Hunter Valley Tours

Hunter Valley vineyards are located approximately 245 km to the North of Sydney and it’s a roughly 3-hour drive via Pacific highway.

For out of state travelers who plan on flying into Sydney Airport, we recommend booking your flights, accommodation, and airport parking in advance, to ensure that your day trip to Hunter Valley is as smooth and stress-free as possible. Mention on your booking if you need an airport pick up with flight details and arrival time.

Our preferable time to take a day tour to Hunter Valley from Sydney is between September to November where the weather is pleasant. From the beginning of December to the end of February are the harvest time and best time for grape picking. However, the weather is not the best and the temperature could be reached near 40c in mid-January.

The ‘best winery’ could be subjective, for example, there are many wineries who have named as 5-star wineries by Halliday wine companion and the top of the list are Brokenwood, McGuigan, and Tyrells. If you are looking for a relaxed atmosphere and the best customer service, Gartlemann wines in Lovedale is our recommendation. We have written a blog on the best wineries in Hunter Valley-based on awards they won recently. 

Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine region and counted for over 150 very small to mass production cellar doors.

There are few cellar doors that offer free wine tasting, for example, Sobels wines in Pokolbin. However, most of Hunter Valley cellar doors charges from 5 to 10 $ per head for wine tasting and will reimburse on a purchase. The premium or single-vineyard tasting could be expensive as 25 to 50$ per head.

If you book a Hunter Valley tour with Sydney Private Tours, our guide will recommend and take you to various styles of cellar doors as per booking conditions. However, if you decide to self-drive to Hunter Valley, stop at the Hunter visitor information center at 455 Wine Country Dr to get some recommendations of cellar doors, and also a map of the region. Decide who will be the sober bob before starts your wine tastings as there are many police petrol cars at any given time around Pokolbin, Cessnock, and Lovedale areas.

The predominant grape variety planted in Hunter Valley is Semillon and widely used for dessert wines. Apart from Semillon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Verdelho are the other grape varietals that you can taste in a Hunter Valley day trip from Sydney. Some cellar doors offer the option to do a comparison with wines produce in Orange and Mudgee NSW as well.

It all depends on the cuisine you want to have or your budget. If you are after an exclusive sit-down style meal on your Hunter Valley wine tasting tour, our recommendations are Baume at Lindeman’s cellar door, Amandas on the Edge or Bistro Molines. Usually, a lunch will price at $50 per person in these Hunter Valley restaurants. Harrigan’s Irish Pub, Foghorn Brewery and Twine restaurant are other lunch options or there are few cafes at the Hunter Valley Garden for lunch that would cost less than $20 per person.

1. Cancellation policy – 2 weeks’ notice; full refund. 7 to 14 days of departure – 50% cancellation fee. Less than 7 days, loss of full fee. Tasting fees and online transaction fees will not refund in any circumstance.
2. Payment – Need to have full payment at the time of confirmation.
3. Tour pricing – we have per head or group tour pricing model. Hence, no discounts for children or concession cardholders.

We offer pick-up and drop off services from Sydney, Cessnok and Pokolbin in Hunter Valley. There will be a small price difference in terms of the pick up location. Please contact us to get a quotation.