Things to Do in the Hunter Valley

The Hunter Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions, and voco Kirkton Park sits in the middle of it: a manor estate on 70 acres of gardens and rolling lawns in Pokolbin, close to the region’s cellar doors, gardens and concert venues. This is our guide to spending your days here, from the wineries down the road to Hunter Valley Gardens and the Wildlife Park, with the stay packages that bundle them in, from our Hunter Valley Wine Escape to the Family Getaway Package.

Most of it is minutes from the gate, so the days run at an unhurried pace: a cellar door or two in the morning, a long lunch among the vines, then back to the estate for a swim in the heated indoor pool and estate-to-plate dining at Locavore Restaurant.

Some of the Hunter Valley’s most loved cellar doors are less than a 10-minute drive from the estate: Audrey Wilkinson, Tyrrell’s Wines, Brokenwood and Peterson House, the region’s sparkling wine house. The wineries are spread out along Pokolbin’s back roads, so plan a driver or a tour for your cellar door day, and ask our reception team which cellar doors suit your taste.

On selected dates, we also host pop-up cellar doors, so you can taste local wines without leaving the estate. Reception has the dates.

Make a weekend of it with our Hunter Valley Wine Escape: two nights, breakfast each morning and tastings at three boutique cellar doors, Bonvilla Estate, Ivanhoe Winery and Gundog Estate, at your own pace.

Hunter Valley wine tours are booked directly with the tour operators, so plan yours before you arrive. Our reception team is happy to suggest tour companies ahead of your stay and point you to the right cellar doors once you are here. Two Fat Blokes is a favourite with our guests. Rideshare is limited in the valley, so if you would rather set your own pace, ask us for the local taxi number, or book a private driver for the day and stop wherever the view is best. A tour is the easiest way to do it, and everyone in your group gets to enjoy the tastings.

Two of the region’s favourite days out are less than a 10-minute drive from the estate. Hunter Valley Gardens, on Broke Road in Pokolbin, has a seasonal events calendar that runs through the school holidays and the Christmas Lights Spectacular. Hunter Valley Wildlife Park has been a local favourite for over 30 years and is home to one of Australia’s most diverse collections of rare and endangered species.

Our Family Getaway Package includes breakfast each morning, a bottle of Hunter Valley wine and your choice of tickets to Hunter Valley Gardens or the Wildlife Park. Back on the estate there is a heated indoor pool, tennis and basketball courts, lawn games and 70 acres to roam, and our school holiday activities fill the gaps.

The Hunter is as much about food as wine. Weekend markets across the valley sell fresh produce, handmade goods and gourmet food, and there are cheesemakers, smokehouses and chocolatiers between the cellar doors. Back at the estate the same local flavour turns up on the plate: our kitchen garden supplies Locavore Restaurant, where estate-to-plate menus follow the seasons, and Epoche Lounge Bar does wood-fired pizzas by the fire in winter and out on the lounges in summer.

Our guide to the best Hunter Valley markets

The Hunter Valley’s outdoor concert venues, Roche Estate, Bimbadgen and Hope Estate, bring big-name acts to the vineyards every summer, and the estate is close enough to make a concert weekend easy: a room, a driver booked for the night and a slow morning after. The valley’s calendar also runs through harvest, food and wine festivals and long lunches. Our own What’s On page lists the seasonal dinners, long lunches and high teas happening on the estate.

Not every day needs a plan. Stay put and the pace softens: a swim in the heated indoor pool house with its sauna and spa bath, a game of tennis, or a walk along the self-guided trail through the 70 acres, past the kitchen garden. Order a picnic hamper for the lawns, book high tea in The Conservatory, or take a glass of semillon out to your balcony, verandah or terrace as the sun drops behind the Brokenback Range.

Order a picnic hamper
Explore the estate facilities

voco Kirkton Park is at 336 Oakey Creek Road, Pokolbin, around two hours from Sydney and about an hour from Newcastle Airport, the closest airport to the region. Singleton train station is a 30-minute drive, and parking on the estate is complimentary. For getting around once you are here, our reception team can give you the local taxi number.