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Barossa and Clare Valleys - South Australia
Old farmhouse ruins, Clare Valley, South Australia © SATC
Scroll down for details of the Barossa Valley and the Clare Valley

Barossa + Clare Valleys - Introduction

 Lunch at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop, Nuriootpa, Barossa, South Australia © SATC
North of Adelaide are these two famous wine areas adjacent to each other, both of which make an ideal touring destination with great vineyards to explore in a lovely setting and of course excellent restaurants, bed and breakfasts and other accommodation.
The Barossa Valley is 55 km north east of Adelaide and the Clare Valley is around 130 km north of Adelaide.

Barossa Valley

Barossa Valley vista, South Australia © SATCThe Barossa Valley region includes the Barossa and Eden Valleys and is a picturesque, undulating area of pleasant little towns and neat vineyards.
The main towns are Nuriootpa, Angaston and Tanunda. The area was settled in 1839 by predominantly German and some English migrants and the German influence can still be seen in the stone architecture, Lutheran churches and the bakeries, which help to make it such an attractive place to visit today.
There is a good range of accommodation in the Barossa, from upmarket country house retreats and bed and breakfasts to motels.
The wineries in the Barossa tend to be bigger than neighbouring Clare, although there are still quite a few small, specialist, quality producers such as:
Barossa Settlers Charles Cimicky Elderton
Heggies Vineyard Estate Rockford St Hallett

Larger wineries include:

Penfolds Peter Lehmann Saltram
Seppelt Wolf Blass  
 

Clare Valley
The town of Clare is about 120 km from Adelaide and the surrounding Clare Valley wine growing area is quite small and manageable and a delightful place to visit.
CLARE VALLEY - WINE MAKING
Sevenhill Cellars, Clare Valley, South Australia © SATCWine making began in the Clare Valley in 1848 when Jesuit priests fled here to escape persecution in Silesia. They started making sacramental wines and then began to supply locals, too. Gradually the industry grew to the 40 plus wineries found in the Clare Valley today. The Jesuits are still here making sacramental wines. The Clare only makes about 2% of Australia's grape crush but its small scale wineries produces premium wines and winemakers include:
Neil Paulett Crabtree David O'Leary Andrew Mitchell
Stephen John Neil Pike Tim Adams Barry Robert
Jeffrey Grosset

Stephanie Toole

 Kerri Thompson Brother John May
Cycling on the Reisling Trail, Clare Valley, South Australia © SATCCLARE VALLEY - CYCLING and WALKING TRAILS
You can cycle the 25 km Reisling Trail through the vineyards, exploring the wineries and meeting the winemakers as you go. The trail runs from Auburn to Clare, following the path of a disused railway line and it is also used as a walking trail, with side loops to various wineries. 
The Reisling Trail is now a part of the 800 km Mawson Trail which runs from the Mount Lofty Ranges to the Flinders Ranges.
CLARE VALLEY - NATIONAL PARKS
National Parks in the area include Spring Gully Conservation Park, Red Banks Conservation Park and Martindale Hall Conservation Park, with its mansion built in 1879 and surrounding gardens.  For details of these parks visit www.parks.sa.gov.au
CLARE VALLEY - THE ARTS
The Clare Valley has long attracted artists and there are galleries in many of the small centres like Blyth, Balaklava and Watervale. Like other wine areas in Australia, Clare also has its festivals such as Kapunda's Celtic weekend in May and Burra's Jailhouse Rock in February.  There is a range of accommodation in the Clare region, and in particular around Clare itself, Burra, Watervale, Auburn, Kapunda, Mintaro and Sevenhill
 
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Truly Australia have attempted to give an honest and objective description of the topics covered on this page and have deliberately avoided regurgitating tourist office media releases. The information shown has been compiled from a variety of reputable sources and our own experiences. We check and review this information from time to time, but we assume no responsibility for the absolute accuracy of the details given.