Hills Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Tour

Yes, if you want to choose your own cellar doors and are happy to pay for tastings and lunch as you go. The Adelaide Hills & Hahndorf Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Tour costs from $71 per person, is rated 4.8 from 155 Viator reviews and gives you up to four stops on an hourly loop through the hills around Hahndorf. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, per the booking page. If you would rather have tastings and lunch arranged and paid, a guided small-group day costs more at the start and less on the day.

Prices on this page are September 2026 “from” figures in US dollars; the live price for your date is on the booking page.

How the hop-on hop-off loop works

The tour is run by Trail Hopper. The bus leaves Stamford Plaza Hotel, 150 North Terrace, at 10:00 am. If you are already staying in the Hills, you can join at Hahndorf Academy, 55 Main Street, at 10:50 am. Hahndorf is about 30 minutes from the city by the South Eastern Freeway.

Once in the Hills, the bus runs a loop of 8 to 10 wineries and venues, and each circuit takes about an hour. It keeps the same timetable every hour, so if you step off at a cellar door, the bus comes back round roughly an hour later. You can get off at up to four of the stops on the timetable. In the late afternoon the bus heads back to Adelaide, dropping off at about 5:00 pm.

Included in the ticket:

• the air-conditioned bus between venues in the Adelaide Hills and Hahndorf
• bottled water
• GST

Not included: lunch, alcohol, cellar door tasting fees (paid directly to each venue) and anything else you buy.

The operator describes the day as a way to explore independently from other groups. In practice you ride with others but taste on your own schedule.

What the day really costs

The $71 ticket is the start. The $71 from-price is the join-in-Hahndorf option (A$100, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday); the daily city pickup from the Stamford Plaza is A$110, about $79. Tasting fees are paid at each venue, and a standard flight at the Hills wineries we checked runs from about A$10 to A$45. Reviewers name Shaw + Smith, Lot 100 and Sidewood among their stops, so here is a sample day using those:

Three tastings add roughly A$55 to A$115 per person before lunch. Do not count on the fee coming back if you buy a bottle; Deviation Road, for example, states that its flights are not redeemable on purchase, and none of the other wineries we checked promised a refund.

One reviewer put it simply: budget extra for each winery, because the tasting prices are not in the tour price. Compared with the Hills & Hahndorf Hideaway tour at $175 per person, which includes two cellar-door tastings and a two-course German lunch, the hop-on hop-off still usually comes out cheaper overall. The gap narrows if you choose premium flights at every stop.

What reviewers say

The 4.8 rating from 155 Viator reviews rests on a few recurring points.

• Choice. One guest liked picking wineries off the list and choosing tasting options such as wine with chocolate or cheese. Another called it a great option if you want independence and flexibility.
• The drivers. Several reviews name the driver as a highlight for commentary and local tips, and praise the bus for running to schedule.
• Time in Hahndorf. One reviewer spent more than two hours in the town, another about an hour after tastings at Shaw and Smith, Lot 100 and Sidewood.

The main caution is time. A solo traveller advised telling each winery up front that you have limited time and asking for a flight poured all at once, so you are not waiting between wines while the bus comes round. Another reviewer’s tip was to choose your destinations before the day.

A sample day on the loop

Here is how a day could run using venues reviewers mention. Your exact times depend on the current timetable, so treat this as a shape to plan around.

• 10:00 am: board at Stamford Plaza, or at 10:50 am at Hahndorf Academy if you are staying in the Hills.
• Late morning: first stop at Shaw + Smith in Balhannah, open daily from 11 am with last flights at 4:20 pm. The Classic Flight covers Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, M3 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
• Midday: lunch and a wander in Hahndorf, the German settlement founded in 1839.
• Early afternoon: a tasting at Sidewood, whose Hahndorf cellar door opens daily from 11 am.
• Mid-afternoon: a fourth stop of your choice, or more time on Main Street, before the return run.
• About 5:00 pm: back in Adelaide.

Leaving one of the four stops unused is fine. Reviewers describe spending anywhere from an hour to more than two hours in Hahndorf.

Who it suits, and who should book something else

The hop-on hop-off suits:

• independent travellers who want to pick their own cellar doors
• solo travellers: one reviewer travelling alone found the driver and other passengers friendly and inclusive
• visitors staying in Hahndorf, who can join at 10:50 am at Hahndorf Academy
• anyone on a tight budget who plans to taste at two or three venues

Book something else if you want everything paid in advance, a guide at each tasting or lunch built into the day. The Discover Hahndorf: Wine, Beer, Lunch & Village Time tour (from $114 per person, 4.9 from 74 Viator reviews) includes a gourmet lunch at The Haus with a beer or a glass of wine and about two hours in Hahndorf, though its itinerary has no cellar-door tasting. For included tastings on two wheels, the Hahndorf Food & Wine E-Bike Tour (from $189 per person, 5.0 from 59 Viator reviews) starts at The Lane Vineyard and includes a Shaw + Smith flight; it is not for under-18s. For a private car and your own route, see our private wine tours comparison.

Children can ride with an adult and infants sit on an adult’s lap, but wine tasting in South Australia is for over-18s only. The GetYourGuide listing of the same tour says it is not wheelchair accessible.

Viator or GetYourGuide: the same tour, two listings

Trail Hopper sells the same hop-on hop-off day on both platforms.

• On Viator it costs from $71 per person, rated 4.8 from 155 reviews, with a maximum of 15 people per booking.
• The GetYourGuide Adelaide Hills & Hahndorf Hop-On Hop-Off Tour costs from $70 per person, rated 4.2 from 13 reviews. It describes four one-hour stops and 15 or more wineries, breweries and venues, and includes an information pack with the full timetable.

Both offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before, per the booking page. The GetYourGuide listing adds that the tour needs a minimum number of travellers, and if it is cancelled for that reason you are offered another date or a full refund. The Viator listing has the far larger review base, so we point readers there first. If you already book through GetYourGuide, the dollar saving and the downloadable timetable are reasonable reasons to book it there.

Tips for a good hop-on hop-off day

• Choose your four stops before you board, and check each one’s hours. The regional tourism body notes that many cellar doors keep different hours, especially Monday to Wednesday.
• Ask for your flight to be poured together so you finish in time for the next bus.
• Plan lunch into one stop. Hahndorf’s Main Street has over 40 cafes, pubs and restaurants in about a kilometre.
• Nobody on board drives, but if you are driving later, remember South Australia’s 0.05 limit for full licence holders and zero for learner and provisional drivers.

Read our breakdown of the hop-on hop-off tour for the full listing details.

Next steps

If the loop sounds right, check availability for your date. Still weighing it up? Compare every format on our best Adelaide Hills wine tours page, see the other ways of reaching the cellar doors on Adelaide Hills wineries without a car, or choose your four stops from our best wineries in the Adelaide Hills. If Hahndorf itself is the draw, read our Hahndorf wine tours guide.