Blenheim

Getting Here and Around

Blenheim Airport (BHE) and Picton's Koromiko Airport (PCN) are small regional airports—Picton's Koromiko is little more than a paved runway in farmland. Air New Zealand Link has at least 10 return flights from Wellington or Christchurch to Blenheim daily. Soundsair flies into Picton from Wellington at least six times a day.

InterCity runs between Christchurch, Picton, Blenheim, and Nelson a couple of times a day. The ride between Christchurch and Blenheim takes about five hours, from Christchurch to Picton closer to six hours, and from Picton to Nelson, about 2½ hours. At Blenheim, buses stop at the train station; at Picton, they use the ferry terminal.

Aside from tour buses, the only reliable local alternative is Atomic Shuttles. The roads to most wineries are arranged more or less in a grid, which makes getting around relatively straightforward. Rapaura Road is the central artery for vineyard visits; wineries cluster around Jeffries and Jacksons roads, Fairhall, the area around Renwick village, the lower Wairau Valley, and State Highway 1 south of Blenheim. The roads to both Nelson and Picton give access to the Marlborough Sounds, and the road inland from Renwick towards the West Coast accesses the Nelson Lakes National Park. Pick up a map of the Marlborough wine region at the Marlborough Visitor Information Centre.