So you want to see the beautiful Hunter Valley, but you only have half a day to spare? Or maybe you know your night is going to be a bit too much fun and you want a late start? No worries! You can spend less time on a half day wine and brewery tour in the Hunter Valley and still have an epic time!
The Hunter Valley is the most well-known wine region close to New South Wales' capital, Sydney, for good reason! With heritage of the first settlers dating back over 200 years, the area of Pokolbin is known for its quality wine production. It's therefore not surprising that it became the heart of wine tasting tours in the Hunter Valley. The area is blessed with so many varieties of wines that you will not get bored.
But the Hunter Valley does more than just producing fantastic wine, the region is also home to, amongst others, craft breweries, artisan cheeses, and chocolates. On top of that, the Hunter Valley wine region also has an amazing offer of activities: mountain biking, hiking, hot-air ballooning, and much more. You can even head to the Hunter Valley for a spa day!
Half Day Wine and Brewery Tour Hunter Valley: What can you see in a half day?
The Hunter Valley is a 2.5h drive from Sydney. When heading to the Hunter Valley from Sydney for a half-day, planning is crucial. You need to know which wineries or breweries to visit and potentially book and, maybe more importantly, which Hunter Valley wineries you really want to buy a few bottles of!
There are over 120 wineries in the Hunter Valley to choose from, so we always recommend having a chat with Jared, the founder of Urban Legends Tour Co., to see which wineries and breweries are going to be your favourites! We are biased towards the smaller boutique wineries as we love supporting small family businesses and because they make stellar wines.
That doesn't mean that you'll be spending all your time in the car through! Having your transport sorted by hopping on one of our mini-vans or luxury vehicles means that you can get picked up and dropped of at your home or your booked accommodation, as we do for all of our tours. Put on some tunes and we'll drive you straight to the first boutique wineries on your personalised schedule!
On our half-day Hunter Valley tours, we visit 3 beautiful wineries where you get to try artisan cheeses, olives or chocolates. Another option is to choose to visit only one winery and then head to 2 craft breweries or distilleries. Whether you're on a double date, celebrating a birthday, or want to escape the office with your small team, these half day tours are the ideal relaxed city escape!
The Half Day Hunter Valley Tour 3 Epic Legends Wineries + Chocolate, Cheese & Olive Tasting
A half day winery tour allows you to have a nice and lazy start to your day. We head straight to one of our favourite boutique wineries where you can have a wine tasting and also enjoy local produce such as cheeses, chocolates and olives. From there, we head to boutique winery number two. Here you will enjoy a premium seated wine tasting experience.
Around lunch-time, you have a few options. You can pack your own lunch, book a lunch experience (we know all the best places) or have a picnic with one of the gourmet platters that we love so much.
Time to head to the final destination of the day, another amazing small family-run winery that will blow your mind. We love that the wineries chosen for this half-day tour often have their winemaker themself explaining all about the wines that they produce. No rushed wine tastings here! You can really feel the love for their craft during your visit. Book this epic half-day adventure here.
The Hunter Valley Epic Half Day Tour with 1 Epic Winery + 2 Breweries or Distillery
Love wine but want to taste the beers or distilleries that the Hunter Valley has to offer as well? I can't blame you! After all, there are plenty of breweries and distilleries to discover. Of course, we have a few favourites and we're more than happy to take you to them.
Even though we love a good craft beer, we always start these half day Hunter Valley tours with a stop at your preferred boutique winery. We hope you don't mind starting with an excellent wine tasting and a few artisan cheeses, chocolates and olives before heading to the breweries or distilleries of your choice. For the ultimate wine, brewery, and distillery half-day tour, book here!
Don't forget to bring a bottle home!
We like to look at our half day wine and brewery tours in the Hunter Valley as an escape from the big smoke, but also as an excellent opportunity to bring home some fantastic bottles of wine. At Urban Legends Tour Co., we focus on bringing you to the best boutique wineries that are usually small family businesses. They have had a rough year (haven't we all!) and can use you support! Therefore we ask you to buy a few bottles during your tour. This will not financially benefit Urban Legends Tour Co, but it will support these small local business like you wouldn't believe. If you want to read more about the expectation to buy wine, read our elaborate article on what to expect on a winery tour here!
What about the current restrictions?
At the time of writing this piece (beginning of September), the restrictions of tours are limited to 10 people or less. When restrictions change, we will follow whatever the current restrictions in place are. Read of our COVID-19 safety page or reach out to our team directly if you want to know more.
The good news, however, is that our half day wine tours in the Hunter Valley are perfect for a smaller group! You can book these epic short tours from a group of 4 up to 10 people (with the current restrictions in place). They will still be available when the allowed amount of participants go up again so you can also choose to do them with a big group at a later time in the year. But not quite yet!
That's all legends! No go ahead, be your group's organising hero & find out today why we are the Hunter Valley’s most experienced, epic wine tour specialists.
Featured photo by Chelsea Pridham on Unsplash