Here at Travelex, we like our wine trips. We’re frequently planning wine trips for avid travelers and organize a wine cruise every year in Europe. However, it can be a challenge planning your own wine vacation. With such popular wine destinations that include Northern California, France, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile, it can be difficult to narrow it down to just one. Below you’ll find a few of our best tips for planning a wine vacation.
Plan the trip around your interests. While the focus of the trip will be about wine, consider traveling to a place that has your interests in mind. If you like spending time at the beach, visit a destination that is within a close drive of it. If you prefer adventure activities, consider a wine trip that offers outdoor activities in addition to wine tours and tastings. That way you can spend your days doing your favorite activities and evenings drinking wine.
Have a loose itinerary. You’ll want to have somewhat of an itinerary before you leave on the trip, especially since some wineries require appointments ahead of time. However, keep the itinerary loose and give room to move things around. You may come to a winery you didn’t expect to spend much time at and love it, but then not want to spend much time at a winery that you expected to spend the entire day at.
Have an idea of your wine preferences. Even if you’re not a regular wine drinker, do some local tastings of wine before you go on your trip to see what types of wine you’re interested in. If you prefer sweet wine, then you don’t want to plan all of your wine tastings at a winery that predominantly focuses on dry wines. Even if you don’t know the exact wine types you prefer, having an idea of your taste preferences can help when choosing what wineries to visit.
Consider the destination. Similar to planning a trip based on your interests, plan it also based on destinations you want to visit. Consider doing it near a destination or region you’ve always wanted to visit. Many of the world’s best destinations are luckily within close proximity of world class wine regions, such as Paris, France, Venice, Italy, and Sydney, Australia. Here’s a chance to visit one of your bucket list destinations while tasting some of the finest wine in the world.
Plan it around an event. If you’re new to wine, then this can be your best introduction to it. Wine destinations from around the world feature numerous events throughout the year. These events may include food and wine festivals, concerts, chocolate tastings, and food and wine pairings. This is a great way to get a general overview of a wine destination.
What’s the best wine experience you’ve had?
