Marlborough Region
Welcome to Marlborough Region
The insider's travel guide to Marlborough RegionThe Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest wine-producing region and home to the Marloborough Sounds.
With vineyards stretch in every direction beneath the hills, the Sauvignon Blanc produced here is considered some of the finest in the world, so try some in Blenheim town.
For many overland travellers, the Marlborough Sounds are their first glimpse of the South Island. The huge maze of beaches and jagged area of islands, inlets, and sunken valleys offer scenic road trips, remote hikes, secluded beaches, gentle sea kayaking with different views at every turn. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even dive a shipwreck in Port Gore.
Although not a national park, there are more than 50 reserves here. Some can be driven to — like the refreshing Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve — while others require a boat transfer, like Motuara Island.
The Marlborough Region atlas
3 picks Places & Experiences You Won't Find Elsewhere-
The 72km long Queen Charlotte Track is a great way to explore the Marlborough Sounds. You can hike or bike the trail, passing through lush forest, hidden bays and empty beaches.
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Fly into cosmopolitan Auckland to begin your New Zealand trip, before heading south past Hamilton to Lake Taupo, where you’ll stay for three days. From here, you can drive a couple of hours to Waitomo Caves, where you can take a candlelit tour through Footwhistle Cave seeing thousands of glowworms. Spend a day exploring the hiking trails around Lake Taupo or kayak to the Mine Bay Maori rock carvings, and another seeing the magnificent Huka Falls. Fly from Taupo to Blenheim, then transfer to Marlborough Sounds for a couple of days. Hike or bike part of the Queen Charlotte Track, a 71km trail through glistening bays, forests and coves, and spend a second day on the water in a kayak, where you can see seals, dolphins and even orcas. Transfer to the small town of Kaikoura for whale-watching, hikes up Mount Fyffe and New Zealand’s best seafood, before ending in adventure capital Queenstown, where you can take a day trip to Milford Sound for a cruise through its unspoilt valleys.
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The top of the South is a microcosm of the country, with diverse mountains, beaches, forests, lakes, and wildlife. Arrive in the Marlborough Sounds and complete a loop along the northern and western coastline, and through the mountains.The ferry from Wellington takes about three hours, and passes through the dramatic Marlborough Sounds, a network of sunken valleys and isolated bays. Picton is the largest town in the sounds, and offers wildlife-watching cruises with chances of seeing penguins and dusky dolphins.From Picton, follow the Queen Charlotte Drive to Havelock, a handy lunch stop on the way to Nelson.Spend a day or two in pleasant Nelson, the largest city at the top of the South Island, or continue directly to the Abel Tasman National Park.Continue on to Golden Bay, over the slow and winding road to Takaka, a preferable base for exploring the western side of Abel Tasman.Return over the Takaka Hill, to leave Golden Bay and head to the small village of St. Arnaud, on Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes. How long you spend at the Nelson Lakes depends on how much hiking you want to do.From St. Arnaud, continue in the direction of Murchison for great white-water rafting on the Buller River, and then on to Greymouth on the West Coast. Stop at Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks on the way.After a day at the Hokitika Gorge, head east to Hanmer Springs. The journey traverses the 740-metre Arthur’s Pass, through the mountains of the Arthur’s Pass National Park.Finally, head to Christchurch to connect to an international flight or continue road tripping for a few more days, up the east coast, to make a full loop back to Picton.
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Hike the Queen Charlotte Track
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New Zealand wildlife and waterways
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South Island Road Trip
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