A Walking Wine Tour of the Naramata Bench, British Columbia

With 2,400 hectares of planted vineyards and over 60 varieties of grapes growing, the Okanagan Valley is home to Canada’s second largest wine growing region after the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario.

The wine production overall is still small compared to any of the major wine regions of the world but it’s impressive to have such a variety of grapes and wines in a country nicknamed ‘the Great White North.’

One of the biggest concentrations of wineries in the Okanagan is on the Naramata Bench, just outside of Penticton (our home town!)

At the time of writing, there are over 40 Naramata Bench wineries in a stretch of less than 20km. This means it is possible to walk or cycle easily between wineries.

There’s no other winery region quite like it! Read on to discover the cheapest and most fun way to tour the Naramata Bench.

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Naramata Bench Wine Tour: A must-do in Penticton

Half day wine tours around one of the southern Okanagan wine areas (Okanagan Falls, Summerland, Naramata, Oliver and Osoyoos) start at around $120 a head – this usually includes tasting fees, transportation and the attention of a guide/driver.

Four or five wineries are usually visited on most full day Naramata Bench wine tours, with a lunch stop (additional fee).

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An alternative option: Walking the Naramata Bench

We moved to Pentiction in 2015 and quickly started receiving many visitors. But with winery tours being priced out to over $500 for a group of four, we decided that there must be another, more cost-effective way to do it.

After all, it was likely we would want to buy some wine too and that would push the total much higher.

We live right on the edge of the Naramata Bench, within easy walking distance of the KVR Trail. This mostly flat multi-use path travels directly through vineyards and orchards. We figured that there must be some way to utilise it to visit wineries.

And we were right! There are actually around a dozen wineries located within 500m of the KVR.

Building on this idea, we put together a plan for our first walking wine tour of the Naramata Bench.

Our first walking wine tour of the Naramata Bench

With the KVR Trail running downhill from Naramata to Penticton, it seemed sensible to take a taxi as far as we felt like going and then plan to walk all the way back.

Our first walking wine tour started at Bench 1775 at 11.30am, after a good breakfast the Bench Market. Our taxi cost $23.

Over the next six hours, we visited as many as eleven different boutique wineries along the Naramata Bench. The total walking distance was around 9km, taking into account detours into wine tasting rooms along the way.

Lunch was a DIY charcuterie at Poplar Grove Cheese, with shares a tasting room with Lock and Worth Winery. We shared a couple of rounds of cheese with crackers and a bottle of wine.

In the end, we didn’t utilise the KVR on that particular walking wine tour. Indeed, we stayed mostly on Naramata Road. It’s not an ideal route since Naramata Road can may quite busy with vehicles and cyclists.

Perfecting our Naramata Bench walking wine tour

Our first walking wine tour was a resounding success. We’ve been experimenting with the idea ever since, with different groups of friends and routes.

Taking a taxi part-way up the Naramata Bench is always a winner with friends who don’t like walking as much as we do. It’s also a good idea for wine tours with a later start.

One fun variation was to take a taxi up to Upper Bench Road (rather than Naramata Road) and visit the wineries in this area instead, before returning via Lower Bench Road.

Other times, we have walked along Naramata Bench as far as Origin Wines or Hillside Winery and then returned on the KVR Trail.

There are three wineries located just off the KVR in this area (D’Angelo, Red Rooster, Ruby Blues). The KVR is definitely much pleasurable to walk on than Naramata Road!

More recently, we have been omitting the taxi altogether and walking up the KVR Trail as far as we want and then returning the same way. If we walk all the way to Origin and back, that is a 12km route with seven different wineries along the way.

Naramata Bench walking wine tour tips

Thinking about doing your own Naramata Bench walking wine tour? I’d recommend it! But you should keep the following in mind:

• There is not a lot of shade on the Naramata Bench. Be sure to bring a hat and plenty of sunscreen. A cloudy day is preferable
• Bring plenty of water with you and drink often. There is a water bottle filling station at the corner of Naramata Road and Poplar Grove Road. Alternatively, ask at the winery tasting rooms for a refill
• Wearing appropriate clothing and footwear is crucial. Most of the surfaces are tarmac and/or gravel. Take a rain jacket and/or umbrella if there is any threat of rain
• Don’t try to carry too much wine! Wineries are usually happy to hold purchased wine for you to collect later

• Keep in mind that there is no raised footpath/sidewalk next to Naramata Road (the main road through the Bench). This means that you will walking next to traffic for large sections.
• Remember to face oncoming traffic when possible. Despite being a fairly windy road and speed limits posted along it, the traffic on Naramata Road can be fairly fast (60-70km)
• Things are different since the pandemic. More and more wineries charge higher fees for tasting and prefer reservations. When deciding your route, it’s a good idea to research each individual winery and find out whether they accept walk-in visitors (all wineries are listed on the Best of Penticton website).

This information is based on our personal experience walking to and from wineries on the Naramata Bench. I make no representations or warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, about the accuracy or suitability of a walking wine tour on the Naramata Bench.

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Gemma

One half of the Canadian/British couple behind Off Track Travel, Gemma is happiest when hiking on the trail or planning the next big travel adventure. JR and Gemma are currently based in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Consider buying us a coffee if you have find any of our guides helpful!