Shore Excursion: 4 Hour Premium Hawke's Bay, Napier Art deco Tour
Description
Join a small group tour and discover Art Deco both Napier and Hastings Cities in detail and discover the greater Hawkes Bay region. You will learn what Art Deco is and discover in detail, the Art Deco suburbs in the "Art Deco Capital of the World", while learning about the huge Earthquake that shaped this City. Napier is world famous as the “Art Deco Capital of the World”. You will discover much of the very popular Art Deco in and around this fantastic City and Suburbs including Hastings City. Opportunities to walk amongst these magnificent period buildings, often referred to as looking like a "Movie set". Many photo stops on the day, enjoy fantastic vistas across the Hawkes Bay from Te Mata Peak. Seats are strictly limited and only available as pre-booked. NO sales on the day. A tour to remember for a very long time.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Drive around Napier city to explore Art Deco Capital, guide will allow you to take lots of photos and explain about the Napier history how town has risen again after the Earth quake.
Visit famous Araraki honey farm, chance to buy NZ famous honey.
Visit to Bluff Hill to see wonderful view of Napier city, Have a look at your Crew ship from the hill.
Visit Te Mata Peak 400m higher from ground to see 360 degree view of Hawke's Bay.
Drive along the Turktuki river one of the beautiful view of the hill along river,
Visit NZ's best town Awarded for 4 consecutive years, driving through beautiful Orchards and vineyards learning how fruit industry works in NZ,
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Plz look for your Guide holding a Green sign with our company name at the Pier, close to your ship. Please note this tour has no fixed departure time, as cruise ships often change their arrival times. We will track your ship’s latest arrival time and be present at Napier Port when disembarkation begins. Important Notice: please note Earliest start time is not before 7am For the Ships arriving Very early hours. We stay in regular communication with Napier Port to monitor any updates about your ship. We look forward to making your tour enjoyable
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A minimum of 2 people per tour is required - single travellers please enquire
Reviews(49)
We participated in this tour as a shore excursion, along with three full busloads of passengers. Clear instructions were given for a 6:30am meeting time; however, our guide chose to wait for latecomers, which immediately delayed the departure. The situation became disorganised, particularly when efforts were made to accommodate a large family who had not booked all members on the tour. Although we eventually departed around 7:00am, we first did a drive around Napier and Bluff Hill, only to then return to the city centre to collect two very late passengers. This added further unnecessary delays. We also spent an excessive amount of time at the honey visitor centre. As a result, by the time we reached Te Mata Peak, it was completely fogged in and visibility was poor, meaning we missed what should have been a highlight of the tour. Given that the guide was presented as a local expert, it would have made far more sense to visit Te Mata Peak first while conditions were clear, and then work through the remaining stops afterward. Overall, this was a very disappointing experience due to poor time management, lack of organisation, and decisions that negatively affected the outcome of the tour.
Dear Customer, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We would like to clarify that your ship arrived at approximately 5:30am on 8th April. As this is the beginning of winter, sunrise is around 8:00am. The meeting time was scheduled for 6:30am to allow all guests to disembark and reach the meeting point. As this was a shared tour, we allowed an additional 30–40 minutes for guests who were delayed due to ship queues, which are beyond anyone’s control. The tour departed at approximately 7:00am. Unfortunately, due to poor weather conditions, visibility at Te Mata Peak was limited. While this is outside of our control, we understand it may have impacted your experience. We can confirm that the tour duration was approximately 4.5 hours as scheduled. That said, we genuinely appreciate your feedback and will take your comments into consideration as we continue to improve our service for future guests. Kind regards, Team - Hawke’s Bay Scenic Tours Ltd
Our guide, Bert, was friendly and knowledgeable and informative. He took us to some great viewpoints. The tour is mislabeled as “Napier Art Deco tour.“ We simply drove quickly down one street and didn’t really get to see anything of the Art Deco buildings. It’s more a good driving overview of the area. The van was not in the best shape, wasn’t terribly comfortable, and the air conditioning system was apparently not adjustable, so it was either freezing cold or too hot.
Napier is well known for its Art Deco architecture, and under normal circumstances we would spend more time exploring this in depth. However, your ship, Celebrity Edge, was in port for approximately 5 hours, which makes it impossible to operate a full 4-hour tour while also ensuring all guests return to the ship on time. We do understand your disappointment, however the tour duration had to be adjusted based on the ship’s schedule, not by choice. Our priority is always to ensure guests return safely and on time, so the tour was tailored to fit within a 3-hour window. Regarding the vehicle, this was a shared tour, and we aim to maintain a temperature that is comfortable for all guests. If you had any concerns during the tour, our guide Bert would have been more than happy to assist, as he is known for being approachable and helpful. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for choosing Hawke’s Bay Scenic Tours.
Bert made Napier’s sights and tour very special. We arrived not expecting much of Napier, but now we have fallen in love with Napier’s old world charm and beautiful landscape! Bert was personable, witty and knowledgeable. We would do another tour with Bert anytime.
Thank you for your lovely feedback! We’re so glad Bert made your Napier experience special—he’ll be thrilled to hear this. Hope to see you again soon! Regards Team Hawke's Bay scenic tours
The itinerary was good but unfortunately our New Zealand guide had little knowledge to impart to us.
Thank you for your feedback. We’re glad you enjoyed the itinerary, though we’re sorry to hear that the guide’s commentary did not meet your expectations. We always aim to provide informative and engaging tours, and your comments will be noted as we continue to improve our guest experience.
An enjoyable tour, unhurried. Our only problem was that my husband wears two hearing aids and found the driver/guides accent a little difficult to understand.
Thank you for your kind feedback. We’re pleased to hear you enjoyed the relaxed and unhurried tour. We also appreciate your comment regarding the guide’s accent. Our guides always try to speak as clearly as possible, and guests are welcome to ask the guide to repeat anything if needed. Kind regards, Team Hawke’s Bay Scenic Tours
Bert made this Tour wonderful! He made sure that we saw all of the beautiful sites of Napier! The highlights for me were Te Mata Peak and the Arataki Honey Visitor Centre!
Hi there, Thank you so much for your lovely feedback! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the highlights of Napier and had a wonderful day with Bert. He truly loves sharing the region with our guests, and we’re so pleased his patience and support helped you make the most of the parade afterwards as well. We really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and hope to welcome you back again in the future! 😊
Great way to get to know the surroundings, since Napier is very small in the city center. Very nice scenery, it was fun to stop at the honey center, as we could taste different honeys and see bees. Bert our guide, super friendly and very knowledgeable, the best! What is certain is that the truck was a little old compared to other vans and buses from other tours.
Thank you for your great feedback, we really pleased that you enjoyed your tour with Bert.. Regards Team Hawke's Bay scenic tours
It was a very individual tour with a great guide! Bert was a place that showed us very nice places.
Thank you for your great feedback — we truly appreciate it and are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your tour with Bert, It was a pleasure hosting you, and we hope to welcome you again in the future.😊
The advantage that I discovered on booking a short tour via one of the local agencies versus the cruise ship is that the local tour is generally smaller and more intimate than a cruise organized short trip. The Guide was knowledgeable and pleasant. The other tourists that made up the group were generally in our age range and very pleasant. The tour covered the sites that one would expect to see on a short half day tour of a Port town. I believe that this tour is an excellent alternative to a cruise line organized tour and has the further advantage of being about 20 to 30% less expensive.
Thank you for your kind feedback. We’re pleased you enjoyed the smaller group size, knowledgeable guide, and relaxed experience. We’re glad our locally operated tour provided great value and a wonderful alternative to a cruise-organised tour. We hope to welcome you again in the future. Team Hawke's Bay scenic tours Ltd 😊
Great trip . Shaky start due to miscommunication but Bert was nothing short of superb, pleasant, knowledgeable and good company...super trip ..
Hi Voyager, we’re really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour 😊 Previously, our company collected guests from Napier town, which required customers to take shuttle buses to reach the pick-up point. However, we have recently changed our pick-up location to Napier Port, right at the pier, so guests no longer need to board shuttles. This allows for more time on tour and a smooth, safe return to the ship. Unfortunately, Viator sent both the old and new pick-up instructions to some customers. As Viator sells our tours on their platform, we do not have direct control over editing the tour tickets. After several requests, Viator has now updated the pick-up point to Napier Port, and shuttle boarding is no longer required. Bert truly loves hosting our guests — he’s one of our best tour guides, and we’re delighted you enjoyed your time with him! Kind regards Team - Hawke's Bay scenic tours
