Full Day Martinborough Wine Tour

Had a great day with Dean. He was very friendly, told us lots about the area and took us to some great wineries. We really enjoyed the day around martinborough.

We arranged for a private wine tasting tour with Richard. We could not have been more pleased. I selected a few wineries to visit; he suggested a few then scheduled the whole day for us, including lunch at a great restaurant, Poppies. He arrived on time, explained a lot about the region en route, was an excellent driver (over a mountain pass in heavy rain), and was a pleasure to be with. His humor was infectious. It was our pleasure to frequent a business that treats customers well and makes the whole experience enjoyable. He is the kind of guy you’d want as a neighbor or friend.

This proved to be a brilliant trip/tour, both in its content, as well as our Guide and driver - in addition, a Martinborough wine tour from Wellington is perfect in terms of duration and distance. The weather happened to be appalling the day we went, with the possible threat of the Remutakas being unpassable due to snow/ice, but we were very lucky. Our driver, Ross, was impeccable in terms of his knowledge, driving, and presence. He told us that he had a background in wine/food, so, naturally, he clearly knew a tremendous amount about NZ wine, not just Martinborough wines. I don't believe that we could have chosen 3 better places to try tasting the wines at, and the vineyard staff that presided over the tastings were, of course, marvellous. Lunch at Moy Hall was a great, great choice - even though the restaurant was absolutely packed, the staff coped admirably, and we certainly didn't have to wait around for our food, which wouldn't have been entirely surprising. If one is interested in Martinborough wines, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Spent an excellent day with Ross from xplor tours in Wellington Very personable and entertaining Great local knowledge and obviously nurtures great relationships with the vineyards we visited Would 100% recommend to anyone

Lovely trip to a gorgeous area. Our guide tailored our experience to meet our needs. The half day was more than enough time.

Our driver from the Xplorer tour organization was friendly, on-time and knowledgeable about the Wellington and Martinborough areas. We learned a lot about the history of the area. Though not a wine person, our driver did a good job of driving us around and taking us to places that he thought would enhance our experience -- especially the lookout over Wellington CBD. The wineries themselves were not what we were expecting, but the overall experience was fine.

We understood when booking that we would be collected from the cruise port but later we were told to make our own way to Christchurch. As we hadn’t been there before we left our ship at 9.00 for an 11.00 pick up but never got to our first vineyard until 12.00. The three vineyards offered good quality wines. Lunch at Waipara Springs was ok we’ve had better. We later discovered we had been charged for the shuttle. Joseph our guide was very informative.

A great tour with Explor at Wellington. We were on a cruise and I had booked the tour directly and thought we needed to go into town to pick up the tour, this is because the cruise companies tell people it’s not possible for passengers to walk in the port area, that is NOT true as Explor can pick up at the ship and have a pick up point that we missed (our fault) No matter Richard the owner came into town,picked us up and gave us a tour anyway. A friendly guy who obviously loves his job and is great fun and likes a joke. His local knowledge is top notch. Definitely recommend Explor.Simon & Bev

It was a nice way to spend our day. If you are doing this tour from the cruise port, follow the instructions. Kevin was prompt and we found him very quickly. Poppy's was a wonderful lunch spot. We received a nice variety of tastings at each winery. I recommend this trip.

We weren't crazy about the wines, but the lunch was great and the views fabulous. Enjoyed the day for sure.

Beautiful scenic drive & great wines. Stopped in the park where The Lord of the Rings filmed the Rivendell scenes. Driver was very good & informative.

Three of us from the cruise ship took this fun tour with Dean as our guide and driver. He was so informative, interesting and entertaining, we all had a wonderful time. We visited three wineries and had lunch at Poppies, out under the trees. It was a great day and we highly recommend Xplor and Dean. Thank you for such a great time.

Had a lovely wine tour and a great lunch. Highly recommend this tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and took us to a nice park which was unexpected. We enjoyed it.

The Wine Experience was great. We booked a group tour and ended up with a private tour with Andrew which was fantastic. Andrew is very knowledgeable, nice and with a good sense of humour. On our return to the cruise ship we were stuck for over 2 hours in a major traffic jam due to a broken truck and missed the boat. The Xplor team (Lyne and Richard) took care of the plane ticket, and hotel at our next destination port, taking out the stress of searching for it. I will definitely recommend this tour and the Xplor company. They are professional and they are taking really good care of their guests.

Our guide Allen was friendly and informative. We only visited two winery's before returning to our hotel. Lunch is not provided and the only lunch option was at the second winery at 2:30pm.We would have preferred a few lunch options a little earlier. Our pick-up time was 11am it may have been better to have an earlier pick-up so as to visit the third winery.

Beautiful area to visit. Marty, our driver, made the trip fun. Poppies was a bit over priced on the lunch they provided.

We visited several out of the way wineries and D provided colorful commentary on our surroundings! The wineries were very good and the lunch that was served Far surpassed our expectations. As a final touch we viewed the harbor from Victoria Bluff just before returning to our ship. kudos to D!

We had a great full day with Kevin! He took us over the mountains from Wellington to Martinborough. We had a wine tasting at a lovely boutique winery, Poppies, where we also had lunch. Beautiful drive over the mountains and nice to see something other than a city. The weather prevented great views, however, we enjoyed the drive regardless. Kevin took us around to some of the highlights of Wellington before returning us to our cruise ship. So nice they have port access and can pick up and drop off right at your ship. Highly recommend Xplor Tours and Kevin!

Excellent service with top wine and a lovely lunch,the guide knew his stuff and was very friendly and helpful.

Marty was phenomenal. Wealth of knowledge and very accommodating. Going to Poppies Winery in Martinborough is a must. Not only is her wine outstanding, her vivacious persona and ease of talking with is second to none. Lastly, her lunch platter is the best I’ve ever had!

Originally I was bummed that the tour guide Richard wasn’t our guide as I had read rave reviews about him. However, Marty, our tour guide was fantastic. Just a genuinely kind and friendly person - we really enjoyed our day with him. He took us to the sights we wanted to visit, the wineries were fabulous and the company was great. A heads up that lunch is not included at the winery, which was a bit odd as the food was pre-selected for us. But a great tour overall

Our driver was very helpful when I wasn’t well on the journey in. The drive in was spectacular. The wine tastings were interesting. The lunch was excellent. The inclusion of a brief stop at Rivendell was an added bonus.

Dion, our guide and driver, was friendly, obliging, knowledgeable and safe. Lots of local information from a local. A really lovely sunny day in the vineyards at Martinborough with an unexpected stop at Rivendell on the way. I’d highly recommend Xplor tours.

Excellent tour. Great selection of wineries and lunch at Poppies was superb. Richard is a great guide would absolutely recommend Xplor tours. Had a wonderful time

Richard took group of 6 of us around Martinborough. We all had a blast and felt very wel looked after!

Had such a fantastic day on our wine experience around Martinborough. Richard is a top class tour guide, with extensive knowledge and most importantly top notch banter. Will definitely be doing a tour with Richard the next time I visit Wellington, it was like hanging out with a friend for the day. Excellent value for money and also great having the opportunity to support the wineries just starting out!!

We were fortunate enough to have Richard as our guide on our tour of the Martinborough wineries. He is very knowledgeable about the area and kept us thoroughly entertained throughout the day with his humour. He was even kind enough to take us on a detour to Rivendell and treated us to an ice cream…you can’t ask for much more! Would definitely recommend his services for sightseeing around Wellington.

Our group of ladies visit Wellington every year for WOW - no show this year but we came anyway and decided to venture a bit further this time. Thankyou for such a fabulous day out Richard - we all thoroughly enjoyed it and had a blast. You were such a great tour host - slightly outnumbered by females but it didn't bother you in the least!! You really looked after us and we appreciated your knowledge of the beautiful Martinborough area and the wonderful wineries there. You did everything you could to make our day special. So glad we booked our trip with you :) Cheers!!

My Fiancé booked this tour as a surprise for my birthday and we had such a fantastic day, definitely recommend it! Thank you Richard for the tour! Also for the cake too was really special. Had such a lovely day much Appreciated.

The tour was excellent and we all had a great time with the tour guide Richard! Strongly recommend if you like wine, like Lord of Ring and the natural scenery!

We had a fabulous day with Richard! A private tour of some beautiful boutique wineries and some amazing scenery along the way! Xplor Tours Wellington were recommended to us by one of the major hotels in Wellington.. and they were right. We found our host accomodating to our needs..Richard our host tailored our tour to our requests which at the last moment included a wonderful stop over to view a fabulous garden. We highly recommend Richard and his company! T and L Australia!

Spur of the moment decision to book this trip. From being picked up at my hotel to being dropped off at the end of the day Richard made it a fun interesting day with lots of laughs. We were just a small group but it felt like we were friends having a great day out. I would highly recommend as a solo traveller.

I can't recommend Explor tours highly enough. We had a fabulous visit and Richard managed to keep 3 generations of family entertained. He was knowledgeable and interesting and added some fun into the mix as well. We so enjoyed our tour with you. Thank you so much from the Conn / Tower family!

This was my first ever solo trip during WOW and I was a bit worried about what to do . I contacted Explor tours and Richard helped me with two tour options 1. Day trip around Wellington -shared with a group 2. Wine day trip - private tour From the moment Richard picked me up from my hotel , he made me feel comfortable as he did for every person in the group . While seeing all the sites of Wellington he added lots of humour and fun into the day . Richard also helps take photos and gets the best pics of everyone that we wouldn’t have know to do without him. Wellington was stunning and every area we visited added a different dimension to the views already seen and interesting facts .The special little treats along the way and Richards genuine care for everyone makes this an expetional experience that I highly recommend and want to bring my other half with me next time . My wine trip was just exceptional in every way . This was a private tour so just Richard and I with a tight time schedule as I was flying out later that day . Richard took care of all the timings and created the most perfect day for me - 3 separate wine tastings , a gorgeous pub lunch and a wonderful tour through the countryside into elvishland . I loved every minute of it .wines fabulous but Richard talked me into having a tasting of gin which I don’t drink but do now as it was so superb 😋 Richard was a wealth of knowledge and I felt like I was driving along with a friend chatting and enjoying the wonderful company and spectacular scenery - so green and lush compared to where I live . I never looked a my watch once and relaxed totally while Richard delivered me to the airport at exactly the time he said he would . So for me this is a no brainer - just book 😊and enjoy All I can say is thank you so much Richard loved your tours and your company . Ps I’m excited that I’m not a hobbit and that’s a Wow😂😂 fact !