Using sunlight as renewable resource has stimulated the development of sustainable photocatalysts that can collect visible light. Semiconductor nanowire-based photocatalysts have attracted increasing interest due to their unique optical, electronic, and structural advantages. Here, noble metal-semiconductor hybrid Au/ZnO nanowires have been fabricated by chemical vapor deposition method. The hybrid photocatalysts were well characterized by SEM, TEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, UV–visible spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Compared with ZnO nanowires, Au/ZnO heterostructures exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance due to the synergistic combination of Au and ZnO. Optical properties were modeled to support our interpretation of photocatalytic mechanisms. Our work provides a feasible strategy to prepare plasmonic photocatalysts and will also deepen the understanding of the plasmon enhanced photocatalytic performance in hybrid photocatalysts.