South Australia

Barossa Valley wine tours: the headline experience

The Barossa is Australia's most famous wine region and it is one hour from Adelaide, which makes it the easiest big-name day trip in the country. Tanunda, Nuriootpa, Angaston and Lyndoch are strung along the valley floor, cellar doors pour shiraz, grenache and old fortifieds, and Mengler Hill lookout takes in the whole valley.

Four Barossa tours sit in our line-up, from $119 to $219, and every one includes the thing that matters on a wine day: a designated driver and Adelaide pickup. They range from the Barossa Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Trail, from $109, to the Barossa Food & Wine Experience, from $214. The comparison below sorts them.

Flinders Ranges and Coober Pedy: the real outback

The Flinders Ranges are 600 million years old, old enough to hold Ediacaran fossils, the earliest complex life on Earth, in the gorge walls. The Flinders Ranges 3-Day 4WD Eco Safari, from $2,989, runs out of Adelaide via 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 Wilpena Pound Resort in your own single room.

Go bigger with the Coober Pedy to Adelaide 5-Day Outback 4WD Safari, from $4,389: an opal mine tour and underground dugouts in Coober Pedy, the Dingo Fence, a beer at William Creek's pub, Lake Eyre South, Marree, Arkaroola and Brachina Gorge, finishing in the Clare Valley. Real beds every night, guide at the wheel.

Which South Australia tour is right for you?

One day, a long weekend or a proper adventure: pick your lane.

Wine day, from $119 to $219: Barossa Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Trail (from $109) if you want to run your own itinerary and hop off wherever the wine deserves it; Barossa Valley Food & Wine Tour (from $179) for the famous full day, four to five cellar doors and lunch at Kies Winery; Barossa Valley Via Hahndorf Food & Wine (from $179) if you want the historic German village of Hahndorf up front, max 13 guests; Barossa Food & Wine Experience (from $214) if lunch matters as much as the shiraz, with a Chateau Tanunda tour thrown in.

Overland, 3 days: Adelaide to Melbourne Original Tour (from $949) or Melbourne to Adelaide 3 Day (from $949), both shared accommodation, both taking in the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians. Pick the direction that matches where you're headed next.

Outback, 3 to 5 days: Flinders Ranges 3-Day 4WD Eco Safari (from $2,989) for a compact ranges trip with your own room; Coober Pedy to Adelaide 5-Day Outback 4WD Safari (from $4,389) for the Oodnadatta Track and Lake Eyre.

The big crossing, 10 days: Adelaide to Perth Adventure Tour (from $2,749) or Perth to Adelaide Adventure Tour (from $2,889), roughly 4,000 kilometres across the bottom of the continent.

Adelaide: more than a stopover

Adelaide gets written off as the city you pass through, which suits the people who stay. It's flat, grid-planned and ringed by parklands, so you can walk or cycle most of it. The Central Market is the feed, Glenelg is the beach tram ride, Hahndorf is half an hour up the freeway. Every Barossa tour picks up in the CBD and the overland and outback trips start or finish here, so plan a night or two either side.

A sample 3-day South Australia itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Adelaide. Central Market for lunch, tram to Glenelg for the afternoon, parklands at dusk.

Day 2: Barossa. The Barossa Valley Food & Wine Tour, from $179 if you want it all organised, or the Barossa Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Trail, from $109, if you'd rather plan your own stops.

Day 3: Roll straight onto the Adelaide to Melbourne Original Tour, from $949, for three days of Great Ocean Road and Grampians, or take a breather in Hahndorf. More time? Swap in the Flinders Ranges 3-Day 4WD Eco Safari, from $2,989, and do the Barossa when you get back.

Know before you go: seasons, safety and getting there

Seasons: Adelaide summers are hot and dry and the outback is hotter still, so the Flinders and Coober Pedy trips are best from autumn to spring (roughly April to October) when days are mild and nights are cold. The Barossa works year round; the vines turn gold around April.

Safety: on wine days, the tours supply the designated driver, so let them. In the outback, follow your guide on water, sun and distance; the country is vast and phone signal is patchy. Wide-brim hat, more sunscreen than you think.

Getting there: fly into Adelaide, or arrive overland on the Melbourne to Adelaide 3 Day tour, from $949. Coober Pedy is roughly 850 kilometres north on the Stuart Highway if you're joining the 5-day safari up there.