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

Kassia Byrnes 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.

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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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Film lovers need to add these Victorian theatres to their bucket list

    Ricky French Ricky French
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    Theatres have always been a cornerstone of regional Victoria, reflecting the character and history of their local communities.

    From grand, gold rush-era masterpieces to Art Deco wonders to repurposed prisons, we’ve rounded up four of Victoria’s best regional theatres to catch a show at next time you’re travelling through.

    Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat

    Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat 
    Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat has been standing for 150 years. (Image: Michael Pham)

    A monument to the immense gold rush wealth flooding through Ballarat in the second half of the 19th century, Her Majesty’s Theatre (‘Her Maj’ to locals) celebrates its 150th anniversary as the city’s premier performing arts venue this year.

    Built in a classical style and immaculately preserved (thanks largely to a recent $16-million restoration), this Lydiard Street landmark is the oldest continuously operating theatre in mainland Australia, notable for its double balcony and a stage that slopes towards the front, making it one of the most audience-friendly venues in the country to see a show.

    The Capital, Bendigo

    The Capital Theatre, Bendigo
    The Capital in Bendigo was built in 1873 as a Masonic Hall. (Image: Michael Pham)

    Denoted by its distinctive Corinthian columns, more reminiscent of ancient Greece than regional Victoria, The Capital theatre in Bendigo has been through several iterations since the first stone was laid in 1873.

    Originally a Masonic hall, the renaissance revival-style building became a theatre in the 1890s, falling into disrepair for a time during the 1970s, before being restored and reopened (as the Bendigo Regional Arts Centre) in 1991. Today, the 480-seat venue hosts everything from comedy to cabaret to traditional theatre, dance, opera and live music.

     Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo

    a look insideBendigo’s Ulumbarra Theatre
    Inside Bendigo’s Ulumbarra Theatre, a former prison. (Image: Michael Pham)

    Bendigo has busted out as a regional performing arts hotspot, so it’s fitting that one of its newest venues is housed within a former prison. Meaning ‘meeting place’ or ‘gather together’ in the language of the local Dja Dja Wurrung people, the $26-million, 950-seat auditorium rose from within the red brick walls of the historic Sandhurst Gaol in 2015.

    It’s an eerie feeling as you approach the imposing granite facade, pass beneath the old gallows and pick up your ticket from the box office occupying a repurposed cell block. With the building playing a main character in the show, this is performative architecture at its finest.

    Rex Theatre, Charlton

    the Rex Theatre in Charlton
    The 1938-built Rex Theatre in Charlton is an Art Deco gem. (Image: Jenny Pollard)

    Regional theatres don’t come more romantic than this Art Deco gem in the river town of Charlton, in north-central Victoria. Built in 1938, the 350-seat community-owned theatre provides an essential entertainment outlet for residents in the Wimmera Mallee region, as well as visitors making the trip up the Calder Highway from Melbourne.

    The volunteer-run venue is the last remaining purpose-built cinema in regional Victoria, and hosts the Charlton Film Festival every February, plus three weekly film screenings (Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday).