OVERVIEW

Travel through McLaren Vale, one of Australia’s oldest winegrowing region, taste delicious wines and organic olives, and lunch at a celebrated winery restaurant. Blessed by a Mediterranean coastal climate – with spectacular beaches just 15 minutes from vineyards and olive groves – McLaren Vale offers not just great wine, but some of Adelaide’s most satisfying sightseeing. After spending a couple delightful hours taking in the terrain by panoramic coach, you’ll visit The Farm Willunga to sample sustainably grown olives and olive oil, learn about how they’re produced, and browse the pure soaps and body care products also made here. You’ll tour a pair of boutique wineries to taste and compare some of the Shiraz and other varietal wines that have made the Vale so internationally famous. At one of the cellars, you’ll relax over a sumptuous lunch showcasing fresh and local ingredients – accompanied, of course, by wine. Stunning coastal scenery is on the menu for the return drive as you visit stunning Maslin Beach – captured on the big screen in numerous films – and pass through Glenelg and tony shoreside suburbs en route back to Adelaide. If you’re looking for an excursion offering exceptionally diverse scenery, flavors, and experiences – you’ve found it.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Enjoy a drive through McLaren Vale, a top-tier South Australia winegrowing region along the coast.
• Tour an organic, sustainable farm and sample olives grown in this mild Mediterranean climate.
• Visit two boutique vineyards for tours and tastings of wines that long ago put this region on the map.
• Enjoy a delicious lunch featuring fresh local produce, served at a celebrated winery restaurant.
• Stop in at picturesque Maslin Beach as your coach hugs the scenic coast roads back to Adelaide.

HELPFUL HINTS

• • Wear light, weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Settle back for a panoramic sightseeing drive through the streets of Adelaide, then view the city from the summit of Mount Lofty. With its unique blend of progressive urban vitality and easygoing Australian charm, this well-planned city of parks and landmarks has much to be seen. Your relaxed coach journey departs from the pier and circles the city, as your narrator fills you in on the sights you’re seeing – and the stories behind them. After a time, you’ll head out of the metropolitan center, across natural bushland and up to the top of the highest peak for miles around. The Mt Lofty lookout terrace offers panoramic views that can be absolutely out of this world on a clear day – stretching all the way from the Piccadilly Valley back across Adelaide and out to the coastal beaches. Once you’ve filled your digicam to capacity with snapshots, your comfortable coach will wind its way down from Lofty and return to the city, where you’ll see and learn about still more sights like the Holy Trinity Church, The Old Parliament Building, and Government House. And all this without exerting yourself the slightest bit.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Explore Adelaide by panoramic coach, taking in its sights on a narrated, city-wide drive.
• Travel out of the city and up to the lookout terrace on the summit of aptly-named Mt Lofty.
• With cooperative weather, capture breathtaking views – and photos – from this vantage point.
• Descend and return to the city for further sightseeing, including landmarks like Holy Trinity Church, The Old Parliament Building, and Government House.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Spend a delightful day in the Barossa Valley. Savor lunch in what many consider Australia's premier wine-producing region. You’ll drive from the coast inland to survey the famous rolling Barossa landscape by panoramic coach. Stop to enjoy the mesmerizing valley-wide views from Mengler Hill Lookout. There, are over 150 wineries in the region. You'll not only taste their sumptuous wine but acquire knowledge about local history, grape varieties grown here and the fine art of wine comparing. At one topnotch winery, you‘ll settle in for a sumptuous two-course lunch served in their highly regarded restaurant. At another point during this relaxed afternoon, you'll have an encounter with the unique natural acoustics of the curving Whispering Wall that retains Barossa Reservoir; An engineering feat completed in 1903. The reservoir earned its nickname when people discovered that anything whispered on one end could be heard on the other, over 300 feet away. With your tastes well satisfied, and perhaps a few secrets shared sotto voce -you’ll return to the port.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Enjoy a driving tour of Barossa Valley, a South Australia winegrowing region with worldwide repute.
• Travel to Mengler Hill Lookout for outstanding valley views.
• Enjoy a two-course lunch meal.
• Spend some time at the Whispering Wall but be careful what you say and to who.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Explore the McLaren Vale wine region with a local that is passionate about the area’s natural wonders and foodie culture. Your guide will be Ben Neville, who will show you how to live like a local for the day. The adventure will begin in earnest at the gorgeous Onkaparinga River National Park, where you will pause at The Punchbowl viewpoint that overlooks a deep gorge. Ben will describe the Aboriginal people that once lived there while you listen to the sounds of a didgeridoo, an Aboriginal wind instrument. Another elevated view awaits you at Maslin Beach, which is sheltered by cliffs. The focus will turn to food at Papershell Farm, where you will sample freshly picked almonds from the orchard and local wines while enjoying another musical performance. A multi-course outdoor lunch will follow at Ben’s homestead, the Butter Factory, where his partner Imogen is the chef. Expect to be dazzled.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Drive through the fertile McLaren Vale wine region with long-time local Ben Neville.
• Pause at incredibly scenic overlooks at a national park and at a remote beach.
• Hear commentary about the Aboriginal people that first inhabited the area.
• Enjoy a tasting of almonds and local wines at a small, family-owned farm.
• Savor a multi-course meal at Ben’s homestead, where his partner is the acclaimed chef.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Be introduced to Adelaide’s foremost sights by coach and on foot, with visits to a cultural museum, a historic botanic garden, and an interactive winemaking showplace. Affluent, committed to the arts and enormously proud, Adelaide offers much to be seen and admired. On an orientation drive through town, you’ll take in iconic landmarks like St Peters Cathedral, Festival Centre, Parliament House, and the Central Market. A walk from the National War Memorial along tree-lined North Terrace Boulevard brings you past other must-sees like the Art Gallery of South Australia and the State Library. Next door is the South Australian Museum, where you’ll step inside and discover a 3,000-piece collection in the Aboriginal Cultures Gallery and an entire opalized Plesiosaur skeleton in the Opal Fossils Gallery. Arriving at Adelaide Botanic Garden, you’ll wander into the midst of a world-class flora collection with an exquisite glass-and-steel Palm House conservatory from 1878 as its centerpiece. After a while spent admiring leaves, fronds and flowers, you’ll shift your focus to grapes at the National Wine Centre, an interactive exhibition celebrating the history and current state of Australia’s world-renowned wine industry. Enjoy a brief tour and tutorial on wine tasting, then… taste some.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Take in the most notable sights of Adelaide, traveling the city by coach and on foot.
• See landmarks like the Central Market, Parliament House, Festival Centre and the national museums and galleries of the North Terrace Cultural Precinct.
• Enjoy a fascinating visit of the Aboriginal Cultures Gallery and more at the South Australian Museum.
• Stroll through the Adelaide Botanic Garden, established over 150 years ago and still growing.
• Enjoy a tour and tasting at a stunningly designed permanent exhibition showcasing Australian winemaking.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Experience the multiple pleasures of a sightseeing jaunt through Adelaide city and its overlooking hills, combined with a tasting visit to an award-winning vineyard. You don’t need to be a wine aficionado to appreciate an itinerary this well-balanced – but if you are, so be it. You’ll depart the pier for a brief narrated drive through metropolitan Adelaide, passing some of its most noted landmarks as you make your way to the highest of all the Adelaide Hills, Mount Lofty. The panoramic views from the lookout terrace at the summit are out of this world; on a clear day you can see all the way back across the city skyline to the coastal beaches. Once you’ve caught your breath – and filled your digicam to capacity with snapshots – your drive continues through these storied hills to that previously-promised winery visit. The chosen venue varies based on availability, but this rich winemaking region is loaded with deserving contenders – each in its own gorgeous setting. Once there, you’ll discover more about the wide variety of grapes grown in South Australia’s Mediterranean-like climate and get to sample their exquisite flavors first-hand during a curated tasting. More sights accompany the drive back to port.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Take in some of the most notable sights of Adelaide on a narrated drive into its outlying hills.
• Weather permitting, experience jaw-dropping views over the city from the summit lookout atop Mt Lofty.
• Drive further into the Adelaide Hills to tour and taste the wares of a boutique winery.
• In a seductive vineyard setting, learn about the grapes and exceptional terroir here in South Australia.
• Leave talk behind and start tasting as you savor the subtle flavors of your host vineyard’s wines.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Enjoy a scenic orientation drive through Adelaide as you head for the hills outside town to soak up the timeless charm of Australia’s oldest German settlement. You’ll find Hahndorf much like any other quaint German hill village – just a lot further from the Black Forest. Thanks to careful restoration of many of its historic buildings, it’s a place where the 19th century never went out of fashion. With about two hours of free time here, you can stroll along tree-lined roads lined with charming cottages, churches and plenty of places to buy a strudel or shop for gifts and crafts. While Australia is famous for having been colonized by Englanders, German Lutherans emigrated to the Adelaide area in great numbers during the 1800s. Escaping religious persecution at home, they established a new home Down Under – and by the time of World War I, a tenth of all South Australians were of German descent. On the way back from Hahndorf, you’ll stop for breathtaking views from the lookout terrace at the summit of Mount Lofty, loftiest of the Adelaide Hills. In fair weather, you can see all the way to the coastal beaches. Though not as far as Düsseldorf.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Take in some of the most notable sights of Adelaide on a narrated drive to Hahndorf in its outlying hills.
• Spend a couple hours wandering this authentic time-capsule of a German village at your own pace.
• Stroll tree-lined streets and visit charming cottages, artisan eateries, gift shops and craft stores.
• Learn about the key role German immigrants played in the early settling of South Australia.
• Weather permitting, experience jaw-dropping views over the city from the summit lookout atop Mt Lofty.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

OVERVIEW

Take an orientation spin through Adelaide, gaze in awe at the views from Mount Lofty, and share some up-close time with Australia’s most iconic fauna. The lush, leafy Adelaide Hills spread into wine country to the east of metropolitan Adelaide – and the narrated coach drive across the city and through natural bushland to get there is quite a scenic treat. But then, the real showstoppers on this excursion have fur, paws and pouches and hang out at Cleland Wildlife Park on the slopes of Mount Lofty. With two of hours to free-range around the venue’s natural environment, where the marsupials free-range around right with you, you’ll become personally acquainted with classic Aussie beasts like kangaroos, wallabies, potoroos – maybe even an emu or two. Less obviously cuddly but no less fascinating are the wombats, dingoes, and Tasmanian devils that live here too. Kudos to this sizable, sustainable place for bringing people and critters together for mutual observation since 1967. On the way back from the Park, you’ll drive to the lookout terrace on Mt Lofty’s summit. The panoramic views across the city skyline and to the coast from here are especially breathtaking on a clear day.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Take in notable sights of central Adelaide on a narrated drive out of the city toward leafy Mount Lofty.
• Spend a couple delightful hours wandering among wallabies and ‘roos in a cage-free natural environment at Cleland Wildlife Park.
• Feed them, have close-up encounters, and capture unforgettable photos of these Australian icons.
• Interact with less fuzzy creatures, too, like wombats and dingoes – even a Tasmanian devil.
• Weather permitting, experience jaw-dropping views over the city from the summit lookout atop Mt Lofty.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.