Adelaide
 

Thanks Bokhara and Down Under for your helpful feedback. We have decided to skip Kangaroo Island during our stay in Adelaide. We have 3 nights and 2 full days there. We plan to go to Barossa Valley on the first day. I read other postings recommending McLaren Vale for exceptional scenery and great wine. Kangarilla Road was a winery that was recommended. Is there consenus on this?

Can these two areas be covered in one day? If so does anyone have suggestions for how to use our second full day?

You could combine the McLaren Vale area with a meander through the Adelaide Hills and do the Barossa on the other day. But I'd allocate some time also to the city itself if possible, specifically the cultural precinct around North Terrace. It would be worth checking whether there's a performance at the Festival Centre that would appeal to you. Assuming you'll have a car, you could make an early start for the Barossa and plan to be back in the city mid- afternoon.

Yes, it would be a bit of a push doing the Barossa & McLaren Vale in the one day. They are really at opposite ends. I would go for the Barossa. Another suggestion for Day 2 is the Cleland Wildlife Park (google) about 20 mins. from downtown. It contains all the Aussie animals albeit in a park situation. I can't remember if you had Melbourne on your list as there are great mobs of Kangaroos in the Grampians at the moment. An in the wild situation, the Grampians is about 3 hours from Melbourne or about 5 from Adelaide, off the main highway.

When I was doing research on Adelaide (until we had to axe it from the itinerary) I found a wildlife sanctuary place outside of town where you could take a night tour to spot the nocturnal animals. If no one here pipes up and you can't find it in your research, I will try to dig it out of my files. It sounded great as I remember.
Sally in Seattle

Perhaps you are thinking of Cleland Wildlife Park :
http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/cleland_wp/tours/index.htm

This is a nice place to include in a day trip around the Adelaide Hills area - wineries and specialist food producers (cheese,fruit etc).

Stop at the Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens for a walk, Mt Lofty look out for the view, Cleland Wildlife Park to hold a koala, have lunch at the Bridgewater Mill, one of the best eating places in the Adelaide area if you are feeling like a splash out - lunch about $65 pp plus wine. Fantastic though!http://www.bridgewatermill.com.au/

We had cheaper lunch on the weekend at the Stirling Hotel - also in the Adelaide Hills and it was very nice, having a glass of wine and lovely lunch amongst the trees changing to their autumn colours.

What time of the year will you be here? Adelaide has hot summers and the beaches to the south of the city are magnificent for a drive and a swim - you could combine a drive through the McLaren Vale (also south of the city) wine district with a stop for lunch at the Star of Greece cafe, overlooking one of the most lovely beaches - Port Willunga.

Don't know where you are staying in Adelaide, but if you are after a centrally located, city, modern hotel we have stayed at the Majestic Roof Garden, booked through wotif.com and enjoyed it.Drop into the Exeter hotel for a beer if you stay here - enjoy!

The sanctuary Sally in Seattle refers to could be Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary - http://www.warrawong.com/ Years ago we stayed overnight in one of the tent like cabins, went on guided walks at dawn and dusk. It was brilliant, it's in the Adelaide Hills about half an hours drive from the centre of Adelaide.

Thank you for all your response. Your info is very helpful. Has anyone been to Flinders Range. We can't decide which area to visit - we don't have time for both.

Caton

I have been to the Flinders Ranges and if you want a taste of the Outback it is worth seeing. However if Uluru is on your itinerary there is no need to see the Flinders. I think there are one day tours from Adelaide. Try www.aussieheritagetours.com .
You can easily fill 2 days in Adelaide with a trip to the Barossa on one day and why not take a trip on the tram to Glenelg (tram leaves from Victoria Sq.) or the Adelaide Hills or even Victor Harbour for a day in the country side. Adelaide also has an excellent Art Gallery and Museum on North Tce.

I agree with DownUnder that with only two full days the Flinders Ranges would be a bit of a stretch and as impressive as the country is, not a must-see under the circumstances. I'd spend the time in and around Adelaide, which is a nice city with good cultural attractions and restaurants and, of course, excellent wine areas.

I'd part company with DU with regard to Victor Harbor, though. It's a pleasant drive and a nice enough coastal town by South Australian standards, but IMO nothing out of the box. While I'm not sure of your full itinerary in Australia I assume you'll be visiting other coastal areas?

Here’s a suggestion for a good day in Adelaide. We’ve done this circuit on each on our two visits to this lovely city. It makes for a long, long, walking day, but public transportation (free city loop bus) is available if you prefer.

Start with the fascinating Migration museum.
http://www.history.sa.gov.au/migration/migration.htm

Then check email or do last minute on-line research at one of three nearby libraries. The city library, the state library, and the university library are all within a block of each other and near the Migration museum. The internet access in most public libraries in Australia is in my opinion, one of the “best kept secrets” of Australia. The computers are free (usually), and very popular. In fact, most times there’s a short wait to use them. We like the privacy, and relative security of using a library computer versus one in an internet cafe, although we used both extensively throughout our trip.

Next, head to Rundle Street and enjoy some shopping (Opal stores for jewelry) or just browsing. You’ll pass one very good wine bar which you might want to remember for later dining, the Universal Wine Bar.
http://www.touradelaide.com/adel_uni...e_bar_400.html

Continue on Rundle until it ends and you see the Botanical gardens entrance off to the left.
http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/bot.../adelaide.html

Stroll through these gardens until you reach the wine center. Here you can taste wines, have lunch, and see the extensive museum holdings and displays on wine. It’s a very good wine center.
http://www.wineaustralia.com.au/

Alternatively, you could eat lunch in the botanical gardens on your return to the main part of the city, or bring a snack and sit on a bench in the gardens. Our favorite parts of the gardens include the lotus flowers in Nelumbo Pond and the Palm House. After tasting wines, this slow stroll back is especially welcome.

On East Terrace head south to the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute (Tandanya) on Grenfell St.
http://www.tandanya.com.au/home.html

This is an excellent institute with a well stocked gift shop with competitive prices for good Aboriginal art. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you may catch a performance. We were there once for a didgeridoo demonstration.

Hungry? Besides the Universal wine bar, we have two more suggestions. Jasmin Indian Restaurant on Hindmarsh square (excellent)
http://www.jasmin.com.au/

And Good life Modern Organic Pizza on Hutt street.
http://www.goodlifepizza.com/

Wonderful pizza, a bit of a walk, longer than that to the Indian restaurant, but well worth the effort. So, it depends on what kind of food you’d like.

End by walking back to your hotel, and enjoy Adelaide’s architecture.