Best Day Trips from Adelaide: Wine Country, Coast and Hills

Adelaide's geography makes it one of the best-positioned Australian capital cities for day trips. The Barossa Valley, Australia's most famous wine region, is around an hour to the northeast, while McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu Peninsula sit about 45 minutes south through rolling vineyard country to the coast. The Adelaide Hills villages of Hahndorf, Stirling and Birdwood are easily reached in under an hour, with the German village character of Hahndorf a particular draw. Kangaroo Island requires a full day and a ferry from Cape Jervis but rewards with wildlife and wilderness rarely matched in Australia.