SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australia and Kangaroo Island

Adelaide is the easiest city in the country to leave well. An hour north are the Barossa's old vines, an hour south the beaches of McLaren Vale, and a short flight away Kangaroo Island: sea lions asleep on the sand at Seal Bay, Remarkable Rocks on the south coast, and a naturalist who knows where the echidnas are.

Right season: Sep to Nov
Nights we'd give it: 4 to 7
Fly into: Adelaide (ADL)
From Sydney, approx.: 1h 55 in the air · 1,160 km

Kangaroo Island is a 30-minute flight from Adelaide, or a ferry from Cape Jervis. The Barossa is an hour by road.

Month by month

When to go

Compare every region

The right season
Good
Possible, with trade-offs
Out of season
This month

Sep to Nov

Spring. Wildflowers, young animals, mild days. The right season for Kangaroo Island.

Mar to May

Vintage in the Barossa and McLaren Vale; calm, warm autumn days.

Dec to Feb

Hot inland, often fine on the island. Fire danger days can close parks.

Jun to Aug

Cool and green. Good for wine and food, quieter on the island.

Boardwalk winding through coastal dunes and scrub down to the surf at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island

Wide view across dry plains to the long escarpment of the Flinders Ranges

Rows of bare winter grapevines on timber posts in a McLaren Vale vineyard at golden hour

What we'd do

Kangaroo Island with a naturalist
Two days with a guide: sea lions, koalas, echidnas, goannas.
A winemaker's table
Lunch in the Barossa with someone who made what's in the glass.
Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch
Granite and fur seals in Flinders Chase National Park.
McLaren Vale by bicycle
Cellar doors on a flat trail, and the beach at the end.
Adelaide Central Market
A morning with a cook who buys there every week.
The Flinders Ranges
Add three nights for Ikara (Wilpena Pound) and Adnyamathanha Country.

Whose Country

Kaurna people (Adelaide Plains); Ngarrindjeri people (the Coorong and lower Murray); Adnyamathanha people (the Flinders Ranges). Kangaroo Island, Karta Pintingga, holds significance for several peoples

Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park is co-managed with the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association.

Aboriginal-owned and -led operators we'd book

Wilpena Pound ResortLodge and guided walks at IkaraOwned by Adnyamathanha people

Ownership details are being confirmed with each operator.

Visiting respectfully

In the Flinders, some rock art and engraving sites are reached only with a guide. Ask before you go off-track.

Country, region by region

Where to stay

Stays in South Australia

All stays

The kind of place we book here. Your proposal names each property.

Top-down aerial of layered rock ledges and white surf along Kangaroo Island's rugged coast

South Australia · Island lodge

A lodge on the island cliffs

On Kangaroo Island's south-west cliffs, near Flinders Chase.

Photo: the area, not the property · Price on enquiry

Sample journeys

Journeys through South Australia

All journeys

From a rocky sandstone lookout, bright green wetland floodplains stretch to the horizon beneath a cloudy sky in Kakadu

15 to 18 nights · May to September

The long way down

From the Top End to the Southern Ocean, through the middle of the country.

4 nightsKakaduFly or drive from Darwin. Ubirr, Yellow Water at dawn, a flight over the escarpment.
2 nightsThe Ghan, Darwin to Alice SpringsOne night on board, stopping at Katherine for Nitmiluk Gorge.
3 nightsTjoritja, the West MacDonnellsGorges, waterholes and ghost gums west of Alice Springs.
3 nightsUluru-Kata TjutaVia Kings Canyon. The base walk at first light, Kata Tjuta at dawn.
2 nightsAdelaide and the BarossaFly south. A winemaker's table.
3 nightsKangaroo IslandTwo days with a naturalist and the south coast.