3 minute read
Blenheim Must Do's
MARLBOROUGH MUSEUM Detailing the area’s history with an emphasis on its wine industry, there’s a mock 1900s village and several carefully curated exhibits. Entry is free on Saturdays.
BLENHEIM RIVERSIDE RAILWAY Sitting adjacent to Blenheim Museum, skirt the riverbank on a miniature train to Blenheim, Ōmaka Airfield and Aviation Museum. The train runs on sporadic weekends and school holidays, check online. To get free entry to the museum during the school holidays, show your Blenheim Riverside Railway ticket.
Advertisement
DODSON STREET BEER GARDEN For those of us with a penchant for beer, this award-winning Bavarian tavern is housed in Marlborough’s oldest commercial building and pours New Zealand’s largest selection of craft beers.
WARD Nearby Ward is loaded with history. Check out Ward Beach.
MAKANA CONFECTIONS Tease your taste buds with free-flowing samples and watch how bespoke chocolates are made.
ŌMAKA AVIATION Marvel at the aircraft and artefacts set in contextual battle scenes alongside lifelike mannequins and dioramas from Weta Workshops and Wingnut Studios. Located next to Ōmaka Classic Cars, with over 100 cars from the 50s to the 80s.
ŌMAKA AERODROME Take flight in a vintage aircraft with PMH Aviation over the Marlborough region for unparalleled aerial views.
SCOTCH BAR Set your tastebuds alight with this culinary revelation. Begin with tasty bites followed by a succession of dishes for the table. Their wine cellar is also top notch.
SWEET CREATIONS Blending a café, floristry workshops and baking classes, every experience inside these four walls is a beautiful one. Book early for weekly dessert nights – understandably popular.
SS WAVERLEY Trace the flat and family-friendly shoreline of the Wairau Lagoons, past various seabirds, to the enormous rusty hulk of the SS Waverley. Most spectacular at sunset.
MARLBOROUGH FARMERS’ MARKET Do as the locals do and pick up the freshest seasonal produce that Marlborough has to offer. Every Sunday from 9am to 12 noon at the A&P Showgrounds.
THE GIN ROOM This boutique tasting room, located in the Vines Village, specialises in New Zealand made gins. Relax in the purpose-built Gin Garden or lakeside overlooking the vineyards.
WITHER HILLS FARM PARK Offering a good range of walking and mountain biking tracks on a working sheep and cattle farm, this serene rolling landscape is minutes from central Blenheim. The Covernent Loop Track to Mt Vernon is a 7km trail soaking up the best of the 422m-high peak. Alternatively, the Mt Vernon Traverse is a challenging mountain bike trail.
SEDDON This town south of Blenheim is close to the Awatere Valley wine region and the striking Grassmere salt works.
Hans Herzog Vineyard, Blenheim © MarlboroughNZ
