ADELAIDE · SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Vines, the gulf, and the island next door.
Wine tours through the Barossa and McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills villages, dolphin cruises off Glenelg, and the road to Kangaroo Island. Most of South Australia’s best days out start within an hour of the city.
South Australia’s headline acts
Three things Adelaide does that nowhere else does.
The vines, the island, and the wild dolphins in the harbour. Each one is a single-day trip from the city, each one is the reason South Australia is on the itinerary in the first place. Build the rest of the week around these.
Across the strait
Kangaroo Island
Australia's third-largest island sits a short ferry south of the city. Remarkable Rocks, Admirals Arch, Seal Bay, and koalas in the eucalypts. A third of the island is conservation reserve — wild fauna with no fences, sandstone formations the Southern Ocean carved out alone. The day-trip from Adelaide is the closest most travellers get to wild Australia in a single day.
- 1 Kangaroo Island Full Day Experience by Ferry Including Lunch
- 2 Kangaroo Island in a Day Tour from Adelaide
- 3 Adelaide: 3-Day Kangaroo Island Adventure Tour with Camping
Old-vine country
Barossa Valley Wineries
Some of the oldest continuously producing vines on earth grow here — Shiraz planted in the 1840s, pre-phylloxera, still in the ground. Henschke's Hill of Grace, Penfolds Grange, Seppeltsfield's walk-in 100-year-old tawny cellar. The Barossa isn't just an Australian wine region. It's the one cellars in Bordeaux know by name.
- 1 Barossa Premium Wine Tasting Tour & lunch Departs 7 days a week
- 2 Adelaide: Barossa Premium Wine Tasting tour & Winery Lunch
- 3 Discover Barossa: 4 Wine Tastings, Gourmet Lunch, and Hidden Gems
Wild in the city
Wild Dolphins on the Gulf
A resident pod of bottlenose dolphins lives in the Port River and around Glenelg jetty — wild, free-swimming, in a sanctuary that runs through suburban Adelaide. Few major cities in the world give you wild dolphins from a working harbour. The cruise leaves from a tram stop.
- 1 Adelaide: Dolphin Sanctuary Eco Kayaking Tour
- 2 Adelaide: 4-Hour Swimming with Dolphins Experience
- 3 Port Adelaide: Dolphin and Ships Graveyard Cruise
Adelaide’s wine edge
Four wine regions, one city.
No other capital in Australia is surrounded by this many distinct wine valleys. Barossa for the old-vine Shiraz. McLaren Vale for the coast and the rosé. Adelaide Hills for the cool-climate sparkling and the villages. Clare for the Riesling and the long bike trail through the cellars. All four within reach of a single hotel.
Barossa Valley
Old-vine Shiraz. Henschke, Penfolds, Seppeltsfield.
- From Adelaide: Barossa to Hahndorf Wine Tasting and Lunch
- Barossa Valley Cellar Door Small Group Tour
McLaren Vale
Coastal cellars. Rosé country, Mediterranean climate.
- Adelaide: Half-day McLaren Vale & Glenelg Wine Tasting Tour
- Adelaide Highlights, Hahndorf & McLaren Vale Wine Tasting and Sightseeing Tour
Adelaide Hills
Cool climate. Sauvignon, sparkling, Hahndorf villages.
- Barossa Valley Inc Maggie Beers & Hahndorf (German Village)
- Adelaide: Highlights, Hahndorf & McLaren Vale Wine Tasting
Where to start
If you only book one tour.
The day every Adelaide visitor seems to end up on. A safe bet for travellers who want one strong recommendation and no further research.
Traveller favourites
Adelaide’s Most Popular Tours
Barossa cellars, Hahndorf villages, McLaren Vale rosé, Kangaroo Island ferries. The tours most travellers come to South Australia for.
By region
Pick a corner of South Australia.
Each region is its own day. Barossa for the old-vine cellars. Adelaide Hills for the villages and the cool-climate wineries. McLaren Vale for the rosé and the coast. Kangaroo Island for the wildlife. Glenelg for the beach and the dolphins. The CBD for the market and the walks.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
A wine tour to the Barossa. A market walk through the CBD. A cruise on the gulf with the resident dolphins. A ferry south to Kangaroo Island. Or the long Murray River day if you have the time.
Up into the hills
Hahndorf and the hills villages.
Germany-by-way-of-Australia: schnitzel and pretzel bakeries in Hahndorf, cool-climate wineries up the ridge, Cleland for the koalas. Three Adelaide Hills days we’d send a first-time visitor on.
Out on the water
Gulf cruises and river days.
Glenelg jetty out to the dolphin pod. Murray River paddle-steamers past the Coorong wetlands. Sailing on Gulf St Vincent at dusk. Our shortlist for travellers who’d rather see Adelaide from the water.
Closer in
The city on foot.
Adelaide is famously the twenty-minute city — everything central is walkable. The Central Market at dawn, the laneway food and street art, the Oval at game-day, the after-dark ghost route through North Tce. Three walks we’d keep coming back to.
Further out
Beyond the city.
Victor Harbor and the granite islands of the Fleurieu. The Coorong’s 130-kilometre lagoon. The Flinders Ranges if you have a long day. The Great Ocean Road if you’re heading east. Our pick of the day trips and long routes that start in Adelaide.
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