Things To Do In The Clare Valley

Top things not to miss in Clare Valley

Water shaped the Clare Valley, then receded. It left limestone beneath the vines, red soil underfoot and creek beds that lie dry through summer. The vines push their roots down looking for what's still there, and the riesling carries that effort into the glass.

That might mean riding the Riesling Trail instead of watching it through a windscreen or staying for the second pour when the winemaker starts talking about the season. Lunch can run over. Auburn’s stone streets can turn a short walk into an afternoon. Spend a while among Burra’s mine ruins, then stay at Lake Bumbunga long enough to watch the pink deepen and soften as the light moves across it.

This is one of South Australia’s defining wine regions, but the things to do in Clare Valley reach well beyond the cellar doors. Here’s where to start.

2 cyclists with helmets pausing in the middle of the Clare Valley vineyards. — The Riesling Trail, Clare Valley

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Trail through the Vineyards

The easiest way to understand Clare Valley riesling is to taste it where it grows. Leave the car keys behind and cycle the Riesling Trail, an old railway corridor that now carries walkers and riders through paddocks, villages and vineyard country.

The trail brings cellar doors close enough for the differences to show. Roll past Sevenhill’s dry-stone walls, then lean the bike in the shade at Skillogalee. At Pikes or Paulett, riesling takes on a different shape in the glass. Good Catholic Girl pours stories alongside heavy reds, from a cottage near the trail.

Walking works just as well. The Auburn Wine Walk and Sevenhill Digital Trail keep things local, while the Clare Valley Wine and Wilderness Trail carries you further. However you travel, the pleasure lies in the pauses between each pour.

Mark your stops

A forgeron holds a hammer ready to hit a metallic item and an older man stands in front of braiser. — Bon Accord Mine Museum

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South Australian History & Heritage

The Ngadjuri people call this Country home, their knowledge of this land running deeper than any map. The place names tell you something if you listen: Booborowie, or ‘round waterhole’. Yacka, or ‘sister to the big river’. Eudunda, meaning ‘sheltered water’. Long before the vines were planted, this valley was already being cared for carefully.

Then came copper. In the 1840s, Burra drew workers north and built a town around the mine. The Burra Heritage Passport now hands you the keys to explore the site at your own pace, opening gates onto old workings and stone ruins. At Bon Accord Mine Museum, worn tools bring the labour into closer view.

Martindale Hall sits in the paddocks outside Mintaro, a grand old homestead that seems somewhat out of place, this far from anywhere. Auburn keeps its history at street level, where old buildings now hold cafés and cellar doors along the Wine Walk.

Learn the history

An image surrounded by the pink shade of the Lake Bumbunga, with a person standing on the lake in the center. — Lake Bumbunga, Clare Valley

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Colourful Sceneries

Lake Bumbunga turns drive-bys into U-turns. Just outside Lochiel, it appears beside the highway in a flat wash of pink and white, salt crusting at the edges and tyre marks pressed into the dirt where drivers have pulled over for a look. Its colour changes with the season, rainfall, salt levels and light. Spring gives you the best chance of seeing the lake at its brightest. Walk the edge and you’ll spot the Loch-Eel monster rising from the flats, a local wink to the old story of a bullock team swallowed by the lake.

Further into the Clare Valley, the colours become softer and earthier. Vine rows stripe the hills in green and native pines darken the ridgelines of Spring Gully Conservation Park. Follow the Shamus Liptrot Cycling Trail, Lomandra Walking Trail or a section of the Clare Valley Wine and Wilderness Trail and take in the region colour by colour.

Tour the region

Places to visit in Clare Valley

The best things to do in Clare Valley often begin in the towns between the vines. Clare gives you coffee, cellar doors and a main street made for stocking the boot. Auburn starts the Riesling Trail with stone cottages and wine walk detours. Mintaro holds its slate, long lunches and Martindale Hall close. Burra takes you into copper country, where ruins and old shopfronts keep the past in view.

Explore the Clare Valley, where effort meets reward

Create a free southaustralia.com account to save the cellar door that caught your eye or the trail you meant to come back to, then build your Clare Valley trip with the Trip Planner. The Explore South Australia app brings your saved favourites together in one place, with personalised recommendations to help you discover what’s nearby, what’s on and what’s worth a wander.

How it works

Clare Valley Attractions

The Clare Valley doesn’t keep all its attractions behind cellar doors. Some sit beside the highway, like the pink sweep of Lake Bumbunga. Some wait in the cool hush of Martindale Hall, where the floorboards hold the quiet of another century. Others sit further north in Burra, where mine ruins still catch the heat and copper history clings to the red dirt. Between them sits, the Riesling Trail, local galleries and heritage streets.

Clare Valley Tours

Let someone else steer you between cellar doors while you listen for the story behind the pour or follow the Riesling Trail by bike – taking the time to stop when something catches your eye. At Watervale Hotel, the Penobscot Farm Tour starts in the garden beds, then moves to the chef’s table, where the herbs, vegetables and local produce you’ve just met come back dressed for lunch.

Galleries & shops in the Clare Valley

The shops in Clare and the wider valley are made for poking around slowly. Step into Wild Woodland Collective & Co. for pieces with a maker’s hand behind them, or Mickelloo Farmhouse Studio where art is inspired by the paddocks just outside. At the Clare Show Markets, baskets fill with local produce and small finds, while That Country Store Burra and Leahcim Wool at the Hummocks Station Trap Shed Store bring country craft and warmth to the shelf.

Vehicle and equipment hires

Hire a bike in Clare and the Riesling Trail will keep you off the main road and close to the good stuff: cellar doors behind vine rows, gums shading the track, lunch menus on old stone walls and a cold glass at the next stop.

Explore more of Clare Valley

There’s always another reason to stay in the valley a little longer. Check what’s on while you’re here, find the cellar doors and long lunch tables worth booking, or follow the Epicurean Way through riesling country. From Clare Valley wineries to heritage stops and guided days out, these pages help turn a good detour into the shape of a trip.

Things to do in Clare Valley