Visiting the Clare Valley
There is no gate and no ticket for the valley. You pay for a tour seat, and on every guided day here the scheduled tastings are already in the fare. Comparing Clare Valley winery tours? Settle where your day starts first, and the rest follows.
A wine region, not a site
The Clare Valley is a wine region in the Mid North of South Australia, at the northern end of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Its vineyards and stone villages run between Auburn in the south and Clare in the north. Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon make up nearly 80% of what the region produces, and Riesling is the grape it is known for.
Nobody sells entry to a region. So when you look for “Clare Valley tickets”, what you are really buying is a seat with a driver, a guide, the tastings and lunch. The one thing left to choose is where you want that seat to pick you up.
What you pay for
The table sets the ways of doing the day side by side. Read the second column first: it decides how many of your hours are spent among the vines.
| How the day runs | Where it starts | Tastings | Lunch | Length | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared day with the local guide | Your Clare Valley accommodation | In the fare | Charcuterie lunch in the fare | 6–6.5 hours | From $174 per person |
| Private day for up to four | Your Clare Valley accommodation, 10:00 | In the fare | Charcuterie lunch in the fare | 6 hours | $535 per group |
| Day from Adelaide | Hotels in Adelaide city or Glenelg | In the fare | Restaurant lunch in the fare | 8 hours | $341 per person |
| Three days with the Flinders Ranges | Victoria Square, Adelaide, 8:00 | Not stated on the listing | Three lunches in the fare | 3 days | $643 per person |
Know your dates? Compare the days by where they start.
Each card says where the day begins, what the fare covers and how long you spend in the valley.
Where your day starts
This is the choice that shapes everything else. Stay in the valley and the local guide collects you from your door at about 10:00, so every hour of the day is spent here. Stay in Adelaide and you spend a good part of the day on the road: the Wine Escape runs 8 hours, and about 3 hours 45 minutes of it is at the stops.
| Where the day starts | Time in the valley | Which days |
|---|---|---|
| Your accommodation in Clare, Auburn, Watervale, Leasingham, Penwortham, Mintaro or Burra | All of it: 6 to 6.5 hours | The local guide's shared day and the private day for four |
| Your hotel in Adelaide city or Glenelg | About 3 hours 45 minutes of an 8-hour day | The Wine Escape |
| Victoria Square, Adelaide, 8:00 | About 3 hours of 3 days | The 3-day Flinders Ranges tour |
Every town, and the route each day takes, is on the Clare Valley map.
Getting there on your own
By car, the valley is 90 minutes to two hours north of Adelaide. The route runs up the Northern Expressway, then onto the Horrocks Highway just after the Gawler bypass. A coach runs between Adelaide and the valley, and Clare Valley Aerodrome is 14 km north of Clare.
Once you are here, a car is the easiest way around, but whoever drives sits out the tastings. Routes, pickups and the ride back are on getting to the Clare Valley.
When to go
The South Australian Tourism Commission recommends spring and autumn for cycling, walking and cellar doors. The Bureau of Meteorology's Clare station records an average high of 30.5 °C in January and 13.0 °C in July. July is also the wettest month for rain days, about ten of them.
The Clare Valley Gourmet Festival runs from 14 to 17 May 2027, and beds fill fast that weekend. The Festival of the Lamb comes each September, at budburst. Month by month, see Clare Valley weather.
The visitor centre in Clare
The Clare Valley Wine, Food and Tourism Centre is at 8 Spring Gully Road, Clare, on the Riesling Trail between Clare and Sevenhill. It opens 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 10am to 4pm at weekends. It closes on Christmas Day and on Catastrophic Fire Days.
Plan around these days
- Fire danger: the region's parks close on Catastrophic Fire Danger days, and Spring Gully may also close on Extreme days. Check the rating before a walk.
- May 2027: the Gourmet Festival fills cellar doors and beds for four days. Book both early.
- September: the Festival of the Lamb marks the spring equinox.
What makes a day go well
- Wear shoes you can walk in. The valley days include short walks at the wineries. One traveller found the climb to the last tasting steep and sat it out.
- Say what you eat. On the day from Adelaide, tell the driver on the day if you need a vegetarian meal.
- Staying in the Barossa? The local guide's listing says pickups there are possible. Ask when you book.
- Wheelchairs: none of the tours listed here is sold as wheelchair accessible. Ask the operator first.
The cellar doors the days call at are on Clare Valley wineries, and the trail, the walks and the parks on things to do in the Clare Valley.
Frequently asked before you go
Do you need a ticket to visit the Clare Valley?
Are wine tastings included on the tours?
Do any tours start inside the valley?
Is there public transport to the valley?
Can the local guide collect us from the Barossa?
How many days do you need?
Next: compare every fare on Clare Valley Tours, check the FAQs, or read what travellers said in the reviews.