Hunter ValleyWineries
The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the starting point for most Hunter Valley day tours

Hunter Valley Wine Tours & Tickets

Every sensible way to taste the Hunter without touching a steering wheel — compared, priced and bookable in a couple of taps.

There is no single “best” Hunter Valley tour — there is the right one for where you are sleeping. The list below is grouped by exactly that: day trips if you are based in Sydney, and local tours with pickup if you are already staying in Pokolbin, Lovedale or Newcastle.

Everything here is booked through GetYourGuide, which means live availability, free cancellation on most options and reserve-now-pay-later on many. Prices are indicative “from” prices in Australian dollars and change with the season and day of the week — tap any card for the live price in your own currency.

Please drink responsibly. Wine tastings and tours are for adults aged 18 and over; bring photo ID. Never drink and drive — the legal limit in New South Wales is 0.05, and zero for learner and provisional drivers.

Pick by where you are starting

A day trip from Sydney

About two to two and a half hours each way. The big-coach tour is the cheapest; the small-group options include lunch and visit boutique wineries.

The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, where Hunter Valley day tours set out Day trip from A$229
🕒 11 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.7 (660)

From Sydney: Full-Day Hunter Valley Wine Tour

The most-reviewed way to do the Hunter from Sydney without a car. A coach takes you up the motorway to wine country for tastings at three cellar doors, a look at wine production and local cheese and chocolate, with free time to buy your own lunch before the drive back.

  • Tastings at three Hunter Valley cellar doors
  • A behind-the-scenes look at how wine is made
  • Cheese and chocolate tastings, with free time for lunch
Check price & availability
Rows of vines on wooden posts in a Hunter Valley vineyard Small-group day trip from A$249
🕒 10 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.8 (97)

From Sydney: All Inclusive Boutique Hunter Valley Wine Tour

A small-group day from Sydney that concentrates on family-owned cellar doors rather than the big names. Lunch and a cheese tasting are included, so there is nothing more to pay on the day, and the guide explains what you are tasting as you go.

  • Three boutique, family-owned wineries
  • More than 20 wines to taste, with guidance from a wine expert
  • Lunch and a cheese tasting included
Check price & availability
A camel train crossing the Stockton Beach sand dunes near Anna Bay Combo day trip from A$229
🕒 11.5 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.8 (13)

From Sydney: Hunter Valley Winery & Lunch, Port Stephens Sand Dunes Tour

Wine country and the coast in a single day from Sydney: a chocolate stop on the way north, wine tasting over lunch in the Hunter, then the dunes at Port Stephens for a camel ride or sandboarding. Busy, but it covers a lot of ground.

  • Wine tasting and lunch at a Hunter Valley winery
  • A choice of camel ride or sandboarding on the Port Stephens dunes
  • A chocolate stop on the Central Coast
Check price & availability

Already staying in the Hunter

Local tours collect you from your accommodation, so nobody has to drive. Choose a full day, a half day, a premium lunch tour or one that adds gin and chocolate.

Rows of oak wine barrels in a winery cellar in Pokolbin Local wine tour from A$239
🕒 7 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.8 (257)

Hunter Valley: Uncork the Hunter Full-Day Wine Tour

A full day of tastings for people already staying in the valley. A local guide collects you from your accommodation and takes you round a hand-picked set of cellar doors, with cheese and chocolate tastings along the way. It often sells out on weekends.

  • Pickup from accommodation in the Hunter Valley
  • Wine, cheese and chocolate tastings with a local guide
  • A relaxed full day with no driving
Check price & availability
A cheese platter with crackers, olives, nuts and dried fruit Half-day tour from A$129
🕒 4 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.6 (529)

Pokolbin: Hunter Valley Half-Day Tour with Cheese and Wine

A morning tour with pickup from local accommodation: three boutique wineries, private tastings and local cheeses matched to the wines. You are back by early afternoon, which leaves time for a long lunch, the gardens or the pool.

  • Private tastings at three boutique wineries
  • Wines matched with local cheeses
  • Morning tour — your afternoon stays free
Check price & availability
A wide view across vineyards and dams in the Hunter Valley under a blue sky Premium small group from A$299
🕒 6 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.5 (95)

Hunter Valley: Premium Wine Tour with Tastings & Lunch

A premium small-group day for guests staying in the valley, with private tastings, a look at how the wine is made and lunch at Brokenwood, one of the Hunter’s best-known wineries. Pickup from local accommodation is available.

  • Private tastings on a premium small-group tour
  • A winery production tour
  • Lunch at Brokenwood Wines
Check price & availability

Balloons, horses and short experiences

The things that make a stay memorable: a balloon at sunrise, a ride at sunset, a helicopter flight, or a single booked tasting to anchor a self-drive day.

A hot-air balloon being inflated with a burner flame before dawn in Pokolbin Balloon flight from A$369
🕒 3.5 hours 📍 From Lovedale / Pokolbin ⭐ 4.7 (94)

Hunter Valley: Sunrise Balloon Ride with Bubbly Breakfast

The classic Hunter Valley morning. You meet before dawn, watch the balloon inflate and drift over the vineyards as the sun comes up, then sit down to breakfast with a glass of sparkling wine at Peterson House. Flights depend on the weather, so book it for your first morning.

  • Float over the vineyards of Pokolbin, Lovedale and Rothbury at sunrise
  • About an hour in the air, wind and weather permitting
  • Breakfast with sparkling wine at Peterson House afterwards
Check price & availability
A glass of red wine on a tasting list at a Hunter Valley cellar door Seated tasting from A$35
🕒 45 minutes 📍 From Tulloch Wines, Pokolbin ⭐ 4.7 (19)

Hunter Valley: Tulloch Wine Tasting and Chocolate Pairings

A 45-minute seated tasting at Tulloch, a Pokolbin family name with well over a century of winemaking behind it. Each wine is paired with a locally made chocolate, and the host explains why the match works.

  • A hosted tasting at one of the Hunter’s historic family wineries
  • Wines matched with locally made chocolates
  • Easy to fit between other stops
Check price & availability

Newcastle and Port Stephens

A private wine tour from Newcastle, and the coast’s classics — dolphin cruises and the Stockton sand dunes.

Newcastle Harbour with its wharves and grain terminal seen from a lookout tower Private tour
🕒 8 hours 📍 From Newcastle ⭐ 5.0 (3)

Newcastle: Private Tailored Hunter Valley Wine Tour

A private day for your own group, starting and finishing in Newcastle: three seated wine tastings, a craft vodka and gin tasting and a cheese or chocolate pairing, with the route shaped around what you like to drink. Priced per group.

  • Door-to-door from Newcastle, just for your group
  • Three seated wine tastings
  • A vodka and gin tasting plus a cheese or chocolate pairing
Check price & availability
A sandboarder walking across the Stockton sand dunes near Port Stephens Day trip from A$199
🕒 12 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.6 (347)

From Sydney: Port Stephens Dolphin Cruise, Koalas & Sandboarding

Not a wine tour, but the Hunter coast’s big day out: about two and a half hours north of Sydney, with a dolphin cruise, sandboarding on huge coastal dunes and koalas. A good second day trip if you have already done the vineyards.

  • A dolphin-watching cruise from Nelson Bay
  • Sandboarding on the Stockton Bight dunes
  • A visit to a koala sanctuary with an elevated walkway
Check price & availability
A pod of dolphins surfing inside a breaking wave off the Port Stephens coast Cruise from A$50
🕒 1.5 hours 📍 From Nelson Bay, Port Stephens ⭐ 4.8 (105)

Nelson Bay: Dolphin Watch Cruise and Sail

Ninety minutes under sail from Nelson Bay, looking for the bottlenose dolphins that live in Port Stephens all year. An easy add-on if you are driving out to the coast from the vineyards.

  • A sailing cruise on the clear waters of Port Stephens
  • Time with the bay’s resident bottlenose dolphins
  • Short and good value
Check price & availability
Live availability

Book now — real-time prices

Straight from GetYourGuide, updated continuously.

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The full list

Every Hunter Valley tour we recommend

Eighteen experiences we would happily book ourselves, from a 45-minute chocolate pairing to a full day out from Sydney.

The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, where Hunter Valley day tours set out Day trip from A$229
🕒 11 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.7 (660)

From Sydney: Full-Day Hunter Valley Wine Tour

The most-reviewed way to do the Hunter from Sydney without a car. A coach takes you up the motorway to wine country for tastings at three cellar doors, a look at wine production and local cheese and chocolate, with free time to buy your own lunch before the drive back.

  • Tastings at three Hunter Valley cellar doors
  • A behind-the-scenes look at how wine is made
  • Cheese and chocolate tastings, with free time for lunch
Check price & availability
Rows of oak wine barrels in a winery cellar in Pokolbin Local wine tour from A$239
🕒 7 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.8 (257)

Hunter Valley: Uncork the Hunter Full-Day Wine Tour

A full day of tastings for people already staying in the valley. A local guide collects you from your accommodation and takes you round a hand-picked set of cellar doors, with cheese and chocolate tastings along the way. It often sells out on weekends.

  • Pickup from accommodation in the Hunter Valley
  • Wine, cheese and chocolate tastings with a local guide
  • A relaxed full day with no driving
Check price & availability
A cheese platter with crackers, olives, nuts and dried fruit Half-day tour from A$129
🕒 4 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.6 (529)

Pokolbin: Hunter Valley Half-Day Tour with Cheese and Wine

A morning tour with pickup from local accommodation: three boutique wineries, private tastings and local cheeses matched to the wines. You are back by early afternoon, which leaves time for a long lunch, the gardens or the pool.

  • Private tastings at three boutique wineries
  • Wines matched with local cheeses
  • Morning tour — your afternoon stays free
Check price & availability
A hot-air balloon being inflated with a burner flame before dawn in Pokolbin Balloon flight from A$369
🕒 3.5 hours 📍 From Lovedale / Pokolbin ⭐ 4.7 (94)

Hunter Valley: Sunrise Balloon Ride with Bubbly Breakfast

The classic Hunter Valley morning. You meet before dawn, watch the balloon inflate and drift over the vineyards as the sun comes up, then sit down to breakfast with a glass of sparkling wine at Peterson House. Flights depend on the weather, so book it for your first morning.

  • Float over the vineyards of Pokolbin, Lovedale and Rothbury at sunrise
  • About an hour in the air, wind and weather permitting
  • Breakfast with sparkling wine at Peterson House afterwards
Check price & availability
Rows of vines on wooden posts in a Hunter Valley vineyard Small-group day trip from A$249
🕒 10 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.8 (97)

From Sydney: All Inclusive Boutique Hunter Valley Wine Tour

A small-group day from Sydney that concentrates on family-owned cellar doors rather than the big names. Lunch and a cheese tasting are included, so there is nothing more to pay on the day, and the guide explains what you are tasting as you go.

  • Three boutique, family-owned wineries
  • More than 20 wines to taste, with guidance from a wine expert
  • Lunch and a cheese tasting included
Check price & availability
A wide view across vineyards and dams in the Hunter Valley under a blue sky Premium small group from A$299
🕒 6 hours 📍 From Hunter Valley accommodation ⭐ 4.5 (95)

Hunter Valley: Premium Wine Tour with Tastings & Lunch

A premium small-group day for guests staying in the valley, with private tastings, a look at how the wine is made and lunch at Brokenwood, one of the Hunter’s best-known wineries. Pickup from local accommodation is available.

  • Private tastings on a premium small-group tour
  • A winery production tour
  • Lunch at Brokenwood Wines
Check price & availability
A sandboarder walking across the Stockton sand dunes near Port Stephens Day trip from A$199
🕒 12 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.6 (347)

From Sydney: Port Stephens Dolphin Cruise, Koalas & Sandboarding

Not a wine tour, but the Hunter coast’s big day out: about two and a half hours north of Sydney, with a dolphin cruise, sandboarding on huge coastal dunes and koalas. A good second day trip if you have already done the vineyards.

  • A dolphin-watching cruise from Nelson Bay
  • Sandboarding on the Stockton Bight dunes
  • A visit to a koala sanctuary with an elevated walkway
Check price & availability
A glass of red wine on a tasting list at a Hunter Valley cellar door Seated tasting from A$35
🕒 45 minutes 📍 From Tulloch Wines, Pokolbin ⭐ 4.7 (19)

Hunter Valley: Tulloch Wine Tasting and Chocolate Pairings

A 45-minute seated tasting at Tulloch, a Pokolbin family name with well over a century of winemaking behind it. Each wine is paired with a locally made chocolate, and the host explains why the match works.

  • A hosted tasting at one of the Hunter’s historic family wineries
  • Wines matched with locally made chocolates
  • Easy to fit between other stops
Check price & availability
A camel train crossing the Stockton Beach sand dunes near Anna Bay Combo day trip from A$229
🕒 11.5 hours 📍 From Sydney ⭐ 4.8 (13)

From Sydney: Hunter Valley Winery & Lunch, Port Stephens Sand Dunes Tour

Wine country and the coast in a single day from Sydney: a chocolate stop on the way north, wine tasting over lunch in the Hunter, then the dunes at Port Stephens for a camel ride or sandboarding. Busy, but it covers a lot of ground.

  • Wine tasting and lunch at a Hunter Valley winery
  • A choice of camel ride or sandboarding on the Port Stephens dunes
  • A chocolate stop on the Central Coast
Check price & availability
Newcastle Harbour with its wharves and grain terminal seen from a lookout tower Private tour
🕒 8 hours 📍 From Newcastle ⭐ 5.0 (3)

Newcastle: Private Tailored Hunter Valley Wine Tour

A private day for your own group, starting and finishing in Newcastle: three seated wine tastings, a craft vodka and gin tasting and a cheese or chocolate pairing, with the route shaped around what you like to drink. Priced per group.

  • Door-to-door from Newcastle, just for your group
  • Three seated wine tastings
  • A vodka and gin tasting plus a cheese or chocolate pairing
Check price & availability
A pod of dolphins surfing inside a breaking wave off the Port Stephens coast Cruise from A$50
🕒 1.5 hours 📍 From Nelson Bay, Port Stephens ⭐ 4.8 (105)

Nelson Bay: Dolphin Watch Cruise and Sail

Ninety minutes under sail from Nelson Bay, looking for the bottlenose dolphins that live in Port Stephens all year. An easy add-on if you are driving out to the coast from the vineyards.

  • A sailing cruise on the clear waters of Port Stephens
  • Time with the bay’s resident bottlenose dolphins
  • Short and good value
Check price & availability
Plan your visit

Let someone else drive — you do the tasting

Australia’s oldest wine region is about two hours north of Sydney. Compare day tours from Sydney, local cellar-door tours with hotel pickup and balloon flights, and book in a couple of taps.

Browse Hunter Valley tours Compare all tours
Good to know

Hunter Valley tours: FAQs

Is a day tour from Sydney worth it, or should I stay overnight?

A day tour works well: you get three or four tastings and you can sleep on the way home. But nearly five hours of the day are spent on the road. If you can spare a night, stay in the valley and take a local tour instead — you will taste more, eat better and can add a balloon flight.

What is included in a Hunter Valley wine tour?

Transport and the tastings themselves are normally included. Lunch is included on some tours and at your own expense on others, so check the listing. Wine you buy to take home is extra.

Do local tours pick up from my accommodation?

Most do, from hotels and guesthouses in Pokolbin, Lovedale, Rothbury and Cessnock. Properties further out — in Broke, Wollombi or the Upper Hunter — may be outside the pickup zone; check when you book.

Are there hop-on hop-off buses in the Hunter Valley?

Hop-on hop-off style services have operated on loops around Pokolbin, letting you choose your own cellar doors. Routes and operating days change, so check current timetables, and remember you still need to book your own tastings.

How far ahead should I book?

A few days ahead is usually enough midweek. For Saturdays, long weekends, concert dates and school holidays, book as soon as your dates are fixed. Balloon flights should be booked for the first morning of your stay in case of a weather cancellation.