City & Wine Country
Sydney paired with the cellars of the Hunter beyond. A private, tailored journey of 6-8 days in Sydney, Australia & New Zealand, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$12,000 per traveler.
- Culinary · Calm
- Ideal length: 6-8 days
- Best time: From October to April, the best window for Sydney.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$12,000 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
Sydney paired with the cellars of the Hunter beyond. A private, tailored journey of 6-8 days in Sydney, Australia & New Zealand, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$12,000 per traveler.
Two nations at the edge of the world offer coral gardens, ancient rainforest, glacial peaks and some of the most remote luxury on earth.
When to go
From October to April is the best window for Sydney. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
The experiences
A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:
- A private cellar tasting in the Hunter Valley with a winemaker few travellers meet.
- A hot-air balloon at dawn over the vines, followed by breakfast in the fields.
- A harbour lunch in Sydney before the drive north into wine country.
- A guided evening of Australian food and wine pairings, arranged around your palate.
A sense of the rhythm
Begin in Sydney, where the harbour and the headlands ease you into the trip. Then the pace softens as you move north to the Hunter, among the oldest vines in the country. Days here are for long lunches, quiet cellars and the slow light over the ranges.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- The Hunter is closer to Sydney than most expect, an easy morning by private car.
- Let us pair cellars to your taste rather than the well-trodden names.
- Balloon flights go at first light; reserve the calm mornings of the shoulder season.
- A private chauffeur means no one at your table has to forgo the tasting.
What only your advisor can open
The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.
Who it's for
Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.
Estimated investment
From US$12,000 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.
Designed entirely around you
Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Your Virtuoso privileges
As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.
Continue exploring Sydney
Part of our Sydney travel guide. Related private journeys:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design City & Wine Country around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
Questions, answered.
You can taste the Hunter as a day from the city and keep Sydney as your base. Or you can settle among the vineyards, waking to the ranges and dining where the wine is made. The second gives the region its proper measure of time.
The Hunter is closer to Sydney than most expect: an easy morning by private car, heading north after a harbour lunch in the city. Our advisors recommend a private chauffeur, so no one at your table has to forgo the tasting. You can visit the Hunter as a day from Sydney or settle among the vineyards, which gives the region its proper measure of time.
Yes. This journey can include a hot-air balloon at dawn over the vines, followed by breakfast in the fields. Balloon flights go at first light, so our advisors suggest reserving the calm mornings of the shoulder season. Staying among the vineyards rather than in Sydney keeps you close to that early start, and the experience is arranged privately and shaped to you.
Rather than the well-trodden names, let your advisor pair cellars to your taste. The journey can include a private cellar tasting with a winemaker few travellers meet, among the oldest vines in the country, and a guided evening of Australian food and wine pairings arranged around your palate. Days in the Hunter are made for long lunches and quiet cellars.
City & Wine Country is designed for 6-8 days. You begin in Sydney, where the harbour and the headlands ease you into the trip, with a harbour lunch before the easy morning drive north by private car. In the Hunter the pace softens: long lunches, quiet cellars, a private tasting with a winemaker, perhaps a balloon at dawn over the vines, and the slow light over the ranges. You can visit the Hunter as a day from Sydney, but staying among the vineyards gives the region its proper measure of time.
As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$12,000 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.
October through April, when the Southern Hemisphere summer opens the vineyards, along with the reef and the alpine trails. That is the season for long lunches in the Hunter, quiet cellars and the slow light over the ranges after a harbour lunch in Sydney. If a dawn balloon flight over the vines is on your list, reserve the calm mornings of the shoulder season. Your advisor times the journey to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
City & Wine Country begins in Sydney, where the harbour and the headlands ease you into the trip. A harbour lunch in Sydney comes before the drive north into wine country, an easy morning by private car. Then the pace softens in the Hunter, among the oldest vines in the country, where the days turn to long lunches, quiet cellars and the slow light over the ranges.
Days in the Hunter Valley are slower than in Sydney, given to long lunches, quiet cellars and the slow light over the ranges, among the oldest vines in the country. They can hold a private cellar tasting with a winemaker few travellers meet, a dawn balloon over the vines with breakfast in the fields, and, if you stay among the vineyards, waking to the ranges and dining where the wine is made.
Yes. A Sydney and Hunter Valley journey can include a guided evening of Australian food and wine pairings, arranged privately around your palate. It sits naturally alongside a private cellar tasting with a winemaker few travellers meet, with cellars paired to your taste rather than the well-trodden names. A private chauffeur means no one at your table has to forgo the tasting.
Three days is enough for Sydney itself: the harbour, a coastal walk and the city's best tables, and three to five days covers it comfortably. Adding the Hunter Valley changes the arithmetic. It is an easy morning north by private car, but the cellars, a dawn balloon over the vines and the long lunches deserve nights among the vineyards rather than a day trip, which is why City & Wine Country runs six to eight days.
Australia & New Zealand
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