Love Marlborough

Destination Marlborough

Destination Marlborough is the regional tourism organisation responsible for promoting Marlborough as a visitor destination both domestically and internationally. The organisation also manages the Marlborough Convention Bureau and operates the Blenheim and Picton i-SITEs and is a partner in the Interislander i-SITE.

The Destination Marlborough website – lovemarlborough.co.nz provides information and resources for international and domestic travellers, travel and conference trade, media and local industry and community. The website covers accommodation, activities, wine and food, transport and events.

Visit www.lovemarlborough.co.nz now!

Information for Visitors

Located at the top of the South Island, Marlborough enjoys high sunshine hours and a temperate climate so that visitors can experience all of Marlborough’s diversity through the seasons. No matter what time of year, there is always something going on in Marlborough. Adventurers young and old will find a great choice of activities on land and on water and even in the air. Hiking, sea kayaking, sailing, cruising, mountain biking, rafting, scenic flights, fishing, diving, horse trekking, or just relaxing and enjoying the views: from laid back to full adrenaline rush, there is an experience waiting for you in Marlborough.

To explore Marlborough – click here to watch our video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HihsHmczz8Q 

To find out events happening in Marlborough click here http://lovemarlborough.co.nz/events/

Bike, Hike or Kayak

Around the wineries, inland Marlborough or the Queen Charlotte Track through the Marlborough Sounds.

Marlborough Visitor Information for Activities

Wining and Dining

Pick up a wine trail map from the local i-SITE and visit some of the 40 cellar doors in Marlborough. You can enjoy our local wines along with a tantalising array of tasty dishes at Marlborough’s many restaurants, cafes and eateries as Marlborough’s talented chefs make the most of the fresh local seafood and other tasty produce to tempt your tastebuds. Or explore the local Farmers Market and create your own masterpiece to go with your favourite local vintage. World renowned Greenshell™ Mussels, the abundance of Pacific Coast seafood, award-winning local NZ King Salmon and wild game are among the gastronomic choices on offer, not to mention seasonal fruits from the local orchards.

Marlborough Wine and Food Visitor Information

Wine Marlborough website

 

Water and Wildlife

The Marlborough Sounds are best explored on water, with a range of cruises and activities from a self-guided kayak excursion to a chartered luxury yacht. There are four Sounds that link together to make the Marlborough Sounds each offering a different experience; the Queen Charlotte, Pelorus, Kenepuru and Mahau. There are water activities galore in the Marlborough Sounds: jump aboard one of the scheduled services for a guided tour, to meet some of the locals join a mail boat as it delivers everything from the weekly shop to a Shetland pony! If you prefer to make your own way then sailing or kayaking are great ways to explore, and getting close to wildlife is easy with dolphin swimming and visits to one of the Sounds’ many wildlife sanctuaries.  

Picton and Queen Charlotte Sounds Visitor Information

Arts, Aviation, Heritage and Culture

The Arts and Crafts Trail is a great way to explore Marlborough's diverse beauty and visit its talented artists and artisans in their own place and see how their environment is expressed through their art and craft. You will have the opportunity to see a variety of arts and crafts. Trail members include painters, potters, sculptors as well as glass and wood artists. The Art and Craft Trail guides you to studios in town, country and - by boat cruise - the Marlborough Sounds. Pick up a Art & Craft Trail brochure from either the Picton or Blenheim i-SITEs.

 
Go gliding for spectacular views of the region or experience a bi plane ride over the vines. Visit Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, an internationally ranked collection of World War One Aircraft and memorabilia inspired by Sir Peter Jackson and brought to life by Wingnut Films and Weta Workshop who were involved with The Lord of The Rings Trilogy.

 

Marlborough Museum

Hear the story of Marlborough settlement with a separate section chronicling the wine industry's enormous impact on the region.  A taste of earlier history can be experienced with a boat trip out to Ship Cove and Motuara Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, where Captain Cook claimed British sovereignty over the South Island.

 

Marlborough can lay claim to a very extensive local Maori heritage and something that can be called uniquely Marlborough has started to emerge. Marlborough has been found to have some of the oldest human bones believed to be those of the Moa Hunters ever found in New Zealand which were found at the Wairau Bar (c-1220).

Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre website

Marlborough Gliding Club website

Marlborough Aero Club

Marlborough Museum website

Omaka Marae/Maori Experience

Millennium Art Gallery

 

Golfers and Skiers

Good all-year golfing with a range of courses to choose from and a driving range for practice. A friendly club skifield at Rainbow is just two hours drive from Blenheim, generally open July to October.

Rainbow Skifield website

Marlborough Golf Club 

Arts and Crafts

Drive yourself or take one of the local organised tours of the local arts community to see contemporary art to sculpture and pottery.

Marlborough Arts Guide website

Adventure Tourism

Experience soft adventure with white water rafting, mountain biking, sea kayaking, swimming with dolphins and eco tours. 

Eco-Tours and Adventure Marlborough Visitor Information

High Country Experience

Take a 4WD tour through New Zealand’s largest working farm, Molesworth Station; take a helicopter in for some trout fishing or go horse trekking through remote back country. Alternatively, try a rural homestay or farmstay to get a taste of rural New Zealand.

Molesworth Station - places to visit, on the Department of Conservation website

Marlborough High Country Visitor Information