Winery Train Tour

• VIP wine tastings at urban wineries (these have some of the best wine bars in San Diego).
• About 15 tastes of local wines in gorgeous wine tasting rooms.
• Optional brewery stop – choose beer instead of wine for up to half of your tastings!
• A behind-the-scenes view of the wine making process and a wine tasting appreciation presentation.
• Light Italian luncheon with fine wine pairings at one of our favorite restaurants (we’ve hand-selected it just for this tour because their food and wine is out of this world delicious!)
• Explore San Diego’s rich history on short guided historic walks into the villages.
• Watch surfers and dolphins play in the waves on the gorgeous California coastline from your comfortable seat on the train.
• Easy to get to/from WITHOUT DRIVING from most San Diego locations.*

Don’t miss out on this unique way to taste amazing local wines and see the sights of San Diego.

San Diego County Wineries Are the Star on our Winery Train Tour

On this tour, we pop the cork on one of San Diego’s best-kept secrets…the gorgeous urban wineries nestled in the villages that hug the California coastline. As a visitor to San Diego, you probably wouldn’t know about these hidden gems unless you had a special map and an experienced guide to show you around the nooks and crannies of San Diego’s neighborhoods.

San Diego’s urban wineries typically don’t have grapevines growing on site, but the wine is produced there with grapes that are brought in from vineyards around the county and state from farms that focus on growing grapes and not necessarily winemaking. In this way, our urban winery winemakers can choose their favorite grapes to experiment with new and interesting varietals… as well as produce excellent traditional wines.

Some of our favorite experiences on this tour include:

• Tasting an award winning Cab Franc from an urban winery that has produced dozens of winners in a surfer’s paradise on the San Diego coast.
• Sampling a spicy habanero white wine from a local winery that hand crafts its wines in small batches, using grapes sourced from local vineyards and renowned viticulture regions throughout California. If a habanero white wine sounds weird to you… just wait until you taste it. You’ll never look at peppers the same way again…it’s absolutely delicious! (And we’re wine snobs, you can trust us.)
• Meeting the wine makers at a quaint small village winery that have dedicated their life to making the perfect California red. They often come out into the tasting room to meet our guests and talk about their wines and winemaking process.

Of Course There’s Food, Too!

What’s a delicious taste of wine without an exquisite taste of food to pair perfectly with it?  On this tour, we stop at one of our favorite San Diego bistros to enjoy a wine tasting and a light Italian lunch. The wines served during lunch are meant to be savored with the delicious food that the chef prepares for us. You’ll also enjoy a cheese or charcuterie board and chocolate.. you’ll feel totally spoiled, believe us.

Pro tip! Ask your tour guide to recommend a great dinner spot to visit after the tour finishes. Our tour guides know all the nooks and crannies of San Diego, and can make recommendations based on your preferences.

Our Wonderful Guests Have Made This a World-Famous Tour

Imagine our delight when The Travel Channel rated this Winery Train Tour the BEST winery train tour in the world!? It’s because of the thousands of 5-star reviews from our guests. Here are a few of our favorites:

Shani said, “The train tour was awesome! Great people (Shira and Paul – our guides – and our fellow tourists) made the experience even more memorable. I rarely drink, even wine, and wasn’t sure what to expect from this tour, but I had a great time. The wineries and wines themselves were very good, especially for a relative “newbie” like myself. Some wineries were crowded, making it hard to hear our guides, but I didn’t find that to be a big problem (they were public establishments, after all).

I also enjoyed using public transportation to get around the city – the MTS trolley and Coaster train were clean and pleasant to ride. I also enjoyed the opportunity to walk the city a bit and ask our guides questions.

Finally, we had an excellent light lunch in the middle of the tour at a restaurant in Old Town. The food was great (yay for a vegan option), and energized us for the rest of the tour. Speaking of Old Town, I appreciated Paul’s recommendation on other restaurants to try in the area. Definitely recommend that area for great food!

Overall, I highly recommend this tour. It was such a fun, laid back experience, and a great way to see more of San Diego.”

Chelle said, “Absolutely not to be missed!! Marti was our guide and took us through a fun, entertaining and educational day with great wine and food and terrific company. This tour was the highlight of our San Diego visit!”

Karen reviewed us on our Facebook page, “My husband and in laws did the wine tour with Marti, it was excellent. She was very personable, knowledgeable and fun to be around. All the places we visited were very welcoming, good selections of wine, beer, Fresco for lunch was wonderful and Carruth did a great charcuterie board. Would definitely recommend this experience.”

What are you waiting for? Book today to reserve your spot on this fabulous tour of San Diego wineries!

* For local train and trolley schedules, like us on Facebook. The schedules are pinned to our page for your convenience!

Watch this video of Shira Bliss, founder and owner, describe the difference between the Chauffeured Winery Tour and the Winery Train Tour, or read the transcript below.

You can choose non-alcoholic drinks instead of the wine/beer. You will get to participate in all the wonderful food, gifts, presentations, and guided tours. Published tour ticket prices apply.

• Your train ticket is not included. You will purchase the RegionPlus Day Pass the day of the tour ($15 per person.)
• Gratuities for your tour guide, although not required, are always appreciated. Industry standard is 20% of your tour ticket price.

[FAQ Video transcript: “The differences between the Chauffeured Winery Tour and the Winery Train Tour are primarily the mode of transportation and where we go. On the Chauffeured Winery Tour, we are going to be taking you to wineries with vineyards. On the Winery Train Tour, we’ll be taking you to urban wineries. Those are fully operational wineries where they make the wines, but not the vineyards where they grow the grapes. On the Chauffeured Winery Tour, we’ll be providing door-to-door transportation, so that means we’ll pick you up from your hotel or home. On the Winery Train Tour, you’ll conveniently go to your nearest train station. The Winery Train Tour is a little more active than the Chauffeured Winery Tour, you’re going to have guided historic walks on that tour, so it’s a great tour for those who like to get out and walk. On the Chauffeured Tour, there will be beautiful, gentle strolls in the vineyards if you so choose. So there you go! There are the differences between the Chauffeured Winery Tour and the Winery Train Tour.”]

This is a great tour for seniors! This tour uses public transportation, and so our guests with limited mobility might enjoy the door-to-door transportation that is available on our Chauffeured Winery Tour instead.