Clare Valley Tours from Adelaide
Hours, prices and access verified by the Clare Valley Tours team — last checked 2026-09-17.
Clare Valley tours from Adelaide collect you from your hotel in the city or Glenelg and bring you back the same evening, or three days later with the Flinders Ranges in between. The price of the pickup is time, because the valley is 90 minutes to two hours up the highway each way.
Clare Valley tours from Adelaide
★★★★★ 4.8 (6 reviews · 8 hours)
Tastings includedFrom AdelaideLunch included
Your hotel in Adelaide city or Glenelg is the start. You walk Auburn's old main street, then taste at Taylors, O'Leary Walker, Hill River and Pikes, with lunch at Antidote kitchen. The tastings and lunch are paid in the fare.
From $341 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
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Tastings not listed3 days from AdelaideMax 12 guestsLunch included
Three days out of Victoria Square, with two hours of Clare wineries and local produce on the way north and an hour on the way back. In between: Brachina Gorge, Wilpena Pound with an Adnyamathanha guide, and two nights in Hawker.
From $643 per person
Full refund to 6 days before; 50% refund 2-6 days before; no refund inside 2 days.
Eight hours from your Adelaide hotel
Four cellar doors, from Taylors to a Riesling tasting at Pikes, with lunch at Antidote kitchen and every tasting in the fare.
Check availability
What a Clare Valley tour from Adelaide actually is
It is a day, or a short trip, that begins at your door in the city. You are collected from
your hotel in Adelaide or Glenelg, driven north up the Horrocks Highway, and brought back when
the tastings are done. Nobody in your party has to stay sober to drive, and nobody has to book a
room in the valley.
The cost of that ease is time. Clare Valley Tourism puts the drive at around 90 minutes, and
the South Australian Tourism Commission at around two hours, each way. So the day from Adelaide
runs 8 hours, and about 3 hours 45 minutes of them are spent at the stops. A day that starts
from your Clare Valley accommodation runs 6 to 6.5 hours, and every one of them is in the
valley.
The second way to go from Adelaide is longer, not shorter. The 3-day tour heads for the
Flinders Ranges and stops in the Clare Valley on the way north and again on the way back, for
about 3 hours in all. It is an outback trip with the valley as a stopover, and you should book it
as one.
Why choose a tour from Adelaide
You keep one hotel for the whole trip
If your nights are booked in the city, you do not have to pack up and move to see the valley.
You leave from the lobby in the morning and you are back for dinner in Adelaide or at
Glenelg.
Nobody sits out the tastings
The drink-driving limit applies to whoever drives, and 90 minutes each way is a long drive
after a day of tastings. On a tour, every glass is poured for a passenger.
You know the stops before you book
The Wine Escape names its day in full: a stroll in Auburn, a winery tour and tasting at
Taylors Wines, tastings at O'Leary Walker, Hill River Clare Estate and Pikes, and lunch at
Antidote kitchen. You can see whether the cellar doors you want are on the list before you pay
$341.
The fare covers the day's main costs
The tastings at the chosen venues and lunch are in the fare. What you add is anything else:
extra drinks, the bottles you take home and a tip if you want to leave one.
Tours from Adelaide vs staying in the Clare Valley
The real alternative is to spend a night or two in the valley and book a day that starts
there. This is how the two compare, using each listing's own figures.
| A tour from Adelaide | A tour from your Clare Valley stay |
|---|
| Where you are collected | Your hotel in Adelaide city or Glenelg | Your accommodation in one of seven valley towns |
| Time on the road | 90 minutes to two hours each way | Short hops between cellar doors |
| Length | 8 hours, or 3 days with the Flinders Ranges | 6 to 6.5 hours |
| Time in the valley | About 3 hours 45 minutes of the 8 | The whole day |
| Fare | $341 per person for the day; $643 per person for 3 days | $174 to $177 per person, or $535 for a private group of up to four |
| Tastings and lunch | In the fare on the day tour | In the fare on every valley day |
| Who guides | A driver-guide from Adelaide | A guide who lives in the valley |
| Best for | A single free day in a city stay | Two or three days in the region |
Check availability from $341
If you have one free day and your hotel is in the city, start from Adelaide. If you can give
the valley a night, you win back three to four hours of the drive, and you can add a morning on
the Riesling Trail. The local guide's day with local stories
collects you in Leasingham, Watervale, Auburn, Clare, Burra, Penwortham or Mintaro.
What you get, and what you don't
- Pickup: the Wine Escape collects from hotels in the city and Glenelg. The
3-day tour leaves Victoria Square at 8:00, or collects you from a city address.
- Tastings: in the fare on the Wine Escape, at its chosen venues. The 3-day
listing describes its Clare stop as wineries and local produce and does not say whether
tastings are paid.
- Meals: lunch at Antidote kitchen on the day tour. The 3-day tour includes
three lunches, two breakfasts and two dinners.
- A bed: only on the 3-day tour, which books two nights at the Hawker Hotel
Motel in twin-share ensuite rooms.
- Not included: the Wine Escape excludes all additional expenses; the 3-day
tour excludes alcoholic drinks, travel insurance, extra snacks and tips.
- Wheelchairs: neither is sold as wheelchair accessible.
Or three days, with the Clare Valley both ways
Two nights in Hawker, Brachina Gorge and Wilpena Pound with an Adnyamathanha guide, and Clare wineries on the way north and back.
Check availability
Planning a Clare Valley tour from Adelaide
- Budget: $341 per person for the day and $643 per person for the
3 days. The day tour's fare already holds the tastings and lunch, so compare it with a valley
day plus a night's room, not with the valley day alone.
- Allow the whole day: the Wine Escape runs 8 hours, so plan nothing else
before dinner.
- Cancellation: the day tour refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours
ahead. The 3-day tour refunds in full up to 6 days before, 50% from 2 to 6 days, and nothing
inside 2 days.
- Food: vegetarian meals are available on the day tour; tell the driver on
the day.
- Season: spring and autumn are the seasons the South Australian Tourism
Commission recommends for cellar doors. In summer, check the fire rating: parks and the Tourism
Centre close on Catastrophic Fire Danger days.
- Festival weekends: the Clare Valley Gourmet Festival runs from 14 to 17 May
2027, and valley beds fill fast then. A day from the city avoids the room hunt, but book the
seat early.
Who should choose something else
- If you are sleeping in the valley. Driving back to Adelaide to join a tour
makes no sense. The local guide's shared day collects you from
your accommodation for $174 per person.
- If you are a group of four. The private day for
four costs $535 for the group, about $133 each when every
seat is filled, and the route is yours to shape. It starts in the valley, so you need a night
there.
- If you want to ride between cellar doors. The Riesling Trail is a day in
itself, and you cannot fit it into a tour from the city.
The Clare Valley without a tour covers bike
hire, taxis and the coach.
- If the wine is the point of your three days. The 3-day tour gives the valley
about 3 hours. Two nights in Clare and a guided day there give you far more of it.
- If anyone in your party uses a wheelchair. Neither tour is sold as
accessible, so ask the operator before you book anything.
Frequently asked questions
Can you do a day trip from Adelaide?
Yes. The Wine Escape collects you from hotels in Adelaide city or Glenelg for an 8-hour day. It makes five stops, with the tastings and lunch in the fare.
Where do the tours from Adelaide pick you up?
The Wine Escape collects you from hotels in Adelaide city and Glenelg, and its listing names 19 pickup points. The 3-day tour leaves from Stop G2 on the south-east side of Victoria Square at 8:00, or collects you from an Adelaide city address.
How long do you spend in the Clare Valley on a day from Adelaide?
About 3 hours 45 minutes at the stops on the Wine Escape: five stops of 45 minutes each, plus a stroll through Auburn. The rest of the 8 hours goes on the drive and the pickups.
How far is the Clare Valley from Adelaide?
About 90 minutes to two hours by car. The route runs north on the Northern Expressway, then up the Horrocks Highway past Gawler.
Is the 3-day Flinders Ranges tour a Clare Valley tour?
Partly. It stops in the valley for about two hours on the way north and about an hour on the way back. The rest is the Flinders Ranges, Wilpena Pound and Brachina Gorge.
Does the 3-day tour include wine tastings?
Its listing does not say. The Clare Valley stop is described as wineries and local produce, and alcoholic drinks are listed as not included, so ask the operator before you book if tastings matter to you.
Can I cancel a booking?
The day tours refund in full if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. The 3-day Flinders Ranges tour refunds in full up to 6 days before, and 50% from 2 to 6 days. Inside 2 days it refunds nothing.