The 13 best things to do in the Barossa Valley

Sure, you could explore the Barossa by car, but why take the roads most travelled when you don’t need to take any roads at all? See the rolling hills and sprawling vines from a bird’s eye view on a dawn hot air balloon ride with Balloon Adventures or Barossa Valley Ballooning. Add on a Champagne breakfast and you’re all set for a stellar day. 

The Barossa Valley is undoubtedly one of the world’s great wine regions, and the cream of the crop when it comes to Australia’s wine scene. With scorching hot summers, cool winters and mineral-rich soils, it’s the perfect environment for producing big, beefy red wines. Shiraz is the local hero, with some mighty fine rieslings emerging from the slightly higher, slightly cooler Eden Valley sub-region, just over the rise. You’re spoiled with more than 150 wineries in the Barossa, plus 80-plus cellar doors, including the iconic Penfolds, Henschke and Jacob’s Creek. You could spend weeks going between them, sipping fine wines all day long – but that’s probably not entirely sensible. Why not start with our top picks, and take it from there?

If you know even just a little about South Australia, you’d know there are few bigger food personalities than Maggie Beer. And once you see what this culinary icon has created on her farm in the heart of the Barossa Valley, you’ll understand what all the fuss is about. There’s the store to shop for foodie things and flagship products, including Maggie’s famous verjuice and small-batch jams made with fruits from the orchard. Then there’s the acclaimed Eatery serving freshly baked tarts, cheese platters and wines from Pheasant Farm. Here, you can also get hands-on in workshops, making everything from fresh pasta and ferments to floral bouquets. If you want to take your time and soak up more of the fresh country air, you can stay among the orchards at Maggie’s refurbished farmhouse, pick herbs from her garden and, after all the inspiration, get cooking in a pretty special country kitchen.

You’ll fall deep into a lavender haze after visiting this dreamy flower farm, which is the largest of its kind in South Australia. Over the last 30 years, Lyndoch has grown almost 100 varieties of lavender in shades ranging from lilac, violet and pink to white, blue and green. Wander through the lush, purple fields, pausing to touch and smell the blooms, and then relax in the sun with a scoop of Lyndoch’s famous lavender ice cream. Pick up some scented souvenirs to remember your travels, including teas, jams, body mists and essential oils.

Surrounded by lavender fields and rolling hills, The Louise is the number one place to stay in the Barossa. Step inside your private suite and it's not hard to see why: the 15 villas at this newly renovated stone lodge feature king beds with luxury linens, walk-in robes, marbled ensuite bathrooms with two-person spa baths, gas log fireplaces and private terraces with their own outdoor rain showers.

Time Out tip: Splurge on dinner at one of Australia's finest regional dining destinations, Appellation. Dishes sway with the seasons and are paired with the Barossa's finest wines.

Secluded in the western Barossa backblocks, Seppeltsfield feels less like a winery and more like a historic wine village. Getting here is half the fun. From Tanunda or Nuriootpa, take Seppeltsfield Road – a meandering drive through the vines along a roadway lined with surreal colonnades of date palms, planted in the 1930s. En route, pay your respects at the Greek-inspired hilltop Seppelt Family Mausoleum, built in 1927. When you eventually roll into the cellar door, don’t miss a lick of tawny port, Seppeltsfield’s flagship product. Tastings kick off at $15, ramping up through ‘Taste Your Birth Year’ experiences and tours of the Centennial Cellars, home to Seppeltsfield’s barrels of 100-year-old tawny. Give yourself at least an afternoon to soak it all up.

Housed in Seppeltsfield’s historic 1850s stone building, JamFactory Barossa is the first regional extension of Adelaide’s beloved contemporary craft and design hub. Here, you can immerse yourself in locally-themed exhibitions, watch the artists in action – whether it be glass blowers, ceramicists, milliners or bladesmiths – and pick up a beautiful memento from the gift shop. JamFactory is open daily from 11am to 5pm. Bookend your art adventure with a luxurious lunch at the award-winning Fino restaurant just next door. 

For some seriously sober fun, follow your nose to the Barossa base of all-natural skin and body care brand, Vasse Virgin. This is the perfect place for some serious self-care retail therapy, offering soaps, scrubs, perfumes and olive oils galore. Hosted in a special studio in Seppeltsfield estate, Vasse Virgin also runs natural perfumery and lip balm workshops where you can craft a personalised scent or scrub to take home. 

You don’t need to be a lycra-loving, hardcore cyclist to appreciate the joys of riding around the Barossa, with the beginner-friendly Barossa Trail winding through some of the region’s most picturesque countryside. Stretching from Gawler to Angaston, the 40-kilometre sealed path is ideal for exploring the Barossa’s rich heritage, while sampling its fabulous food and wine scene at your own pace. You can ride as little or as much of the path as you like, with the trail passing through the Barossa’s three main townships of Nuriootpa, Tununda and Lyndoch. Just no drinking and riding!

Have your (chocolate) cake and eat it too at the Barossa’s award-winning chocolate factory, cellar door, café and gelateria. The cacao gods here specialise in sustainably sourced couverture milk, dark, white and ruby chocolate, with more than 250 products to tempt you. Watch the chocolatiers craft every freckle, frog, bar and praline by hand through 14-metre viewing windows, then treat yourself to a signature wine and chocolate pairing experience at the cellar door. Do yourself a serious favour and take home a box of their award-winning whisky truffles or toffee apple pralines (if you can resist cracking into them before you get home).

With its lush rolling vineyards, charming stone churches and inviting cellar doors, the Barossa feels like a scene straight out of a painting. You can soak up the region’s natural beauty from Mengler Hill, named after one of the region’s pioneering winemakers. While you’re there, wander down to the Sculpture Park, featuring 16 weird and wonderful works by local and international artists. For the perfect end to your day, find a grassy patch for a sunset picnic.

Good enough for Daniel Ricciardo? Good enough for us mere mortals, too. Actually, St Hugo is more than good enough. And you don’t have to be a hot-blooded Formula One driver to enjoy yourself here. St Hugo remains an essential Barossa winery, offering a slick, contemporary cellar door experience grounded in Barossa bloodlines. Tasting experiences start at $20, elevating to a spectacular Garden to Table lunch for $275. With a Champagne in hand, you’ll be guided through the vineyards to their onsite kitchen garden, before enjoying a seasonal multi-course menu perfectly paired with wines. 

Back in 1868, the Barossa Valley struck gold with the discovery of its first gleaming nugget. Within a week of its discovery, around 2,000 people flooded to the area, with the population doubling in the following weeks. You can step back in time and discover the gold mining history of the Barossa Goldfields on this self-guided walk in Para Wirra Conservation Park. The Barossa Goldfield Trail is made up of three loop trails: the 1.4 kilometre Victoria Hill Circuit, 4.8 kilometre Phoenix Circuit and 5.8 kilometre Lady Pearce Circuit, which includes parts of the other two loops. As you wander through the wilderness, you’ll pass remnants of old mines, tunnels, shafts, battery sites and settlements, with fun facts about geology and mining techniques signposted along the way.