Things to Do in the Barossa Valley: Lookouts, Food and Hahndorf

You can spend a Barossa day without a single tasting. The stops between the cellar doors, from chocolate to lookouts, are what most people remember. Looking at Barossa Valley guided tours? Here is what else fills the day, and which tours include it.

Lookouts and landmarks on the tour routes

Two landmarks turn up again and again. Mengler's Hill Lookout gives you a view across the valley floor, and two private days stop there briefly. The Avenue of Palms on Seppeltsfield Road is the palm-lined stretch of the road into Seppeltsfield, and the day with a platter lunch and chocolate gives you half an hour on it.

These are short stops. If a view matters more than a tasting, pick a private day, where you can ask the guide to stay longer.

Food producers: Maggie Beer's, chocolate and cheese

Food is the second reason to come. Maggie Beer's Farm Shop sits at 50 Pheasant Farm Road, Nuriootpa, and it is a stop on the Barossa and Hahndorf day and on both days that start from Barossa accommodation. Your stop there lasts 15 to 35 minutes.

Chocolate comes in two places. Melba's Chocolates is on the day with a platter lunch, which pairs it with a Yalumba fortified, and on the Hahndorf-first day. The Barossa Valley Chocolate Company is a long stop on the e-bike day and a short one on the four tastings day. The e-bike day also spends an hour at the Barossa Valley Cheese Company.

Barossa Farmers Market on Saturday

The Barossa Farmers Market runs every Saturday morning in the old Yalumba Vintners Shed in Angaston. It closes at 11:30, and the days from Adelaide do not stop there. Go on your own if you are staying in the Barossa, then join a day that collects you at 10:00.

Cycling the valley by e-bike

The valley floor is made for a bike. The e-bike day starts at the Yalumba cellar door in Angaston at 9:00 and runs six and a half hours. It includes the Yalumba cellars and cooperage, chocolate, cheese, Artisans of Barossa and lunch, with ten riders at most.

If you bring your own bike, the Barossa Cycle Hub beside the Barossa Visitor Centre in Tanunda has public toilets, showers, a drinking fountain and undercover bike parking.

Hahndorf and the Adelaide Hills on the way

Hahndorf is not in the Barossa. It is a German-settled village in the Adelaide Hills, and the Hahndorf combination days from Adelaide add it to a Barossa day. The Barossa and Hahndorf day ends there with 90 minutes to walk the main street. The Hahndorf-first day starts there, then visits Beerenberg Farm, where strawberry picking runs November to April and you pay at the farm.

Both give you less time in the Barossa itself: about two to three hours of tastings. Choose one if you want both places in a single day and do not mind the shorter wine half.

If you are not drinking

Designated drivers, children and non-drinkers have a full day here too. Start with these.

• Walk up to a lookout. Two private days stop at Mengler's Hill for the view.
• Shop the Saturday market. The Barossa Farmers Market opens at 7:30.
• Taste food, not wine. Chocolate, cheese and Maggie Beer's Farm Shop suit everyone.
• Ride a bike. The Barossa Cycle Hub in Tanunda has showers and bike parking.
• Visit the makers. JamFactory at Seppeltsfield sits on the estate.
• Ride the trike or the Mustang. Both are sold on the drive, not the pours.

Things-to-do questions