Dunedin Shore Tour: Larnach Castle & City Sights

Explore Dunedin’s rich history and stunning Larnach Castle on a guided shore excursion. Discover iconic sights and enjoy free time in the city.

Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: 6 days
Highlights
  • Otago Peninsula - 09:00 Begin the shore excursion with a convenient port pickup and board a comfortable coach for a scenic tour. Travel through Dunedin City and proceed to Larnach Castle for a guided exploration of the grounds and gardens.
  • Dunedin Railway Station - On the way to the castle, enjoy a brief stop in central Dunedin at the Dunedin…
What's Included
  • Dunedin sightseeing tour
  • Admission and Guided Tour of Larnach Castle
  • Worry-free Shore Excursion Guarantee
  • Professional guide
  • Port pickup and drop-off
What's Not Included
  • Food and drinks
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Begin your adventure dockside and delve into Dunedin’s heritage with a shore excursion that showcases the city’s central attractions and the historic Larnach Castle. In the morning, enjoy a visit to Larnach Castle, where admission and a guided tour have been arranged for your pleasure. Upon returning to the city center, you’ll have some free time to…

Location
Port Chalmers
The tour will depart from the Visitors' Building on the ship's wharf at 9AM. The Driver / Guide will meet you inside by the Private Tours area. Look out for our sign "Welcome LEISURE TOURS" Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your tour departure
Cancellation Policy

If you cancel at least 6 full day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a full refund.
If you cancel between 2 and 6 day(s) before the scheduled departure time, you will receive a 50% refund.
If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, you will receive a 0% refund.

Customer Ratings
4.1
(70 Ratings)
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Vincent_p
Feb 15, 2026
Larnach Castle & Shore Excursion Dunedin - A well organised tour by the activity provider, Leisure Tours. Constant communication prior to arrival providing directions to our meeting point and instructions to identify our tour guide upon disembarkation from our ship.
Review provided by Viator
Jeffrey_b
Dec 3, 2020
Art Deco Delight! - Dunedin is a must see and this tour was perfect. A knowledgeable guide and plent of time to walk this fascinating community before ambling back to our ship. Well worth the time!
Review provided by Viator
Christineh2707
Mar 14, 2020
Dunedin sightseeing - Ross was our guide. He was very knowledgable and helpful. Highly recommend this tour. Olveston House is amazing as is all of Dunedin.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kelvin_g
Feb 29, 2020
Learnt a lot about dunedin - Learnt about the history of Dunedin went to many places. The driver was excellent and local knowledge
Review provided by Viator
Robert
Jun 20, 2020
Worth a look - Interesting kitchen area and a lovely outdoor area with a great vintage car. Friendly volunteers giving a great educational tour. Well worth the visit
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Melissacy1253yd
Nov 13, 2025
Miscommunication led to self tour - Tour drivers were great but mass confusion and it caused our tour to be cut short by about an hour. Seemed to have combined tours into the one which lead to confusion. Was meant to be led by our tour leader but due to issues it ended up being a self led tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gslanz47
Feb 4, 2020
Somewhat Disappointing - With the exception of the tour of the Olveston House, Dunedin is rather lacking in anything else of significance. The house is a marvel, steeped in fascinating history and preserved in its architecture and furnishings, a tribute to the volunteers. Dunedin does have a train station that is unique for the size of the city but other than that there's not a lot to see. A tour of the house and then off to the environs would had made it a better day.
Review provided by Viator
Anonymous
Feb 27, 2026
DO NOT USE THIS TOUR COMPANY!! - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Worst ever. Sent numerous emails where to meet and to be there before 9am. as they claimed they were leaving on time. 38 of us were but then had to wait for 30 min for 6 who had not shown up.. Got on bus and then waited again for the 6 who finally showed up. We were now 40 min late. In addition, it turns out they had put two different tours on the same bus! The tour that was supposed to go to train, missed their train due to them wasting 40 min. As we are heading to the castle, our tour guide informed us that we would NOT be stopping in Dunedin as described for 2 hours to walk around and have lunch but would be at the caste for several hours and then some garden (FYI it was pouring rain). We opted to skip and try to get back to Dunedin..however now we were on the bus for another 2 hours as they raced to try to get the train so those who had paid for that could at least get 1/2 of the journey. So they were clearly NOT getting what they were promised! Finally made it to Dunedin by 2:30..had to wait another 15 min for everyone to find the bus. We now were give a VERY brief 15 circle (up one street and back down the other) tour of Dunedin. They then went to Baldwin and spent 30 min there and then back to the ship. Bottom line, we were on this tour for over 7 hours, never had a break for lunch or anything to eat.. did not really get to see Dunedin as we wanted or really get any extensive tour of it either! Asked for a partial refund and was refused! Tour guide kept saying the ship was late which was BS as we got in line at 8:30 (and were way back) and still made it to the tour guide by 8:50. They shipped had docked by 8:15 and gangplank was down by 8:30 as scheduled. So no excuse to be 40 min late starting. Had they been on time and only the one tour as described, we could have been up to the castle by 9:30 spent 2 hours and been back in Dunedin by noon for the 2 hours of leisure time there as stated..then done the bus city tour and returned to the ship as promised. FYI Viator will not help as they will do nothing if the tour company refuses to refund.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shirlee_a
Jan 13, 2026
Let Down - Tour cancelled 24 hrs in advance by operator, very disappointed. We had to scramble to find another tour operator. We later learned other Viator tours did operate. We located a non Viator tour and was very pleased. Poor performance on the part of the tour operator.
Review provided by Viator
George_d
Nov 5, 2025
Left without us - The was originally scheduled for 9:00am departure However, the tour operator gave specific instructions to meet at 9:45am for 10:00am departure. We arrived early at 9:10am only to find the tour left without us.
Review provided by Viator