Rai Valley Travel Guide
Rai Valley accommodation, Rai Valley activities and attractions, Rai Valley maps, transportation to and around Rai Valley - the ALL NEW Jasons Rai Valley Destination Travel Guide is your complete visitor guide for Rai Valley.
Rai Valley is a great place to base yourself to explore all the wonders of the Marlborough Sounds region. This little town enjoys a majestic location, nestled among the lush green hills and native bush. Make sure you visit Rai Valley's historic cottage, built in 1881 by the district's first European settler, Charles Turner. The cottage was handmade of totara and beech slabs, pit sawn on the site, and there are few buildings of this type of construction remaining in New Zealand.
If you enjoy the great outdoors, you'll find plenty to do around Rai Valley including hunting, fishing, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and horse riding. For a stunning scenic drive (about 2 hours), you can take the road out of Rai Valley up to the tiny fishing village of French Pass, which looks over the turbulent waters of French Pass Passage to bush-clad D'Urville Island beyond. Pelorus Bridge is 10 minutes east of Rai Valley with a café, scenic bushwalks and a great summer swimming hole, and nearby Okiwi Bay offers fishing, scalloping and diving.