Award-Winning Hunter Valley Wine & Cheese Tour from Sydney
Description
Discover why we have been awarded "Best Hunter Valley Tour Operator" for 4 consecutive years on this premium small-group wine tour from Sydney. We specialize in boutique family-owned wineries where passionate winemakers share their craft personally. Sample up to 20 premium wines including world-renowned Hunter Valley Semillon and Shiraz at 3-4 exclusive cellar doors, enjoy expert-guided cheese tastings, and savor a delicious local lunch with complementary wine. Your award-winning experience includes comfortable transportation through scenic countryside, visits to intimate boutique wineries in the Pokolbin area, comprehensive cheese tastings with local artisan varieties, and lunch in a scenic setting. Our local guide and expert presenters bring wine knowledge and insider access to family-owned properties where you'll discover stories behind wines available exclusively at these cellar doors.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Join your small-group tour at your designated pickup point and board our comfortable air-conditioned coach for the scenic 2-hour drive to Hunter Valley. Your expert guide shares regional history and points out landmarks as you travel across Sydney Harbour Bridge, past Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, and over the Hawkesbury River.
Drive through Cessnock, the charming gateway town to Hunter Valley's wine region and historic coal mining heritage.
Welcome to the Hunter Valley, Australia's oldest wine region.
Arrive in Australia's oldest wine region. In the morning we visit two carefully selected boutique family-owned wineries in Pokolbin and surrounding areas. Our small group allows us access to less mainstream, more intimate cellar doors including Saddlers Creek, Hanging Tree Wines, and Ernest Hill Wines, where passionate winemakers personally share their craft and vineyard stories. Sample up to 20 premium wine varieties including classic Hunter Valley Semillon, elegant Chardonnay, robust Shiraz, and innovative blends available exclusively at these properties.
Enjoy a delicious meal with both hot and cold options in a relaxed setting surrounded by lake views. Your lunch includes a glass of wine to complement your meal.
Drive by the renowned Hunter Valley Gardens precinct, passing the spectacular 60-acre botanical wonderland featuring themed garden displays including the famous Rose Garden with over 5,000 rose bushes and stunning Lake Walk.
Discover how premium local cheeses enhance wine appreciation and how they are locally made, through guided tastings featuring artisan varieties crafted by passionate regional producers.
Conclude your wine journey at Saddler's creek (or another handpicked boutique winery). Sample premium varietals while enjoying personal stories from passionate winemakers or cellar door hosts, gaining deeper insights into Hunter Valley's unique terroir and time-honored winemaking traditions that have defined Australia's oldest wine region for over 200 years.
Cross over the Hawkesbury River and the Mooney Mooney Bridge on the way back to Sydney
Arrive back at your original pickup points with enhanced wine knowledge and unforgettable memories of Hunter Valley's finest boutique wineries. You can bring a few bottles home with you too!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
**Please contact Activity Tours to confirm or change your pick up time and location.** Pickup will be between 7am and 7:45am. We will confirm your tour, pick up time and location the day before your tour by text message or the Viator messaging system. Please make sure you are waiting outside the Hotel 5-10min prior to scheduled pick up. *7:00am-Mercure Central 818-820 George St, Little Regent St Entrance / *7:20am-Hilton Hotel rear entrance near Wilson car park, 255-259 Pitt St / *7:35am-Four Seasons Hotel (96-98 Harrington St, rear entrance) / *7:45am-Paradox Sydney Hotel, 27 O Connell St (was Radisson Blu)
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Pick-ups are from designated meeting points.
- Small-group tour with a maximum 14 participants
- Must be 18 years or older to taste wines
- Not suitable for children under 18 years of age
- Return to Sydney is around 6-6:30pm (depending on traffic)
Reviews(389)
Ben was awesome. Enjoyed the tour enjoyed the conversation. Ben was very informative and kept as well informed.
We agree - Ben is awesome! Thanks for your lovely feedback and we're very pleased that you enjoyed your day in the Hunter Valley. Please come again!
Ben was a wonderful guide and information source and an equally personable leader. We very much enjoyed being with him and our group which he fostered.
Thanks for your lovely feedback. We're delighted that you enjoyed your day with Ben and your group wine tasting in the Hunter Valley and that he could share some of his vast knowledge of the area with you along the way. Cheers!
Really fun day, wine, history and nature - Stuart was awesome.
Thanks for your recommendation! Stuart takes great pride in his tours and loves to show guests around so we're really glad that you enjoyed your time in the Hunter Valley with him as your guide.
Great tour, personable guide. The wine at the wineries was delicious and we saw a mob of kangaroos in one of the vineyard.
Thank you for your feedback. We're pleased that you enjoyed the wines in ther Hunter Valley and got the bonus of some roos in one of the vineyards! Cheers!
Hunter Valley Wine and cheese tour were well planned. Raphael was an excellent guide and a safe driver.
Thanks for you sharing your feedback. We're very pleased that you felt that your day in the Hunter Valley flowed smoothly and that Raphael made you feel safe and looked after.
Very enjoyable day with a lovely and informative guide (Rafael). Excellent value for money.
Thank you for sharing your great experience with Raphael to the Hunter Valley. We're delighted that you thought it was worth it!
Ben was a fantastic tour guide! The day was full of stories both on the Hunter Valley and of his adventures all over Australia. We stopped at 3 wineries, a cheese factory and a resort to have lunch and all stops allowed us to taste delicious local products presented by the artisans. Definitely would recommend this tour!
Thank you for your recommendation! Ben is a fantastic guide and has a lot of colourful stories to tell! We're really pleased that you had a great time in the Hunter Valley with him and enjoyed the local wines and produce. Cheers!
We had a great day, our guide BEN, did a great job...
Thank you for your feedback. We're very pleassed that you enjoyed your tour of smaller family vineyards in the Hunter Valley with Ben as your guide.
We had a fantastic day with our 8 new friends and our guide, Brad Pitt! Beautiful countryside, boutique wineries, luscious wines and cheeses, and a lovely lunch. Highly recommend this tour.
Thank you for your recommendation! Stuart loves to show guests around and we're pleased that you enjoyed all of the Hunter Valley tour so much, as well as making some new friends during the day. Cheers!
It was a good experience, but maybe not a great experience. It’s about a two hour drive out to Hunter Valley from Sydney. Our driver was good - there was a ‘pit stop’ at a highway gas/road stop halfway where you can get some breakfast fast food and if you are desperate. The three wineries we stopped at were unique in their presentations - if we could combine all three you would have the perfect presentation. Wines were mostly young - and of course it’s always personal preference, but we found some we liked. Lunch was at a lovely golf course- ready when we got there because it was pre-ordered, but was maybe a 2/5. Cheese and chocolate tasting were literally that - “taste this cheese, taste this chocolate” - nothing special or informative. Could do without this portion of the tour. Our driver, John, was kind and patient, with some interesting stories.
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. We're really pleased that you enjoyed your day overall with John as your guide and found some of the Hunter wines that were to your taste. We appreciate your feedback on the cheese tasting, and will review this portion of the day to improve that experience. Cheers!
