Build your own weekend in one of New Zealand's loveliest wine villages
Pick your cellar doors, long lunches and dinners. We'll put them in the best order, time your day, check who's open and map your route.
Build your weekend →Wine came late to Martinborough. In the late 1970s a soil scientist noticed the free-draining terraces here had a lot in common with Burgundy, and the first vines went in soon after. A handful of families took a punt on pinot noir, and it paid off. Today the village is one of New Zealand's most celebrated pinot regions.
What makes it special is the scale. Most cellar doors are small and family-run, and the person pouring is often the person who made the wine. Twenty-odd of them sit within a couple of kilometres of the Square, on flat roads you can walk or cycle. Add long lunches, a few good bars and a village laid out like a Union Jack, and it's easy to see why people come back.
Martinborough sits in the rohe of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Rangitāne o Wairarapa, beside the Huangarua and Ruamāhanga rivers.
Martinborough rewards a bit of planning. Cellar doors keep different hours, the best lunches book out, and a few gems are by appointment only. This page does that thinking for you, so you can spend the weekend enjoying it.
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Martinborough is about 80 km from Wellington, over the Remutaka Hill. Come for the day, or stay the night and take it slower. Most people come out Saturday morning and head home Sunday afternoon.
Take the Wairarapa Line from Wellington Station to Featherston (about an hour), then Metlink bus 200 into the village (about 25 minutes). It's the cheapest option and everyone gets to taste.
Weekend services are less frequent, so check the last bus back to Featherston and plan your day around it.
Take the train to Featherston and have a cab or shuttle meet you for the last 18 km. Good for small groups, and you can be dropped at your first cellar door.
Book ahead. There are only a few drivers in town and Saturdays fill up.
Let someone else drive and book the tastings. Martinborough Wine Tours meets the Wellington train at Featherston and runs half-day, full-day and private tours, with lunch on the longer ones.
Build your wish list below, copy it, and send it to the operator when you book.
Take SH2 over the Remutaka Hill, then SH53 from Featherston. Park once near the Square and walk or cycle from there.
The hill road is winding and sometimes closes in bad weather. Staying the night means you can park on Saturday and nobody has to be the sober driver.
Most of Martinborough is walkable from the Square, so staying in or near the village means you can park the car on Saturday and leave it there. Book early for summer weekends and big events, when the whole village fills up.
Martinborough has a lot of Airbnbs and holiday homes, from cottages a few streets from the Square to farmhouses out among the vines. They're a great fit for groups and families, and plenty are within walking or cycling distance of the cellar doors. Local agencies look after collections of holiday homes too.
Right on the Square, with Union Square Bistro downstairs. Walk to dinner, cycle to the cellar doors.
martinboroughhotel.co.nz ↗Motel rooms and apartments on the edge of the village, an easy walk or ride to the Square.
theclaremont.co.nz ↗A pair of apartments for couples or two friends travelling together.
Village listing ↗Three cottages to choose from, close to the village.
Village listing ↗Cabins and units for families and budget stays, a short walk from Palliser Estate.
martinboroughtop10.co.nz ↗Villas and suites on a working vineyard, two minutes from town, with the Vineyard Café on site.
margrainvineyard.co.nz ↗A country retreat of cottages and villas among the vineyards. Popular for couples, groups and weddings.
parehuaresort.co.nz ↗A self-contained apartment at the Poppies cellar door on Puruatanga Road.
Village listing ↗Green Jersey's shuttles can collect you from stays outside the village.
A country retreat with a spa and indoor pool, a short drive out of the village.
brackenridge.co.nz ↗A luxury retreat on its own estate outside the village.
Village listing ↗Sleeps 12 across five bedrooms, four with ensuites. Made for a big group weekend.
Village listing ↗Luxury glamping in the countryside near Martinborough.
whitimanuka.co.nz ↗A secluded two-bedroom farmstay for four, under the Wairarapa's dark skies.
longbushfarmstay.co.nz ↗A country estate lodge on the Palliser Bay coast, for a weekend that's more than wine.
wharekauhau.co.nz ↗The village sits on flat river terraces, so walking and cycling work well. The bigger names on Te Muna Road and Dry River Road are further out.
Coffee, breakfast or brunch around the Square before you pick up the bikes or head to the first tasting.
Early-opening weekday café for a cooked breakfast before the day starts.
Facebook pageCoffee, brunch and lunch just down from the Square, seven days. Nourishing the neighbourhood since 1999, with dinner Friday to Sunday.
thevillagecafe.co.nz
Warm, friendly coffee house on the Square. Good coffee before you pick up the bikes.
Village listingPopular all-day café, seven days. Dinner Thursday to Saturday in summer. Worth booking a table.
No website listedBrunch and lunch on the Square. Closed Wednesdays.
No website listedAll 25 Martinborough cellar doors, from walk-in tasting rooms on Kitchener Street to by-appointment estates out on Te Muna and White Rock roads. Hours shown are for the day you picked. Lunch usually needs a booking, and groups of six or more should ring ahead everywhere.
25 of 25 cellar doors · featured first, then nearest the Square
Whānau-run by Morton and Elise Anderson, named for the fantail. Rare local semillon and merlot, with platters. Open most Sundays.
tiwaiwakawines.co.nz
Known for gewürztraminer, with food, jazz and storytelling owners. Longer hours in summer.
haythornthwaite.co.nz
Martinborough's smallest cellar door. Tastings and glasses poured at the brewery late in the day.
thegoodway.co.nz
Hour-long seated tasting at 11am on weekdays, alongside benchmark Burgundy and Alsace. Ten people max.
oraterra.nz
Natural and biodynamic wines, with platters of cured meats, cheese and olives.
cambridgeroad.co.nzThe former Muirlea Rise, now home to Nimba wines and Dr Beak small-batch gin. Open Saturdays, weekdays by appointment.
drbeak.nz
Small family label in the heart of town, with platters. Midweek by appointment.
grava.nz
Celebrated pinot noir in the original winery building. Walk-in tastings, or book a seated one in the Wine Room.
atarangi.co.nz
Long-standing pinot producer with a tasting room, food truck and platters. Large groups enquire first.
schubert.co.nz
Walk in and pick your own tasting, or book a guided one. Roving pizza Thursday to Saturday.
ngawaka.co.nz
Coney Wines' new cellar door in the village, opened May 2026.
coneywines.co.nz
Cellar door and emporium of estate-made chutneys and treats. Book ahead.
tirohanaestate.com
One of the founding estates, with lunch from Palliser Kitchen every day. Book for weekends.
palliser.co.nz
Platters and lunch at The Vineyard Café, on the edge of the village. Groups of six or more book.
margrainvineyard.co.nz
No conventional cellar door. A handful of members' visits a year, by arrangement only.
dryriver.co.nz
Pizza, platters and lunch, beanbags outside and a fireside spot in winter. Just south-east of the village.
colombo.co.nz
Tasting with seasonal platters to share. Open every day.
poppiesmartinborough.co.nz
Rustic lunch set out in the vineyard, and dinner too. A favourite long-lunch stop.
moyhall.nz
Set-menu lunch and tastings, with lawn, beanbags and a deck over the vines. Kids welcome.
lunaestate.co.nz
Home of Te Kairanga and Martinborough Vineyard wines, a restaurant and Lighthouse Gin. Book online.
therunholder.co.nz
One guided tour and tasting a day at 11am, Monday to Thursday. Single-vineyard Te Muna pinots.
escarpment.co.nz
Hour-long seated tastings with the owners, by appointment at weekends.
bigskywines.co.nzViews across to the Remutaka and Tararua ranges, about 7 km south-west of town.
hamdenestate.co.nz
Vineyard and olive grove tours by appointment. About 15 minutes' drive south.
Village listingPinot noir and olive oil tasted together, with a vineyard and grove tour. By appointment.
No website listedMost cellar doors close around four. These bistros and bars are a short stroll from the Square. Staying over? Add one to your plan and we'll leave free time before dinner. Karahui and Union Square are worth booking on a Saturday night. They're listed with the latest-open first, for the day you picked.
The locals' bar on the Square. Somewhere to land once the cellar doors close.
No website listed
Relaxed bistro and bar just off the Square, good for a late lunch or an early dinner.
tonicbistro.com
The heritage hotel's bistro. Weekday lunch, weekend brunch and dinner every night.
martinboroughhotel.co.nz
Wine bar and restaurant in the old BNZ bank building. Elevated dining and a curated local wine list.
karahui.co.nz
Over 40 New Zealand gins, gin flights and spice-led Asian and Thai sharing plates.
karahui.co.nz
Taproom with its own beer and cider, local wines and a sunny garden bar. Cheese rolls, pizza and burritos. Dogs welcome.
martinboroughbeer.com