Day & Hot-Air Balloon Tours

If you don't have a car, you'll have to get around as part of a tour, because no public transport runs between the wineries.

Trekabout Tours (tel. 02/4990 8277; www.hunterweb.com.au/trekabout) offers half-day and full-day winery tours for a maximum of six people. Half-day tours cost A$50, with visits to five or six wineries; full-day tours cost A$60 and take in up to nine wineries, mostly boutique ones. The company can pick you up from your hotel in Cessnock or Pokolbin.

Also offering local pickup is Hunter Vineyard Tours (tel. 02/4991 1659; www.huntervineyardtours.com.au), which has a full-day tour on a 12- or 21-seat bus, taking in five wineries. It costs A$65, or A$95 with lunch.

Balloon Aloft, in Cessnock (tel. 1800/028 568 in Australia, or 02/4938 1955; www.balloonaloft.com.au), offers year-round dawn balloon flights that include postflight champagne and optional breakfast for A$18. Flights last an hour and are A$299 for adults midweek (A$335 weekends) and A$235 for kids (8-12).

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.