Lyttelton Shore Excursion - Waipara Wine Tour With Lunch
Christchurch, New Zealand
Lyttelton Shore Excursion - Waipara Wine Tour With Lunch
Recommended by 93% of travelers
Christchurch, New Zealand
- 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
Designed for cruise ship travelers docked in Lyttelton, this tour takes you to some of the North Canterbury region’s best vineyards. Depart the port and head to Waipara Valley, famous for its dry climate and rick soils. Then visit 3 different wineries, sampling a variety of wines including Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and more. A delicious lunch is also included at Waipara Springs Winery.
- Travel in a comfortable air-conditioned vehicle
- Enjoy commentary on the area from your guide
- Timings can be adjusted to fit with your ship’s schedule
- A great way to experience some of New Zealand’s best wine country
What's Included
Meeting and Pickup
Itinerary
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 27 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
caburke4, Apr 2026
Nice experience but a long drive. Loved our guide who was local to the area and quite knowledgeable. Too much driving to get to wineries.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you for your review - if only we had wineries in the City would make it much easier. However, as the grapes are grown on a farm we have to take a scenic 45 minute drive to visit the wineries. Pleased you had a great time with your guide.
Paul_T, Apr 2026
Great tour. Good wineries visited and the food for lunch was nice with a lot of variety. Steph our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly keeping us on time and getting us back to our cruise ship with plenty of time to spare. Easy to find the meeting location and good communication pre tour.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Great review and comments - it's important that you included the operational aspects of the tour as it puts other people at ease. We know our stuff!
Thank you for highlighting Stephanie.
Jim_W, Mar 2026
Our driver/guide Tania did a great job throughout our excursion. She told lots of stories and had the group singing "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be)" with her in the mini-van. We enjoyed each of the three wineries. First was Waipara Springs where we had a tasting of five of their wines around a small table. We then moved to a larger table for the lunch with each of us having an "individual platter" of slightly different appetizers including a roll, crackers, cheese, sausage, other meats, vegetables, pates, grapes and some plates with seafood. There was no wine included with the food, but you could purchase some by the glass. It would have been better to have had the the wines served during the tastings at that time to try with the different foods at lunch. The second stop was at rhe Torlesse Winery where we had about ten different samples with some unusual ones. The host explained that the Reisling was "oily" and smelled like gasoline which we've noticed at other tasting. The final one was Georges Road Winery for five tastings. The vines were nearby so we asked the owner about the netting on some of them, but not on others. She told us that they remain covered to keep the birds out right until the harvest when they are taken off for the season. Overall, it was an intersting and informative tour, especially with Tania!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Wow that's a comprehensive review and great feedback on Tania. A mix of singing and education and fun sounds like you had a great time. Throw in some food and wine and you have all the ingredients for a fun day out!
LKayL, Mar 2026
Wonderful winery experience. Tania was a great driver and a delight and very knowledgeable about the area. The day was a beautiful experience at the wineries. Viator needs to let people know that it’s an hour to 1.5 hour ride before you get to the wine region.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Great review received with thanks. You are correct re the timing as it encompasses a city sights tour on your way out. makes the tour more fulfilling.
carol_K, Mar 2026
first winery was great, and beautiful country side and tour guide was awesome. They could have skipped the last winery.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you for your review and comments. It is always tricky when it comes to personal taste - as we try and give people a variety of tastes and grape varietals. Pleased you mainly had a great day.
Richard_S, Mar 2026
We had a small group and stopped at a few wineries including lunch at the first one. We sampled a variety of different wines and the experience was enjoyable. The wineries were not especially big, but the wines were good and some of the owners explained the wine making at their wineries.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Sounds like you had the perfect blend of wine, food and scenery -a fabulous day. Thank you for your comments.
Robert_P, Apr 2025
Andrew was our guide and driver. Did a great job. My only comment was the tour was for 5 hours - we arrived into town earlier so we started at 830 instead of 1030 we did get back at 345 in time to catch the last shuttle at 4.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Thank you for taking the time to submit your review which are valuable to us to ensure we
meet and where possible exceed our customers expectations. We do hope that you will
have the opportunity to visit New Zealand again in the not too distant future. Perhaps next time a land tour to see even more of our beautiful country.
Randy_K, Mar 2025
The tour guide was quite informative. The "lunch" was a small charcuterie board which was a bit underwhelming but otherwise tour met our expectations.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thank you for taking the time to submit your review which are valuable to us to ensure we
meet and where possible exceed our customers expectations. We do hope that you will
have the opportunity to visit New Zealand again in the not too distant future, maybe next time travelling overland rather than by cruise.
Philip_R, Feb 2025
A wonderful day! We learned so much.... We visited 3 wineries for tastings. The wineries were Georges Road, Waipara Spings (where we also had lunch) and Torlesse.. All were top notch! We particularly liked the dry Riesling a Georges Road!
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for taking the time to submit your review which are valuable to us to ensure we
meet and where possible exceed our customers expectations. I do hope you do have the
opportunity to visit New Zealand again at some future date.
David_K, Feb 2025
Our tour guide, Andrew, knew the best routes and wineries. Plus, lunch was excellent! Such a great experience, one of the best tours we have taken. Great pace between stops.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for taking the time to submit your review which are valuable to us to ensure we meet and where possible exceed our customers expectations.
Diane_A, Jan 2025
Visited charming family owned vineries. Their stories were interesting. The wine tastings had exceptional choices and descriptions of the different varietals. Lunch was also very nice. I would highly recommend!
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Kiaora Diane and thank you for leaving a review. I am pleased tonhear that you enjoyed your tour with us!
sandrahazlewood, Jan 2025
Tania our tour guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable about the area and kept us entertained the whole day. Took us to some beautiful boutique winieries. Great day with a lovely group of people
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Kiaora Sandra and thank you for leaving a review. I am pleased tonhear that you enjoyed your tour with Tania!
Chris_H, Jan 2025
Opted for this wine tour versus booking the same excursion through the cruise company. Really enjoyed the three wineries we toured and the lunch platter was delicious. The tour operator made absolutely sure we were able to get back to the ship in time for departure. An overall lovely day wine tasting!
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Kiaora Chris and thank you for leaving a review. I am pleased tonhear that you enjoyed your tour with us!
Sarah_M, Nov 2024
Excellent guide/driver! Very informative! Great wineries and lunch was delicious! Big lunch! Very delightful! All the wines were tasty!
Response from Host, Nov 2024
Kiaora Sarah and thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are glad that you
enjoyed your tour with us!
Denise_W, Jan 2024
Very enjoyable relaxed day visiting three picturesque wineries - all produce good wines.
We were picked up on time by friendly driver Tania and returned to our ship at Lyttelton in
comfortable time. Very scenic drive to and from the winery area with Tania providing info that only a "local" knows about the region. Definitely Recommend this tour . Leisure Tours very good communication
Response from Host, Feb 2024
Kiaora Denise and thanks for leaving a review. I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed your day with Tania!
Carole_B, Dec 2023
It was average but timely. Our driver was nice but was not a knowledgeable wine person - it would have been better to have someone who understood the terroir and grape varieties.
Response from Host, Jan 2024
Kiaora Carole and thanks for leaving a review. I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us. I would ideally love to have a sommelier as a tour guide on all of our wine tours but there sadly aren't enough sommelier tour guides out there!
Donna_M, Dec 2023
The winery’s we visited were lovely - however the first winery needs to address its customer service ( disorganised & not customer based) they were falling over small independent visitors & gave zero service to our small bus group ( unfortunately cost them business ) other wineries were far superior in service & very well organised . Our guide was excellent very very knowledgeable & interesting we enjoyed his overviews
Response from Host, Dec 2023
Kiaora Donna and thanks for your review. I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed your tour with us!
Meredith_S, Dec 2023
Joseph was a great host and driver. Lots of good information as well as great wineries. Lunch was delicious and we had a good time. Only complaint was the bus was built for very small people and was quite uncomfortable in the back seat (only option).
Response from Host, Jan 2024
Kiaora Meredith and thanks for leaving a review. I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour with Joseph!
Kim_M, Dec 2023
Tania was great guide and we thoroughly enjoyed her commentary and wicked sense of humour. Meeting point in Christchurch was easy to find. The 3 wineries we went to were lovely with great varieties of wine to try. We enjoyed the ploughman style lunch. It was a very relaxed and fun day and Tania got us back to ship in plenty of time. Thanks for a great day! Tip for anyone doing this cruise from a cruise ship, you only need to get the Christchurch shuttle one way as the tour guide drops you back to the shuttle in Lyttleton.
Response from Host, Dec 2023
Kiaora Kim and thanks for leaving a review. I'm very pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour with Tania!
NEIL_T, Nov 2023
Went to 3 different vine yards and had a lovely buffet at the 2nd which was quite substantial and enjoyable.
Response from Host, Nov 2023
Kiaora Neil and thanks for leaving a review. I'm very pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us.
Myron_C, Nov 2023
Great scenery during the bus tour to the wineries. Friendly and informative driver with a customer-centric focus. The wineries were educational, as well.
Response from Host, Nov 2023
Kiaora Myron and thanks for leaving a review. I'm very pleased to hear that you enjoyed your tour with us.
Keith_W, Jan 2023
Caroline was our driver and she gave good commentary all the way round
On time with 3 stops and a lovely lunch
Drive each way about 1hour
Lovely day out
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Canterburyleisure,Operations manager
Posted on:Feb 3, 2023
Kiaora and thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I'm so glad you had a great day with Caroline I have passed on your kind words to her.
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