Yarra Valley half-day wine tours take you to three cellar doors in about five hours, in a small group, with a guide and the transport in the fare. You choose a morning or an afternoon run, or a late 11:30 start, and keep the rest of your day.
Five hours, three wineries and more than 16 wines: Helen & Joey, Payten & Jones and Soumah, about 45 minutes at each. Choose a morning or an afternoon run, board at Arts Centre Melbourne or Lilydale, and finish at Federation Square.
From $90 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The same three wineries with a full hour at each, cellar door fees in the fare and a window seat for every traveller. You board at Arts Centre Melbourne or in Lilydale, and the coach brings you back to where you started.
From $95 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A late start for people who want their morning: 11:30 from Federation Square, then sparkling wine at Chandon, a tasting at Yering Station and the Chocolaterie. The last hour is spent looking for kangaroos at sunset, eleven travellers at most.
From $138 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Three wineries in five hours, morning or afternoon, with more than 16 wines to taste and a barista coffee before you leave.
Check availabilityIt is a short run out of Melbourne to three cellar doors, with a guide and transport, and no lunch in the fare. The valley is about an hour's drive from the city, so a five-hour tour gives you roughly three hours of tasting. You spend that time at Helen & Joey Estate, Payten & Jones and Soumah, the wineries both five-hour tours use.
The fares run from $90 to $138 per person. The five-hour tours cost $90 to $95, and the Chandon tour at 11:30 costs $138 because it adds cheese, chocolate and a kangaroo stop. It is sold as a half-day tour, but it runs seven hours and its last stop is at sunset.
A full-day tour leaves central Melbourne between 8:00 and 9:30 and brings you back in the late afternoon. A five-hour tour runs in the morning or the afternoon, so you still have half a day in the city. If you want your morning free, the Chandon tour does not leave until 11:30.
Both five-hour tours offer a Lilydale boarding option, at the valley's edge. If you are staying out east, or you come in on the Lilydale line, you skip the drive from the city. The small-group tour also brings you back to Lilydale.
The five-hour tours take 15 travellers at most, and the Chandon tour takes eleven. Several full-day coaches take up to 24. A smaller group means less waiting at the tasting bar and more time with the person pouring.
The five-hour tours are among the lowest fares for a guided valley day. Because lunch is not in the price, you pay for tastings and transport only. If you would rather eat in Melbourne, that is money kept for dinner.
This is the choice most travellers are weighing. Here is how the two compare, using the tours' own itineraries and fares.
| Half-day wine tour | A full day in the valley | |
|---|---|---|
| Time away | 5 hours, or 7 from an 11:30 start | 8 to 8.5 hours |
| Cellar doors | Three, about 45 minutes to an hour each | Three to five stops, some with gin, cheese or chocolate |
| Lunch | Not in the fare; grazing boards to buy | In the fare on the lunch days, bought on the day on the others |
| Where you board | Arts Centre Melbourne or Lilydale; Federation Square at 11:30 | Central Melbourne, 8:00 to 9:30 |
| Group size | 15 at most, or 11 on the Chandon tour | Up to 24 on the larger coaches |
| Ages | 18+ on the five-hour tours; from 3 at 11:30 | From 4 to 18+, by tour |
| Fare per person | $90 to $138 | $70 to $134 |
If you want lunch and four wineries, a full day is the better buy. The full-day tour with a winery lunch costs $131 with the meal in the fare. If tasting is the point and you have plans for the evening, choose the half day.
The small-group half day spends a full hour at each of its three wineries, with the cellar door fees in the fare and a window seat for you.
Check availabilityWeighing a half day against a full one? Compare every fare and start on Yarra Valley Tours.