{"id":5411,"date":"2024-11-18T03:16:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T03:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/?p=5411"},"modified":"2024-11-18T03:16:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T03:16:39","slug":"how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest, and most-visited, wine region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages \u2013 and that means it\u2019s impossible to fit everything in one weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019ve put together some highlights for you \u2013 from cellar doors where you can take behind-the-scenes tours to indulgent degustations to a hot air balloon ride at sunrise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wine
Image credit: Tyrrell’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SIPPING WINE AT CELLAR DOORS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hunter is home to around 150 cellar doors. They range from big names you\u2019ve probably seen in your local bottlo to small wineries you might never have heard of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-rounded weekend includes a few of both. For a little history, head to Tyrrell\u2019s \u2013 it\u2019s where the Hunter\u2019s first grapes were planted way back in 1858. Today, the cellar door offers a variety of experiences, from a standard tasting to a private vineyard tour accompanied by a sampling of \u2018Sacred Sites\u2019 wines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another well-known name in the Hunter Valley is Brokenwood. Choose from a myriad of experiences, including a premium tasting, a wine-and-food matching session and a tour of the barrel hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to boutique cellar doors, visit Krinklewood for French-style organic and biodynamic drops, The Little Wine Company for unusual varietals and Ivanhoe for stunning views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FEASTING AT EXCELLENT RESTAURANTS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where there\u2019s good wine, there\u2019s usually good food \u2013 and the Hunter is no exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start your days with a bubbly breakfast at Peterson House or a \u2018hangover roll\u2019 on the big, shady deck at Gartelmann Wines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come lunch or dinner, if you\u2019re ready to indulge, head to EXP. for one of the finest feasts in the valley. The tasting-only menu features the likes of charred kangaroo loin with house-made satay sauce and native tamarind, and wood-fired duck breast with barbecued barletta onion, macadamia cream and black garlic emulsion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other premium restaurants include Bistro Molines for traditional French fare; Muse for two-hatted, technically breathtaking dishes; and eRemo at Spicers for Italian classics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a more casual meal, head to Leaves and Fishes for Asian cuisine surrounded by greenery, Restaurant Kawul for native ingredients and Yellow Billy for share plates cooked over fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hunter
Image credit: Wyncliffe\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ADVENTURING ON LAND, ON WATER AND IN THE AIR <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hunter Valley is best known for its cellar doors and restaurants, but there are plenty of other adventures on offer that don\u2019t involve food and wine.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see the valley in its full splendour, take a hot air balloon ride at sunrise, or, for an adrenaline hit, climb aboard a warbird for a 20-minute aerobatic flight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on land, visit the Maitland Regional Art Gallery, ride along the Hunter Valley Cycleway or catch a film at Heddon Greta Drive-In Cinema. Or, if you\u2019re looking to relax, have a spa treatment at Elysia Wellness Retreat, book a yoga session in the vines or picnic in the Hunter Valley Gardens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, on water, take an all-day cruise up the Morpeth River. This includes Devonshire tea, a 1.5-hour stop exploring Morpeth\u2019s history, and tastings of local produce, wine and cheese. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GETTING TO THE HUNTER VALLEY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hunter Valley is just two hours\u2019 drive from Sydney<\/a> and an hour\u2019s drive from Newcastle<\/a>. That makes it a perfect weekend escape from either city.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a smooth, comfortable and stress-free trip, travel in one of SIXT\u2019s rental vehicles. We\u2019re known for providing premium cars \u2013 from EVs to SUVs \u2013 at affordable prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have branches across Sydney, and in Charlestown<\/a>, Beresfield<\/a> and Williamtown Newcastle Airport<\/a> near Newcastle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest, and most-visited, wine region.  It\u2019s packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages \u2013 and that means it\u2019s impossible to fit everything in one weekend.  That\u2019s why we\u2019ve put together some highlights for you \u2013 from cellar doors where you can take behind-the-scenes tours to indulgent degustations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[76,122,65],"class_list":{"0":"post-5411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-travel","7":"tag-newcastle","8":"tag-roadtrips-nsw","9":"tag-sydney","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nHow to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley - SIXT Car Rental<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest wine region, packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley - SIXT Car Rental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest wine region, packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SIXT Magazine Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-18T03:16:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-18T03:16:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"arvinf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley - SIXT Car Rental","description":"The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest wine region, packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley - SIXT Car Rental","og_description":"The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest wine region, packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/","og_site_name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","article_published_time":"2024-11-18T03:16:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-18T03:16:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"arvinf","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"arvinf","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/"},"author":{"name":"arvinf","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77"},"headline":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley","datePublished":"2024-11-18T03:16:37+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-18T03:16:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/"},"wordCount":623,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg","keywords":["Newcastle","NSW","Sydney"],"articleSection":["Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/","name":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley - SIXT Car Rental","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-11-18T03:16:37+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-18T03:16:39+00:00","description":"The Hunter Valley is Australia\u2019s oldest wine region, packed with fascinating cellar doors, excellent restaurants and pretty villages.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2024\/11\/Tyrrells-Tasting.jpeg","width":1024,"height":538,"caption":"Image credit: Tyrrell's"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/travel\/how-to-spend-a-weekend-in-the-hunter-valley\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Spend a Weekend in the Hunter Valley"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","name":"SIXT Magazine Australia","description":"Travel Tips & News from SIXT Rent a Car","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#organization","name":"SIXT Australia","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/20\/2025\/11\/sixt-logo-png_seeklogo-320002.png","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"SIXT Australia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/d3073790687d254a0e5854cc89d35b77","name":"arvinf","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f37a51dc0afb5637d2ac90fef7f89019adeeb1e568d663a64083ad97e578531e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"arvinf"},"url":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/author\/arvinf\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sixt.com.au\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}