My husband and I did the Annapolis Valley Wine and Cheese tour as a shore excursion with a Norwegian cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience! The wine itself was fabulous but what made it even more enjoyable was our guide, Colleen. She was extremely knowledgeable about the area (Halifax, Gaspereau Valley, and Annapolis Valley) and the wineries. She went above and beyond to make sure that we all enjoyed ourselves, including stopping at an overlook for some quick pics and a farmer's market for some extra snacks. I would highly recommend this tour and would do it again if ever returning to the area. read more

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This was a great wine tour, 10/10 would recommend. My partner and I took my parents, and the four of us had a blast. Martin was fantastic - great driver, lots of fun facts, very personable. None of us had been to Planters Ridge, and I think it may have had our favorite wine discoveries of the three stops. read more

Wine tour not to be missed! From the moment we were picked up by the tour guide, JD, in a very comfortable van, throughout the entire tour, we experienced great wine, kind and knowledgeable wine makers, and Canadian hospitality! Nova Scotian are proud of their wineries and they have all the reasons to be. We ended up with 22 bottles! Tidal Bay is a local gem! read more

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My girlfriend and I were the first ones on the bus and after seeing 10 girls get off chanting our guide's name, we thought there was no way he'd live up to the hype. Boy were we wrong. JD is unbelievably sweet, super informative, and a great storyteller. I learned a ton about Nova Scotia, wine, and life in general. I couldn't have asked for a better experience (or wine). read more

Great experience with Sarah, who was our tour guide for our wine tour! We came for a bachelorette party of 9 from the US and did the evening escape tour of Grand Pre and Benjamin Bridge. The wines we tried were great and eclectic. Grand Pre is the oldest winery but is rather small. We booked dinner at Luckett vineyard which was not a part of our paid tour but Sarah brought us to the vineyard which was BEAUTIFUL! I would have also liked to visit Lightfoot possibly in place of one of the other wineries but overall very satisfied! We had a great time and the bride was thrilled! read more

Our day was spectacular! Our tour guide and driver, Daniel made the day. Very pleasant lad, organized and well spoken. He kept us on time and back to the city as scheduled. The wineries were very nice, and wine pours for the tastings, great. Grape escapes put together a fine wine day. Lunch was way better than expected! Water supplied in the bus, so fun to say the least. We are full time RV'ers, and have toured many wineries through North America, and this one was as good as any. Bit of a ride, but Daniel and his history talk, made it pass right on by. Highly recommend this tour! Will do it again on our next visit. read more

I confess that I did not have super high expectations, but I changed my mind. I had been to all the wineries before, had done the tastings, and the only reason I was going was to hang out with a friend visiting back home from Ontario. It was also great to be chauffeured! The pickup was punctual, and the guide delightful. Sara made the trip to the Valley just slip by, with her historic tales and wine facts. I learned a lot! I wanted to tell our group about the high Fundy tides, but she knew that too! We learned all about the Tidal Bay appellation, all new to me (even though I had tried the wine). The best "tour" was at Grand Pré. The guide met us outside and took us into the vineyard. She also gave very precise tasting directions. The other two were also good. The cheese and fruit near the end sure hit the spot. I would recommend this your to any wine lover--especially those "from away." One tip: you are the customer. If you want to sample different wines than the others, speak up! read more

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We have now used Grape Escapes for 3 of our summer staff events and we are never disappointed with the service and experience! Randy (the driver) is always a pleasure and I honestly have nothing bad to say about the entire experience. It was beyond easy to organize a large group (23) and they really do all the work. I would (and do!) definitely recommend Grape Escapes! Great idea for a staff event. read more

Had such a great time!! The tour guide, Susan, was so sweet and fun. Loved learning about the history of the food in Halifax. My favorite stop was at Chain Yard! The food and drinks were amazing. Thanks for a fun afternoon!! read more

My sister and I took a tour yesterday and had a wonderful time. Our tour guide and driver Coleen was fantastic. She was knowledgeable and funny during the day. We visited 3 wineries and had a tasty lunch at one. Highly recommend! read more

Grape Escapes: Nova Scotia Wine Tours - Luckett vineyards - Wine Tours Near Me

Even though I could just say 'WORD' to the other reviews already posted here, let me add my own happy feelings into the mix after spending a day touring around the valley courtesy of Grape Escapes! Now, I love the valley. I end up out in Wolfville a couple of times a year just to take in the scene and have made it out to a couple of the wineries in the region but of course couldn't properly enjoy myself knowing that we'd have to drive home. (Obligatory PSA: Drinking and driving isn't cool no matter how you try to class it up by visiting vineyards.) So, when I was offered a slot on a private tour with my friends where a company made all arrangements including transportation back to the city, it was a no-brainer. We were in a semi-comfortable passenger van for the day but Grape Escapes has different options. For a couple, they'll drive you around in a sports car; for six or fewer, a Yukon; and for larger parties a full-fledged bus. Our party of seven was able to customize the line-up for our day tour (Avondale Sky, Luckett, Benjamin Bridge - $130), arrange for multiple pick-up and drop-off locations, and basically do everything exactly the way we wanted. For me, that's *way* better than hopping on a tour bus with a bunch of strangers. This way you can be your sloppy self after a couple samples and no one's surprised. Grape Escapes owner Susan was our guide for the day and totally fit in with our crowd. She kept things casual and fun, the wine information at a comfortable 'trivia' level rather than straight-up snobbery, arranged for a gorgeous two-course lunch at Luckett's, and worked miracles to get us in as the first public tasting with Benjamin Bridge winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers. Just a fantastic way to get out, see the province, find new favourite wines, and be passed out in bed by 7pm. read more

I was delighted to be invited on a wine tour with friends this past weekend. A member of the group had made all the arrangements with Susan of Grape Escapes, and together they came up with a "build your own" tour option. They do have specific tours listed on their website, but it is so nice to be able to customize as well. The rest of the group had gone down to the Valley a day early, and since I was the only pick up in Halifax they were accommodating enough to pick me up at my door. You can't beat that level of service. And how fantastic to not have to worry about a designated driver on a trip like this - everyone can imbibe freely! So it was just the two of us until Wolfville, and we chatted about my mostly-limited knowledge of wine. She asked if I'd been on other wine tours elsewhere in the world, so we got to chatting about some of the other wine regions and the differences between those terroirs and Nova Scotia's. See I even picked up fancy wine lingo! She was careful not to delve too much into information on Valley wines and wineries, so as to avoid repetition later on with the rest of the group. I appreciated that. We picked up the others in Wolfville and headed off on our tour of 3 wineries. While on the road, Susan kept us entertained and informed us about winemaking in the area. She gave us primers on each of the wineries before we arrived. We visited Avondale Sky winery, and I very much enjoyed their Tiday Bay. In fact, variations of Tiday Bay turned out to be a bit of a theme as we tried each winery's version. We had a chance to visit the vineyard and learn more about the history of the church that houses their wine boutique. You may remember hearing the news last year about how they saved the church from being destroyed and transported it from Walton by ferry. Such a lovely and unique spot. We had 3 tastings there in total. As we made our post-tasting purchases at each spot, Susan labeled each bag with our name and stowed them safely away till the end of our journey. Next up was Luckett's Vineyard. We had a really informative visit to the vineyard and learned a lot about the property. I like how the tastings were set up here - we were each allowed to try 5 wines, but we could choose which 5 out of a group of 10 or so. It's a nice touch because the red-lovers could focus more on reds if they wanted, etc. Lunch at Luckett's was included as part of the tour and it was a highlight of the day. We were treated to a delicious 2-course meal, and they let us split the tab on a couple bottles of wine among the 7 of us. Last, and most certainly not least, was a visit to Benjamin Bridge. All of us in the group are Nova 7 lovers, so we were definitely excited about this stop on the tour. It was a very special event as the winemaker himself hosted us for the very first public visit to the winery. Previously it had been open by appointment only to wine industry folks. They plan to open to the public soon, but Jean-Benoit Deslauriers seemed very excited to have us as the inaugural tour. He spoke very passionately about making wine and even brought out a few special bottles for us to taste on top of the usual selection. It was a wonderful day - I can't recommend Grapes Escapes highly enough. read more

Eat Halifax Tour is a really great way to get a diverse cross selection of foods and spirits in an afternoon. With some city history thrown in for good measure. Patrick our tour guide was great. There was 10 in our tour group. 2 of us were on a cruise. And had to be back by a certain time. When the tour was over Patrick dropped us off at the ship so we got back in time. read more

I had the pleasure of doing my first wine tour this past weekend with Susan of Grape Escapes: Nova Scotia Wine Tours and a group of six friends. And you guys? It was fantastic. My boyfriend did all the planning, but Susan was so lovely and accommodating as we got all our plans in order. We had one pal picked up in Halifax on Sunday morning while the rest of us were picked up at our Inn in Wolfville. It was great to have that option. We made three stops: Avondale Sky, Luckett's Vineyards and Benjamin Bridge. All three were amazing. Avondale Sky is absolutely stunning, they were so friendly, and had some tasty white wines for us to taste. Luckett's Vineyard has a beautiful view, a really interesting variety of wines for us to try, and we got to enjoy a delicious lunch. And as we were the first tour to come through Benjamin Bridge, that was really exciting, fascinating and wonderful experience. The whole thing cost around $130 (we paid extra to do the Benjamin Bridge tour) and was well worth it. Susan was a lovely and knowledgeable guide, and it was so great to be able to enjoy the three wineries as a group and not have to worry about transportation or conning someone into playing DD. You guys should definitely make this a priority for your summer local travels! read more

I had the opportunity, about a year ago (yes, I'm slow to review), to go on a Grape Escapes tour with some work people. We met Susan at our designated pick up spot, piled on the bus and off we went. We visited L'Acadie, Luckett,and Blomidon with an impromptu stop at Grand Pre. Not only was Susan fantastic (friendly, knowledgeable and able to put up with our crazy bunch) but the crews at the individual wineries were also great (really, if you haven't already go to Luckett if nothing else but for the amazing view). I had never been on a wine tour before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was great. Susan makes sure everyone has a fun time! If you haven't already you should make plans to go on a tour this year. And if you have already been, you should make plans to go again! read more

I love wine tastings and tours, but it can be a bit of a drag visiting a bunch of wineries when you're the designated driver..but with Grape Escapes no one has to miss out on all the fun. I also appreciate that they are private tours, so the groups are small and you know everyone - aka no strangers judging you on how much you drink. What else do I love, being able to create a custom tour! I got to visit Avondale, Luckett's and Benjamin Bridge! What I also liked about this tour was that it was an actual tour and not just tasting. Avondale and Luckett were both great, but Benjamin Bridge was simply awesome, a big thanks to Susan for snagging us a tour. Susan herself was completely lovely, had lots of knowledge and trivia to share, but also let us talk amongst ourselves as well, great balance. Overall I would highly recommend taking a tour. read more

Fabulous! Great value and hi light of my trip to Halifax. JD went above and beyond. great choice to do whilst here.

Great tour! Great company! Great tour guide! We did the Good Cheer Trail tour.. 2 breweries, 3 wineries, and a distillery with delicious food all along the way. We loved everything and are happy to recommend this company!! read more

I live in California and found this tour on The Prince George Hotel's web site (Halifax). The tour guide/bus driver, Mike, was very knowable, a great driver, and a fun person. The wineries were 3 wonderful choices. I particularly liked the wine at Gaspereau Vineyards. Lunch was delicious. The group of 21 were a variety of ages and all seemed to blend well. The office staff was so very helpful when I called, even to arranging to pick us up at the Prince George and drop us off there in the afternoon read more

Susan is the best and we had a fantastic day wine tasting. We arrived on The Carnival Glory on June 7th and was greeted by Susan who made us feel very welcome. The 5 of us on the tour were then whisked off to the valley (the drive is beautiful and a good way to see the country side) for our tour. She made excellent choices in the wineries and lunch at Luckett was perfect in one of their barrel rooms. Susan was informative and very helpful with all our wants. I found Grape Escapes on line and the communication was excellent from Susan who replied very quickly to all my questions. I was very impressed with her service. If you are searching for a perfect day tour of the wineries while in Halifax you found it here, we all give her 5 STARS and more for a perfect day! Thanks again Susan read more