Marlborough Wine Country Day Walk
Drive or cycle from Picton into the Marlborough wine region — New Zealand's wine capital, producing 77% of all NZ wine — for cellar door tastings and vineyard walks.
- 1
Blenheim Gateway
Blenheim, 29 km south of Picton, sits at the heart of the Wairau Valley — the flat, sun-drenched plains and the Wither Hills backdrop define New Zealand's most famous wine region.
- 2
Cloudy Bay Winery
Cloudy Bay put Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on the world map in 1985 — the winery's tasting room offers flights of their iconic whites against a vineyard backdrop.
- 3
Brancott Estate Heritage Centre
This was the first commercial Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in Marlborough, planted in 1973 — the heritage centre tells the full story of how the region's wine boom began.
- 4
Vineyard Cycle Trail
A network of flat cycling paths threads through the Wairau Valley vineyards — cycling between cellar doors is the classic Marlborough experience for visitors.
- 5
Wairau River Flats
The braided Wairau River provides the free-draining alluvial soils that give Marlborough wines their distinctive minerality — wading birds feed in the shingle channels.
- 6
Havelock Mussel Capital
The small town of Havelock, 35 km west, is the 'green-lipped mussel capital of the world' — the best chowder and fresh mussels in New Zealand are served at the wharf.