Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the several tours on offer?

All our tours are guided and visit a variety of different gardens, eg: formal, cottage, natural, recent or established. Read here to see what is included in all tours.

	2-garden	3-garden	4-garden
Price	$95pp	$125pp	$145pp
Departs	Wed 2pm Fri 2pm	Mon 2pm Fri 9am Sar 2pm	Tue 9am Thu 9am Sun 9am
Duration	3 hours	4 hours	5 hours

Different tours, every day of the week, morning or afternoon

How do I book?

On our online secure facility here
By phone 021 0279 2481
By email beautifulgardenswanaka@gmail.com
At the Wanaka i-Site

If booking by email or phone you will receive confirmation to pay by internet banking:

Bank account number: 38-9019-0024927-00
Please add your name and the day of the tour as reference.

Click here for more information and our cancellation policy.

Where do we meet?

We pick you up in front of the Wānaka i-Site in our light blue van.

Because the tour last several hours, make sure you park your car in a suitable carpark.

By arrangement, we can pick you up for free at the Rugby Fields at the bottom of McDougall Street, where you can park for free. You will need to be there 10 minutes prior to published departure times.

We also offer pick up from your accommodation in the Wānaka area for a $10 fee per booking. Call us to arrange and confirm departure time.

View pick up map

What do I bring?

Comfortable shoes and clothing suitable for the weather, you can leave your stuff in the locked van when we are out in a garden.

We keep extra jumpers, jackets and hats in the van to make sure you are comfortable during the whole experience.

Also bring water and your camera as there are beautiful photo opportunities.

What to expect in a tour?

After a short introduction, the guide drives to the first garden of the tour. We stroll through the garden hearing the stories of the gardeners, looking at plants, trees and flowers.

We then hop back in the van to go to the second garden etc. We stop for a break and refreshments about two thirds of the way through each tour.

We drive back to the Wanaka i-Site or pick up place.

Gardens visited in each tour

All gardens of the tours are in the Upper Clutha area and are not usually open to the public. They are private properties with keen gardeners, and while these gardens are outstanding in their design and plant selection, they are living gardens, not botanical gardens.

Several gardens of the tours have featured in gardeners magazines. There are several charming cottage gardens, recent and established urban gardens, others are lifestyle properties with extensive flower borders, trees and veggie patches.

In each tour, we visit an assortment of different garden styles, sure to enrich and inspire.

Here is a description of each day tour.
Photo are just one snapshot of each garden.

On MONDAY AFTERNOON, our 3 Garden Tour visits in the Upper Clutha area:

A flower growing facility PHOTO A
A new half-acre exemplary landscaped garden PHOTO B
A 5-acre property of landscaped park and gardens featuring a wide variety of plants and trees, orchards, potager, created in harmony with nature PHOTO C

On TUESDAY morning, the 4-Garden Tour visits:

A celebrated Wanaka established garden PHOTO-D
An intensive urban acre garden full of art and surprises PHOTO-E
A 5-acres regenerating park and gardens on Wanaka outskirts PHOTO-C
A charming small urban garden, overflowing with flowers-F

WEDNESDAY afternoon 2-Garden Tour visits:

An established one-acre garden created over 30 years by well-known local gardeners with an emphasis on special perennials. PHOTO-G
A 2-hectare lifestyle block, with landscaped colourful gardens, a growing arboretum , orchards, potager, created in harmony with nature PHOTO-C

On THURSDAY morning, the 4-Garden Tour visits:

An exquisite acre garden PHOTO-H
A flower farm PHOTO-A
An intensive urban acre garden full of art and surprises PHOTO-E
A 5-acre carbon-friendly lifestyle property in Wanaka with a park and extensive gardens. PHOTO-C

On FRIDAY MORNING, our 3 Garden Tour visits in the Hawea area:

A lifestyle block in a quiet valley with extensive native planting and flower gardens PHOTO-I
A rural lush cottage garden PHOTO-J
A flower farm PHOTO-A

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, the 2-Garden Tour visits:

A semi-urban established and celebrated garden PHOTO-K
A large, landscaped park and gardens, with orchards, potager, native and exotic trees and wildlife PHOTO-C

On SATURDAY AFTERNOON, our 3 Garden Tour visits in the Wānaka area:

A new half-acre exemplary landscaped garden PHOTO-B
An intensive urban acre garden full of art and surprises PHOTO-E
A large, landscaped park and gardens, with orchards, potager, ponds, plants, trees and birdlife PHOTO-C

On SUNDAY, the 4-Garden Tour visits:

A large semi-urban established and celebrated garden PHOTO-K
An intensive urban acre garden full of art and surprises PHOTO-E
A large, landscaped park and gardens, with orchards, potager, plants, trees and wildlife, created in harmony with nature PHOTO-C
A charming small urban garden, overflowing with flowers PHOTO-F

There are many more photos of the gardens and their beautiful plants on Social Media:

What is the fitness level of the activity?

Low fitness level is suitable: we walk slowly (because we stop all the time to admire and talk about plants!), we do not walk more than 40 minutes at a time.

Gardens may have some uneven terrain, some steps, one stile, but we can go around or offer help to get past.

Wheelchair access is possible by arrangement. These will need to be custom tours. Please check for pricing and availability.

What will I learn?

We talk about plants, garden design and the cultivation practice of the gardens we visit, with lots of tips and ideas, specially in relevance to our local climate. This is an ever evolving education for gardeners, visitors and tour guides alike!

At the start of the tour, we ask guests if they expect any knowledge from the tour and we will focus on relevant features in the gardens we visit. Examples:

I want to choose the best tree for my small garden.
What can I grow to get colours in the shade?
I am looking for scented shrubs for my hedge.

With each group, we adapt the focus and balance between botanical and common naming or just simply enjoying what we see! We also talk about finding information about plants and gardening.

What about the weather?

Our tours run rain or shine. It can be cold sometimes in the mornings so dress warmly. We provide umbrellas if it rains and keep extra jackets in the van to lend to guests as required. Our van is locked during garden visits if you wish to leave clothing and valuables securely inside the van.

What about groups?

Our tours accept 7 participants maximum, as agreed with the gardeners.

A discount applies when you book 4 seats or more at the time of booking, as follow:

Group size	Discount
4	5%
5	10%
6 or 7	15%

When your group is larger, we can arrange two groups in the same gardens on the same day, with garden-related activity suggestions for the other group. The discount of 15% will apply to all.

Garden clubs, social clubs or retirement village groups are welcome and we can customise each tour to their needs.

How sustainable is this tourism operation?

We are proud to move beyond sustainability. We are regenerative, contributing more to the environment and community than we benefit from.

We give back to the gardeners of the tours
The company is carbon neutral
We invite guests to add a tree to their booking if they wish to contribute to the local community native planting initiative Te Kākano
We are advocating for regenerative land guardianship
Read more about our ethics and practice on Our Story page and we are developing further community enhancing initiatives, follow our blog (sign up below) to keep informed.

What about COVID-19?

We are following the tourism industry recommended COVID safety practice. We require our guests to wear a mask in the van but we remove them in the gardens.

The van is disinfected between each tour and hand sanitiser is available for guests in the van.

If you are sick, stay home: we will reimburse immediately.

No vaccine passport required.