Adelaide Hills Wine Itinerary

A good one-day Adelaide Hills wine itinerary starts at Mount Lofty Summit, takes a first tasting in the Piccadilly Valley, stops in Hahndorf for lunch, then spends the afternoon at cellar doors around Hahndorf, Balhannah and Woodside. Plan on three or four tastings, book ahead where cellar doors ask you to, and make sure the driver is someone who is not tasting.

The simplest way to run this route without driving is the private wine tour for McLaren Vale or the Adelaide Hills. It costs from $171 per person for a group of up to four, and the per-person price falls as your party grows. You nominate the itinerary, or the host plans one for you. Prices on this page are September 2026 “from” figures; the live price is on the booking page.

Before you plan: distances, hours and driving

Hahndorf is about a 30-minute drive from Adelaide along the South Eastern Freeway. Stirling is about 15 km from the city, and Woodside about 40 minutes from the CBD. The Hills themselves are a narrow band about 70 km long, so a day spent between Piccadilly, Hahndorf, Balhannah and Woodside keeps the driving short.

Most cellar doors open at 10 or 11 am and close between 4 and 5 pm, which sets the shape of the day. Regional tourism advises checking hours ahead, especially from Monday to Wednesday. Bookings matter too: Bird in Hand and Golding say they are essential, Shaw + Smith strongly encourages them, and Hahndorf Hill recommends them.

Standard tasting flights at the cellar doors on this route cost from about A$10 to A$45. Do not count on getting the fee back if you buy a bottle; Deviation Road says outright that its flights are not redeemable on purchase.

If anyone in your group plans to drive, the limit is 0.05 BAC for full licence holders and zero for learner and provisional drivers. On a four-tasting day, a tour or private driver is the sensible choice.

A one-day Adelaide Hills wine itinerary

Four tastings is a full day. Most people drop one, and the last stop is the easiest to cut. Leave room for the drives between stops.

Morning: Mount Lofty and the Piccadilly Valley

Mount Lofty Summit sits in Cleland National Park, about 15 km east of the city, and gives a wide view back over Adelaide. The park closes on Catastrophic Fire Danger days and may close on Extreme days, so check the rating before a summer trip.

From the summit you drop into the Piccadilly Valley, one of the region’s two official subregions and home to some of its highest vineyards, at 600–650 m. Tapanappa, founded by Brian Croser and family, opens daily from 11 am. Its Tiers Vineyard was planted in 1979, the first vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley since the 19th century, and the Tiers Chardonnay is the wine to try.

For sparkling wine instead, Deviation Road at Longwood opens daily from 10 am. It is known for traditional-method sparkling, pours four wines per flight and highly recommends booking.

Midday: lunch in Hahndorf

Hahndorf was founded in 1839 by Lutheran settlers who arrived on the ship Zebra in December 1838, and its Main Street is a State Heritage Area. The Haus serves modern Australian food with a European twist, and the town has several German pubs. If your day falls between Thursday and Monday, The Lane Vineyard’s restaurant serves lunch from 12 to 3 pm, with its cellar door open daily from 10 am.

Afternoon: Hahndorf, Balhannah and Woodside

Hahndorf Hill Winery, on Pain Road, opens Monday to Saturday from 10 am and on Sundays from 11 am. Its owners introduced Austrian grapes including Grüner Veltliner to the Hills, and its ChocoVino tasting pairs the wines with fine chocolates. Sidewood Estate, on River Road, is the alternative, open daily from 11 am with self-guided flights.

Next, head to Shaw + Smith on Jones Road in Balhannah. The Classic Flight costs A$25 for five wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, M3 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Nepenthe is on the same road, open Tuesday to Sunday. Finish at Bird in Hand in Woodside, which opens until 5 pm daily and has the LVN Restaurant on site.

A two-day Adelaide Hills itinerary

Two days let you slow down, stay in Hahndorf and cover the Lenswood side of the region.

Day one follows the morning and midday plan above: Mount Lofty, Tapanappa or Deviation Road, then lunch in Hahndorf. Spend the afternoon on foot. Regional tourism describes a 7 km walking loop from Hahndorf via Sidewood, Hahndorf Hill Winery and Ambleside Distillers. In the evening, a 1.5 km circuit of Main Street’s wine outlets takes in Somerled, known for traditional-method sparkling, and the Adelaide Hills Wine Bar.

Day two heads north-east:

• Morning: Beerenberg Farm on the edge of Hahndorf for jams and, from November to April, strawberry picking.
• Late morning: Shaw + Smith or Nepenthe in Balhannah.
• Lunch: the Ginkgo Restaurant at Golding Wines in Lobethal, from 11:30 am, or Pike & Joyce in Lenswood, whose restaurant opens from 12 to 4 pm and whose 25 ha vineyard was planted on former apple and pear orchards.
• Afternoon: Bird in Hand in Woodside, or at a weekend, Petaluma at 254 Pfeiffer Road, home of Croser sparkling. Petaluma is currently open on Saturday and Sunday only while weekday renovation works continue.

Want the Barossa on day two instead? Hahndorf to Tanunda is about 70 minutes by road; our Adelaide Hills vs Barossa Valley page compares the two.

Adjusting the route for the day and season

The one-day plan works on most days of the week, with a few swaps:

• Monday: Nepenthe is closed, so make Shaw + Smith your Balhannah stop. The Lane’s restaurant is open for lunch.
• Tuesday and Wednesday: The Lane’s restaurant is closed, so lunch in Hahndorf is the easier choice.
• Weekends: book every tasting, and consider Petaluma in Woodside, which is only open on Saturday and Sunday for now.
• Summer: check the fire danger rating the day before, because Mount Lofty Summit can close on high fire-danger days.
• November to April: add Beerenberg for strawberry picking.

Our best time to visit page covers the seasons in more detail.

If you don’t want to plan this yourself

These tours follow broadly similar routes.

For the one-day shape with everything booked, the Small-Group Adelaide Hills & Hahndorf Hideaway runs Mount Lofty, Beerenberg, a tasting at The Lane, Melba’s Chocolate, Woodside Cheese, a two-course German lunch in Hahndorf, an hour on Main Street and a last tasting at Sidewood. It costs from $175 per person for a maximum of eight, with city hotel pickup between 8:50 and 9:10 am. Its listing says all sales are final, so book once your dates are fixed. It has 4.8 from 205 Viator reviews (our breakdown).

For the afternoon around Hahndorf at your own pace, the hop-on hop-off wine tour loops through 8–10 venues roughly once an hour and lets you stop at up to four. One reviewer used it for tastings at Shaw and Smith, Lot 100 and Sidewood plus an hour in Hahndorf. It costs from $71 per person with tasting fees and lunch extra, and has 4.8 from 155 Viator reviews (our breakdown).

For day two of a Hahndorf stay, the Hahndorf & Hills wine and/or gin tour picks up from Hahndorf accommodation as well as Glenelg and the CBD. It visits Haigh’s chocolate factory (Melba’s on Sundays), Mount Lofty, Grünthal Brew for gin, Golding Wines, lunch in Hahndorf, Beerenberg and Sidewood. It costs from $232 per person, with 5.0 from 5 GetYourGuide reviews (our breakdown).

To pedal the afternoon, the Hahndorf food and wine e-bike tour starts at The Lane Vineyard and includes a Shaw + Smith flight, a tasting at The Lane, an Udder Delights cheese board and seasonal strawberry picking. It costs from $189 per person, is for adults 18 and over, and has 5.0 from 59 Viator reviews (our breakdown).

The private tour: your itinerary, your pace

The private tour does what this page describes. Your host, Shane Buckley, drives a Toyota Prado and picks up from the airport, the CBD or Glenelg and suburbs south to Port Noarlunga. The day runs six to seven hours, the itinerary can change as you travel, and tastings and lunch are paid as you go. Travellers must be 18 or over, and there is free cancellation up to 24 hours before, per the booking page. It has 5.0 from 78 Viator reviews (our breakdown).

Next steps

• Choose your month with the best time to visit the Adelaide Hills.
• Compare every private format on private wine tours.
• Pick your cellar doors from the best wineries in the Adelaide Hills.
• Travelling without a car? Read Adelaide Hills wineries without a car.

Ready to book your own route? Check availability for the private wine tour.