Blenheim, NZ

Two-hat Cuisine Good Food degustation restaurant on Godfrey Road in Renwick, the most ambitious dining room in Marlborough. Set tasting-menu format with sharp wine matches from the region's small producers. The destination dinner.

A Cuisine Good Food Award restaurant at the Marlborough Boutique Hotel on Rapaura Road, out in the wine country. The seasonal Marlborough-produce menu is built around a charcoal oven and paired with a strong regional wine list. Open for dinner seven nights.

Restaurant at Wither Hills winery on the hillside south of town, with a polished menu and the best terrace view in the region. Lunch daily, dinner Fridays and Saturdays.

Casual garden bistro at Saint Clair winery on Rapaura Road. Lunch-only, sharing-plate format, and the casual best winery lunch in town. Family-friendly.

Renwick village pub with the best pub menu in the wine country and a long taps list. Casual, generous portions, and the casual answer for a group after a day of cellar doors.

Cellar-door bistro on Jacksons Road from a family winery, with a casual seasonal menu and a long deck overlooking the vines. The under-the-radar wine-country lunch.

A pie shop and cafe on New Renwick Road in the Burleigh suburb, southwest of the centre, renowned for gourmet pies that draw a steady lunchtime queue. The locals' morning stop before a wine-country tour.

A collaboration between Wairau River winery and the chef behind Frank's Oyster Bar, in a vine-surrounded setting on Rapaura Road. The menu is built around fresh Marlborough produce paired with Wairau River wines — eat outside on sunlit lawns in summer, or fireside in winter.

A Brazilian-Argentinian steak restaurant on Main Street in Blenheim, with a long churrasco grill and a tight Latin menu. The under-the-radar non-winery dinner.

A quieter, organic-leaning cellar door on Hammerichs Road with a large sunny deck and a portfolio that runs well beyond Sauvignon Blanc — Pinot Noir, Riesling, Pinot Gris. Wine flights paired with cheese and charcuterie platters in a relaxed garden setting.

Marlborough brewery beer garden on Dodson Street with a tasting paddle, casual pub menu and a long courtyard. Family-friendly until evening; the non-wine option.

Small seafood and oyster bar on Maxwell Road in central Blenheim, with a tight Marlborough-Sounds-seafood menu and the deepest white-wine list in town. The casual seafood dinner.

Flat 70km cycle network through the wine country, with most cellar doors within walking distance of the path. Most visitors do 20-30km in a day. The defining way to see Marlborough.

A network of walking and mountain-biking tracks on the hills south of town, with views over the wine country and the valley. The Sutherland Stream Loop is the casual 90-minute option; longer tracks go higher.

A challenging DOC loop in the hills toward Port Underwood, northeast of Blenheim, climbing through regenerating and mature native bush to the Mount Robertson summit route. Around four to four-and-a-half hours return via two access points on Port Underwood Road; steeper and quieter than the Wither Hills tracks.

A 4-hour return walk around the tidal lagoon east of Blenheim, with strong godwit and shag birdlife and big open horizons. Quiet, exposed, the birdwatching destination.

A 90-minute summit walk on the closer hills above town, with the easiest panoramic view over the wine country. The locals' lunchtime walk.

A flat 3km loop along the Taylor River through Blenheim, pram-friendly with picnic spots and a small lake. The local daily walk for in-town residents.

The February festival in Renwick that started the country's wine-festival tradition in 1985. Dozens of Marlborough wineries, food stalls and live music. The biggest day of the year in Marlborough.

The country's best aviation museum, with WWI and WWII aircraft posed in Peter Jackson-designed life-size dioramas. The polished rainy-day plan and the destination for any aviation fan.

Several operators run day tours from Blenheim with cellar-door pickups and a winery lunch. The right way if you do not want a designated driver. Small group sizes available.

A working chocolatier on Rapaura Road with free tastings and a viewing window into the kitchen. Tiny stop, generous samples, and the right add-on after a winery morning.

Sunday morning market on Maxwell Road in central Blenheim with strong local producers and a row of food carts. The Sunday plan for the village.

Demonstrations of trained falcons hunting in the vineyards at Brancott Estate, with the country's only working falconry-in-vineyards programme. Educational and unexpectedly powerful.

The tasting room for Elemental Distillers' Roots Marlborough Dry Gin, on Rapaura Road among the wineries. Tasting flights, gin cocktails and small plates in a relaxed shack setting; the non-wine stop on a cellar-door day.

The regional visitor centre on Sinclair Street in central Blenheim, with free maps and staff advice for the Wither Hills tracks, the Wairau Lagoon walk and the Marlborough Sounds trails. The right first stop for a walking day.

Half-day cruises into the Marlborough Sounds from the Picton wharf 25 minutes north, including the mail-run boat that delivers actual post to remote bays. A unique way to see the Sounds.

An 8km self-drive vineyard road through the Yealands coastal estate, with grazing sheep on the vines and viewpoints over the coast. Family-friendly and the unique add to a wine day.

The Marlborough winery that put New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on the global map, on Jacksons Road. The cellar door pours a tightly-curated flight including Te Koko, the wild-yeast Sauv that defines the upper-tier style. Touristy by reputation but the wines still hold up.

Family-owned winery on Rapaura Road with a leafy cellar-door garden and a respected lunch restaurant. The casual best-introduction-to-Marlborough cellar door for visitors.

Polished cellar door and restaurant on the hillside south of town, with the country's most visited cellar door and the best terrace view in the region. The Friday-and-Saturday dinner room is the destination evening experience.

The historic vineyard that planted Marlborough's first Sauvignon Blanc in 1973, with a striking modern cellar door perched on a ridge overlooking the valley. Falcon flying demonstrations and a small heritage gallery on site.

The country's best aviation museum, with WWI and WWII aircraft posed in Peter Jackson-designed life-size dioramas. Two large halls; allow three hours. Not what you expect from a small-town museum.

The braided river that runs through the wine country, with the Wairau River Estate cellar door at its bank and multiple swimming holes along its length. The locals' summer-evening waterway.

A large central park with the formal rose gardens, the public swimming pool, and a Japanese garden. The local park for the village, free, and the right hour-long stop between meals.

The tidal lagoon at the coast east of Blenheim, with a 4-hour return walking track and the country's strongest godwit summer population. Quiet, exposed, the birdwatching destination.

A coastal vineyard 25 minutes east with a self-drive 8km vineyard road, a cellar door, and the country's only vineyard with sheep that actually graze the vines (and chickens, and a babydoll-sheep heritage). Family-friendly.