Yarra Valley Wine Tours & Activities

The Yarra Valley is famous for its great wine, gourmet food and lush scenery. Yarra Valley wine tours will give you a connoisseur’s view into the wineries, wine tasting, wine making, and local food sampling.

The Yarra Valley also offers great activities, such as hot-air ballooning, the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary and the Puffing Billy Steam Train in the nearby Dandenong’s, and of course the Yarra Valley wine tours. All worthwhile - depending on your style!

The Yarra Valley is only just 50 minutes out of Melbourne. Its diverse and rich history stretches back to the first settlers. It is home to 90 vineyards, 35 wineries and many world-class wines. It is one of Victoria's largest tourist destinations.

Here is a list of popular Yarra Valley wine tours:

Yarra Valley Wine & Winery Tour from Melbourne

This Yarra Valley Wine & Winery Tour is one of the most popular Yarra Valley wine tours, and especially great if you want to learn more about wines. It has excellent guides, is good value, well organised and informative. You travel in a luxury mini van, seating up to 24 people. It was the winner of the Best of Wine Tourism Awards in 2007.

It is a full-day wine tour visiting three of the region's best known wineries: There is cellar door wine tasting at Yering Station & Rochford Winery, where you will also get some tips on how to taste and enjoy wines – you’ll learn how to swirl, sniff and slurp.

You will get a gourmet lunch with a glass of wine at Rochford Winery, followed by more wine tasting and a private tour of the award-winning Domaine Chandon winery. And, as with any of the Yarra Valley Wine tours you get to enjoy one of Australia’s most picturesque sceneries.

Yarra Valley Balloon Flight at Sunrise

Gliding over the hills with a Yarra Valley Balloon Flight at sunrise is a magical and well-loved experience. This one-hour balloon flight leaves from Rochford Winery and you will get to greet the morning sun.

You will glide over the stunning Yarra Valley, along the corridors of grape vines of its vineyards and over the Yarra River. This is a fantastic way to see the lush landscapes and Valley. You glide with the breeze, and feel absolutely no wind – only the landing can sometimes be bumpy. Really, a worthwhile experience!

With this tour you have a choice between a flight-only deal or you can include a gourmet hot buffet champagne breakfast (as well as Melbourne hotel pick up). Both options are very well priced!

Puffing Billy Steam Train, Yarra Valley and Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary Day Tour

The Puffing Billy Steam Train, Yarra Valley and Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary Day Tour gives you a great day out of Melbourne. It is a 9 hour tour that covers the rolling hills and vineyards of the Yarra Valley, the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Puffing Billy Steam Train.

It is a fantastic, well organised trip, with lots of great photo opportunities. The Puffing Billy, Australia’s oldest steam train, is fun. It takes you through the cool fern gullies and rolling countryside of the magnificent Dandenong Ranges. The Healesville Sanctuary is peaceful and you get to stroll amongst koalas, kangaroos, platypus, kookaburras, and dingoes. And then it includes the Yarra Valley, where you get to sample superb regional wines and linger in the vineyard of Fergusson Winery.

It is a lot to pack into a day though, leaving you adequate, but no extra time at each stop. You have a choice between a ‘tour only’, and an included spit roast lunch at Fergusson Winery. It also includes the traditional Aussie ‘billy tea’, lamingtons and vegemite crackers….

Yarra Valley Wineries and Puffing Billy Steam Train Day Tour from Melbourne

The Yarra Valley Wineries and Puffing Billy Steam Train Day Tour is in some ways similar to the above - also a very popular 9 hour tour. It gives you more wineries, but no wildlife.

You get to ride on the Puffing Billy Steam Train through the lush mountain ash rainforests and fern gullies of Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges, and stop at picturesque mountain villages along the way to feed the colourful native parrots, rosellas and cockatoos.

The Yarra Valley wine tour continues through the fertile Yarra Valley to sample a selection of local wines and local cheeses from the wineries’ patios at Dominique Portet and Domaine Chandon – all with beautiful Yarra Valley views. You have a choice between a tour only - inclusive of wine tasting, and an included Spit Roast Lunch at Fergusson Winery.

Yarra Valley Food and Wine Small Group Tour

This 8 hour Yarra Valley Food and Wine
Small Group Tour gets fantastic reviews and is one of the best Yarra Valley wine tours. It is a personalised small group tour, with generous samplings of wine and cheeses, and a guide with great local knowledge.

There is a stop at local produce store at the Old Winery Building of the Yering Station Winery, private tasting with cheese and fruit at the award winning De Bortoli Winery, lunch with stunning views over the vineyards and lake at Domaine Chandon. Then you are off to more wine tasting at Coldstream Hills Winery and the Yarra Valley Wine Hub, and a visit to the 100-year-old working Yarra Valley Dairy with sampling of hand-made farm cheeses.

Really great value!

Yarra Valley Balloon Flight and Winery Tour

This award-winning Yarra Valley Balloon Flight and Winer Tour combines the two most popular Yarra Valley attractions: a one-hour scenic hot air balloon flight over the Yarra Valley including hot buffet champagne breakfast, and one of the Yarra Valley wine tours, including lunch. You can either be picked up from your Melbourne hotel, or start this tour directly at Rochford Winery.

The hot-air balloon flight is exhilarating as your balloon floats over the corridors of grape vines and the Yarra River, really the best way of taking in its magnificent views. This is followed by an extensive gourmet champagne breakfast.

You then learn about traditional wine-making techniques and get to taste some the regions best wines with visits to Yering Station, Rochford Winery, Yering Farm and a private tour of the award-winning Domaine Chadon winery - with a glass of wine and gourmet food platters. You also visit the Australian production house of French champagne company Moet & Chandon and enjoy a superb lunch and wine at the Rochford Winery restaurant.

Private Tour: Yarra Valley Wineries and Wine Tasting Tour

This Private Yarra Valley Wineries and Wine Tasting Tour is a personalized, full-day wine tour, where you set the pace. You can choose to visit as many of the 80 Yarra Valley wineries as you like, or let your private wine expert guide you. Your guide has extensive knowledge of the Australian wine industry and will work out an itinerary that matches to your tastes.

You will be touring in a private luxury vehicle. This is one of the Yarra Valley wine tours with flexibility. It includes numerous wine tastings, a glass of sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon and a gourmet lunch at Rochford Winery Restaurant - an a la carte one-course main meal with bread and a matching glass of estate wine and tea or coffee. You can also upgrade the number of courses or change the lunch venue… The choice is yours.

Possible Yarra Valley wineries include, Domaine Chandon, Rochford Wines, Yering Station, DeBortoli, Coldstream Hills, Giant Steps, Innocent Bystander, St Huberts, Yering Farm, Train Trak, TarraWarra Estate, Punt Road Wines, Kellybrook, Mandala Wines, Dominique Portet, Oakridge Estate, Balgownie Estate, Fergusson Wines, Helen's Hill, Outlook Hill – or some other regional attractions such as theYarra Valley Dairy, Healesville Santuary, Coldstream Brewery, William Rickets Sanctuary, Wild About Fruit, Farmgate Antiquing, Healesville Hotel, White Rabbit Brewery, Hargraves Hill Brewery, Mount Dandenong Tourist Drive, Puffing Billy Railway, with some of the activities incurring additional charge.

Yarra Valley Deluxe Winery Small-Group Tour from Melbourne

This Yarra Valley Deluxe Winery Small-Group Tour will give you the Yarra Valley in luxury and style. With a maximum of ten people, a knowledgeable expert guide endeavours to satisfy your passion for wine, food and excellent scenery.

It includes delicious Yarra Valley produce and specialty wine tastings, while visiting some of the premier Yarra Valley wineries, including Domaine Chandon, the Australian production house of French champagne company Moet & Chandon. There you get a special tour through the winery demonstrating the process for making bubble, and tasting four sparkling wines with antipasto and cheese.

It continues on to the award winning Yering Station Winery restaurant for lunch, wine tasting and breathtaking views of the Yarra Valley and the Great Dividing Range. Then it is onto the boutique winery of Yering Farm, where you have the opportunity to meet the winemaker, and after that have some flexibility of how you would conclude the day.

Any of these wine tours will give you a window into Yarra Valley wines. Unless you know the region, Yarra Valley wine tours will give you local knowledge and get to see places you might otherwise miss.