What does a wine tour include?
What Does a Wine Tour in Kelowna Include?
What is included in a Kelowna wine tour depends on the company and the type of tour you choose. When comparing wine tours, look beyond the advertised price and check exactly what is included, how many wineries you visit, how long the tour lasts, and whether transportation and tasting fees are included.
At Red Dog Wine Tours, our standard public afternoon wine tour is designed to make the experience simple and relaxed. You don’t have to drive, plan the route, make winery reservations, or pay tasting fees separately.
What Is Included in a Red Dog Wine Tour?
- Transportation — Door-to-door pickup and drop-off from your hotel, B&B, vacation rental, or residence within our designated Kelowna and West Kelowna service area.
- Four winery visits — Our standard public afternoon tour visits exactly four wineries, giving you enough variety without rushing through the tasting rooms.
- All winery tasting fees — The tasting fees at the wineries we visit are included in the tour price, so you don’t have to pay an additional tasting fee at each stop.
- Professional guide — Your guide handles the driving, route, and schedule while providing information about the wineries, wine, and the Okanagan.
- Bottled water — Water is provided throughout the tour to help you stay comfortable while tasting.
- Light snacks — We provide light snacks during the afternoon to complement the wine-tasting experience.
- Comfortable Mercedes transportation — Tours are operated using our Mercedes passenger vans, depending on the group and vehicle availability.
How Many Wineries Are Included?
Our standard public afternoon wine tour visits four wineries. We deliberately don’t try to squeeze five or six tasting rooms into the same afternoon.
Allowing approximately an hour at each winery gives you time to taste the wines, listen to the presenter, ask questions, enjoy the setting, and browse the wines available for purchase.
For more information, see How Many Wineries Do We Visit? and How Much Time Do You Need at a Winery?.
Are Wine-Tasting Fees Included?
Yes. Winery tasting fees are included in the price of our standard public wine tour. You don’t need to carry extra money to pay a tasting fee every time you arrive at a winery.
If you’re planning your own self-guided wine tour, tasting fees are something you should budget for. Many Kelowna and West Kelowna wineries charge for tastings, and prices and policies can vary between wineries.
See Do Kelowna Wineries Charge for Wine Tasting? for more information.
Is Transportation Included?
Yes. Transportation is included. Red Dog provides pickup and drop-off from accommodations within our designated Kelowna and West Kelowna service area.
This means you don’t need to arrange a designated driver, navigate between wineries, or figure out where to park at each tasting room. Your guide handles the transportation while you enjoy the afternoon.
For more information about getting around wine country, see How Do You Get Around Wineries in Kelowna?.
What About Food and Water?
Red Dog provides bottled water and a light snack during the tour. We recommend eating lunch before your afternoon wine tour because the tour is designed around wine tasting rather than a full meal.
Keeping the afternoon focused on wine tasting also means you aren’t committed to a long restaurant meal in the middle of the tour. You can choose where and when you’d like to have lunch before or dinner after your tour.
What Is Not Included?
- Wine purchases — If you find a wine you love, bottles purchased at the wineries are additional.
- Lunch or dinner — Our standard afternoon tour does not include a full meal.
- Tips — Tipping your guide is completely optional and there is no expectation of a tip.
For more information about tipping, see Do You Tip a Wine Tour Guide in Kelowna?.
What Should You Expect During the Afternoon?
The goal is a relaxed afternoon rather than a race to visit as many wineries as possible. Your guide takes care of the driving and route while you spend your time tasting wine, learning about the wineries, and enjoying the scenery.
If you’re wondering what the experience is actually like from pickup through the final winery, see our FAQ What to Expect on a Wine Tour in Kelowna?.
What About a Private Wine Tour?
A private wine tour can include many of the same basic elements but gives your group considerably more flexibility. You can discuss the wineries, route, timing, and pace when planning your private tour.
If you want to spend more time at a particular winery, include a winery lunch, or create an itinerary around specific interests, a private tour may be a better fit.
You can start planning with our Private Wine Tour Planner.
The Bottom Line
A Red Dog public Kelowna wine tour includes transportation, four winery visits, winery tasting fees, a professional guide, bottled water, and light snacks. Most importantly, you don’t have to worry about driving, navigating, or coordinating the afternoon yourself.
Before booking any Kelowna wine tour, compare the complete experience rather than looking only at the advertised price. A tour with more wineries isn’t necessarily better if it leaves you rushing from one tasting room to the next.
For a better idea of what the day is actually like, read What to Expect on a Wine Tour in Kelowna?.
Book Your Red Dog Kelowna Wine Tour →
People also asked: What Is the Difference Between a Public and Private Kelowna Wine Tour?