Home > Picton > Shore Excursion: Highlights of Marlborough from Picton
USD $88.00
Shore Excursion: Highlights of Marlborough from Picton
Picton, New Zealand
Enjoy a 4-5 hour fun tour with a local chauffeur/guide departing from the Port of Picton with a scenic journey to the Marlborough Wine region. Taste award winning local wines, delicious gourmet treats and view stunning landscapes as you travel from place to place.
Each cellar door offers unique styles and of course some famous Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. There is time to visit 3-4 wineries on your tour.
Savour local cuisine in a winery garden café or enjoy a wine with a cheese, meat, seafood platter overlooking the stunning Wairau Valley.
Returning to Picton in plenty of time for your ships scheduled departure you might like to include a short return drive to see spectacular views from a great look out of Picton Port, your ship and the sparkling Queen Charlotte Sound.
The Port of Picton in the Queen Charlotte Sound welcomes cruise ships throughout the season and it is a lovely seaside spot to explore. Just 25 minutes south of Picton, your tour takes you on a scenic journey to enjoy the famous Marlborough wine region.
The most popular highlights of the day are wine tasting, sampling local gourmet treats and the spectacular scenic routes of the Wairau Valley while travelling to and from the most beautiful winery gardens and cellar doors.
Experience gourmet treats of cheese tasting, manuka honey, oils, liqueurs, a refreshing gelato or decadent fudge. If time allows you can also request a stop at the Omaka Air Museum where you can view Peter Jackson’s amazing displays of his classic aircraft. The tour can continue and your chauffeur/guide will return in approximately one hour to pick you up from the Air Museum.
Seasonal produce is also available at roadside stalls from December through to February. You can take these aboard but must eat them before you disembark. You can buy juicy strawberries, cherries, apricots, and nectarines.
Although your cruise ship caters well for you, a light tapas or cheese/meat/seafood platter with matching wines is a great way to experience the local cuisine. Your tour guide arranges a picturesque winery garden or a chateau high on a hill with magnificent views for your pleasure.
Generally tours are from 4-5 hours but we keep flexibility in schedules for each ship and cater for passengers comfort and requirements. You travel in comfortable, small personal vehicles of 6 or 11 seats and will return to your ship at least 2 hours prior to your scheduled departure.
Before leaving Blenheim you can visit the Makana Boutique Chocolate Confections – a treat not to be missed.
For a highlight to end a wonderful day when we arrive back in Picton, why not take advantage of a short 15 minute return drive from the township to the Victoria Domain for high vantage views of Picton Port, Queen Charlotte Sound and your ship.
Your chauffeur/guide is a local owner who has great passion for the Marlborough region, and looks forward to sharing it all with you.
Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your excursion ends with ample time for you to return to the Picton 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 to this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
We had the best day ever! The tour guide was excellent and nothing was too much trouble! We saw the beautiful surrounding countryside and even called into two wineries, one of them our favourite wine Cloudy Bay. I would definately recommend this tour and our booking with Viator was easy and made the day perfect.
Review by: Regina W, April 2018
This was great. Pam the owner was our driver and gave marvelous commentary. It was a very interesting tour and stopped at three wineries, a chocolate factory, and some other sights. Pam dropped four of us at the Peter Jackson museum of flight and airplane collection from WWI and WWII. That was outstanding. Paid our own admission. She took the other people on a tour of the town and picked us up later. It was a great day.
Review by: William C, March 2018
Terrific tour....Pamela is knowledgeable, thoughtful, and friendly. Obviously, loves guiding strangers through the lovely wine country of Marlborough and showing visitors the beauty of her homeland. For cruise ships passengers, I highly recommend this small group 8 people in ours tour in a comfy large van rather than one of the 30-40 person megatours with everybody piled into a coach aka a bus to most Americans.
Review by: eykeynes, March 2018
I was unwell and couldn't go on the tour, but my travelling partner told me it was excellent.
Review by: katrina_mesic, March 2018
We were fortunate enough to do this tour with a company called, Your Local Chauffeur. Our driver was Paul and he was a delightful man with a gift of hospitality. His commentary was very informative and by the end of our tour we were sad to part with him. We visited four wineries - had a delicious lunch at one in a beautiful garden setting, with laden grapevines above us, providing us with generous shade. We also visited a local chocolate factory. The salted caramel chocolate is amazing! We also drove along side Queen Charlotte Sound and the views of the vast expanse of water, rolling hills, vineyards, etc was absolutely stunning. We took some great photos from one of many look outs and from one that overlooked our ship, The Ovation of the Seas. Picton is a very picturesque and pretty place, but if you are arriving by ship, do yourself justice and book a tour of the Marlborough wine region. You wont be disappointed. Nor do you have to be a wine-guru to enjoy this tour. My brother accompanied us on this tour and he never drinks wine, but he still found learning about all of the different grape varieties, wines, the history of the vineyards that we visited and the tastings very interesting.
Review by: lesleydudson, February 2018
The rating for this tour is down to unforeseen circumstances outside the control of our Tour Guide. Two guests were 30 minutes late and another asked to be taken back to our cruise ship from the furthest point of the tour which lost us more time. Our tour guide Pamela did her very best to overcome these problems. Our visit to the first Winery St. Clair was very good but Hunters Winery was disappointing as the tasting staff appeared to show no interest whatsoever. Enjoyed the short visit to a chocolate factory and only just made it back to Picton in time for the last shuttle bus.
Review by: Carolyn L, February 2018
Beautiful scenery and very relaxing. The winery staff are all friendly and entertaining.
Review by: Terry S, February 2018
Pamela was great. She was informative and flexible.
Review by: Ann-Maree R, February 2018
We had a fantastic fun day with our tour group. Paul the tour guide and driver made it a memorable day. He went above and beyond. Nothing was to much trouble. We visited 3 winery's , generous taste testings. Also went to a chocolate factory and had a delicious lunch at another winery. The scenery was spectacular through the wine region and Queen Charlotte Sound with lots of photo opportunities. Definitely would recommend this tour.
Review by: Pat D, February 2018
This tour was a highlight of our trip. Very personalized with the owner Pamela meeting us at the departure point and introducing us to Neill our guide for the day. He was excellent with his knowledge of the wineries and countryside on our trip. The chocolate tasting and cheese shop were enjoyable as was lunch at one of the wineries. We had plenty of time to rejoin our ship. A great day.
Review by: terrimanfredi, January 2018
Picton-
Review by: y.boyes, January 2018
We had the most wonderful journey with this company.Set off with the farewell from the owner Pamela. Great attention to detail._br/_ The day was sensational with the small group and experience of driver. He was very courteous and helpful. Visited four wineries with the mast being lunch. Never felt pressured to get in the van. Added extras were a stop for chocolate tasting and a cherry buy top. Fabulous and we highly recommend this company.
Review by: DOUGLAS F, January 2018
Pamela was our tour guide, and one of the best we have ever had. She grew up in the area and is so knowledgeable, personable, and passionate about the area. We went to four wineries for tastings, which were all wonderful! Then on to another winery for lunch on the terrace which was again, wonderful, the food was incredible! Then on to a city tour of Blenheim, stopped at a chocolate shop for a tasting, then on to Marlborough Sound which is truly beautiful! She wanted to take us to more places but we were all getting tired as we were going on 5-6 hours, so we went back to the ship. This was a nice small group tour, and Pamela was flexible with options of what to see and do after the wine tasting, etc. This was one of the best shore excursions of our cruise! Highly recommended!
Review by: Andrew G, January 2018
Excellent tour of wineries and Picton surrounds
Review by: Linda M, January 2018
Paul our driver was informative about the area and the wineries. The 1st winery offered a cheese tasting in the gift shop, very very small cubes of the cheeses, Would have been better if the cheese had been offered with the wine tasting. We were late arriving at the 3rd winery as they were closing for the day so completely missed out. We were allowed to go to the top of the tower and take photos but that was it. _br/_ Had dinner at a lovely pub in Havenlock, called the Captains Daughter, lovely fresh food, I didn't hear anyone from our group complaining._br/_ On the way back to the ship Paul stopped for us to take photos, and once again informative in relation to the areas./towns we passing through.
Review by: barbaratore1, January 2018
Our tour was wonderful and tour guide Paul was fantastic! We were in a small vehicle and Paul took us all around the area and even added in the beach and coastline. We stopped at three wineries had lunch and a rive around the area. Very enjoyable day.
Review by: prof.ginsburg, January 2018
Terrific excursion and much better that what was offered by the cruiseline and at a much better price
Review by: tranmplinh, December 2017
We were on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and went on the Marlborough Highlights tour on the 27th December. Overall it was a good trip, we went to visit 3 wineries and got to taste a lot of wine. However the wine wasn't excellent, there's so much acid in the wine as it's all newly produced 2016 and 2017- the visit was good but you should check which wineries you are going to and which year it is produced- because it matters. Our driver and tour guide was a lovely old man, he is knowledgable and was keen on telling us about the town!
Review by: Anne C, December 2017
Spectacular views
Review by: Melanie F, December 2017
I booked my tour ahead of arrival, when we arrive for tour we had to wait for an hour for them to book more people to come. Pamela was ready for us to go to wineries but we booked for highlights of the city, I wished we could of spent more time stopping to get pictures. It was a good tour but was hoping for a little more.
Review by: Martin C, December 2017
Good, friendly driver, very informative. A longer day than I imagined. Visited 4 wineries and had lunch at additional cost._br/_ Quite expensive for what it was.
Review by: Thomas S, December 2017
Great tour in a small group._br/_ Great tour of the wine country and surounding areas, with many wine tasting stops, including a cheese and chocolate tasting stop._br/_ Our driver was very curtious and a whealth of information.
Review by: Sonny, December 2017
My wife and I took the winery's tour with a team called Local Chauffeur booked through Viator. There was only four of us plus Paul the driver so it was a very comfortable group. It goes without saying that these type of excursions either work or don't by the people involved. We were off a cruise ship so a little apprehensive about meeting the ship schedule. Pamela who seems to own the business was just sensational making sure we were all well looked after and confident that we would not be left in Picton. Paul, well he was a seriously good bloke, not only knowledgeable and caring but a bit of a wag, bubbly and full of good will. For us the excursion was terrific and the wine was pretty interesting as well!
Review by: Janine M, December 2017
A relaxing day of wine and scenery. We visited five wineries, had a lovely lunch, enjoyed our guide, Neil. I left my visor on the bus and Pamela went out of her way to help me retrieve it. Thank YOU! Please note - the cost of lunch is NOT included in the tour. There was a couple on the bus who thought it was, although it's disclosed everywhere. None the less, we had a lovely lunch, made new friends and throughly enjoyed our surroundings. A great day!
Review by: Ralph O, November 2017
We really enjoyed the tour. We were in a small group. We visited several nice wineries for tasting where we were the only group there at the time and we had a simple but nice lunch at one. This was a very pleasant tour. The only down side was that our driver, who was our guide between stops, was very soft spoken and did not have a microphone. We essentially did not hear anything he said between stops.
Review by: Julie A M, August 2017
Great travel guide who made the day a lot of fun. Beautiful countryside and great visit to the vineyard for lunch
Review by: Barbara Y, April 2017
Pamela, our guide is knowledgeable and always seemed to have your best interests at heart. Not only did we travel to 2 wineries but once there were given excellent service and an knowledgeable explanation of the wines of the region. She then took us to a lovely place for lunch. She made sure that our stops were not big bus stops this made our trip very pleasant since we didn't have crowds to deal with.
Review by: bug, March 2017
Good experience !
Review by: travel, March 2017
Picton was amazing. Chloe was an excellent local guide. Vehicle was beautiful as was the countryside. Did wine tasting, had a great lunch, saw waterfalls and beautiful scenery. A very good value.
Review by: Danni, March 2017
The tour and guide were great, we went on Boxing so that limited the wineries we could go to but it was still a great day.
Review by: Danni, March 2017
The tour and guide were great, we went on Boxing so that limited the wineries we could go to but it was still a great day.
Review by: Nick H, February 2017
We enjoyed the day with Pamela, she is a very knowledgeable local who loves the area. The wineries were great, too expensive for me though!
Review by: James R, February 2017
An excellent day out with an informative and charming guide. The wineries we visited were boutique, interesting and there was no pressure to purchase on the day. An added bonus was a visit to the chocolate factory where no pressure was needed to want to buy their products ! A great introduction to the Marlborough wineries of NZ.
Review by: Kate, February 2017
The tour with Pamela was fantastic! She made it so relaxed and enjoyable going around to all of the wineries and then even took us for an extra trip out to see the beach and to a couple of viewing points of the beach and the sound. She did this as an extra when one of the other guests on the tour asked about it and, as a local, she was genuinely excited to show us all of the beautiful locations her hometown has to offer. Great excursion!
Review by: Monica W, January 2017
Pamela and her other tour guides were very warm, friendly and informative of Picton and the wineries we visited._br/_ The presentations at the wineries were delightful and their passion for their wine was infectious._br/_ Thankyou for a great day. It is now confirmed . . . . _br/_ I haven't met a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that I didn't Like :o :o :o _br/_ Cheers Moni
Review by: Alexandra G, January 2017
Guide/driver Pamelawas excellent. Enjoyed wine tour very much. Very pleasant day out.
Review by: Tony H, May 2016
Picton was great. Good wine tour and visit the heritage air museum.
Review by: trevor b, April 2016
already submitted a review
Review by: Elisa F, April 2016
The tour guide was a local person and gave a very personal tour of the wineries and surrounding areas. Small group and we felt very welcome.
Review by: George C, March 2016
Pamela our local tour lady is amazing. She grew up there. Knows the area inside out. Wine tour is fantastic. Excellent choice of vineyards. The lunch restaurant she took us to was a must. It was a beautiful vineyard/restaurant. The food was out of this world and price is cheap. The chocolate shop and local highlights were great. You will need a local person like Pamela to show you. Don't waste your money with cruise ship. You will not be disappointed it with Pamela and her crew. Thank you Pamela for a wonderful day and memory.
Review by: Malcolm S, March 2016
Excellent tour. Well organised and very informative.
Review by: kenlbenoit, March 2016
Enjoyable wine tour.... for sure! The tour operator did a great job showing us the area and made a point to get to know his guests. The trip went as presented, was relaxing, and a lot of fun! A Good Value!
Review by: DonnaW, March 2016
already submitted
Review by: Sheila T, March 2016
The wineries on this tour were only okay. I did not enjoy the amount of time we spent looking at architecture in the area. With all the wineries in the Marlborough area we could have gone to one that was further away from town. The two we went to were right on the out skirts of town.
Review by: leoyau71, March 2016
The tour provided a very good mix of wineries, sightseeing, shopping, and a visit to a chocolate factory. The tour guide, Pam, was fabulous. Would highly recommend.
Review by: nana2, March 2016
Pamela March tour owner worked so hard to make this tour a success. Only problem was not really a small group tour. Each minivan bus crowded and hot and two busses traveling together made 22 people in each stop not what we had expected. However, Winery tours were wonderful and lunch stop very good. Cheese tasting a joke as barely a morsel to taste. Chocolate factory great. All in all a good day just not exactly what we had envisioned.
Review by: Julie A M, February 2016
Fanatastic. We missed the bus and everyone went out of their way to see that we rejoined our group. Fantastic lunch at a vineyard. Very informative and interesting information along the way. Highly recommend.
Review by: Alexis D, February 2016
It took us a little while to get going on the day due to larger than normal numbers booking the tour I understand. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the size of the group. It was certainly a much more personalised tour than many and Pamela went out of her way to ensure the needs of all the group were accommodated. We certainly had some laughs and I wish Pamela and the team all the very best.
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