Nelson and Marlborough: New Zealand's Top Wine Region Private Tour Guide

The top of the South Island — Nelson, Marlborough, Picton — is the most consistently sunny part of New Zealand and the country's premier wine production region. The Marlborough wine region alone produces over 75% of New Zealand's wine by volume. For international visitors who understand wine, arriving in Marlborough is arriving in the source region for the Sauvignon Blancs that made New Zealand famous. Legacy EPT's top-of-the-South touring covers it properly.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Country

The Wairau Valley, stretching west from Blenheim, is the heart of Marlborough's wine country. Legacy EPT's Marlborough wine tour covers the key cellar doors in sequence: Cloudy Bay (the iconic export brand), Hunter's (consistently excellent Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling), Dog Point (the prestige producer), and Fromm (Marlborough's finest Pinot Noir). The Marlborough food scene has developed to match the wine: Rock Ferry restaurant, the Wairau Bar precinct, and Raupo Riverside Cafe provide proper lunch anchors.

Nelson: Craft Food and the Gateway to Abel Tasman

Nelson is 116 kilometres west of Blenheim across the Wairau Plain and over the Richmond Range. The journey takes about 1.5 hours and the route through the farming valleys of the Richmond district is genuinely beautiful. Nelson's identity is built on sunshine hours (the most of any New Zealand city), artisan food and craft beer, and proximity to Abel Tasman National Park to the southwest.

Abel Tasman National Park's golden-sand beaches and turquoise water are the most photographed coastline in the South Island. Legacy EPT coordinates Nelson-to-Abel Tasman transport for day trips that combine water taxi access to the park's interior beaches with vehicle access to the park's southern gateway at Marahau.

The Top-of-the-South Circuit

The complete top-of-the-South circuit — arriving by ferry at Picton, wine touring the Marlborough Sounds and Wairau Valley, continuing to Nelson and potentially to Abel Tasman, then flying home from Nelson Airport — is one of New Zealand's great multi-day regional itineraries. Legacy EPT coordinates all ground transport within this circuit with the same vehicle standard and operational management across every leg.

View Marlborough/Blenheim services, Nelson services, or request a top-of-the-South tour quote.