We had a great experience with Dean from Grab a Cab! He was extremely communicative, professional…read moreand prompt. I highly recommend Dean and his Grab A Cab colleagues for all your car needs in the Nelson area!

From the owner: GRAB A CAB is locally owned and operated by staff who have years of experience in the private hire…read moretaxi service industry. Only the best become part of the Grab A Cab team ensuring our customers a service that's second to none. From the initial call or email to book a cab right through to your arrival at your destination.

"Explore Marlborough Wineries By Bike" was a ship tour offered to us while in the Port of Picton…read more We tend to opt for a small group tour while in port, but this caught our eye. It would be a bit physical, scenic and at the same time some fun comparing New Zealand's wine country to our own here in California. This tour had to be one of the best wine tours we've been on. Our guide, Andy picked us up at the ship in a comfortable small van, and narrated along the way as we drove inland to where "Explore Marlborough Wine Tours" has their gear and office. When we arrived we were all able to outfit ourselves with the correct height bicycle, set the correct seat height, get situated with correct helmets, learn the gears, and given safety vests. The bicycles were like new and top notch with a basket for your belongings and a bottle of water & a treat. We went over all safety instructions, and tested our bicycles prior to commencing our ride. We had three really nice winery stops and really enjoyed the ride. The narrative by Andrew when we stopped in the vineyards was so great and super informative with the field harvesting process. Our last stop on the bike ride was at Mahi Winery, which was our favorite. Beautiful grounds, beautiful architecture, beautiful wines! Unbelievably hospitable and generous with their wine, and the fantastic lunch that was prepared by their fabulous chef "Marcia". I'm still trying to replicate the potato green bean dish, the corn with cucumber salad, and the recipe used for the salmon. Oh my gosh it was incredible! After the fantastic lunch, we all jumped in the van and drove back to our starting point for anyone that wanted to purchase wine before driving back to the ship. Sometimes you wonder about your choices of excursions, but at the end this was a no brainer and one of our favorite excursions. We highly recommend this tour, and would probably do it again if it was in our backyard.

From the owner: Explore Marlborough Wine Tours runs guided biking and driving wine tours of the Marlborough wine…read moreregion.

This place is sweet as mate! (New Zealand lingo, heh)…read more As you can expect from a hostel in a small town of several thousand in New Zealand, there are travelers from all over the world here and they coexist happily. I sat in the TV room one evening and watched Benjamin Button with two fine gentleman from a foreign country. I cooked in the kitchen with even more people from even more foreign countries. The stay wasn't long enough here for me to make any friends, but I'm sure it would have been quite easy and possible. That being said, the people tended to keep to themselves and the area was relatively quiet. You won't find a party in Picton (as far as I could tell) and by extension, you won't find a party at Sequoia Lodge. There's a shuttle taking people around to known destinations and in the winter evenings there's free ice cream and brownies! Sequoia Lodge also has an outdoor hot tub you can reserve, as well as a TV room where I watched Benjamin Button with two guys from another country. Picton's a small town so you'll find everything you need to survive within walking distance, although you'll need some form of motorized transportation to get to any destinations in a reasonable amount of time. You're 30 minutes from wine country by car and just as far from Queen Charlotte Sound.

I was highly impressed with New Zealand's i-SITE Visitor Centres. I visited several in the country…read morebut this one was the most helpful. We arrived in the rain, with more expected. We were traveling with a four month old baby and my husband had sprained his ankle badly. Not exactly a recipe for adventure tourism. But the woman who helped us at the i-SITE Visitor Centre took into account that we live near the ocean in California and suggested we drive to Nelson Lakes, since the scenery would be different to what we have at home and we'd be able to enjoy it without rugged hikes. We took her advice and ended up having one of the most memorable experiences of our trip in New Zealand at Nelson Lakes, which included a speedboat ride with a new friend and a trip to a remote waterfall.

Na Clachan wine tours Easter Sunday, April 21…read more We found this tour company through Cruise Critic recommendation. Our ship docked about ten minutes from town and we took the provided ship's shuttle to the parking lot of the town's tourist information Office. We Met Chris, two other ship passengers and two people on a world tour. Wineries were about 20 minutes outside of Picton and there were plenty to choose from. Chris took us to six wineries where the predominant regional wine was Souvinon Blanc with a smattering or other whites, some Roses and some Pinot Noir. We liked the Pinots best, a much lighter product than our favorite Oregons. We found Chris to be both knowledgeable and gregarious, fun to be with. We found some of the wines a bit repetitive but their take on Pinots exciting. Our tour ended with a visit to a chocolate factory then a trip to a high lookout to photograph our ship. We found the experience fun, entertaining and informative, our six person tour far and away better than the 50 passenger busses from the ship we kept skirting. We highly recommend Na Clatchen for your Picton adventure. PS. Neglected to say tour included stop at winery for lunch which was excellent. Sometimes we were a" wined out" but this break for lunch revived us....until the chocolate. Chocolate we could easily bring on the ship, wine was questionable.

From the owner: Small group wine tours with knowledgeable tour guides. We introduce each winery and provide…read moreinformation on growing grapes and the Marlborough region during the tour. We DONT have a set timed itinerary to ensure a relaxed tour

Rented from them for the first time. Had a small problem with the car they gave me and they…read moreimmediately jumped on it and I had a new car as fast as they could do it. Truly the sort of customer service you rarely see.

So the only minor annoying aspect of this place is that you have to call the shuttle to pick you up…read morefrom the airport in Nelson. That said, the shuttle is very prompt and the cars are not far away. The service was very warm and friendly, with an emphasis on making sure that us out of towners understood the rules of the Kiwi roads before taking off. And the rental price is very reasonable (a huge plus given that petrol is very, very expensive). Bonus mention -- if you're like us and you plan on dropping off your car to take the Blue Ridge Ferry back to the north island, Apex allows you to drop of your car at the ferry terminal, which is enormously convenient.

For $79 pp we purchased a wine tour wristband @ were given a map.. Vans stopped at 26 wineries &…read moreliquor themed venues. Vans came every :30. It took :20 minutes to get to Blenheim for our first winery. A wine museum, gift shop, gin distillery, confectionery, vine village, beer garden ... we drove through magnificent wine country with rolling hills, sheep & of course vineyards. Our driver was knowledgeable sharing info about the area, wines & stops. There were people running to the van @ he was frequently running late. We had time to stop at two wineries for :30 and one for an hour lunch. At the end of the day they checked that everyone made it back to the port. We were told that we shouldn't have an issue getting lunch at any stop. We wouldn't need reservations today. However, there were cruise ships tours & Viacor tours that tied up many kitchens & wine tastings. We would have like to make more stops.

We spent a fantastic day visiting wineries, amazing lunch, and chocolate factory with Cam and his…read moreteam on our private tour arranged by Hop 'n Grape. We were picked up in a great coach at the port (shore excursion) and taken to several wineries in Blenheim and the Marlborough area. We had an amazing lunch and tasting at one local vineyard they put together for us. Additionally, we had many great tastings throughout the day, learned about New Zealand's wine making industry and living in this beautiful part of the country. Cam made this visit so personal and tailored it to our group. We met with winemakers and a local brewmaster. If you go to wine country, Hop n Grape will not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand

Been here 6 years so no rookie. Extremely good staff. Very diverse demographics. Lots of young…read morepeople many of which have no respect for others and some who are the best available. Good location close to the bus routes, hospital, and cbd. Probably the safest earthquake resistant building in Nelson. Internet speed is very fast for a connection.

kiaora...my name is Barney Wilson i have just finished my stay at Franklyn Village...my stay there…read morewas awesome as ,the staff were allways helpfull and very friendly,the amenities were clean and tidy,the toilets were spotless and very nice to visit..lol...Franklyn Village in the past has had a bad wrap...but not any more...James (the manager) and his staff went out of their way to make my stay there was positive and a plessure,they have the place humming with a very possitive vibe...i would reccoment it to anybody who asked me to stay there...the clients in the other units were friendly and would open doors for me if my hands were full going thru...my unit was private and comfortable...i enjoyed my stay at Franlyn Village and would stay there again....thank you James and your georgous staff......for looking after me....chur chur....Barney