Yarra Valley Wildlife & Wine Day Tour from Melbourne with Healesville Sanctuary
4.9
251 Ratings
Melbourne
Experience the best of the Yarra Valley on this full-day tour from Melbourne. Visit Healesville Sanctuary to see native wildlife, enjoy a delicious lunch and wine tasting at Yering Station Vineyard, and end the day with cheese and wine at De Bortoli Winery.
Duration:
10 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Healesville Sanctuary - Home to more than 200 species of Australian native animals and set amidst natural bushland, the Healesville Sanctuary is the ideal place to observe our iconic wildlife up close. An enhancement to the visit is a Kangaroo Encounter where you have the opportunity with a keeper to feed and pat these adorable animals (if the animal allows). A Koala Encounter is also available but there’s no touching or feeding involved, just an opportunity to get some amazing up close pictures. An additional fee applies for these encounters . Please advise if you wish to book this.
- Yering Station - You’ll enjoy a tasting of estate and reserve wines in the historic cellar door before adjourning to the modern light filled restaurant for an a la carte, main course meal, glass of wine and coffee.
- De Bortoli Winery - Set on more than 450 acres of vineyard clad hills, the visit to the De Bortoli Vineyard is a terrific end to the day. The wine tasting includes their estate and premium wines together with their iconic dessert wine, Noble One. The tasting is enhanced with a pairing of selected cheeses.
What's Included
- Admission to Healesville Sanctuary
- Complimentary bottled water
- Convenient hotel pickup and drop-off
- Expert driver/guide assistance
- Enjoyable lunch with a glass of wine
- Comfortable in-vehicle air conditioning
- Engaging live commentary during the tour
What's Not Included
- Purchases of a personal nature.
- Koala Encounter (currently AUD$30 per person per animal)
Additional Information
Embark on an intimate group tour, blending Victoria’s globally recognized Yarra Valley wine tasting experience with the observation of local wildlife. Depart from Melbourne on a journey to the Healesville Sanctuary, a refuge created for the preservation of threatened animal species. Spend your morning witnessing the habits of quintessential Australian animals like kangaroos, koalas, emus, and other native species.
Come early afternoon, head over to the Yering Station Vineyard for a delightful main course lunch complemented by wine tasting. The day comes to a close with a cheese and wine session at the De Bortoli Winery.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Does not include meals for infants
- Must be 18 years old or older to drink
- Please advise of any specific dietary requirements when booking
- Collapsible wheelchairs with removable wheels are welcome providing there is someone with the passenger who can help them board and disembark
- Operates rain or shine; please dress appropriately
- Encounters with a kangaroo, koala, wombat or dingo are available at extra cost. Please enquire if interested although places are limited
Location
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
Flinders Street
Meet by the front steps, Flinders St side, opposite Federation Square.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(251 Ratings)
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Douglas_l
May 20, 2024
Great Day Trip out of Melbourne! - Overall an excellent trip ultimately complementing our time in Melbourne. The animal sanctuary provided novel experiences including the opportunity to get close to the kangaroos. The winery visits were of high quality providing excellent tasting options and lunch. The tour was not rushed allowing all of us to enjoy the day. Paul was an excellent guide who made us part of his "family" for the day ensuring that the day was enjoyable to all. It was clear he was well respected by the staffs at all of the establishments we visited tailoring the visits to our desires.
I will be recommending this tour option to my colleagues who frequent Melbourne.
Review provided by Viator
Jamie_m
May 20, 2024
Great tour - Great balance of walking and wildlife with food and wine! Our guide Paul was fabulous and had the inside scoop on the animal sanctuary as well as both winery stops.
Review provided by Viator
Naomi_c
May 7, 2024
Definitely worth of the Money! - Our tour guide Paul is very friendly and helpful throughout pre-tour discussion and the tour day. Very knowledgeable in Melbourne and Yarra Valley history and Wine. It has good selection of Wineries. The mix of Healesville and Wineries can fit every group’s needs. The car is nice and clean, 10 seats for only 6 people group this time. The price is slightly higher than others but it’s worthy!
Highly recommended!
Review provided by Viator
Anthony_l
May 2, 2024
Wine and Wildlife - Had a great small group tour of sanctuary and then delicious lunch with a couple of wine tastings afterwards - Adrian was a great guide and made everything run smooth - animals were up close and personal and had added bonus of seeing some wild kangaroos in the fields after last tasting. Well done and highly recommended day outside of Melbourne.
Review provided by Viator
Nikhil_g
Apr 26, 2024
Great day!! - Great day with Paul. Top bloke and very engaging and knowledgable.
Speedy pick up and a great group.
Highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Oswaldo
Apr 23, 2024
Koalas and wine - This was an amazing trip. Rob our tour guide was really cool and friendly. We did a wine tasting as well as a sanctuary tour. The vineyards are breathtaking and the wines are amazing. French barrels in Australia!!!! A must do on your trip to Melbourne.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Flyer64921325629
Apr 17, 2024
Great Overall Experience, would book again - I am from the States (Houston to be exact) so wanted to make sure whatever I booked was worth it. This did not disappoint. Our tour guide Cam was awesome. We had a small group of 5, so there was space and great conversation all over. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and kind. We were also fortunate that just 3 of us checked out Healesville Sanctuary and we had TWO tour guides so that was awesome. Food was great, much better than expected, with several options. Wine tasting was also fun. Must do when visiting Melbourne. Thanks Rob/Cam.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bayareacouple2
Apr 12, 2024
Great Day in Yarra Valley - We had the pleasure of going to Yarra Valley with Adrian. He was very friendly and we enjoyed the information on Australia and his personal stories. He really engaged the group. Some people went for a total day of wine tasting and the other half spent the morning at the wildlife sanctuary. We didn’t get a volunteer guide at the sanctuary, but that ended up okay. There were lots of children there because of the spring break. It didn’t seem overly crowded and was nice that many animals weren’t in cages and we were wondering how they (eg, kangaroos) knew not to cross the roped off areas. There were lots of Koalas which was great because they are so cute and you get a close up view.
The lunch and wine tasting at Yering was fabulous. Then we went to a wine and cheese paring at Debortoli which was equally great.
Initially we thought this tour might be on the expensive side, but given the lunch and the higher end wines we experienced it was well worth it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mackenzie_c
Apr 11, 2024
Book this experience now! - What a great experience! I highly recommend booking this. I went to Australia on a solo birthday trip and wanted to do something with a larger group of people. This was exactly what I needed... The sanctuary was great! It was not super crowded and easy to follow and get around, made for a wonderful experience. Plus, the wineries, after coming from a zoo tour, were PERFECT. Cam, the tour coordinator for the day, was an absolute gem. He gave me so many recommendations for Melbourne and made me feel as though I was apart of the group even whilst on a solo trip. 10/10!!
Review provided by Viator
Scenic769168
Apr 10, 2024
Great Outing for Melbourne - Awesome Trip. First Class. Rob the guide is great. We enjoyed all three stops on the tour. Highly recommend. We took a scenic route and saw lots of wild kangaroos on the way back. Lunch was excellent
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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