Our guide to the best McLaren Vale accommodation

Stay in style at one of these comfortable retreats.

McLaren Vale offers a wealth of options for a perfect stay, from grand country retreats to cosy cottages, and camping under the stars. These McLaren Vale accommodation options ensure a comfortable and memorable base from which to explore the region’s wineries, restaurants and scenic highlights of one of Australia’s most celebrated wine regions.

In short

For a country-style stay in the McLaren Vale, make it the Sandalwood Shearing Shed for a truly rustic – but comfortable – experience surrounded by nature.

Hotels and motels

McLaren Vale Motel and Apartments

Located in the heart of the McLaren Vale wine region, this modern accommodation offers large, comfortable, and quiet motel units alongside 12 stylish studio apartments. Guests can stroll through the award-winning gardens or take a dip in the heated pool (closed May to September), while the new outdoor kitchen and barbecue area, undercover dining, outdoor television, and fireplace provide the perfect setting for relaxation or entertaining.

Located: 267 Main Rd Main Rd, McLaren Vale

Price range: From $399 for a queen room

Serafino

Set amidst centuries-old gum trees, a peaceful lake, and sprawling lawns, this welcoming winery is as beautiful as it is convenient. With 30 self-contained rooms , including family-friendly options, spa suites, and spacious units, guests enjoy comfort and privacy just minutes from McLaren Vale’s wineries, restaurants and bars. Each room features air-conditioning, flat-screen TVs, tea and coffee facilities, mini bar, wi-fi, parking and charging stations, with gourmet breakfast baskets available. Relax by the lake or pool, indulge at the award-winning restaurant, explore the Shiraz Trail or enjoy a wine tasting adventure.

Location: 39 Kangarilla Rd, McLaren Vale

Price range: A unit starts at $185 per night

Caravan Parks

BIG4 Port Willunga Tourist Park

Popular with South Australians on long weekends, this caravan park goes above and beyond, offering craft activities for kids and movie nights, as well as a pool, large playground, and even a jumping castle. Surrounded by bush and set back off the main road, it’s a well-equipped camping ground for families wanting to lounge around or explore the surrounding region. Powered and unpowered sites are available, along with cabins for those who prefer a bit more comfort.

Location: 22 Tuitt Road, Aldinga (Port Willunga)

Price range: Powered sites start from $32 per night; 2-bedroom villas start from $158 per night

Pink Gum Campground

Set in dappled pink gum woodland near the Onkaparinga Gorge, this bush campsite has eleven cleared sites with plenty of space for tents beside your car. A network of walking trails winds through the forest and down into the gorge, where kangaroos, koalas, echidnas and even bandicoots are often spotted at dawn.

Location: Onkaparinga River National Park

Price range: $38.50 per night

McLaren Vale Cabin & Caravan Park

Spread across 33 acres of landscaped grounds, this park offers a range of accommodation , including Superior 2- and 3-Bedroom Nature View Cottages, Standard Cabins, Pet-Friendly Cabins, Ensuite Sites, Powered Sites and Unpowered Sites. With ample space to explore, playgrounds, BBQ facilities, and shady picnic areas, it’s a versatile choice for families, couples or groups wanting to stay close to the McLaren Vale wine region.

Location: 48 Field Street, McLaren Vale

Price range: The 2-bedroom Nature View Cottage starts at $400

Holiday homes and Airbnb’s

Sandalwood Shearing Shed

Sandalwood Shearing Shed offers a lovely country escape just 10 minutes from McLaren Vale. This cosy, romantic dwelling features a comfortable queen bed, stylish interiors, reverse-cycle air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and a fully equipped kitchen for self-catering. Step out onto the deck overlooking a winter creek, perfect for outdoor dining and barbecues, or curl up by the wood fire in winter.

Guests can explore nearby cellar doors, vineyards, beaches, and restaurants, or simply enjoy walks around the property. In season, help yourself to produce from the orchard, vegetable garden, and chook pen for a true farm-to-table experience.

Location: 28 Elliott Road, The Range, Fleurieu Peninsula

Price range: From $508 for two nights

Wine Down

Expansive windows overlooking the vines, modern cottage-style interiors and neighbouring farm animals. This charming house is an idyllic haven for up to seven guests. The large outdoor deck overlooks the vines, perfect for alfresco summer meals prepared in the fully-equipped sage green kitchen, while the outdoor fire pit encourages cosy evenings outdoors.

The house is situated a five-minute drive from the iconic d’Arenberg Cube and a 10-minute drive to Willunga Farmers Market.

Location: McLaren Vale

Price range: From $1077 for two nights

Sage

This beautifully renovated two-bedroom cottage blends warm limestone walls and a soothing neutral palette to create a relaxed, secluded hideaway just minutes from McLaren Vale’s main street. Built by local stonemasons and thoughtfully restored, it’s ideal for couples, small families, bridal parties, or friends, with each bedroom featuring its own bathroom.

The open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area, flooded with natural light, opens onto a garden with a fire pit and redwood benches – perfect for evening wine. Guests can step straight onto the Shiraz Trail or stroll to nearby cafes, wine bars, and restaurants, making Sage a memorable and charming retreat.

Location: McLaren Vale

Price range: From $682 for two nights

The charm of Mildura is hidden in plain sight along the Sturt Highway. The capital of Tropical North Victoria is in a league of its own.

From the moment you arrive in Mildura , the warm air and palm trees invite you to slow down. While most Australians might drive right past it, Mildura is full of surprises. Here you’ll spend one day witnessing over 50,000 years of First Nations history in a UNESCO-listed National Park, and the next dining in a hatted restaurant after wandering through 12,500 fireflies as the outback sunset bursts to life above. From roadside fruit stalls and family-run wineries to houseboats and galleries, it’s time to explore Mildura.

Feast Street, at the heart of Langtree Avenue in Mildura. — Taste, wander and be surprised in Mildura.

Taste Mildura’s produce

It makes sense to start your trip by addressing the most important question: where to eat. In the beating heart of Australia’s food bowl, sample the local produce directly from the source. And then, of course, experience it through the menu of a hatted chef. Or sandwiched between pillowy slices of Nonna’s ciabatta.

Rows of orchards and olive groves invite you to spend the day traipsing from farm to farm. Taste olives propagated from Calabrian trees brought over in the 40s, oranges picked right from the tree and squeezed into juice and spoons full of honey . Bring the holiday back to your kitchen by stocking your pantry at roadside produce stalls, or calling into the ‘silver shed ’ (Sunraysia’s gourmand Mecca).

Thanks to the warm, balmy air and fertile soils, the wineries dotted along these hills produce award-winning local wines. Like Chalmers , a family-run, innovative winery dedicated to making their wines as sustainable as possible. And picturesque Trentham Estate offers views of the snaking Murray River as you sample their vintages.

Venture beyond the gnarled shadows of olive groves and fragrant rows of blossoming fruit trees and you’ll find an otherworldly side to Mildura. With Discover Mildura as your guide, visit Murray River Salt’s Mars-like stacks. The naturally pink salt is formed from an ancient inland sea and evaporated entirely by the sun to create one of the region’s most iconic exports.

Start your day with just-squeezed sunshine.

Hatted dining & Italian history

Mildura is home to a proud community of Calabrians and Sicilians. This, paired with the exceptional local produce, means that you can find paninos on par with those in Italy. The Italian is a Paninoteca serving up made-to-order, hefty, authentic Sicilian paninos. Nonna Rosa’s pork meatballs, slowly cooked in tomato ragu and served in a crusty, fluffy roll topped with gratings of Grana Padano cheese and salsa verde, will call you back to Mildura for the rest of your days.

To find hatted dining in Mildura, simply follow the staircase down into the basement of the historic Mildura Grand Hotel to find Stefano’s . Following the muscle memory and instinct of his Italian roots, he delivers on the principle of ‘cucina povera’. That is, the Italian cooking ideology that turns simple, local ingredients into magic.

Things to do in Mildura include dining at the acclaimed Stefano’s, where simple local ingredients are transformed into Italian culinary magic beneath the historic Grand Hotel. — Bite into Mildura’s Italian heritage.

Discover a thriving culture scene

The city is alive with culture. Whether it’s painted on the town’s walls, told in ancient yarns, or waiting for you in a gallery.

The Mildura Arts Centre was Australia’s first regional art gallery. Behind the walls of Rio Vista Historic House, you’ll find a lineup of ever-changing exhibitions. The gallery’s wall space pays tribute to the art and songlines of local First Nations People, the region’s awe-inspiring landscapes and more. Outside, on the gallery’s lawn, find 12 contemporary sculptures in the Sculpture Park.

Mildura’s streetscapes are a punch of colour. Swirling strokes of paint blend the winding artery of the Murray River, red dirt and local characters into a story you can see with your own eyes, thanks to the Mildura City Heart’s Mural Art Project . Pick up a copy of the Murals of Mildura guide from the Visitor Information Centre.

Follow the border of NSW and Victoria on a map and you’ll see it hugs the curves of a tiny island on the Murray. That’s Lock Island, where, as the sun and moon trade places, the island comes alive as darkness falls. The island is dotted with 12,500 firefly lights that lead you on a meandering path through the outback sunset. The installation is known as Trail of Lights and was created by the same visionary who dreamt up Field of Light at Uluṟu, Bruce Munro.

Things to do in Mildura include exploring its rich cultural scene. From vibrant street art and ancient stories to exhibitions at the Mildura Arts Centre, Australia’s first regional gallery. — Find culture around every corner.

Wonder at ancient landscapes

The landscapes of Mildura feel almost transcendental. The skyline bursts to life with reds, pinks, and deep, sparkly night skies.

The nature will leave you in awe. See hues of pink water changing with the weather at Pink Lakes inside Victoria’s largest national park, Murray Sunset National Oark. Cast a line into Ouyen Lake. Watch the sunset against 70-metre tall red cliffs that reflect the setting sun. Or get the heart racing and sandboard down the Perry Sandhills dunes, formed 40,000 years ago at the end of an ice age.

Just don’t leave without following the twists and turns of the Murray. Stroll or ride along the Shared River Front Path, or jump onboard a boat for a scenic ride.

Your itinerary will be incomplete without a visit to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mungo National Park . Head out with an Indigenous ranger to witness ancient campsites and footprints, before standing in awe of ancient civilisation near the discovery site of Mungo Man—Australia’s oldest human skeleton at 42,000 years old.

Mungo National Park at night is a vast, silent landscape where ancient dunes glow under moonlight and stars blanket the sky in breathtaking clarity. — Walk in the footsteps of ancient civilisation.

Meet your home away from home

On equal par with planning your meals and adventures, is finding the perfect place to relax at the end of each day.

Sleep inside a Palm Springs postcard at Kar-Rama . A sleek boutique hotel complete with a butterfly shaped, sun-soaked pool. Here you’re staying right in the heart of Mildura but you’ll feel worlds away. Or if you really wish to connect with nature, a night glamping under the stars at Outback Almonds will have you spellbound.

When in Mildura it’s only right to stay on one of the Murray River’s iconic houseboats . Wake up each day to the calm waters of the Murray lapping outside your window. Enjoy days full of river swims, fishing and exploring. All boats are solar-powered and can be self-skippered or moored along the river.

A solar-powered houseboat on the Murray River in Mildura. — Stay and play on the Murray in a solar houseboat.

Start planning the perfect getaway at mildura.com .