Grape Escapes Wine Tours is open year-round – join us for fall and winter 2024/2025 tours today!

OFFICE HOURS
Monday – Saturday
9:00am – 5:00pm

If you need to reach us outside of our office hours, please send us a detailed email to winetours@grapeescapes.ca and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

TOUR HOURS
Most tours arrive for the first wine tasting at 11:00am. Custom start times and after hours service is available on request and as the wineries are able to accommodate. 
Our tours are available year-round! The Okanagan offers a unique experience in every season, from summer vineyard views to cozy winter tastings. 
Private, public, custom shuttle service and corporate tours are easy to book at any time. 

While we do not have a wheelchair lifts in our vehicles, we strive to make our tours accessible.  Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches or other accessibility items are able to fit into our vehicles.

Please let us know of any accessibility requirements in advance of your tour as we will assign you an appropriate vehicle for your needs and be able to provide better accessibility for you at the wineries. 

We are verified as the #1 wine tour company in the South Okanagan!

Grape Escapes has the best value wine tour in the South Okanagan and we care about making the experience everything you were hoping it would be and more! Our guides are wine-educated, fun, friendly and courteous.

Our guests experiences matter to us and 15+ years of feedback and reviews have made us what we are today! Visit our Awards & Reviews tab to see the social proof that allows us to claim the title of being the #1 Best Wine Tour Company of the South Okanagan, including local small business awards, popular voting awards, TripAdvisor awards, and our outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor and Google.

Grape Escapes tours anywhere in the South Okanagan! The regions we visit include: 

• The Naramata Bench
• Summerland’s Bottleneck Drive
• Okanagan Falls
• Oliver and Osoyoos
• The Similkameen Valley

Grape Escapes offers a variety of tours, including full-day, half-day and private tours. Each tour explores unique wineries in the Okanagan Valley, ranging from small boutique vineyards to well-known producers. 

Our tours include:

• Public ‘Simply Sipping Tours’
• Public ‘Elevated Tours’
• Private Tours
• Corporate Tours
• Custom charter and shuttle services

View the questions below to learn more about these tours and the places we visit!

Public and private tours are available to any of the wine regions in the South Okanagan.

PUBLIC TOURS
Public tours are incredibly fun and a really great value for your dollar as they include 4 wineries and their tasting fees, catered and individually packed gourmet picnic lunch, individually packed charcuterie style snacks, water and more!

With these tours, your group may be travelling and visiting wineries with other couples or groups of friends. As much as possible, we try and keep these groups smaller, so that you have plenty of one on one time with your guide and the winery hosts. Peak season will have slightly larger groups, while the off-season months tend to have small groups or even just your group. 

ELEVATED TOURS
Elevated tours are also public tours, great fun, engaging and really step up your experience to the next level. These include all premium tasting line ups, extra educational experiences and tour components, such as a vineyard or cellar tours. Elevated and premium experiences are more extensive and take more time at each winery as we increase your one on one time with the winery hosts. 

The elevated experience is fantastic for both the novice and serious wine connoisseur as it will step up anyone’s knowledge and exposure to the next level. 

PRIVATE TOURS
Private tours are quite reasonably priced for groups of 4 or more. These are booked by groups comprised of 2 to 20+ people. People booking private tours do so for a variety of different reasons. Some just want to go as a couple or with a small group of friends and others want the ultimate curated experience. The experience can be entirely curated by you or let us do it all for you!

These tours do not include lunch and you will be able to choose from 3 options. Most guests choose to visit a winery restaurant or bistro, with each guest paying for their own lunch. You may also choose to bring your own picnic and we will arrange a winery picnic stop or you can order our catered picnic lunch at a flat rate. 

Yes! We specialize in private tours for couples, groups or corporate events, allowing you to create a custom itinerary tailored to your preferences. Visit our Book a Tour tab to view all selections or click the hyper links here to directly visit the Private Tours tab or Corporate Tours tab. 

Yes! We are honoured to host your special day!

Our bachelorette tours are public tours, although they would only be shared with another bachelorette party and are most likely to be with just your group. These tours include 4 wineries and their tasting fees, catered and individually packed gourmet picnic lunch at a winery, individually packed charcuterie style snacks, water, a personal bottle of sparkling wine for the bride and more!

Upgrading your bachelorette party to a private tour is quite reasonably priced for groups of 4-6+ and we would be able to schedule a winery bistro/restaurant or you can bring your own special picnic for lunch at a winery. This is a fully customizable experience!

Book your Bachelorette Tour here or inquire about making it a Private Tour here. 

TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF
We have taken out many hundreds of bachelorettes and we recommend not overbooking for your bachelorette tour. Often someone is unable to attend on relatively short notice, which can be challenging as it’s such an important occasion and you want your nearest and dearest to be there on this special day. The reasons for not attending vary from pregnancy (very exciting), to family or work issues.

1. To take the pressure off of you and your party, we suggest to customize your booking by leaving some of your reserved seats as tentative. See our tab below regarding booking when you are unsure of how many people are attending. 
2. Set your booking up for ‘split payment’ so that everyone can pay individually online or pay when they are ready, particularly if you are booking well in advance of the tour. 

As we aim to curate itineraries, we do not have one set of wineries we visit, allowing us to visit most of the wineries throughout the year. Please send along any winery requests as we love to accommodate these as often as possible! 

Our curated selection of wineries for tours depend on the season, group preferences and availability. You’ll be able to enjoy visits to a mix of renowned estates and hidden gems within the region on every tour. 

Each year we take out many guests that tour with us annually or who have spent a lot of time in the wine region they would like to visit again. If this applies to you and you would like to visit new to you wineries or repeat favourites, please let us know!  

Public Tours and Elevated Tours visit 4 wineries, including a picnic lunch stop at a winery. 

Private tours will visit 4 wineries for tastings and a 5th winery for a bistro or restaurant lunch. 

Yes! All tasting fees are included with your tour. At times, additional experiences, such as vineyard tours, food pairings or premium tastings can be added for small additional fees. 

Public Tours and Elevated Tours include an individually packed, catered picnic lunch, individually packed charcuterie style snacks and water. 

Private tours do not include lunch and you choose your option. These tours do include individually packed charcuterie style snacks and water.

There are 3 lunch options available: 

• Select a winery restaurant or bistro, with each guest paying for their own lunch.
• Bring your own picnic lunch and we would arrange a picnic stop at a winery
• Order our individually packed, catered picnic lunches for a nominal cost.  

Yes! We order our picnic lunches from 2 different catering facilities, allowing options for different allergies and dietary requirements, including a facility that is entirely gluten free.

Please inform us with details in advance and we will do our best to work with you to accommodate your dietary restrictions. 

We would like to pick you up and drop you off, right at your door. 

Complementary pickup is available in Penticton, in the area you are touring or if you are on route between Penticton and your chosen tour region. For example, if you book a tour to the Oliver/Osoyoos region and you are staying in Okanagan Falls, there is no additional pickup fee. 

If you are outside of the pickup zones, we are likely able to pick you up for a small additional transportation fee. 

Tour length will vary, depending on which tour you book, where you are travelling to and how far we have to drive from your accommodations to the wineries. 

On a standard public ‘Simply Sipping’ tour, we typically aim to arrive at our first winery for 11:00am and will arrive at our last winery for 2:30pm, finishing around 3:30pm. If you have time constraints for your day, please let us know in advance and we will do our best to work with your schedule!

Private tours or elevated tours will have a longer day than the public tours as the experiences require more time. 

Please feel welcome to get in touch about what you need for your day!

Our fleet includes several luxurious and air-conditioned 11-passenger Mercedes Sprinter vans, a 21-passenger air-conditioned E450 tour bus, a 7-passenger Honda Odyssey and 6 passenger fully restored, vintage VW van. 

We would like to make the booking experience as easy as we can for you and several options are available.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

1. Bookings and payments can be made online with any major credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
2. E-transfers can be made upon request. Please let us know in advance if you are going to send an e-transfer. 
3. If you would prefer to phone us to book your tour, payment details may also be phoned in or we can email you an invoice for payment online. 

GROUP PAYMENT OPTIONS
For group bookings, we have a ‘split pay’ option available, so that you may simply forward the invoice to everyone in your party and they can pay individually online. 

MAKING A SPLIT PAYMENT  GROUP BOOKING

1. Email us at winetours@grapeescapes.ca or phone us at 778-781-0929 to create a reservation without payment. We will then email you an invoice to forward to your group for individual payment.
2. Secure the booking by having at least 1 or 2 people pay their portion of the invoice. 
3. If someone in your party needs to pay on a later date, this is not a problem, just let us know!

If you feel your child would manage well in a winery and tour experience, children and minors may attend tours, depending on available seating. Please let us know in advance if there is a minor attending as we will need to contact the wineries in advance. 

All standard car seat or booster seat requirements still apply on a tour vehicle or charter bus and you will need to supply appropriate safety equipment for your child. 

Please contact us regarding pricing and details. 

The number of people on a public tour varies with the region we’re touring and the time of year. Most tours range between 4 to 12 people during the peak summer season. 

Private tours are entirely customized to your group. 

While we do have minimum requirements to run a tour, we have single people join tours all year! This is great experience for those who are in the area for work or just have a spare day and want to get out for a great time.

While we try and keep public tours on the smaller side, if you have one large group, we almost have no limit. If there are vehicles available, we will manage your large group booking to make it everything you were hoping it would be. Please reach out for details. 

This may happen if it’s less than 24 hours before the tour departs, a booking system error or the experience is limited to phone or email bookings due to limited or off-season availability at the wineries. 

If this happens, please phone us at 778-781-0929 or email us at winetours@grapeescapes.ca and we will be happy to help you book or answer any questions. 

Not at all! Our tours are designed to be enjoyable for everyone, from wine novices to experienced connoisseurs. Our guides share interesting insights and make learning about wine fun and engaging.

One of the beautiful things about the wine industry is how much everyone loves to share knowledge. If you are interested in learning, the wineries and our guides would like to share as much as they can! And, if all you want to do is have a social time with your friends, this is also celebrated just as much and you can feel welcome and comfortable with whatever your preference is. 

Absolutely! Wineries welcome purchases and some will even have special rates for case purchases or other in house promotions. 

Many wineries will have shipping promotions, delivering your purchase’s to your door on a date that works for you. 

If you have a few bottles from multiple wineries, we have a local shipping vendor we can visit at the end of your tour that will safely pack your wine and ship it to your door. 

Gratuity is NOT included in the tour price. Suggested gratuity is between 10% to 25%. As with any service, gratuity is not mandatory, but it is greatly appreciated.

If you are part of a large group, bachelorette or have booked a custom charter service, a nominal gratuity will be discussed and added in advance.  

If you wanted to give your guide a gratuity, but forgot or didn’t have cash, you can click the hyper link attached to our follow up email, sent the day after your tour. You may also phone or email us to manually add a non-taxed gratuity for your guide. All gratuities will be fully given to your guide. 

Yes! Gift cards are available for custom amounts, or you can purchase and gift a specific tour.

Worried about choosing the right experience or date? Don’t be! You choose the amount and they choose the time and experience. Even if you purchase a specific tour package, the value of the purchase can be applied to any experience and for a date of their choosing. 

The is the ultimate gift for the wine lover in your life! Gifting an experience is giving the gift of making memories that will last a lifetime. 

Click to purchase or learn more about Gift Certificate here.

Book as far in advance as you are able in order to secure your ideal date and experience. If you need to change the date or experience, this is not an issue with at least some advance notice. 

Typically, we would recommend booking at least 2 weeks in advance, although bookings can be made up to the day before a tour. 

We also offer a TripProtection plan for the unexpected interruption to your tour. 

Plans change unexpectedly and we get that! It’s not a problem to change the date.  With advance notice, we can move the date without any issue or fees. 

No problem! As long as it’s with some advance notice, we will simply apply the amount paid to the new experience or switch to a different tour of the same price. 

This happens all the time and we have suggestions to help!

Book as far in advance as possible in order to secure the date with those who have confirmed their attendance. Others can then be added as unpaid guests to be confirmed at a later date. For example, if you have 4 confirmed, but there may be 6 coming, book and pay for 4 people and call or email us to tentatively add 2 more guests. 

Let us know as many details as you have so that we can be ready to take on any last minute additions to your group.

If something happens, there are a number of options available for you. At any time, we can give you a non-expiring credit for your tour, reschedule your tour date or change the experience. Credits can also be gifted to another person. 

With enough advance notice or if you purchase Trip Protection, a full refund is available. All tours without Trip Protection and cancelled within 30 days are non-refundable. At any time we can always offer a non-expiring tour credit.

Cancelations due government mandated shut downs, such as the ones we saw during COVID or for certain wildfires, you will be issued a refund or a non-expiring credit. 

We have great news! Our tours run rain or shine and in case of extreme weather, we will ensure indoor tastings are available. Sunny hot days are gorgeous and we have fantastic air conditioning in our vehicles. On rainy or snowy days, outside activities are limited, so a wine tour is a great way to have fun during less than desirable weather. 

Even during perfect weather, we will always aim for the best door to door service at the wineries. If you or someone in your party has certain health conditions impacted by extreme heat or cold, please let us know in advance so that we may plan the best experience for you with the wineries as they can assist with additional accommodations as needed. 

Safety is our highest priority and it’s how we ended up in the wine tour business! We have several recommendations for you to consider below. 

Often, news stations can sensationalize stories and we would advise you to instead look to the government travel advisories, provincial road conditions (such as DriveBC) and to check in with your hotel or Air B&B about real time conditions. 

Most of the time, fires, smoke or floods are very localized to an area and often do not affect neighbouring communities or even other areas of the same community. The City of Penticton loves to post real time conditions during the summer on their social media for you to see our beautiful blue skies. 

We recommend comfortable, weather appropriate clothing and flat shoes, particularly if you are booked for a vineyard tour or want to take photos in the vineyard. Sunglasses, sunscreen and a reusable water bottle are also great to bring along. 

During the summer, some tastings may be at an outdoor bar and others inside with some pretty stunning air conditioning. Be prepared for temperature changes and cool temperatures if you are booked for a cellar tour. 

Be prepared for a little wind most of the year! This is one of the beautiful things about our amazing wine region. The wind is great for the grapes as it naturally prevents pests from settling in the vines, keeps away mildew conditions and is a relief on hot days. This wind can feel cool in the mornings or in the off-season, so be prepared.  

The bottom line is that whether you dress up or arrive in jeans and a t-shirt, we recommend that you feel comfortable!