The Barossa Valley rightly deserves to be a jewel in the crown for travellers to South Australia. It’s home to some of the most famous names in Australian wine, and many of the state’s best regional restaurants. Across all seasons, the landscape is a visual masterpiece….especially so as a blaze of autumnal colour envelopes the vineyards from the end of harvest. This is one of the great wine and dine places in Australia, and the perfect destination for a short break.
The famous names deservedly garner plenty of attention, but we’re often asked by visitors to reveal the secret places where the locals hang out. Here’s our current hit list of 5 great local hang outs and things to do!
The front bar of the Valley Hotel in Tanunda
Hardly palatial from the outside, and fairly unpolished on the interior. But what it lacks in the finer touches is more than made up for with oodles of local character. The ‘Valley’ has for years been the chosen hangout for Barossa winemakers. A chance to catch up with mates, cure a raging thirst with a pint of cold Coopers Pale Ale, and chow down on the best value schnitzels going around. The $20 steak sandwich comes which comes with a pint is legendary. And of course there’s the wine selection - a fabulous value collection of local wines available by the glass.
The market has been operating almost every Saturday morning for 20 years now, and is entrenched as a Barossa institution. Here you can find everything from local grown fresh fruit and vegetables to indulgent cakes, fresh baked bread and even ice cream. The winning tip is to start the day with a market burger made and served to you by locals, with all funds raised going to their cause, charity or club of choice. A fabulous celebration and coming together of community.
Who needs to travel to Italy when Italy comes to the Barossa. Fi and Matteo and more often their children Sophia and Filippo welcome you to their café, cooking school and enoteca likes it’s their home. A perfect hang out, a place to read the papers, and enjoy in a little dolce indulgence. Right next door is the Barossa Valley Cheese Company – two birds, with one stone!
An excellent repurposing of the old Marananga Primary School has yielded a village like precinct featuring a new star of South Australian regional dining. Chef Clare Falzon’s restaurant Staguni didn’t take long to impress after opening in 2024, winning the 2025 Gourmet Traveller award for Australia’s Best Dining Destination, and 2025 South Australian Restaurant of the Year.
For just one day a year the Barossa plays hosts to the cycling pros as a feature stage in the annual Tour Down Under. The rest of the year, the Barossa is a recreational cyclist’s dream boasting 40kms of paved cycling paths extending from Angaston to Gawler and intersecting the towns of Nuriootpa, Tanunda and Lyndoch. Make your way from town to town through an endless landscape of vineyards and church belltowers. Stop to enjoy a coffee or a glass of wine, and take in the easy pace of life in the Barossa
