An hour or so north of Wellington, Martinborough is fast making a name for itself as one of the Southern Hemisphere’s leading wine regions. Each weekend, Wellingtonians make the trek over the Remutakas to escape to this European-style wine village. This small group tour is a convenient way to visit Martinborough. There’s no need to stress about driving on country backroads, and no need to plan the day’s itinerary - leaving you to focus on the wine and the iconic scenery.

Get to know local vinters with a cellar door tasting or a sit down experience
Your guide knows which wineries are worth the visit and when their cellar doors are open
Even if you spit during your wine tastings, it’s safest not to drink and drive
Don’t stress about logistics: your guide takes care of all cellar door and wine tasting fees

What's Included

GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Wine tasting
Live commentary on board
Tour escort/host/driver/guide
Private transportation
Alcoholic Beverages
Air-conditioned vehicle

Lunch (optional - time permitting)

Meeting And Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

Wellington isite Visitor Information Centre
111 Wakefield Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
Tour departs from the Tour Pick Up Zone opposite and/ or in front of the Amora Hotel next to the Wellington i-SITE at 1000. Please confirm your pick up destination with Zozo Travel at least 24 hours before departure.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

10:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

For hotel pick up please wait for your Zozo Travel driver guide in the lobby or main hotel entrance. For cruise pick up please wait at the Private Tour Waiting Area at the cruise terminal. DO NOT get on cruise shuttle. For specific pick up time and locations please contact Zozo Travel directly.

What To Expect

Muirlea Rise

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Poppies Martinborough

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Moy Hall Vineyard

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Minimum drinking age is 18 years
Stroller accessible

Near public transportation
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 11 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Leanne_B

Weather was beautiful, wine, food and venues were amazing. We had a small group of 4 but we had so much fun. Aaron our tour guide was so informative. I loved he’s historic stories to the ‘this is how it is now’ stories

Reviews

5.0

211 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 211 reviews

Great Wine & Company

Kay_C, May 2023

Excellent day out! Highly recommend. Simon, our friendly tour leader, was a serious contributor to a fantastic experience. Great knowledge on Martinborogh's wine growing industry.

Response from Host, May 2023

Thanks for the wonderful feedback Kay and delighted to hear you enjoyed the tour. You kind words will be passed onto Simon who will be glad to hear your positive comments.

A Tour for Pinot lovers

Roberta_R, May 2023

What an amazing day! Phil was great ~ telling us things about NZ, the countryside & of course WINE that we did not know!! We went to 3 different vineyards & had lunch in town at an amazing restaurant! I ❤️ Pinot noir and if you do too, this is definitely the tour for you! And who knew ~ you should drink Chardonnay at room temp!!

Response from Host, May 2023

Thanks for another wonderfully positive review Roberta. It was pleasure yo host you and Jack for the day and I'm glad it was such an enjoyable and educational day out for you both.

Enjoyable Day!

Kim_M, May 2023

We had a lovely day. Our tour guide Aaron was very knowledgeable and added to the overall pleasant experience.

Response from Host, May 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback Kim. Glad you enjoyed the (half) day out with Aaron in Martinborough.

Nice wine and interesting presentations

Deryck_J, Apr 2023

The wine part of the tour was really good and particularly enjoyed hearing the experiences and information that was presented. The guide was informative and friendly and there was a very nice and interesting group of people doing the tour. The only thing that let it down was the (optional lunch) which actually wasn’t optional. I only finished breakfast at 9.30am and at 12pm we were sat down in a restaurant. I was going to give the food a miss but the wine tasting was done at the table. Also as they only served sharing platters and I was on my own I had to each for two.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thanks for the great feedback and glad you enjoyed the tour. I'm not sure where the confusion has arisen regarding the optional lunch as it is very much optional. The wine tasting is done at the table for this stop regardless of whether guests opt to buy lunch and often there is a mix of those who and don't.

Lacked a commentary

Marion_H, Apr 2023

The wineries were great and the staff obviously very knowledgeable about their range of wines. The choice of wineries was very good and each very different. Simon our driver was very knowledgeable about wine. However we felt he missed a trick about commentary on our drive to and from the vineyards, unless asked he didn’t offer and any information about the scenery/area etc. After all he had 8 English and 2 Australians in his group.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Sorry to hear that your Martinborough Winery Tour experience with us was not up to a 5 Star standard. Simon and all our Zozo Travel driver guides have extensive local knowledge to share with guests on tour and on this occasion Simon has mis-read the room and not engaged with guests as much as he should have. We do encourage our driver guides to make sure that all our guests get that 5 Star experience and that is not always the same for everyone. After feedback from Simon he has suggested he mis-read the dynamic of the group and not been forward enough with presenting information to those interested. We appreciate the feedback and will work on improving that in the future. Rest assured Simon has a wealth of information on both the Wellington and Wairarapa regions and is happy to share! Glad to hear you enjoyed he winery component of the tour so much and once again thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts.

If you wanna taste...

Haeyoung_L, Apr 2023

If you wanna taste different type of wines in a beautiful scenery, you should make it. Town is beautiful and Simon (our guide) was perfect!

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your review and delighted to hear the whole experience was so enjoyable.

It was a great experience and the driver was top notch. Simon was professional and knowledgeable and a superb driver.

John_T, Apr 2023

Simon, our driver, made the trip memorable. The group we were with were also friendly and good company. The selection of wineries was great.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thanks John. Great to hear you enjoyed the day out. I've passed on your wonderful feedback to Simon as well! Cheers.

A must do tour from Wellington

Leanne_B, Apr 2023

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your review Leanne and for the great feedback about Aaron which has been passed on to him. Delighted to hear the day was so enjoyable.

A memorable experience....

AnthonyP, Apr 2023

Nice variety of wineries. Really liked the small boutique one. Guide was knowledgeable with a good sense of humor.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Thanks for the review Anthony. Glad you liked the day and enjoyed some of the wonderful wines that our boutique producers put out.

Wonderful wine tour!

Tricia_H, Mar 2023

We all loved the experience! Great trying the different wineries’ wines. Lunch at Moy Hall was delightful. Our guide Simon, was also very pleasant and helpful!! The addition of cheese and chocolate tasting was also great!

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Thanks for the review Tricia and glad you enjoyed the day. Yeah, you got a bit lucky with the extra chocolate and cheese from our Martinborough Foodie Half Day Tour thrown in!

Highly recommend.

Jan_F, Mar 2023

Wonderful tour. The wineries we visited were very nice and we had a delicious meal at our last stop. Simon was an excellent guide and returned us to our cruise ship on time.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Much appreciated, Jan. Delighted you enjoyed the (half) day out.

It all started good and...

Gina_G, Mar 2023

It all started good and then things went downhill as the tour stated it was from 10.00am to 3.00pm. As we were coming up to 2.00pm and we still had not left (we had further commitments in Wellington at 3.30pm). We asked tour driver when would be getting back to Wellington and he advised that we had another winery to visit, and he would push it through so we could get back to Wellington by 3.30pm (we also had to skip the cheese factory which did not impress other guests). We did not arrive back in Wellington until 4.10pm which turned all our connection plans in turmoil. We booked this tour as the advertised return time was 3.00pm which the poor bus driver was never able to keep.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Apologies for the slow response Gina. I was just chasing up the exact details of the tour. Yes, we ran into a couple of unexpected issues early in the tour that pushed us back behind schedule and delayed some of the earlier tastings. Rather than skip stops to catch up the driver made the decision to run over time rather than skip stops which is a decision we generally encourage in that situation. Unfortunately we were not aware that guests were under time pressure to return to Wellington at a certain time until too late in the tour. We have rectified this going forward and driver guides will identify thee potential issues upon pick up going forward. The C'est Cheese stop was dropped in order to return you back as soon as possible and is always a time dependent stop and not guaranteed. For guests wanting a C'est Cheese experience our Martinborough Foodie Half Day Tour always has a tasting stop there. Sorry your experience was not up to standard and thanks for identifying the issues for us to improve going forward. Hopefully we have been able to do that.

Well worth doing

Marika_F, Feb 2023

Being in a small group and travelling solo, enabled me to interact with my fellow travellers. I didn't feel like a 'spare part'. The driver was very friendly and knowledgeable and this made for a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. Would recommend it.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts Marika, much appreciated. Great to hear you enjoyed the day out and were able to get involved on the tour with all our other guests.

Quick easy going wine tour

Brian_D, Feb 2023

We started the wine tour on schedule. Our driver Simon was very knowledgeable about the region and wineries. He was able to keep the trip running on time, and was very professional. We went to 3 wineries and stopped at small shop that specializes in cheeses. I would recommend this tour and would do it again.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks Brian. Glad you enjoyed the day and thanks for the great feedback on Simon. Your kind words have been passed on to him! Always good to hear!

Scenic and Relaxing Excursion

elida, Feb 2023

Beautiful day touring and tasting with Phil. Lunch at Moy Hill was a highlight (optional and worth every penny)!

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks for the great feedback and delighted to hear you enjoyed the day. Cheers!

Fun time in Martinborough

Shirley_N, Feb 2023

Our guide Simon was very personable and knowledgeable about the wine region. Lunch at Moy Hall was excellent along with their wines. The tastings at Grava and Poppy were good also. Although I did feel a little rushed at Poppy as the sampling pour was just one swallow, not enough to really get the flavor of the wine.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave all your thoughts Shirley. Glad to hear you enjoyed the (half) day out. I have passed on your kind feedback to Simon also! Always good to get feedback about each of the winery partners we visit and I will pass on your thoughts to them as well. Cheers!

Making Memories

Karen_T, Feb 2023

Fantastic trip would highly recommend fun was had by all and Simon our tour guide was spot on and a great host.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks for the positive feedback Karen. Glad you enjoyed the day! Appreciate you taking the time to leave your thoughts.

Great Wine Tasting Martinborough

Roger_P, Feb 2023

Great Wie Tour. Simon our guide was very knowledgeable about wine and the wineries in Martinborough. Would have been 5 stars but the pours at the first winery were very light.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts Roger and your positive feedback regarding Simon. He does a wonderful job! I appreciate your feedback about Poppies. There is no industry standard and as a result pouring sizes vary from winery to winery. Regardless the Poppies tasting of 5-6 wines provides a good opportunity to get a feel for their product which is the aim of each of out winery visits.

Great value, knowledgeable guide

Dominic_H, Feb 2023

Good tour, Simon really knows his stuff. Luna's very pretty (although their wine is average) Moy hall was great. Sadly the Cheese shop was closed.

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Thanks for taking the time to leave your review Dominic, much appreciated. As with a lot of businesses C'est Cheese was having some issues with staffing and was unexpectedly closed for the day on your tour. Sorry you missed out there. Always good to receive customer feedback on our winery partners and I've noted your feelings on Moy Hall and Luna. Cheers!

Winery visit

Maureen_B, Jan 2023

The wineries we visited were all very different and the wines were good. The tour was not quite what we expected and was really just a wine tasting. The best winery was B wine as it was the most informative.

Response from Host, Jan 2023

Hi Maureen, Sorry to hear that your Martinborough Winery Tour with us was not a 5 star experience for you. The tour was delivered exactly as advertised with wine tastings at three boutique wineries and included the flexibility to meet winery requests if needed so I'm not sure how to explain your missed expectations. Perhaps you didn't read the tour description and made some incorrect assumptions. We certainly offer tours that have a slightly more comprehensive stop at a winery such as our Martinborough Winery & Foodie Tour that has a winery staff-led guided vineyard walk included. More than happy to hear some feedback about how we could improve the product and met your expectations going forward! Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.

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