Tour de South Australia Vineyards - Guided Small Group 6N/7D
Duration:
Operated By:
Visiting world class cellar doors for wine tastings whilst cycling well laid, off road and relatively easy cycling trails across South Australia – including the Barossa Trail, the Riesling Rail Trail, the Amy Gillett trail in the Adelaide Hills & the Coast to Vines Rail Trail in McLaren Vale – savouring the best of these gourmet regions of Australia.
Bikes, support, all transfers, gourmet meals, wine tastings…& more…are all including in this classic Cycling Tour of South Australia. This is a fully guided and supported tour with a maximum group size of 10.
Tour Highlights
- Accommodation at the award winning Playford Hotel in Adelaide for 2 nights
- Lunch at the acclaimed Skillogalee Restaurant in the Clare Valley
- Cycling the Barossa Trail and visiting Maggie Beers, Penfolds, St Hugos, Seppetsfeld and more
- Cycling the Riesling Rail Trail in the Clare Valley and visiting historic cellar doors
- Visting quaint and historic Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills (overnight).
- Exclusive food and wine tutorial at acclaimed Wirra Wirra Wines in McLaren Vale
- Fun, social small group atmosphere Tour de Vines is famous for
Day 1
Arrive into Adelaide, be transferred to your accommodation, meet and greet your guide with a welcome group dinner on your first night to get excited about your adventure ahead.
Meals: Dinner in Adelaide
Day 2
Today we travel to the Barossa for a day tour of cycling, wine tasting and gourmet food sampling. We visit Penfolds, Maggie Beers, Yalumba and other iconic food and wine venues whilst cycling the off road Barossa Rail Trail. An easy day on the bike with the focus on food and wine. Cycling distance 25kms. We then transfer to Auburn to our accommodation.
Meals: Full breakfast; Platter style lunch in Barossa, Dinner in Auburn.
Day 3
Today we cycle approximately 35kms toward Clare on the off road Riesling Rail Trail, with lots of scheduled stops on the way, including a full gourmet lunch at the highly regarded Skillogalee Winery. Overnight in the lovely township of Clare.
Meals: Continental breakfast, Lunch at Skillogalee, Dinner
Day 4
Cycling back to Auburn (30kms) on the Riesling Rail Trail tracing a slightly different route with lots of optional diversions, and a gourmet platter style lunch at the stunning O’Leary Walker Winery, finishing back at Auburn. We then transfer to Hahndorf check in at our accommodation. A free evening to explore this delightful historic town.
Meals: Full breakfast at Clare Country Club; Winery lunch at O’Leary Walker Wines.
Day 5
Today we ride the scenic Amy Gillet Trail in the Adelaide Hills. Enjoy a winery lunch, tasting, chocolate and wine tastings and beautiful easy riding along this delightful trail. An easy 25kms ride before we make our way back to Hahndorf for our 2nd night.
Meals: Special dinner at Mount Lofty Estate restaurant
Day 6
Be ready for your pick up after breakfast this morning for a fantastic all-inclusive cycling day tour of the nearby McLaren Vale wine region. Enjoy a winery lunch again and possibly an ocean swim at the end to cool off, before being transferred back to your hotel in Adelaide. Cycling distance 30kms. Overnight in Adelaide. We will celebrate with a final dinner in Adelaide.
Meals: Full breakfast, winery lunch. Restaurant dinner in Adelaide.
Day 7
Enjoy breakfast, check out of your hotel, say good bye to your new friends or old ones, and prepare for your onward journey.
Meals: Full breakfast
SUITS
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Each day we rode between 20 -60km, with rest stops in between to ensure we were comfortable. And rested enough to carry on.
The bike riding was at a relaxed pace, as with any bike riding tour you might get a mix of the serious cyclist types as well as the more casual rider who only rides their bike around the park or the beach every second weekend.
I hadn’t ridden a bike in about 8 weeks due to extreme weather where I live, but I was easily able to get back into it.
At no time during the riding, was I ever felt pressured to ride as fast as the faster guys, and my tour guide Liz was happy that I was hopping to slow down a bit more, on my second GVRT tour and admire the artwork and scenery along the way, as it really is wonderful.
The accomodation was comfortable and I felt well rested every morning, ready to go. Our meals were held at quality venues, and I have no complaints about any of theplaces we visited. Several had changed since my last trip, which was a bonus because I got to experience more from each town we visited on our journey.
I will definitely be looking forward to doing another tour with TDV in the future.
Peter was an awesome guide with a great sense of humour
We took e-bikes which suited us , Kent from Bike supplier was very helpful and got us away easily , he arrived on time and gave us plenty of tips.
Winery stops were all good . Great meals at both Skillagalee and O'Leary Walker . Plenty of additional stops from those suggested if you want to move off the trail. Trail ride itself was very accessible and no real gradient difficulties for us . Will do again in other locations in the future . Tour staff very helpful in the lead in and all arrangements were in place for a seemless trail ride . Thanks.
Greg
Great cycling
Great good
Great wine
Guide was great very knowledgeable of history and wine
Safe, fun great riding
Perhaps 3 full meals a daynot required. Lunch could be picnic type with sandwiches, fruit, etc on board enabling a stop anywhere on the trail.
11 out of 10 for David and Steve!!
The information about public transport was incorrect and expensive to rectify. We were booked into hotels for a gourmet tour but the restaurants in the hotels on two of the three nights were closed. We were given no warning prior to the start. We found alternatives for food but it was of low quality. The promised celebratory lunch on the final day was unavailable.
We are very experienced cycle tours and have been on multiple tours over the last 15 years all around the world. I've never felt the need to complain about a cycle to a company before.
The company asked for feedback at the end of the holiday and I provided this in a polite email. They haven't even bothered to reply.
In summary a great cycle, but avoid this company. They don't deserve your custom.
Cycling highlights were the Scottsdale Rail Trail and the ride from Coles Bay to Triabunna with a few suprises.
Our group were all around the age (seventies) and an amazing time was had by all.
The meet, greet and instructions were very good.
The bikes were great, the two winery lunch stops were excellent.
The scenery was lovely.
The motels were ok but the one in Myrtleford was not well located.
After a long, hot day of cycling we didn't feel like walking 20 minutes into town for a meal!
Overall, I would recommend this tour.
the bikes were good, and the tour we did do with the inclusings were great.
Accomdation: We couldn't fault the accommodations, especially Adelaide (a very centrally located hotel with great breakfast and dinner options), the Novotel in the Barossa and Clare Valley Country Club were we had king size rooms with a beautiful outlook and again very good breakfasts.
Highlights of the tour for myself are hard to list as there were so many. But the lunches at, Skillogalee's, O'Leary's and Wirra Wirra and The Cube at D'Ahrenberg (this one is a definite must and you need time as there is so much to take in) and the beautiful scenery riding along the various trails. The wineries we visited were well chosen not only for their beautiful wines but also their either historical value or beauty (or both). The two nights not included in the tour package, Dave suggested beautiful restaurants which didn't disappoint: the venues were incredible in ambience, food and service.
The riding was easy, especially on e-bikes and very enjoyable, although it was very windy and pretty cold for us Queenslanders!!
We highly recommend this tour especially if you are a food and wine lover!
The operative word for this trip was GOURMET with magnificent locations, excellent service and food to sample but a couple of places were particularly spectacular. San Miranda King Valley winery is the lunch stop for the first day and is just outside of Milawa and we couldn’t believe the magnificent platter with delicious calamari and other treats on a platter which we thought was destined for the table of six next to us to share.
Lancemore’s Merlot Restaurant at our accommodation in Milawa was great too.
Myrtleford for our third night is a beautiful country town and I once again went to Red Rama which has a couple of warehouses in the Main Street with an eclectic mix of garden and house decor items from China, Japan, Morocco and India. I recalled it as a highlight of the trip from the last time and it did not disappoint. I mentioned it to others on the ride and they were very excited to see it. (Unfortunately Red Rama is not mentioned in the tour notes).
It is worth noting that quite a number of businesses were not open as some of them are seasonal and I suspect some of them may also be closed down.
I would recommend that Tour de Vines update their guide material to reflect the current state of business availability to assist riders and also include reference to Red Rama, Myrtleford as it is an amazing attraction.
Another tip for riders is to ensure you take full wet weather gear as it can be very cold and wet! We could have sold our wet weather trousers for a good profit to two other intrepid riders with very blue, wet legs sheltering on top of Taylor’s Gap.
Tour de Vines staff are always amazing and many thanks to Annette and Michael for their friendly guidance as it helped it all to run smoothly for us. Also much appreciation to Damian and his staff and we will soon be planning another adventure with you.
The guide, Dave, was outstanding with so much local knoledge and passion for the region. As we were a small group, we were able to visit places that exceeded our expectations, as we had time on our side.
The bikes were excellent and made cycling so easy. This is a tour I would do again.
The scenery was spectacular and just the right amount of riding.
The towns we stayed in were very good and the accommodation perfect.
We loved every minute (except for the magpies) the birds not the AFL.
A long weekend from Beechworth to Myrtleford, was 'mapped out' and planned: Accommodation, restaurants for breakfast lunch and dinner. Just turn up. We loved it!
Michael got us on the road with our bikes, I took an electric assisted bike, my 3 buddies took regular bikes.
We visited a couple of wineries and stores along the way. Easy to follow
Maps and instructions were provided and the bikes has great sized panniers for storage.
The team moves your luggage for you to your next accommodation and collects your purchase along the way.
The path itself is spectacular, just a wonderful opportunity to experience this gorgeous part of country Victoria!
My tips are...... purchase a gel seat! It's worth every cent! And add a few branches to your helmet ???? to keep the birds ???? away.
Thanks Michael and Tour devines...... where should we go next ! Lynda
We arrived in mid winter so it was apparent that we wouldnt be seeing a lot of other tourers on cycles (more room on the track for us) anyway we had a great time the weather was cool but refreshing , the accommodation was fantastic and the meals for breakfast terrific and tasty.
Must give paul from great southern ride cycle hire a big rap for the supply and delivery/pick up service of our 2 excellent ebikes.
The leongatha to port welshpool ride is wonderful i would opt for a longer trip next time but the scenery and sights are terrific. The only negative was the constant aroma of cow dung (guess were in dairy country) and port welshpool has a unsettling vibe about it.
anyway thanks to amanda at tour de vines for organsing a great introduction to rail trails and e bike riding.
Overall, whilst we enjoyed the trip; the company of fellow Travellers; and the guides, I have to say that the brochure description, final itinerary issued just prior to commencing the cycling holiday and actual equipment supplied was somewhat inaccurate and inadequate.
The route was described as being on the easy side. However, the terrain was probably more intermediate (especially the BVRT), possibly due to the time of year and the bikes provided did not suit the terrain at all. The brochure stated Trek (or similar) hardtail MTBs with an option to upgrade to a Trek E-Bike. However, the bike fleet listed for use by Tour de Vines on their website depicted urban (in my opinion bikes for going to the park or local shops) and hybrid bikes. Which turned out to be exactly the types of bike that were supplied for the trip and proved to be completely unsuitable for the tracks cycled (the Treks not even having front suspension) with all bikes having thinner urban tyres not suitable for the loose gravel and metal tracks.
If you decide to undertake this tour, please ensure that Tour de Vines commit to providing adequate hardtail MTBs with at least full range front suspension to enable the full end to end trails to be completed.
As it was, the trip ended up skipping a number of sections of the rail trails and road sections.
Also with regard to the published itinerary, it was suggested there would be regular stops for drinks and snacks, these ended up being missed as the focus ended up being on longer breakfasts and then a dash to complete the cycle section around lunchtime before finishing for the day. More focus on regular stops for breaks and refreshment and extending the cycling through the day would have been preferable. The trails themselves and the countryside was very scenic, its a shame it was all let down by inadequate bikes, which I believe led to sections of the trails being skipped.
Summary - a nice biking holiday that could have been excellent. I suspect the bikes and general company focus is more towards vineyard cycling and cellar door to cellar door rather than the longest rail trail in Australia on the fringes of outback Queensland.
Communication with Annette and Bernard was fabulous. Accommodations were very comfortable and the hot shower on Saturday very very welcome!
Reefer Ridge Winery was a delight and seeing so many families out and about on the trail was wonderful????
Bookings were all excellent, accommodation, restaurants, cafes and wineries
Rail trail was a great ride, self guiding was easy, very scenic and an electric bike made it doable not being regular riders.
Hope to find another cycling trip soon with TdV.
Happy travels.
Nessa
It was a very shaky start as we were given the wrong itinerary expecting to be collected from our hotel- this did not happen, and we were expected to have a car available to get between each start point. Very stressful to begin with. However, we managed to get that sorted and hired a car to begin these cycle rides. The Barossa was wet so wide drove the cycle plans instead. Great stop at St Hallets Winery.
Drove onto the Clare which was the best riding option and scenery for us of the three valleys. First nights' accommodation was marginal. Great trail and plans were well arranged by the company. They had selected the best locations for lunch and wine tasting. Our accommodation in Clare was exceptional at the Clare Country Club Make sure you visit SevenHills -a must on this trail.
Then a drive down to the McLaren Vale with an excellent stop in Hansdorf-Adelaide Hills- only issue there was the room was not great and we looked out on tin roofs !!! Check where they put you as there are better options available. Short bike ride in the McLaren Vale- high light being the stop in WiraWira Winery- fantastic. So- check you have the correct itinerary for your booking / check the accommodation in Hansdorf.
We did not want to drive back to Adelaide and opted to head down to the coast Victor Harbour. The company would do no refunds for us change- stating they had already paid for the options we decided not to do. i.e., 1x dinner/ 1x hotel night and breakfast. I failed to understand why they could not hold those payments in reserve for further bike bookings!!!!
So, the cost was increased by having to book a rental car when not expected. And the lack of consideration for the cancellation of plans.
Read you details very carefully before paying up.
We had our own bikes and the bikes were all looked after very carefully on our return journey.
The staff at the start and end of the tour were really friendly and fun. All in all it was a great experience and we will go again.
The rail history and artefacts through this part of Victoria is fantastic , the small gauge steam locomotive at Alexandra had been been in actual use.
Our accommodation in some beautiful settings, and the gourmet meals accommodated for everyone's taste and diets. Finishing around 130klm from where we started might have been a problem had it not been for Michael with a well equipped trailer taking us back to our 4 wheeled vehicles, but not before a lovely, leisurely ,long table lunch complete with celebratory wines, at Delatite winery. A very memorable ride for so many reasons and give me 2 wheel touring over 4 any day!
Our group could have ridden further than we did, that is to say some days seemed a little short for us, as we are all experienced riders.
The tee shirt we received from Tour de Vines was nice. but we would have preferred a riding jersey as a token to remember trip.
Although the websites did not reflect accurately the distances involved Mick worked with our comfort zones the best he could...keeping the group cohesive yet allowing individuals to ride their best. We went with the anticipation of much longer rides than were indicated on the website. This should be corrected to reflect the actual rides. Having done numerous cycling tours I believe it would help to have support that can back up the main ride leader on the bike in cases of illness or injury.
The accommodations were superb and I particularly liked the wonderfully innovative lodgings of the container hotel, Spring Bay Mill, and the surrounding wildlife and natural beauty there. This outstanding itinerary with the learned dissertations of the history, fauna and flora by Mick and Bernard brought richness to the experience. Unique locations everyday for lunch and after biking libations, which by the way, were extremely satisfying...the wines were 5 star for starters, sat us in the lap of luxurious pastures and mountain views! We received a T-shirt but for this 9 day excursion we were all in accord that a jersey would have been very well received....we'd love to ride those great memories on our backs!!
Although the websites did not reflect accurately the distances involved Mick worked with our comfort zones the best he could keeping the group cohesive yet allowing individuals to ride their best. We went with the anticipation of much longer rides than were indicated on the website. This should be corrected to reflect the actual rides. Having done numerous cycling tours I believe it would help to have support that can back up the main ride leader on the bike in cases of illness or injury.
The accommodations were superb and I particularly liked the wonderfully innovative lodgings of the container hotel, Spring Bay Mill, and the surrounding wildlife and natural beauty there. This outstanding itinerary with the learned dissertations of the history, fauna and flora by Mick and Bernard brought richness to the experience. Unique locations everyday for lunch and after biking libations, which by the way, were extremely satisfying the wines were 5 star for starters, sat us in the lap of luxurious pastures and mountain views! We received a T-shirt but for this 9 day excursion we were all in accord that a jersey would have been very well received .we'd love to ride those great memories on our backs!!
Damian our guide was awesome and Michael was really helpful with the bikes and with our transfers.
The accomodation was fantastic and so was the dinner and lunch venues we got to visit on the way.
Hi
At first I was little unsure about how the tour would go - I’m definitely not a Lycra warrior and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up with others who I felt probably had decades more experience than I did.
My experience of riding is the weekend ride around a river and a bit of bush track mountain biking wearing board shorts and a t shirt.
Very quickly, my concerns were put at ease by Damian and Michael, and I was reassured that we would travel along at a comfortable pace.
Michael made sure we were comfortable with the bikes and would assist us each morning if we had any issues on the way. It was a really enjoyable trip and a great introduction to bike touring.
The whole group was all chilled out and here to enjoy themselves, not the angry looking MAMIL /MAWIL warriors who like to dominate the left lane on a road next to an empty 10 million dollar cycle path crowd .
The most difficult part was probably getting used to a newer bike, compared to my old 90’s bike it was definitely a positively noticeable difference, and I was fine after the first day.
Looking forward to going on another trip with you guys again soon.
The trip is beautiful and quite easy on e-bikes. We are 2 seventy year olds that have not been cycling for 20 years.
We had a fabulous time.
The drive home was very welcomed & necessary!
Thanks again.
Lunch at the Old Emu Hotel
Great support from Michael along the way
All equipment in good condition
We would definitely join another tour in the future, the hotels and food were all very good.
Our co cyclists were a great crowd and made our trip very enjoyable
Ride on !
Bikes spot on, stops were well prepared for us, dinner awesome, people were friendly and no questions asked attitude. I have organised wine tours for this group for sixteen years and the feedback was .best yet.
Thanks again
Around 30klms a day on easy and well maintained trails can be managed by most people - you do not need to be super fit (we are both 74 years old). My wife had an ebike, and I managed comfortably on a normal hybrid machine.
Overall, a great idea!








































