Adelaide to Barossa Valley: the five ways to get there

Kristie Lau-AdamsBy Kristie Lau-Adams
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Whether you’re cruising down a scenic route, hitching a bus ride, soaring through the skies, or using your mightiest pedal power, the journey from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley is worth every effort

Situated just over 75 kilometres north-east of Adelaide Airport, the magnificent Barossa Valley is bursting with some of the world’s best wineries, cellar doors and foodie experiences. And the good news is there are several ways to make the trip up there. Just one to one-and-a-half hours via car, and far less than that if you’re hopping on a light plane or helicopter, the journey from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley is rarely complicated.

Driving to the Barossa Valley from Adelaide

Got your own set of wheels? The most direct route from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley is via the Northern Connector, which will get you to Tanunda, central Barossa, and home to plenty of restaurants and shops, in around one hour.

Car driving Seppeltsfield Road in the Barossa
If you want the most direct route, driving is your answer. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

You can also get to Tanunda via Main North Road, which will take you through Lyndoch, home to some of the finest luxury accommodations in the Barossa Valley, before arriving in Tanunda. This route takes about one-and-a-half hours.

If you’re longing for scenery, get onto North East Road from Adelaide Airport and meander through Tea Tree Gully, Chain of Ponds and Williamstown before venturing into the Barossa Valley from the south. It’s another one-and-a-half-hour journey.

Convertible driving past Kellermeister Wines in the Barossa
There are some good scenic drives on the way to the Barossa. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Public transport

If you couldn’t manage a car, splitting a taxi from Adelaide Airport to the Barossa Valley between a group won’t set you back as much as you might think. Clocking in somewhere between $150 to $200, it’s obviously as direct a journey as going in your own vehicle.

More affordable, however, is the Adelaide Metro railway service. Catch a one-hour train from Adelaide Railway Station, right in the middle of Adelaide’s CBD, to Gawler Central before transferring to the Barossa via a local LinkSA bus. The 810 bus travels from Gawler Central to Nuriootpa, a top-notch destination for the region’s best winery experiences, via Lyndoch and Tanunda.

Although train and bus services run daily, the journey from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley via public transport is probably the trickiest way to go about things, so check all schedules via their websites just prior to departure day to ensure you’re on track.

Two women hopping off tram at Moseley Square in Adelaide
Hopping on a train to the Barossa is the most affordable option. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

By air

Getting to Adelaide from anywhere in Australia is easy given Adelaide Airport is serviced regularly with direct flights from cities right across the country. Fly in from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and more by checking the website of your preferred airline for flights. Once you’ve arrived at Adelaide Airport, you can choose from a range of public transport options, in addition to tackling the approximate one-hour journey in your own vehicle or hire car. You’ll find more information on all domestic and international routes, plus regional and charter services on Adelaide Airport’s website .

In the mood for something special? You can also travel via light plane to Parafield Airport, located 45 minutes south of the Barossa Valley and 18 kilometres north of central Adelaide. But if it’s the most luxurious of experiences you’re after, Australia by Air offers private chartered Barossa helicopters. And while we’re talking choppers, don’t miss a spin with Barossa Helicopters , who offer a range of food and wine experiences once you’re in wine country.

Barossa Helicopters flying above vineyards
There’s no better way to see the Barossa than from above. (Image: Dragan Radocaj)

Tours

Explore the best of the region with your own personal tour guide thanks to a range of brilliant tours that travel from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley. Adelaide Sightseeing is a reliable, highly rated option, offering full-day tours from the CBD to some of the region’s most well-known and best-loved wineries.

There’s also Barossa Unique Tours, which provides trips to and from Adelaide in a fleet of classic wheels; a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible, a Jaguar XF and a motorcycle trike. Barossa Taste Sensations dial the festivities up a notch with their ‘Multi-Day Food and Wine Tour’ of the region. You’ll need to book your own overnight accommodation, but these smooth operators are the ones to know if you’re looking for Barossa’s finest indulgences.

Bethany Wines in the Barossa at sunset
See the region’s best wineries through a tour. (Image: Michael Waterhouse Photography)

Bike

Work for your supper by making your way from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley on a bike. Offering the ultimate scenic route, hopping on two wheels is one of the greatest things to do in this neck of the woods, with various routes winding their way from central Adelaide to wine territory.

Cyclists riding past vineyards in the Barossa Valley
If you fancy a challenge, make your way from Adelaide to the Barossa Valley on a bike. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Jump on a train from Adelaide Railway Station in the CBD to Gawler and get on the 40-kilometre, car-free Barossa Trail to Angaston, offering stops in Tanunda and Nuriootpa. You’ll cover some of the region’s best wineries, plus a range of historical sites. There are also various rides from Adelaide along Gorge Road to Williamstown, plus another one along Lower North East Road that links up to Chain of Ponds Road. The South Australian Government offers all the details you’ll need via their ‘Cycle Instead’ initiative .

SuperCycle cyclists in the Barossa Valley
The ‘Cycle Instead’ initiative will have you working up a sweat. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Find more experiences, accommodation, eating and entertainment options in our Barossa Valley travel guide. 

Kristie Lau-Adams
Kristie Lau-Adams is a Gold Coast-based freelance writer after working as a journalist and editorial director for almost 20 years across Australia's best-known media brands including The Sun-Herald, WHO and Woman's Day. She has spent significant time exploring the world with highlights including trekking Japan’s life-changing Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage and ziplining 140 metres above the vines of Mexico’s Puerto Villarta. She loves exploring her own backyard (quite literally, with her two young children who love bugs), but can also be found stalking remote corners globally for outstanding chilli margaritas and soul-stirring cultural experiences.
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Victoria’s surprising new outdoor adventure hotspot

    Craig TansleyBy Craig Tansley
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    A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination. 

    There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.  

    old gold bank Victoria
    Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time. 

    It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.  

    Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital 

    Creswick bike trail
    This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.

    Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria. 

    I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers. 

    I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.  

    The Woodlands
    The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

    Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides. 

    A traveller’s checklist 

    Staying there 

    1970s log cabin
    Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

    RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife. 

    Eating there 

    Le Peche Gourmand
    Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.

    The menu at Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel includes some Thai-inspired fare. Fuel up for your ride on baguettes and pastries from French patisserie Le Peche Gourmand . The Farmers Arms has been a much-loved local institution since 1857. 

    Playing there 

    Miss NorthcottsGarden
    Miss Northcotts Garden is a charming garden store with tea room. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.