Book this tour and ask for Tanya! - I am so sorry it has taken me so long to review this amazing tour as it really was the highlight of our New Zealand trip. We were picked up by Tanya, our WONDERFUL guide from Marlborough Tour Company. Tanya is so knowledgeable (especially as she previously worked at Cloudy Bay, friendly, helpful and happy to wait while we take photos or take photos of us! We adore her! We start at Cloudy Bay where we sample fizzy, white and red before a look round the winery (and some shopping of course!). We then head to Framingham Winery where we sample six different wines before being taken to Picton to join the Odyssey and Captain Nick for a BBQ lunch followed by seafood cruise. As we sail around the Marlborough Sounds Captain Nick tells us all about the area before we moor up and he treats us to locally caught salmon and Greenshell mussels on the BBQ, all accompanied by Sauvignon Blanc obvi! We see lots of wildlife and even get to feed the local ducks and fish! Tanya, Nick and stewardess Rhonda cannot be more friendly, helpful, kind and knowledgable. We really recommend this trip!

The best day ever - My family and I had the best experience last Thursday 25/01/2024, Andrew picked us up from our motel in the morning and after picking up a few more passengers we set off to our first wine tasting at the Nautilus Wine Estate, after sampling some of their exquisite wines we were able to buy a few bottles of the wines that really tickled our taste buds I mean why not right? We proceeded on to White Haven our 2nd wine tasting of the day, the Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were both big hits and a bottle of each has made its way home with us. We then made our way over to Picton where we met Ed and Sofia who welcomed us aboard the Odyssea, As it turned out our skipper was also the chef onboard as well, after a scrumptious lunch we set sail for Charlotte Sound en route Ed imparted tidbits of information about the Sounds all the while the passengers were able to go below and purchase glasses of Sauvignon Blanc in my case, but I also saw other passengers enjoying cold beers and an other beverages. It was about this time at we were about to enjoy some fresh green mussels with some fresh bread and olive oil, all washed down with a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc, the best was yet to come when we pulled into one of the coves to BBQ some salmon, again Ed did a sterling job of BBQing two huge salmon fillets to perfection. The weather was perfect the wine tasting experience combined with the cruise made for one of the best days ever.

Winery & Cruise Tour! ⛵🍷 - The driver who picked me up was kind and always supported me, even though I was traveling alone. He was very friendly. The tour included visiting two wineries, tasting, and if you wish, you can purchase wine. In the afternoon, we took a cruise in Marlboro Bay from Picton on a catamaran. After a barbecue lunch and wine, the cruise began! On the way, we sampled seafood (steamed green mussels in wine and grilled salmon) (small portions), and then enjoyed the cruise again. We returned to Picton around 4pm, were dropped off at the i-SITE in Blemheim, where the tour ended. It was a very fulfilling day. Thank you very much. ☺

Wonderful day - We spent the morning at two family wineries and then the just as interesting chocolate factory. Then had a 3 hour cruise from Picton through the Marlborough Sound on a very stable catamaran and a fabulous salmon and mussel bbq with all you could eat on board. A really lovely day with Tanya and Jeffrey.

Great day exploring! - Staying at Blenheim we decided to go on this tour as it had great reviews. We were not disappointed. The staff from Mark the coach drive, Nick the boat captain plus all the other people involved were so hospitable and welcoming. Being NY day, our travel group was only 13 but expanded to 21 when we got up the boat sector of the day. Picked up at our Blenheim address on time, Mark gave us commentary as we headed off to our first two vineyard stops. Wine tasting at 1030am was a bit early for me personally, but we had top experiences at both Cloudy Bay and St Clair vineyards. After the wine tasting we headed off to Picton to meet the boat, spend approximately 45min exploring Picton and enjoying our on board BBQ lunch. After lunch we headed off into the calm waters of Queen Charlotte sound for 3+ hours of exploring including venturing into some of the 1100 bays in these sounds While in one of the bays we got served up freshly cooked mussels and local salmon. Plus a glass of wine. The food was unbelievably good, especially the mussels, which seemed to be in endless supply. But the guest eventually won that battle. Great commentary and an enjoyable afternoon on the water. After which we all got transferred back to our accommodation. Highly recommended.

50th Reunion - What an amazing weekend of tours and wining and dining with Marlborough Tours our group of 25 enjoyed this weekend - our bus driver Chris was great at sharing his knowledge of local places of interest, Cougar boat tours took us to Punga Lodge where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch and then on to Omaka for tour and a wonderful catered three course dinner - supurb. Day two he collected us and back to Omaka for a private tour of the aeroplane exhibits from WW1 and WW2 - what a fabulous display. Then off to Wither Hills Yineyard for a sumptuous 3 course wines match lunch - just a perfect finish to our reunion weekend - thanks to you all - amazing staff and service L and P Parsons Christchurch

Nice day - Took this tour Sat 30 March. Our driver/guide Finn was exceptional: very pleasant and knowledgeable, and went out of his way to be helpful. Tastings at 2 wineries a very good experience. Unfortunately the cruise was let down by the rain. I’m sure that in better weather that too would have been great.

A little disappointing as we were holing for more vineyards - possibly we were booked on to the wrong tour. - We were looking forward to a wine tour but in fact only visited 2 vineyards, and even here we felt rushed by the guide as he was anxious we were not late for the lunch and cruise. We had been told by our agents we would be having lunch at the Slip Inn at Havelock, but in fact we were going straight to the cruise where we were to have lunch. This was OK - "a build your own burger" from a variety of salads, bread and burgers - with a glass of wine. We cruised out to some green shell mussels bays were we stopped and were given a little talk about the mussels and how they develop in the beds. We were then presented with bowls of cooked mussels to taste. After this the captain barbecued some salmon and again we were given samples to tast.

Maybe just opt for a boat tour - I’d like to give 3.5 stars . The problem was the early morning wine tasting - which I guess was described on booking however who really wants to taste wine at 10am? And there were only 2 wineries - nautilus winery I felt was not informative enough . The boat cruise was great although if you don’t like mussels make sure you fill up on lunch - I thought there would have been more free wine on the boat !

Marlborough Sounds boat trip was superb, but our guide ruined the day - Marlborough Sounds boat trip was superb, but our guide ruined the day. As soon as we were picked up, we started to feel uncomfortable with the highly political and biased comments being made by the tour guide (Bruce). We visited two wineries, but felt very rushed at both. The views expressed by the guide continued and a few of us were berated when expressing opposing views (and unfortunately for the guide, a number of the people on the bus are globally renowned experts in these fields!) The boat tour was fabulous once we were able to distance ourselves from the guide, the crew warm, friendly and welcoming. The sea food was delicious and very fresh - the only shame was having to get back on the bus.