Night-only or Day/Night ticket for a tasting day?
Source: Hunter Valley Gardens
If you are spending the day at cellar doors, start with the Night-only ticket. A Day/Night ticket is $60 for an adult, $48 for a child and $195 for a family of two adults and two children, against $42, $31 and $128 for Night-only (checked October 2026). On those prices the Day/Night upgrade costs $18 per adult, $17 per child and $67 per family (our estimate, checked October 2026).
That extra money buys the Gardens by day, which run 9am to 4:30pm, with last entry at 3:30pm. If those hours belong to cellar doors, you pay for a session you never walk into.
Day/Night earns its price when someone in your party would rather see the whole Garden in daylight than taste wine, and is happy to leave at closing with everyone else.
The family ticket is worth a look too. Bought separately, two adults and two children on Night-only come to $146, so the family ticket saves $18. On Day/Night the separate total is $216, so the family ticket saves $21 (our estimate, worked from the Gardens' prices, checked October 2026). Under 3s are free but still need a ticket.
Christmas lights Hunter Valley Gardens hours, and the hour the gates are shut
Source: Hunter Valley Gardens
The lights run 5:30pm to 10:30pm, with last entry at 9:30pm. The rides run 6pm to 10pm, the ride ticket booth closes at 9:30pm and the last ride goes at 9:45pm.
Between the day closing and the lights opening sits one hour, and it shapes the whole day.
A Day/Night ticket does not let you wait inside through that hour, because all visitors, Day/Night ticket holders included, must leave the Gardens by 4:30pm and can only re-enter when the lights open at 5:30pm.
The Garden Terrace Café is open 9am to 3pm, so it is shut for that hour too.
Our view at HV Tours: plan the hour somewhere other than the gate. Let the last tasting run into the late afternoon, then sit down to an early dinner or rest before the lights. Check your last cellar door's closing time when you book it.
How long to allow inside? The Gardens suggest at least 2 hours for a meal, rides and the lights, and arriving early. Two hours back from the 10:30pm close is 8:30pm, so aim to be through the gate by then (our working). Last entry at 9:30pm would leave you one hour.
For a full day's shape, from first pour to last light, see our Christmas Lights Hunter Valley: Tasting Day and Night guide.
What a night-only ticket covers, and what it doesn't
Day session (Garden Entry or Day/Night)
Christmas Lights ticket
Rides cost extra: $6 a ride or 6 for $30 (checked October 2026)
Source: Hunter Valley Gardens
A Christmas Lights ticket is not a pass to the whole Garden after dark: it covers specific display areas only, and the rest of the Garden is not accessible at night. Seeing the whole Garden needs the day session, on a Garden Entry or Day/Night ticket.
Rides are on top of the ticket, at $6 a ride or 6 rides for $30 (checked October 2026). Height rules apply: children under 120cm, for example, must ride the Ferris Wheel with an adult.
Santa photos run in the event marquee 5:30pm to 10pm from 30 October to 26 December 2026, closed 25 December, with packages at $42.50, $52.50 and $62.50 (checked October 2026).
Eating, drinking and getting home after the lights
Allowed in
Not allowed in
Inside: food stalls run to 10pm (start time differs between the Gardens' pages); The Evergreen Tavern bar 5:30pm to 10pm.
No picnics or outside food are allowed. The only drink you can bring in is sealed bottled water, and alcohol and soft drinks are not permitted.
Food is inside. The Gardens' own pages disagree on when the stalls start: 5:30pm on the event page and 6pm on the FAQs. Both have them running to 10pm. The Evergreen Tavern, the Christmas Lights bar, is open 5:30pm to 10pm.
So the evening has a bar, and the day had tastings. That adds up on the drive home.
| Licence or vehicle | Limit |
|---|---|
| Full (unrestricted) licence | Under 0.05 |
| Learner, P1 and P2 | 0 |
| Public passenger vehicles (buses, coaches, chauffeur-driven hire cars) | Under 0.02 |
It's impossible to estimate your own BAC.
In NSW the limit is under 0.05 for a full licence, 0 for learner, P1 and P2 drivers, and under 0.02 for public passenger vehicles, including buses, coaches and chauffeur-driven hire cars. It's impossible to estimate your own BAC, and the only way to be sure is not to drink.
Our advice is simple. Whoever drives home from the lights should have skipped both the cellar doors and the bar. HV Tours runs small group, private and couples wine tasting tours through Pokolbin, Lovedale and Cessnock, so nobody in your group has to sit out the daytime tastings to drive. Mention your lights night when you get in touch.
Tickets, rain and school-holiday crowds across the season
Source: Hunter Valley Gardens, NSW Government, NSW Wine
The season runs Friday 30 October 2026 to Sunday 31 January 2027, closed 25 December, day and night.
Tickets are valid only for the booked session. You can exchange them for another day, subject to availability, if you ask at least 24 hours before.
Refunds are only given if the Gardens do not open on your booked date. Otherwise tickets are exchanged or converted to booking credits that expire after a year.
You cannot buy tickets by phone. Online sales close one hour before the session finishes, which for the 10:30pm night close is about 9:30pm (our reading). Gate sales depend on availability.
The second half of the season overlaps the NSW summer school holidays, which for the Eastern division run Friday 18 December 2026 to Wednesday 27 January 2027, after Term 4 ends on Thursday 17 December. If your date falls in that stretch, book online rather than counting on the gate.
Earlier in the season, Valley Rising runs 11:30am to 6:30pm on 28 and 29 November at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, Pokolbin. The festival's hours run past the 5:30pm lights opening, so a weekend doing both means choosing which one you leave early.
Summer rain does not cancel the night. The event continues in rain and closes only if management judges conditions dangerous, and ticket holders are then offered a change of date or a gift card. Bring your own wet-weather gear. Umbrellas are allowed.
Christmas lights access for wheelchair users and seniors
Visit NSW lists the event at 2090 Broke Road, Pokolbin and describes it as actively welcoming people with access needs.
The Gardens have about 8km of crushed granite paths, and most areas are wheelchair-accessible. Some lookouts and the Italian Grotto have stairs, and paths can be uneven or steep after weather.
There are no wheelchairs for hire, so bring your own. Companion Cards are accepted: book the companion ticket online and show your documentation at entry. A wheelchair-accessible Ferris Wheel gondola takes one wheelchair user and a carer.
Parking is free, but disabled parking is limited and needs a permit displayed. The closest car park fills quickly, with overflow on the oval and in the Aqua Golf car park.
Accessibility is where HV Tours puts its effort: wheelchair-accessible tasting tours in a hydraulic-lift minibus, to venues we have vetted. See Accessible Wine Tours, Hunter Valley for how a daytime tasting can work for wheelchair users and guests with mobility needs.
The evening at a glance
Hours
- Gardens by day 9am to 4:30pm, last entry 3:30pm
- Gardens close to lights open: 4:30pm to 5:30pm, all visitors leave
- Lights 5:30pm to 10:30pm, last entry 9:30pm
Prices
- Night-only adult $42, child (4–15) $31, family (2+2) $128
- Day/Night adult $60, child (4–15) $48, family (2+2) $195
- Rides $6 per ride, 6 for $30
Rules
- Night ticket: display areas only, not the whole Garden
- Bring in: sealed bottled water only
- Legal BAC: under 0.05 full licence, under 0.02 public passenger vehicles
Prices checked October 2026.
Source: Hunter Valley Gardens, NSW Government
The hours, prices and rules above, on one card to save to your phone.
Plan the tasting day with HV Tours
Pick your lights night first, then book the tasting day around it, keeping that 4:30pm to 5:30pm hour free for dinner or a rest.
HV Tours has been running Hunter Valley tasting tours since 2015 and was a winner at the 2024 Hunter Local Business Awards. Tell us your date, how many are in your group, any access needs and that you're heading to the lights. You can do that on our contact page, on 0456 737 888 or at info@hvtours.com.au.
Sources
- https://www.huntervalleygardens.com.au/christmas-lights-spectacular-faqs
- https://www.huntervalleygardens.com.au/events/christmas-lights-spectacular
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/driving-nsw/roads-safety-and-rules/safe-driving/alcohol-and-drugs
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/about-nsw/school-holidays
- https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/hunter/hunter-valley/pokolbin/events/christmas-lights-spectacular-hunter-valley-gardens
- https://www.nswwine.com.au/nsw-wine-month-calendar-of-events/valley-rising
Pictures in this guide are illustrations, not photos of our jobs.
