Best Greytown Shops 2024
Greytown’s shops make it a wonderful spot for a gentle day of shopping. We boast more than 60 independent shops, cafes and restaurants on our lovely, wide Main Street brimming with preserved Victorian architecture.
Perusing Greytown’s shops is a pleasant adventure at any time of year. In the warm months, you’ll enjoy our excellent footpaths and loads of lovely trees. And the prevalence of bullnose canopies on our buildings means it’s a fun destination rain or shine — as you can move quickly from cover to cover.
Our Greytown Shops business owners group often band together to put on special events for visitors, particularly:
Sidewalk Sale during Wellington Anniversary weekend
The Festival of Christmas all month during July
And our popular "real Christmas" promotions which are different every December — in 2022 a customer won a $10,000 diamond!
Event through we're a small town and you can see all the best in a day — or a couple of days if you take your time — here are some of our favourite Greytown shops:
Blackwell Bests of Greytown Shops
Best Greytown Alternative Milk Coffee: probably the second most frequently asked non-book questions we get at the shop is where to get a good coffee. (The first is where are the closest bathrooms — see below.)
Mrs Blackwell likes a flat white with almond milk so to avoid upsetting the neighbours we're going to concentrate this Best on non-dairy coffees.
Meeneez do a great almond milk coffee and owner Emily is herself a non-dairy drinker so she has a full range of alternative milks. If you're being careful with the treats, the smell of the baking and the generous gelato cabinet will definitely test your willpower! If you need your non dairy coffee before 9am, you'll also get a great one at Main Street Deli or The Offering who have an option for the unsweetened almond milk too.
Mr Matthews likes a long black and he reckons The French Bakery is the way to go for a black coffee.
Best Greytown Donut: Kate from The Bicycle Kitchen. The Bicycle Kitchen are regulars during summer at Greytown’s Farmer’s Market ‘Crop Up’. Stay up to date with their pop-up appearances (often in the square next to the bookshop) via their Instagram page.
Best Greytown Spot for a Summer Beverage: The Deck at The White Swan. Lucky for you if you nab a spot on a sunny day!
Best Greytown Spot for a Romantic Dinner: The dining room at Cuckoo is not large, but somehow Janelle and Ian have worked a special kind of magic so that no matter where you sit it feels private and cosy — as if you and your sweetheart are the only ones in the room. If you like kombucha, definitely try their homemade brews!
Best Greytown Bookshop: Did you even write a ‘best of’ article if you don't nominate yourself for something?
Inside Mrs Blackwell’s Village Bookshop in Greytown, South Wairarapa
So while we're at it… check out the Best Greytown Bicycle Lifestyle Emporium and do a tasting at the Greytown Distilling Co for the Best Gin in Greytown while you're there!
Best Greytown Seating: Take a load off from all the shopping and feasting and take a seat among one of Greytown’s many lovely outdoor spaces.
Best Greytown Public Bathrooms: Let's be honest, nothing is “best" about public bathrooms, but we're including this one as a form of public service! On days that the Greytown Town Hall is open — which is often and they are right next to the bookshop — there are three nice bathrooms just inside the door. Failing that, we have a stand of the fancy automated variety that play music while you're doing your business — they're next to the Greytown Butchery, or Pee.Place (!!) will help you find the way.
Best stuff just outside Greytown
There's obviously a ton of great things to do in our neighbouring towns of Featherston and Martinborough too but that's not the purpose of this post. But I couldn't finish without mentioning a couple of our absolute favourite shops and restaurants in Featherston and Martinborough:
Best Roast Dinner: Brac n Bow in Featherston. From their early days when Brac n Bow were across the street to their subsequent move into the Royal Hotel, Mr and Mrs Blackwell have always looked forward to a Sunday Roast at Brac n Bow. At the time of writing the Sunday roast will set you back $30 (including desert) and the roast and it's accompaniments change week to week so it's always a new surprise.
Best Kitchen Shop: Mint in Martinborough. A criticism that's sometimes levelled at both Greytown and Martinborough is that we don't have enough "practical" shops. If ever there was an obvious exception to that it's Mint in Martinborough. Nestled into a 100 year old church, just off Martinborough's Main Street it's full of gear for serious home cooks as well as ah-hem... a few gifts too!
