Best Day of our 3 weeks in New Zealand -- Wine Tour of Martinborough with Silver Cloud Luxury Tours - We booked a full day, customized Martinborough Wine Tour with Silver Cloud Luxury Tours. Helen, our guide and owner of the company, delivered an incredible experience. She set the Platinum... read more standard for service, friendliness and knowledge. I'm afraid we're spoiled for life now. It was the best day we had in New Zealand and we had some very amazing days there.

She left nothing to chance. She asked about our wine preferences and customized the tour to suit them. Her spotless MB van was directly imported, had extremely comfortable "captains chairs", road well and was well stocked with various drinks and snacks. The multiple sunroofs were a delightful and unexpected addition to the experience. Her family is in the wine business and she was greeted as an old friend at all the wineries we visited. She arranged for several wine tours, not just tastings. She knows Peter Jackson personally so, when we stopped at lovely parks for pictures and drove over the Rimutaka Ranges to Martinborough, she pointed out many places that were used for filming scenes of Lord of the Rings and the digital effects studios that remain. She tells great stories. She dealt with a sudden, unannounced bridge closing with aplomb.

Our first stop was Schubert Wines where Kai explained each of the broad selection of wines we tasted. We bought a lovely, unusual Rose. We had an excellent wine tasting and an exquisite lunch with Toby at Tirohana Estate. Lucy at Murdock James estate devoted an enormous amount of time to us. Her passion showed in her explanation of growing grapes for good wines and dealing with Mother Nature's vicissitudes. We finished at Te Kairangi Estate where we sampled several delicious whites and reds and bought two of their red Reserve wines. Interspersed with the winery visits were multiple breaks for coffee and snacks and shopping. She made extra stops for us to replace items we had lost previously during our travels.

Even at the end of our long day of touring, she was still smiling and helpful. We were flying out of Wellington airport the next day and it is under construction. She tracked down the new location and instructions for checking in with our airline so we wouldn't have any surprises. And, it turned out that she was good friends of and neighbors with the owners of Acorns B&B, where we were staying (also great)..

Overall, not only was this an unbelievably good tour but we have never been so well taken care of. I cannot recommend Silver Cloud Luxury Tours highly enough.

  Martinborough in one day - We had one day in Wellington on a cruise ship and wanted to maximize our day visiting wineries in Martinborough. We were lucky enough to find Helen with Silver Cloud... read more and it was a perfect day!!! She's incredibly informative about the wine industry in general having grown up around it and her passion and knowledge truly made the day a perfect 10. She helped us pick the best wineries to explore and peppered the day with great stories about the history of the area and personal anecdotes that really made it more special. We saw a larger group from our ship coming in to one of the stops and they didn't get a quarter of the special attention and experience that we did. Due to bad weather our port visit was delayed by a day and on very short notice Helen made changes to accommodate our group which really blew us away. If you're considering a tour here (wine related or otherwise) there is no better hostess!

  Simply Superb Luxury Touring Services with Loads of Charm, Pampering and Knowledge - Our small group of four had two amazing days in Wellington and its environs guided by Helen, the owner of Silver Cloud Luxury Tours. Helen is creative, flexible, funny,... read more helpful, relaxed and so knowledgeable about all that fabulous Wellington has to offer. As a lifelong resident of Wellington, she knows and loves Wellington's every nook and cranny. Her vehicle was pristine and thoughtfully stocked with water, tissues, mints, etc. She worked tirelessly to ensure that every detail of our time together came off flawlessly. We spent one delightful afternoon in the wine country just outside of Wellington where we had a killer lunch at the gorgeous Poppies Vineyard, tasted yummy chocolates at Schoc Chocolates and sampled delicious olive oils at Olivo. Whatever your particular interest or interests, Helen will craft an utterly memorable time in Wellington for you. She also has special capabilities and expertise for disabled travelers. You cannot go wrong with this gem of a company lead by its star owner, Helen!

  A Marvelous Day of Discovery - My wife and I spent yesterday with Helen, touring Martinborough wineries, visiting Kaitoke Regional Park, making a couple of important LOTR pilgrimages and learning a lot about the history and... read more culture of Aotearoa. As a professional educator and (almost) lifelong Kiwi, Helen makes for a superb tour guide. Her family includes long-established NZ wine growers as well, so her assistance in selecting wine tastings and purchases is impeccable. Everything about her tour is high quality, from the Mercedes Viano pickup clear through to the special chocolates at the end. Helen succeeded in delivering a most memorable day for us in this beautiful country. Highly, highly recommended!

  Wine tour - Along with another couple we spent a full day touring Martinborough while on a cruise day stop.
Helen picked us up at the port in a very comfortable van. We... read more went to Rivendell Film set and then through on a beautiful drive to the wine area. We visited 4 wineries plus another one for lunch. All of the wineries were very good and lunch was very good.
Helen is a great driver, knows her wine and is very cautious to make sure you get back to the port on time.
I highly recommend this tour and hope to tour with Silver cloud again.
Helen thanks for a great day, add your website above!

  Simply Amazing!! - Helen was simply amazing! We booked a wine tour with Helen based on all the wonderful TripAdvisor reviews and we are so happy we did! She arranged a full... read more day of wine tasting, lunch, a brief tour of Wellington and even a stop at Rivendell for some views of the LOTR filing locations.

She not only had a perfect itinerary, but she also had waters, mints, cheese and crackers available to us - she seriously thought of everything! The wines were delicious and the stop for lunch (included) had the best lamb shank I’ve ever tasted!

My husband and I just got back to our cruise ship and can’t stop talking about how fantastic this tour and Helen’s hospitality was. This was defiitely the best wine tour we’ve taken, and we’ve taken many!

Thank you Helen, for such a amazing day!

  OUTSTANDING in every way! - What a fantastic and outstanding day we (3 of us) spent with Helen. She promptly picked us up and took us all over Wellington, catering to our every desire,... read more and then some, in her very comfortable car. She is a knowledgeable, humorous, patient, generous, connected and enjoyable tour guide. We took 6 different private tours throughout New Zealand and Helen's tour was by far the best! Even though we had our tour day planned, we expressed an interest in seeing wildlife and in a flash she had us at Zealandia with a private tour! High Tea at the Roxy was amazing. Helen's depth of local knowledge is great and we wished we had another day to spend with her. Do NOT hesitate to book a tour with her. It will be a highlight for you.

  I went to NZ North Island for a tour and had a couple of days free to explore the region. I came across this amazing tour which I could do... read more as a solo person. Helen oozed enthusiasm with her knowledge of Wellington / Martinborough Region. I recommend this tour to anyone visiting the region. Helen made my tour of exactly what I requested and I felt completely relaxed in her company. Thank you so much Helen and will promote you to anyone I know going to Wellington.

  Great day in Wellington with Helen!! - Our group of 9 arriving on the Celebrity Solstice in November 2017 had a fantastic tour of Wellington with Helen in a very comfortable van. We saw the highlights... read more of the city and had a great lunch at the newly renovated art deco Roxy Theatre. We also had a tour of the WETA studios. Helen had a great knowledge of her city and a wonderful and engaging personality. We had a great day.

  One of best land tours ever taken. - Our tour for ten people from the Cruise ship Regal Princess on Feb 7, 2017 was one of the best land tours we've ever taken. It was on a very... read more comfortable van for ten people and it was like Helen Waddington the tour company owner and guide was our best friend showing us her home town. Friendly , knowledgeable, great sense of humor and filled with anecdotes about her beloved Wellington. At the end we felt like we really knew Wellington. She even sent us a photo of our ship leaving the harbor sailing past her home.