Short answer: South Australia is the hinge of the big Australian road trips, and that is how to use it. Adelaide is a flat, walkable city that most travellers give two nights; the Barossa Valley is about an hour away and the easiest famous wine region in the country to do as a day, from $109; the Flinders Ranges and Coober Pedy are the real outback, three to five days by 4WD from $2,989. Then you leave overland: three days to Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road for $949, or ten days across the Nullarbor to Perth for $2,749. Give the state four days minimum, more if you take an outback trip.
Prices are per person in AUD and update from our live listings. Every South Australia trip we sell is on South Australia tours by price.
Adelaide: use it as a base
Adelaide is grid-planned, ringed by parklands and small enough to walk or cycle. Three things fill the city days between tours:
- Adelaide Central Market. The cheap feed, in the middle of the CBD.
- Glenelg. The beach, reached by tram from the city.
- Hahndorf. A historic German village half an hour up the freeway in the Adelaide Hills, which one of the Barossa tours visits on the way.
Adelaide summers are hot and dry: January averages about a 30°C maximum, and heatwaves push well past that. The Santos Tour Down Under cycling race takes over the city and the hills from 16 to 24 January 2027, which is a good week to be here and a hard week to find a cheap bed. Autumn to spring (roughly April to October) is the window for the outback trips; the Barossa works year-round and the vines turn gold around April.
Every tour below picks up in the Adelaide CBD, and the overland trips start or finish here, so plan a night either side of each one.
The Barossa: which day to book
The Barossa Valley is about an hour north-east of Adelaide and holds some of the oldest shiraz vines in the world. Tanunda, Nuriootpa, Angaston and Lyndoch sit along the valley floor; Mengler Hill lookout takes in all of it. Four Barossa days are in our line-up, and every one includes the thing that matters on a wine day: the driver and the Adelaide pickup.
| Tour | Best for | From |
|---|---|---|
| Barossa Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Trail | Running your own day: hop off at any of 150-plus wineries on the trail and stay as long as you like, or take the all-inclusive version with four stops and lunch | $109 |
| Barossa Valley Food & Wine Tour | The classic full day: four to five cellar doors, lunch at a winery with vegan options, a produce tasting stop, hotel pickup from Adelaide or Glenelg | $179 |
| Barossa Valley via Hahndorf | The same full day with Hahndorf up front, max 13 guests | $179 |
| Barossa Food & Wine Experience | When lunch matters as much as the shiraz, with a historic chateau tour | $214 |
Cheapest: the hop-on hop-off trail at $109. The hop-on hop-off is the backpacker pick if you want to choose your own cellar doors; the Food & Wine Tour is the pick if you want the day organised and lunch included.
The Flinders Ranges and Coober Pedy: the real outback
The Flinders Ranges start a few hours north of Adelaide and are among the oldest landscapes on Earth: the gorge walls hold Ediacaran fossils, the earliest complex life known. Ikara-Wilpena Pound, the natural amphitheatre at the centre of the range, is about 430 kilometres north of the city. This is not a day trip, and it is not a place to drive yourself on a backpacker budget without a 4WD and outback experience.
The Flinders Ranges 3-Day 4WD Eco Safari, $2,989, runs out of Adelaide through the Clare Valley to Quorn, Warren Gorge (home of the rare Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby), the Bunyeroo and Brachina gorges and Razorback Lookout, with two nights at the resort inside Wilpena Pound in your own single room, a small group and a guide at the wheel. It is the compact ranges trip.
The Coober Pedy to Adelaide 5-Day Outback 4WD Safari, $4,389, is the big one: an opal mine tour and the underground town at Coober Pedy, the Oodnadatta Track, the Dingo Fence, the outback pub at William Creek, Lake Eyre South, Marree, Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and the Flinders, finishing in the Clare Valley. Real beds every night. You join it in Coober Pedy, roughly 850 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway, so it suits travellers coming down from Uluru and Alice Springs; the Uluru tours compared guide covers that end.
Both are priced as small-group 4WD safaris with accommodation, not as backpacker bus trips, and they read that way: fewer people, real rooms, a guide who knows the geology. Go April to October; summer in the ranges is hotter than the city.
The overland routes
South Australia is where the Great Ocean Road run from Melbourne ends and the long haul across the Nullarbor to Perth begins. Both are better as a tour than as a bus ticket, because the point is the road.
Adelaide to Melbourne, 3 days. The Adelaide to Melbourne 3 Day Grampians & Great Ocean Road Tour, $949, goes through the Grampians first (MacKenzie Falls and the Pinnacle hike), then Tower Hill’s emus and kangaroos, the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge, the Otways rainforest and wild koalas, with two nights in shared rooms at Halls Gap and Warrnambool and most meals in. The reverse direction, Melbourne to Adelaide, is the same price. The Melbourne guide picks up at the other end.
Adelaide to Perth, 10 days. The Adelaide to Perth 10 Day Adventure Tour, $2,749, is a camping run of roughly 4,000 kilometres on a max-20 bus: the Flinders Ranges, the Eyre Peninsula, the Bunda Cliffs where the Nullarbor drops into the Southern Ocean, the kangaroos on the sand at Lucky Bay, the Stirling Range, Margaret River and Ngilgi Cave, with 8 nights of swag camping, one bush camp, most meals and all park fees. The Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor includes the 90 Mile Straight, 145.6 kilometres without a bend, the longest straight road in Australia. Reverse it as Perth to Adelaide for $2,889. The Western Australia tours by price page has the Perth end.
Neither route is quick, and that is the point: the straight Adelaide to Perth drive is about 2,700 kilometres and two days of nothing if you do it on a coach.
A sample week
- Adelaide. Central Market, tram to Glenelg, parklands at dusk.
- Barossa. The hop-on hop-off trail or the Food & Wine Tour.
- to 5. Flinders Ranges 3-day 4WD safari. Back in Adelaide on the evening of day 5.
- Hahndorf or a rest day.
- Leave overland: the 3-day Great Ocean Road tour to Melbourne, or the 10-day crossing to Perth.
Swap the Flinders for the Coober Pedy safari if you are arriving from the Red Centre; it finishes in the Clare Valley and drops you in Adelaide.
Know before you go
- Seasons. Adelaide summers are hot and dry and the outback is hotter; the Flinders and Coober Pedy trips are best April to October, when days are mild and nights are cold. The Barossa works year-round.
- Wine days. The tours supply the driver; let them. Tastings are included on the days listed above, which is the thing to check on any wine tour.
- The outback. Follow your guide on water, sun and distance. Phone signal is patchy and the country is vast. Wide-brim hat, more sunscreen than you think.
- Getting there. Fly into Adelaide, or arrive overland from Melbourne on the 3-day tour. From the Red Centre, the Coober Pedy safari is the way down. The Greyhound National Pass, $389, covers Adelaide on the national network if you are doing the whole country by bus.
FAQs
Is South Australia worth it for backpackers?
Yes, as the hinge between the East Coast, the outback and the west. Adelaide is cheap and easy, the Barossa is the simplest famous wine region to do as a day, the Flinders Ranges are the real outback within reach, and the overland tours to Melbourne and Perth are better than a flight because the road is the trip.
How many days do you need in South Australia?
Four minimum: two in Adelaide and a Barossa day, plus the day you leave overland. Add three days for the Flinders Ranges safari or five for the Coober Pedy trip.
How much does a Barossa Valley tour cost?
From $109 to $214, all with Adelaide pickup and a driver. Cheapest: the hop-on hop-off trail at $109.
Can you do the Flinders Ranges as a day trip from Adelaide?
No. Wilpena Pound is about 430 kilometres north of Adelaide. The 3-day 4WD safari at $2,989 is the shortest sensible trip and includes two nights inside the Pound.
When is the best time to visit South Australia?
April to October for the outback, when days are mild and nights are cold. The Barossa works year-round and the vines turn gold around April. Adelaide in January averages about a 30°C maximum, with heatwaves well above that.
How do you get from Adelaide to Melbourne?
The 3-day Great Ocean Road and Grampians tour at $949 is the way that makes the trip the point, with two nights’ shared accommodation and most meals included. A flight or a coach is quicker and skips the Twelve Apostles.
How do you get from Adelaide to Perth?
Overland on the 10-day Adelaide to Perth camping tour at $2,749, which crosses the Nullarbor via the Bunda Cliffs and Lucky Bay with most meals and park fees included. The direct drive is about 2,700 kilometres.
Can you do the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide?
Yes, in the Adelaide to Melbourne direction on the 3-day tour, which does the Grampians first and the Twelve Apostles on the way into Victoria.
Does Wanderlust sell Kangaroo Island tours?
Not at the moment. The South Australia line-up is the four Barossa days, the two outback 4WD safaris and the four overland tours, all on South Australia tours by price.
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