Great Castle and Wildlife Tour, Well Worth the Money - Excellent guides for both legs of the tour. Well informed, handled questions with aplomb and shared some excellent stories about the locations. Plus friendly and helpful. Two very happy customers.

This tour-cruise did not disappoint! - Thoroughly enjoyed this amazing castle tour and then our trip out the Otago Peninsula and over to the boat. Appreciated the hotel pickup by our tour guide. Captain and crew were informative and friendly. It was fantastic to see the Royal Albatross in flight. Warm coats and binoculars were provided. Very windy on the water which is a key to seeing the birds glide. Loved it.

Castle to Cruise Tour. - We are a group of 27 local people who had a most enjoyable tour with Monarch Cruises. Neil and Ross were excellent, entertaining and knowledgeable guides. We all learned so much about our local history and found the castle tour fascinating. The cafe at the Castle provided great food and a pleasant cuppa. The boat trip on the Monarch was a chance for many of our crew to travel up the harbour and out through the heads for the first time ever. Captain Buddy gave an excellent commentary and went out of his way to ensure we sighted a variety of local wildlife. The option to cruise back up the harbour to Dunedin was a bonus with Buddy regaling us with stories and history all the way. Thanks to all for a great day out.

Must do - I was back in Dunedin for a short visit in winter and finally got on to a Monarch tour. Easily one of the highlights of my trip. Chris the guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. He guided the group through Larnach Castle. The whole time in the shuttle Chris gave great commentary on the Otago Peninsula. Highly recommend fitting in a Monarch tour on a trip to Dunedin, even on a short trip.

Lovely tour, lovely operators - Picked up on time, there was only the 2 of us but they still ran the tour 😊 It was very informative, the house was lovely, coach was comfortable. Boat trip was nice and the tour operators were lovely, very easy going, flexible. And it wasn’t too long so we weren’t exhausted when we got back. Definitely recommend.

Superb - they pack alot in! - I actually did the cruise, castle and penguin place add on tour but this was closest trip I could review. Pick up was punctual and with a very friendly young guide. We drove out to the castle first but made a photo stop on the way for nice views of the harbour. The castle is hard to get to without a booked tour as no public transport option goes so nice to be able to have this visit. The Monarch guide himself takes you around the interior of the castle and explains the family history as he goes. At the end you are a bit pushed for time and have only about 15mins to grab lunch - which is one cafe with queues. I opted to go hungry so I could fit in a browse of the fabulous gift shop! I's recommend you maybe bring a snack with you to eat on the bus. Next, was a boat trip, which got a bit choppy but did allow us to see seals and have a curious albatross follow our boat which was wonderful to see. The lighthouse area and beaches are very picturesque. Finally, whilst some were returned to their cruise ship, a few of us were dropped off at the Penguin Place for a tour there. Fantastic sightings of yellow-eyed ones in the wild and can see fjordland and crested in the animal hospital there. Another great visit and awesome day. Would absolutely recommend this as you see so much over your day and the guides couldn't be better.

Rough seas, no problem! - One of the best tours I have been. John was a great guide. Water was too rough for the boat so we did a bus tour instead. We were asked what we wanted to see. The Albatross chicks were amazing. Fabulous day out. Would thoroughly recommend.

A great memorable tour! - John was a fantastic guide throughout the tour. He added so much to our understanding of the area and points of interest. The cruise crew was also wonderful and knowledgeable. We would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Dunedin. Thanks again for making this a memorable experience!!

Perfect way to explore Dunedin - Prompt pick up from the cruise terminal. Cliff did a great tour of the Larnach Castle and history behind all the characters. The visit to New Zealand’s only castle is a must. The drive up was beautiful giving us a good perspective of the beauty of Dunedin and a photo opportunity along the way. We enjoyed the cruise. Only negative was that the microphone did not work properly so we missed the info on wildlife. Got perfect photos and videos of the albatross, the seals and dolphins. A great day in Dunedin. Thank you Cliff!

Great day out - Our guide who collected us from our hotel and took us to lanarch castle was fabulous, he was knowledgeable and very easy company. He bought the castle history alive and certainly enhanced the experience. He then ds for the very enjoyable boat trip, we were so very well looked after and directed to sightings of the different species of albatross and sealife. Yes I would go again