Canberra’s cool new wine experience doesn’t need a designated driver

Kassia ByrnesBy Kassia Byrnes
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Hop on and hop off at some of Canberra’s best wineries.

Looking for a new wine region to explore? Forget South Australia, heck, you can even forget the Hunter Valley and Mudgee in New South Wales. Canberra’s wine region is booming, and a new Wine Hopper Tour is making it easier than ever to get around.

What began in the 70s, after some CSIRO scientists decided to take advantage of the region’s cool climate and soil types, is now a thriving wine region with plenty of incredible wineries to fill up a weekend.

wine hopper tour canberra bus
Hop your way around Canberra’s wine region.

The problem? As with all wine regions, it so often means someone in the group has to play designated driver. This is where the new Wine Hopper  tour comes in. It’s a hop-on, hop-off service from 10am to 5pm on weekends that follows a route around Canberra’s most celebrated wineries. So, unlike other wine tours, it means you can set your own pace and path (and they promise there’s enough time to visit three to four places in a day, before making your way back to the Canberra CBD).

Clonakilla Winery vines canberra
Visit up to four wineries in one day.

Stops include the likes of boutique McKellar Ridge Wines with their award-winning handcrafted wines, the family-owned Clonakilla with gorgeous vineyard views from the tasting patio and the award-winning wines and carefully curated experiences of Shaw Estate .

Tickets start from $89 per person and include round-trip transport from Canberra with expert driver-hosts, a route map, winery guide and unlimited hops throughout the day.

Sign us up.

Clonakilla Winery canberra
Taste the wines of picturesque Clonakilla. (Image: Destination NSW)

Let everyone enjoy their wine and try booking Wine Hopper , but first, read more about our top Canberra winery picks, and discover some other lesser-known wine region gems.

Kassia Byrnes
Kassia Byrnes is the Native Content Editor for Australian Traveller and International Traveller. She's come a long way since writing in her diary about family trips to Grandma's. After graduating a BA of Communication from University of Technology Sydney, she has been writing about her travels (and more) professionally for over 10 years for titles like AWOL, News.com.au, Pedestrian.TV, Body + Soul and Punkee. She's addicted to travel but has a terrible sense of direction, so you can usually find her getting lost somewhere new around the world. Luckily, she loves to explore and have new adventures – whether that’s exploring the backstreets, bungee jumping off a bridge or hiking for days. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @probably_kassia.
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Win a $2148 getaway to experience the best of The Bellarine

    Australian TravellerBy Australian Traveller
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