Duration:
Operated By:
Discover the Cool-Climate Wonders of Mt Barker
Escape into the scenic backroads of the Great Southern Wine Appellation on a full-day sensory journey. Nestled near the spectacular Porongurup National Park, the Mt Barker sub-region is celebrated for its characteristically cool climate. This slow-ripening environment produces rich, intense flavours and exceptional grape quality. 🍷
Your Premium Wine Tasting Itinerary
Leave the driving to your passionate local guide and enjoy a relaxed day of tasting and discovery across four acclaimed, family-run estates:
- Gilbert Wines: Begin your morning at this welcoming cellar door, home to ‘the lads’, where you can kick off with premium tastings or a fresh morning coffee.
- Plantagenet Wines: Step up to the tasting bench to select your favourite vintage, perfectly paired with a scrumptious shared platter of local cheeses, cured meats, condiments, and fresh bread. 🧀
- Galafrey Wines: Visit this outstanding family-owned winery, home to prominent female winemaker Kim Tyrer, and explore their unique expression of the region.
- West Cape Howe: Conclude your journey by sampling from an extensive range of award-winning wines, gourmet olive oil, or their very own custom coffee blend.
What Makes This Tour Special
- Attentive Local Expertise: Your expert Albany Tours guide handles all the skipper duties, leaving you free to relax and soak in the stunning vineyard views.
- Gourmet Regional Lunch: Indulge in a delicious shared platter featuring fresh local produce, pickled vegetables, and artisanal crackers.
- Stress-Free Transfers: Enjoy complimentary pick-up and return to your accommodation (available for locations within 3km of the CBD). 🚐
Tour Details & Departures
This boutique experience departs Friday to Monday from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, offering an intimate and memorable escape into Western Australia’s premier wine country.
Guest Review
“A fantastic day! Small group. Visited 4 wineries for tastings – all quite different. A good introduction to the region. Susan our guide was very knowledgeable about the region, the wineries and the wines. Also included a lovely shared platter lunch. Highly recommended.”
Please note: To help protect our pristine local environment and reduce single-use plastics, guests are kindly asked to bring their own water in a reusable container. 💧
SUITS
Interests:
Skill Level:
Suitability:
Accessibility:
Share:
Tour included pickup and transportation, park pass entry, lunch and wine tasting. An intimate local experience.
Highly recommended.
We duly reached the Skywalk and I have a photo to prove it though the weather, low-flying wet cloud, was not optimal.
There followed a delicious lunch and wine-tasting at Ironwood Vineyard and I went back to the hotel with a doggy bag!
At the end of the tour Susan drove me to the Anzac Centre well into overtime so that I could catch a couple of hours there and then enjoy the walk along a trail back to the centre of Albany. (The sun was naturally shining by this time!)
Thank you, Susan!
The experience went well above expectations. Susan was wonderful and very good at providing information about Albany and the flora / fauna during our hike.
The van was extremely comfortable and we were so pleased with the headset system which allowed all of us to hear her commentary.
To top all this off, she provided the most amazing “lunch”. Fantastic sandwiches, fresh pastries, wine, delicious fresh fruit, tea and coffee.
Thank you, Susa, for this very memorable day!
What a great way to start the weekend holidaying in Albany! Thank you so much Sue we really appreciate your excellent service.
Lunch was a delicious. Platter of local food.
The afternoon Gap tour was exhilarating with views n afternoon tea. Tim was very informative n Nadine was very caring, watching our step all the time n filling us with details of the places of interest. Appreciative of the step up n off the bus. Thank you for curating the tours
A very worthwhile tour!
Our last stop was the wind turbines- again we had a great guide who was able to share some great insights.
If you want to see a bit of the local area in a small group setting with great photo opportunities, this is a great choice- so much more enjoyable and cost saving compared to the similar cruise ship tour.
We were picked up and taken early and had a very enjoyable and knowledgable journey to the bay.
It started as a slightly grey and quiet day but that changed quickly. The sun came out and so did the whales.
They tour guides were amazing and knew all the whales names ages and spotted them really early (which i know is unpredictable) and followed them all day with multiple sighting of single males, groups and babies! (I’m not
good at catching them on camera though)
I would recommend this to anyone. Although if you are prone to sickness a warning to get tablets - we luckily were ok but it nearly was a very expensive sleep for my husband - and we were lucky it was a calmer day (which is still pretty choppy)
Then picked up and dropped home - thank you so much for a great experience
It seems I was called an hour before the tour was supposed to start, but no message was left, so I didn’t think it required an urgent callback when I missed it. Moreover, there was no follow-up email or text to inform me that the tour had been cancelled, so I went to the meeting place as expected and waited around 15 minutes before I realised that no guide was showing up.
I then received an email over an hour after the tour was scheduled to start saying that the tour had been cancelled and my ticket refunded [I've attached a screenshot].
Cancelling a tour ONE HOUR before it is scheduled to start and then not informing me is really appalling customer service.
We were met at the port by a representative who directed us to a meeting point and that we would find Michele our guide.
We have done many tours around the world. This was by far the best tour ever. Michele was very informative and new a lot about the wineries were to visit. She had everything well organized. She kept us on schedule because we had to catch our ship.
If you are ever in Albany, I would highly recommend Albany Tours for a wine tour and request Michele as your guide and driver. Excellent tour.
Worth doing. Thank you.
You need to book your accommodation well in advance because Tourism has become a large contributor to the economy there. Having said all this is it worth it?? Absolutely yes on so many levels. It is quite a large town with a great history. The people are welcoming and the food is amazing. The scenery is excellent.. many beautiful beaches (Middleton Beach has so much to offer), great landscapes and an easy drive to The Gap and Natural Bridge.
We continued down to Esperance after 3 nights in the Albany area but, that's another story and must do for so many reasons.
South west Western Australia has so much to offer beyond the Margaret River region. Australia is so vast and remote areas may not be as appealing for very young families due to the tyranny of distance but for those of you that are willing, it's worth it and airlines are starting to pick up on this.
It was a memorable day, but also long and tiring so we were grateful that we could sit back and relax.
Susan was punctual and professional and drove in a safe manner. She is also very well organised, and displays a caring nature.
Susan took care of our booking for this and two other trips and the process was hassle free. We can’t thank Susan enough for helping us enjoy a day that we will long remember and
we have no hesitation in recommending The Busy Blue Bus to other visitors to Albany.
right at the top. The skywalk is amazing and well worth the effort to make it up the hill.
Lunch at the winery afterwards was a nice touch and Tim took the time over lunch to show me other worthwhile walks in the area.
Thank you Tim and thank you Busy Blue Bus.


































