What‘s Included

What To Expect

Reviews

• Brochure is a Bit Misleading

  Gary L,

  Mar 10, 2020

  - Viator

  4.00

  First of all, the scenery is gorgeous! But what they don’t tell you is that you see the exact same thing going back as you are in the same seats. You also have to pay for a light lunch. If you have difficulty with steps you will have a difficult time getting on and off the train. Please keep this in mind. The tour of the city was informative. It’s a pretty long day.

• Alright.

  Wing L,

  Feb 18, 2020

  - Viator

  4.00

  The train ride was gorgeous. The driver had us waiting and looking for him when we finished. Company was called Go Now tours.

• A Railway to Avoid

  Robert V,

  Feb 17, 2020

  - Viator

  2.00

  The Taieri Gorge Railway certainly passes through some spectacular scenery. Unfortunately, a few minutes of great views is simply not enough to offset the five hours of discomfort on the train. The train itself was cramped and uncomfortable and only few of the carriages offered good photo opportunities from the seat. Ideally, you need to travel in one of the old wooden carriages where the windows open; in the more modern, metal carriages, photography from the seat is impossible through the scratched and dirty windows. Be careful about the choice of seat. If you have a choice (we did not), make sure that you sit on the left-hand side on the train going out because virtually all of the spectacular views are from this side. The train does not turn, so passengers enjoy the same views on the return journey. Many passengers on the right-hand side resorted to playing games on their mobile phones to relieve the tedium of a five-hour journey in which the best views could only be seen across the heads of other passengers. There is very little else to do on the journey except eat from the buffet car. There were absolutely no facilities - no proper toilets, no cafes, no shops - at the two stops and neither stop had good views. The buffet car itself was inadequately stocked and maintained: the cheese rolls had sold out by 11:00 and all the sandwiches by 12:00. The coffee machine broke down at regular intervals. If you are a railway buff, I suppose that this trip would be a must. To the average tourist, however, it was an endurance test that would be best avoided. As opposed to the morning on the Railway, the afternoon tour was excellent. The drive around the Dunedin provided an appreciation of this elegant city which was greatly enhanced by the knowledgeable and helpful guide.

• Underwhelming but professional

  michelledanicek,

  Jan 30, 2020

  - Viator

  3.00

  The tour was run very well. Cruise came in at 9:00 am, so we were a bit law to the station, but the train was held. Received a two hour of Dunedin after train ride and Billy made every effort to show us everything in the town that he thought was interesting. However, if you are a world traveller, the reality is, there just wasn’t that much to see. (eg. the local university, churches that are 80 years old, etc), and the gorge has about 8 minutes of interesting vistas.

• Train ride too long

  Sharon G,

  Jan 7, 2020

  - Viator

  2.00

  Train ride is long, especially when you see the same scenery going up and back down, since only the engine changes . Due to some computer glitch we spent 1 hour on the tracks waiting to get into the station and there fore were too late for bus tour of town. Barely had time to get back to the ship, about 30 min drive or more to harbor.