long. This tour could and should be shortened. Very enjoyable.
Review by: Steven A, February 2015
The tour was separated into two parts. The Olveston House tour was interesting and lasted about 1 1/2 hour. After a lunch break on our own, which also allowed us to walk through the CBD with shops, restaurants, etc. we visited the nearby Cadbury Chocolate Factory. We then met the bus for the afternoon city sightseeing tour. Dunedin was an interesting small town.
Review by: Eric J, January 2015
A must see place including the now retired railway station.
Review by: Peter W, April 2014
guides magnificent. reccomend
Review by: Thomas W, April 2014
Good tour.
Review by: Delphine M, March 2014
We had only 6 people (I think) on the tour of Olveston House. A wonderful experience, especially as being a small group. Others arrived and were rushed through all the rooms. Our driver allowed us plenty of time to see everything. Our driver then took us for an extensive drive around Dunedin. Beautiful place.
Review by: Judith B, February 2014
Very much enjoyed our tour of Olveston House and Dunedin. Your staff were friendly and well-organised and there were no delays at any point in our transfers. Thank you all for an informative and enjoyable time._br/_
Keith and Judy Bell
Review by: Cheryl P, February 2014
Our day did not start well for this excursion. It was confusing at the Port Chalmers wharf for the pick up. The company tried to pick up people that had signed up for different tours - ie our tour + people going on the train ride and city tour. Everyone had not been given the same pick up location. Some were directed to the tourist information I site which was close to the wharf and others had been directed to the private tour sign directly by the ship. The driver himself was very confused as to how many people he was suppose to have and in the end couldn't find 2 people. At last we left the wharf and headed into Dunedin where the driver had to first deliver the train people to the station and then go to his company's spot to pick up someone else. Eventually we got to the Olveston House. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour! It was quite a fascinating look at life in the early 1900's in Dunedin. Following the tour a different driver picked us up to be dropped downtown for a few hours of free time. Confusion again! This driver thought he was to pick up 7 people but the first driver had dropped 9 of us! I specifically mentioned this twice to the driver but he insisted that since he had 7 people on board he was going now. I offered to go and get the other 2 but he left. Fortunately it wasn't a long walk into town for the 2 people but this should not have happened! We had been instructed to meet our first driver at the railway station and from there he gave us about an hour tour of the area along the coast. We quite enjoyed Russell's commentary. If I was rating the tour itself I would give it a higher rating as we quite enjoyed the make up of the day - loved the built in free time! I dropped the rating down because of the confusion surrounding the pickups!
Review by: pamela PORTER p, February 2014
The best tour ,value for money, and shows how beautiful Dunedin is . Our driver was super and told us so much,highly recommend this tour is for everyone thank you pamela Porter australia
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