For a lot of you reading this, there’s a good chance you’ll be wondering how to get from Wellington to Martinborough for wine purposes.
Wine or not (there are lots of non-wine things to do in the Martinborough/Wairarapa area), this post will help you with just that.
What is the most popular way to get from Wellington to Martinborough?
By car. But all of the options in this list can be great depending on your needs and where you’re staying in Martinborough.
How far is Martinborough from Wellington?
From the Wellington Railway Station to the Martinborough Square, it’s right on 80km which can take anywhere from 70 – 90 minutes by car, assuming traffic is reasonable.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Drive
2. Organised tours
3. Bus/shuttle
4. Hitchhike
5. Public Transport
HOW TO GET FROM WELLINGTON TO MARTINBOROUGH
1. THE WELLINGTON TO MARTINBOROUGH DRIVE
According to Google the 80km drive from Wellington Railway Station to Martinborough will take about 70 minutes. This is optimistic for the majority of people. To be on the safer side, put aside 90 minutes.
Why? If you haven’t driven over the Rimutaka Hill before, that can be a bit of a slower section, and you’ll often encounter traffic between Wellington and Lower Hutt which can waste some time.
The best part about driving is you can access other sites in Wairarapa easily, like the Stonehenge Monument and Cape Palliser. That said, if you’re planning to visit some wineries on a day trip, make sure you’ve got someone willing (and won’t be annoyed) to be the sober driver.
2. ORGANISED TOURS TO MARTINBOROUGH FROM WELLINGTON
If you’ve got limited time to get over to Martinborough, but want to experience the food and wine in the region, then an organised tour to Martinborough is a good option. You’ll get:
- sample wines and not worry about driving
- learn lots of interesting things from the guides
- meet some awesome people
The fact Martinborough wineries tend to be smaller also makes this a great experience.
Both Get Your Guide and Book Me have a variety of tours available:
- Martinborough Wine Tour (~5 hours)
- Martinborough Wine and Food Tour (~8 hours)
- Martinborough Winery and South Wairarapa Wild Coast Tour (~10 hours)
- Martinborough Half Day Foodie Tour (~5 hours)
- Winery Tour – 5 hour Martinborough Winery’s (~5 hours)
3. BUS/SHUTTLE SERVICES TO MARTINBOROUGH
In a perfect world, Intercity would offer a bus from Wellington to Martinborough, but they don’t.
There are a couple of shuttle companies that can get you from A to B however. You’ll want to organise this as soon as you know you’re going as they can be busy, particularly over summer. And if you’re planning to go to an event like Toast, you’ll want to book really early.
The prices vary, but you can get a good group of people (up to 11) in these vans to make the cost affordable.
The two companies you can call to arrange a shuttle service are:
4. HITCHHIKING FROM WELLINGTON TO MARTINBOROUGH
Hitchhiking around New Zealand is great, and something I’ve done a lot of. But have never hitchhiked from Wellington to Martinborough.
Wellington is not the easiest place to get out of hitchhiking, and there are lots of public transport options to the outer suburbs. So it’s usually easier to get outside the city and hitch from there.
In saying that, I’d go with what they recommend on Hitchwiki.
In short:
- From Wellington Railway Station catch the HVL train to Upper Hutt Station
- From Upper Hutt Station catch the 110 bus to Maori Bank
- Find a good spot along SH2 to hitchhike over to Martinborough
Here’s the route on Google Maps.
But for me, if you’re catching the bus all the way to Upper Hutt you may as well catch public transport all the way to Martinborough.
5. PUBLIC TRANSPORT FROM WELLINGTON TO MARTINBOROUGH
You can get from Wellington to Martinborough by taking the train to Featherston and then transferring onto a bus to Martinborough. It’s an easy journey, including the transfer, and takes about 2 hours.
The only annoying part is there are limited services, so you’ll want to have a good idea which trains/buses you’re going to catch each way.
You can see the latest timetables for the train here and the bus here.
Costs (if you’re paying with cash – check the full fares here):
- Adults: $20 each way
- Children: $10 each way
To make the most of a day trip from Wellington to Martinborough, you’ll want to catch the first train out of Wellington departing at 8.20 am (at time of writing). This will have you arriving in Martinborough right around 10.30 am, giving you lots of time to experience Martinborough. Note, this was at the time of writing.
The wineries are within walking distance of town, but you can always hire bikes (including crocodile bikes) to get between them too.
To get back to Wellington, you’ll want to either catch the 200 bus that leaves Martinborough at 3.46 pm or 6.11 pm. Make sure to double-check the timetables on the day so you don’t get stuck out there 🙂
If you’re going for an overnight trip, you can catch a late afternoon train across to Martinborough which could work a treat.
If you have any questions about how to get from Wellington to Martinborough leave a comment below or email me jub@churnewzealand.com
WHAT TO READ NEXT:
Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.