Seven days from Adelaide: a slow lap of South Australia's three great wine regions
More than 400 cellar doors, no designated driver, and three days where you don’t drive at all.
Three of Australia’s most famous wine regions sit within an hour of Adelaide. The Barossa, the Clare Valley, and McLaren Vale — more than 400 cellar doors between them. The problem with doing them by car is obvious: someone has to drive, and someone always draws the short straw.
A motorhome solves that, and seven unrushed days from the LGM Adelaide branch lets you do all three regions properly — full afternoons at the cellar doors, the van parked among the vines, nobody watching the clock or counting their drinks. Three of the seven days involve no driving at all.
South Australia’s wine roads are well-served and the whole route stays close to towns and fuel. This is a winter trip in the best sense — fires lit in the cellar doors, slow lunches, and the regions at their quietest.
More than 400 cellar doors, no designated driver, and three days where you don’t drive at all.
The trip at a glance
Here’s what the week looks like before we go day by day.
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Day 1 — Adelaide to the Barossa. 75 km, 1 hr.
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Day 2 — Barossa cellar doors. No driving.
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Day 3 — Barossa to Clare. 100 km, 1 hr 15 min.
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Day 4 — Clare cellar doors. No driving.
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Day 5 — Clare to McLaren Vale. Split with a Gawler stop.
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Day 6 — McLaren Vale day. No driving.
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Day 7 — McLaren Vale back to Adelaide. 45 km, 45 min.
Total drive distance over the week: around 470 km. Three full days have no driving at all — they’re pure cellar door days. The longest legs are around 75 minutes. The shortest final drive in the entire series.
Day 1 — Adelaide to the Barossa
DRIVE · Adelaide → Tanunda · 75 km · 1 hour
Collect the motorhome from the LGM Adelaide branch and drive an hour to Tanunda, in the heart of the Barossa. Stay at BIG4 Tanunda Barossa Tourist Park.
Settle in, then head to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop in the late afternoon — it’s a Barossa institution and a good soft start. Dinner on Tanunda’s main street. The serious tasting starts tomorrow; tonight is for arriving.
Day 2 — Barossa cellar doors
DRIVE · Local — under 30 km around the valley
A full day in the Barossa with no driving pressure. The big names are all here — Penfolds, Seppeltsfield, Henschke, Yalumba — and a motorhome means you can do them properly.
Seppeltsfield is the one not to miss: the Centenary Cellar lets you taste a tawny from your birth year, drawn from the barrel, every vintage back to 1878 unbroken. Lunch at Hentley Farm or fermentAsian, both among the best regional restaurants in the country. The van’s at Tanunda; you’re not driving anywhere you don’t want to.
Seppeltsfield’s Centenary Cellar lets you taste a tawny from your birth year, drawn from the barrel — every vintage back to 1878, unbroken.
Day 3 — Barossa to Clare
DRIVE · Tanunda → Clare via the Horrocks Hwy · 100 km · 1 hour 15 minutes
75 minutes north up the Horrocks Highway to the Clare Valley. Stay at Discovery Parks Clare.
Spend the afternoon on the Riesling Trail — a former rail line converted to a flat, easy cycling and walking path that runs the length of the valley past cellar doors. Hire bikes, ride a section, stop for a tasting, ride back. It’s the best way to see Clare and it asks nothing of you.
Day 4 — Clare cellar doors
DRIVE · Local — under 25 km around the valley
Another no-driving day. Clare is riesling country and the cellar doors are smaller and more personal than the Barossa’s. Sevenhill is the oldest winery in the valley, still run by the Jesuits who founded it; Skillogalee has a hatted restaurant in a cottage garden; Kilikanoon is one of the region’s most awarded.
Lunch at Skillogalee if you can get a table. Late afternoon, the Clare Country Club for a beer with the locals — a wine trip doesn’t have to be only wine.
Day 5 — Clare to McLaren Vale
DRIVE · Clare → McLaren Vale, split via Gawler · 175 km total · Two legs with a Gawler lunch stop
The longest driving day, broken in two. Clare to Gawler first (around 75 km, an hour), a lunch stop, then Gawler down to McLaren Vale (around 100 km, 1 hour 15 minutes). Two manageable legs with a proper break between them.
Arrive McLaren Vale mid-afternoon. Stay at McLaren Vale Lakeside Caravan Park. Sundowner at d’Arenberg if you arrive in time — the rest of the region is tomorrow.
Day 6 — McLaren Vale day
DRIVE · Local — under 20 km around the region
The third and final no-driving day. McLaren Vale is the most relaxed of the three regions and the closest to the sea. Book the d’Arenberg Cube in the morning — a five-storey architectural puzzle in the middle of the vineyards that’s part winery, part art installation, and entirely unlike anywhere else.
Lunch at Wirra Wirra. Afternoon at Aldinga Beach, 15 minutes away — the only one of the three regions where you can finish a day of tasting with a swim. Coriole for sundowners if you’ve got the legs.
Day 7 — McLaren Vale back to Adelaide
DRIVE · McLaren Vale → Adelaide · 45 km · 45 minutes
The shortest final drive in the whole series — 45 minutes back to the LGM Adelaide branch. If it’s a Saturday, stop at the Willunga Farmers Market on the way for breakfast; it’s one of the best in the state.
Back at the branch by lunchtime. Three regions, more than 400 cellar doors within reach, and not one argument about who was driving.
Practical notes for the trip
Fuel and route
The Sturt Highway and Horrocks Highway are well-served the entire way, with service stations in Tanunda, Nuriootpa, Clare, Auburn, Gawler and McLaren Vale. No leg of this trip takes you far from a station.
Our fuel info page carries the link to the federal government’s fuel availability site. For these wine regions, fuel is simply not a consideration — you’re never remote.
Vehicle suitability
All LGM vehicle sizes are suitable, though the boutique cellar doors can have tighter car parks — a sub-7m motorhome gives you the most flexibility. The main estates all accommodate larger vehicles. Every caravan park on the route has powered sites.
Best season
Year-round. Vintage (February to April) is the busy, energetic season. Winter is quieter, with fires lit in the cellar doors and unhurried long lunches — arguably the best time to do this particular trip. Spring brings wildflowers between the vines.
What to book in advance
The destination restaurants — Hentley Farm, fermentAsian, Skillogalee — book out well ahead, especially for weekend lunches. The d’Arenberg Cube requires a pre-booked ticket. Caravan parks are generally available closer to the date outside school holidays.
The Aussie Winter Wander Sale — 25% off May to July
The single best argument for doing the wine regions by motorhome is that nobody has to be the designated driver — and right now that trip is 25% off. Every May, June and July booking from the LGM Adelaide branch is discounted as part of the Aussie Winter Wander Sale.
The sale runs 15 May to 25 May. After that, full price returns. Winter is the best time to do this trip — fires lit, regions quiet — and the next ten days are the cheapest way to book it.