3 Fantastic Road Trips from Adelaide
One of the five large cities in Australia, Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. This is a state that’s sometimes skipped by tourists, who focus on the areas around Sydney and Melbourne or the Queensland coast. That’s a shame, though, because there are some truly phenomenal road trips from Adelaide you can do.
3 Suggested Road Trips from Adelaide
Adelaide has more to offer than you might expect. This vibrant city lies in between a few beautiful peninsulas, near a bunch of wonderful national parks and a short drive from scenic valleys. We’ve selected what we think are the three best road trips from Adelaide for you in this post.
Flinders Ranges
Located about 200 kilometers to the north of Adelaide, the Flinders Ranges are the largest mountains in South Australia. These rugged ranges, protected as Flinders Ranges National Park, are a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife watchers. The park’s main feature is Wilpena Pound, a huge natural amphitheater that contains the highest peak in the mountains—St. Mary’s Peak.
This is an epic destination for hiking and mountain biking, while a part of the sensational Heysen Trail passes through the park as well, the most scenic of drives. Spend at least two full days in this gorgeous national park—a wonderful weekend road trip from Adelaide.
Barossa Valley
Australia is known for its wine regions. Basically every large city lies near a fertile wine valley and so does Adelaide. In fact, there are no fewer than three major wine areas around Adelaide. The McLaren Vale and Clare Valley are visit-worthy, but the main one is the Barossa Valley.
This expansive valley lies about 60 kilometers to the northeast of Adelaide. Dotted with wineries and vineyards, this is one of the top places to sample Australia’s world-famous wines. Get in your motorhome rental and drive the Barossa Valley Way, the main road through the valley, or join a tour from Adelaide.
Eyre Peninsula
A large triangular peninsula west of Adelaide—one of a few beautiful peninsulas that surround the city—, the Eyre Peninsula is where you should go for seafood and water sports. The region promotes itself as the “seafood frontier””, indicating the large number of aquafarms and fisheries. Make sure to try the region’s flagship products: Yellowtail kingfish, Southern bluefin tuna and Pacific oysters.
Outdoorsy activities are abundant as well. You can easily fill a few days on the Eyre Peninsula with sunbathing, snorkeling, whale watching, swimming with dolphins and cage diving with Great white sharks.
The west of the Eyre Peninsula is also the starting point of the massive Nullarbor Plain. This enormous treeless plain is one of the most remote areas in the country and makes for one of the best road trips in Australia.
As you can see, there is a wide variety of road trips from Adelaide. We specifically picked these three because of how different they are—arid mountains, wine, and seafood and water sports.