Welcome to the Barossa Valley

Getting there: The Barossa Valley is a one-hour drive North of Adelaide.

The Barossa Valley is like stepping into a children’s storybook with its heritage buildings, stone cottages, rolling hills, and vineyards that go on forever. You can’t help but love the Barossa’s European charm, courtesy of the German and British immigrants that settled here in the 1840’s and have been making some of the world’s best wines for over 160 years.

There’s all kinds of ways to explore the Barossa. Take a scenic drive, hire bikes, or go up-up-and-away in a hot air balloon. There’s also plenty of tours to join which means someone else can organise the itinerary for the day.

Go wine tasting in the Barossa

Rolling hills and cellar doors await you in the Barossa. Visit Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre. Photo: Dragan Radocaj
 

You have more than 150 wineries and 80 cellar doors to visit. The Barossa is home to the world-renowned Penfolds, Henschke Cellars, Wolf Blass, Seppeltsfield (which is Australia’s oldest winery). Check out the many small and winemakers and cellar doors. Heads-up, the Barossa is best known for its Shiraz and Riesling. If you want to take it to the next level, book a wine blending or tasting class, make-your-own gin, or create your own fortified wine.

Eat your way around the Barossa

Book a Barossa cooking class. Photo: Sven Kovac, South Australian Tourism Commission
 

• Feast on the hand-crafted cheeses, smoked meats, and traditional German breads and pastries.

• Check out the Barossa farmers market or the Mount Pleasant farmers market. Both markets are open every Saturday morning and sell the freshest fruits, vegetables, breads, meat, seafood, chocolate, condiments, sauces and more.

• Book one of the many cooking classes or food and wine matching classes. One recommendation is the Casa Carboni Italian Cooking School.

• Visit the many local farms and sample produce straight from the garden.

• Visit Maggie Beer’s farm shop. Maggie is one of Australia’s favourite celebrity cook and her store will pack a mouth-watering picnic for you to enjoy while you explore the farm.

Potter around local art galleries

Everyone falls in love with Barossa Château. Photo: Sven Kovac, South Australian Tourism Commission
 

• Visit the Jam Factory at Seppeltsfield wine estate and see local artists at work in their onsite studios. See fine art exhibitions by local artists at the Barossa Regional Gallery. For stunning indigenous and contemporary art, you can’t go past the Corroboree Dream Art, while Kapunda Community Gallery is a place for emerging artists to exhibit their work.

• Visit the Lyndoch Lavender Farm. Take a walk through this working lavender farm and see the lavender, birds, butterflies, and bearded dragons.

• Head to the Barossa Château where you’ll find an art and antique gallery, a 22-acre rose garden, and Australia's largest private collection of porcelain. Stop in for one of their famous high teas.
   

Hiking & bike riding around the Barossa

Cycle your way around the Barossa. Photo: SA Tourism

Why not pedal your way through the Barossa. The Barossa Valley has 40 kilometers of bike trails that link the towns and major landmarks. Get bike maps and bike hire information from the local visitor centres or book a cycling tour where everything is included. Popular tracks include:

• Angaston to Nuriootpa (6 km)
• Nuriootpa to Kanunda – (7km)
• Tanunda to Lyndoch (14 km)
• Lyndock to Gawler (13 km)

The Barossa Valley also has some spectacular bushwalks including:

• Kaiserstuhl Conservation Park and its 2 km Stringybark loop or the 9.4 km Wallowa hike which has stunning rock formations and views.

• Hale Conservation Park has the 4 km Hale walk. Keep your eyes open for echidnas, and in spring – there’s loads of wildflowers.

• Sandy Creek Conservation Park has a few walking trails. Walk through pink gum forests, look out for local birdlife and western grey kangaroos.