Things to Do in the Yarra Valley: Chocolate, Gin, Cheese and the Towns
Wine is why most people come, but a day here pours more than wine. You can taste chocolate, gin, cheese and fruit between cellar doors. Choosing between Yarra Valley day tours? Start with what you want to taste besides wine.
Chocolate at Yarra Glen
The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie is the stop more tours make than any winery. You walk in free and taste at the counters, and it is open from 9am, before any cellar door. It also hosts one of the valley's digital visitor information kiosks.
On a tour you spend 30 minutes to an hour here. The wine, cider, gin and chocolate day books a private tasting of 10 to 12 chocolates. The chocolate and gin day offers up to 12. On the two-course lunch day, tastings and purchases here are at your own cost.
Gin in Healesville
Four Pillars is a gin distillery on the road into Healesville. It stays open into the evening on Fridays and Saturdays, later than anywhere else a tour stops. Last drinks are 15 minutes before closing. It does not publish a tasting price on its visit page, so ask when you book.
Two days include a gin paddle here: the wine, cider, gin and chocolate day and the private day. The two-course lunch day sells it as a swap for a winery, for an extra fee. Both half-day listings leave gin at Four Pillars out of the fare.
Cheese, fruit and farm gates
Yarra Valley Dairy: 70 McMeikans Road, Yering, open daily 10:30am to 5pm. It makes its cheeses in the valley, Persian fetta among them. The bike tour stops for 30 minutes.
Coldstream Dairy: the cheese tasting on the gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day, for 45 minutes. That day then goes on to gin and wood-fired pizza at Stag Lane Distillery.
Yarra Farm Fresh: a fruit, strawberry and jam tasting at a farm gate. It is the first stop on the fruit, wine and chocolate day and the chocolate and gin day. One reviewer on the Chandon tour notes that out of season, the strawberries came from outside the valley.
Rochford's gin: the fruit, wine and chocolate day stops at Rochford Wines, and a gin tasting there costs A$25 a person on top of the fare.
Healesville, the valley's main street
Healesville is the town most day tours drive through. The Maroondah Highway runs past its centre, and Black Spur Drive begins where the town ends. Healesville Sanctuary sits on Badger Creek Road, just past the township centre. Four Pillars is on Lilydale Road, and Soumah is ten minutes out.
The gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day gives you an hour of free time here with a hot drink included. Use it to walk the main street between tastings. Everything else in town sets its own hours, so eat before your first pour.
Yarra Glen and Coldstream
Yarra Glen is where the Chocolaterie is, and the town has its own digital visitor kiosk. Greenstone Vineyards points visitors to Yarra Glen for the rest of their day.
Coldstream is the wine strip on the Maroondah Highway. Chandon is at number 727 and Rochford at 878-880. St Hubert's is on St Huberts Road, Tokar Estate on Maddens Lane, and Yarra Valley Dairy is at Yering. If you base yourself in one place for a day on your own, Coldstream puts the most cellar doors within a short drive.
Warburton at the end of the valley
Warburton is where the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail ends, 40 km from Lilydale. The Warburton Waterwheel Visitor Information Centre is at 3400 Warburton Highway. The Cement Creek redwood forest is about 15 minutes' drive out of town.
The redwoods tour gives you 45 minutes of free time in the village before the forest walk. It is the one day that reaches this far. For the forest and the trail, see Yarra Valley activities.
What to do with children in the valley
Every winery stop pours alcohol, and the legal drinking age in Victoria is 18. Under-18s may be on licensed premises with a responsible adult or when having a meal. So a family day works best around the stops that are not about wine.
- The Chocolaterie is free to enter and opens at 9am.
- Healesville Sanctuary lets children aged 4 to 15 in free at weekends and on holidays.
- The rail trail is shared by walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
Which food-and-drink stops each tour makes
Read down to the stop you care about, then across to the days that make it. Times come from each listing's own itinerary.
| Stop | Town | Tours that stop there, and for how long |
|---|---|---|
| Yarra Valley Chocolaterie | Yarra Glen | Gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day with hotel pickup (1 hour) Chandon, chocolate and kangaroos at dusk, 11:30 start (1 hour) Fruit, wine and chocolate day from Federation Square (55 min) Fruit, wine, chocolate and gin day from the Arts Centre (50 min) Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day from Flinders Street (45 min) Wine, cider, gin and chocolate day from Spring Street (45 min) Two-course lunch day with a gin or beer option (40 min) Warburton redwoods, then a winery or the sanctuary (30 min) |
| Four Pillars Gin | Healesville | Wine, cider, gin and chocolate day from Spring Street (gin paddle, 1 hour) Private day with a sparkling brunch at Chandon (gin paddle) Two-course lunch day with a gin or beer option (swap option, extra fee) |
| Stag Lane Distillery | Yarra Valley | Gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day with hotel pickup (gin and pizza, 75 min) |
| Yarra Valley Dairy | Yering | Rail trail bike ride with a pizza lunch (30 min) Private day with a sparkling brunch at Chandon (cheese tasting) |
| Coldstream Dairy | Coldstream | Gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day with hotel pickup (cheese tasting, 45 min) |
| Yarra Farm Fresh | Yarra Valley | Fruit, wine, chocolate and gin day from the Arts Centre (fruit and jam, 30 min) Fruit, wine and chocolate day from Federation Square (fruit tasting, 25 min) Chandon, chocolate and kangaroos at dusk, 11:30 start (strawberry farm stop) |
| Healesville main street | Healesville | Gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day with hotel pickup (free time with a hot drink, 1 hour) |
| Warburton village | Warburton | Warburton redwoods, then a winery or the sanctuary (free time, 45 min) |
When the tasting you want matters more than the winery, compare the Yarra Valley wine and food tours side by side.
Want chocolate, cheese or gin in the fare?
Every card lists what it pours besides wine, and whether lunch is included.
Food and drink questions
Is the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie free to visit?
What are Four Pillars' opening hours?
What can you do in the Yarra Valley on a rainy day?
Where can you taste cheese in the Yarra Valley?
Next: see the estates on Yarra Valley wineries, meet the animals on Yarra Valley wildlife, or compare every fare on Yarra Valley Tours.