Three-day Adelaide Hills winter itinerary
Whether you’re lured into the Hills for the Winter Reds festival or just the promise of a good, craft-brewed stout by a pub fire, there’s a myriad of reasons to stick around for a few days (or more) this winter.
Woorabinda Reserve. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
DAY ONE
Coffee and Breakfast | Uraidla Republic Café
This café and bakery does a daily trade in everything from sourdough loaves to flat whites and has just started serving breakfasts featuring local produce on the weekends too. “The hills is… becoming a destination,” says manager Henri Jenssen. “That’s the beautiful thing – people come here and are hungry for quality stuff and want to take chances on things they’ve never tried before. They want that really good local stuff.”
Uraidla Bakery. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
Activity | Will Ride e-bike tour or Mount Lofty Botanic Garden
Dinner and Drink | The Summertown Aristologist
The brain child of winemakers Anton van Klopper (of Lucy Margaux wines), Jasper Button (of Commune of Buttons) and serial restaurateur Aaron Fenwick, The Summertwon Aristologist is one of the few places where you can try a wide range of the natural wines for which this part of the Adelaide Hills is internationally renowned.
Summertown Arrostologist. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
Accommodation | Sticky Rice Villas
Come for a cooking class and stay for a night or two in these luxurious villas that incorporate under floor heating, baths and plentiful natural light.
DAY TWO
Coffee and Breakfast | Red Cacao
Red Cacao. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
Activity | Aptos Cruz
An art gallery and designer furniture store that has become a tradition in the lives of many. “We have some people that come every year at Easter,” says owner Steve Ronayne. “They’re coming to visit their grandchildren in the Hills, but they always come here first.”
Or
Woorabinda Lake
Hidden just a five-minute walk out of Stirling, it would be easy to miss this beautiful slice of bushland that makes for an easy and scenic hike.
Dinner and Drink| Lost in a Forest
The wood-fire pizza oven warms up the former church that now houses this wine bar and pizzeria. The inventive pizza menu is served alongside a surprising array of excellent wines, including some hard-to-get drops made by restaurant co-owner Taras Ochota of Ochota Barrels.
Lost in a Forest. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
Accommodation | Heartwood Cottage
DAY THREE
Coffee and Breakfast | Piccadilly Kitchen
Bev Pote’s busy café opened by accident. Originally, she leased the space as a production kitchen for her baking business but after so many neighbours stopped in looking for coffee she thought she should probably launch a café. “I think you form a community,” Bev says. “The Hills is really great for that.”
Activity | Shaw and Smith wine tasting
There’s no end of wine tasting options in the Adelaide Hills, but Shaw and Smith is special in winter. The combination of paired local cheeses with the perfectly-balanced wines and the view of green fields and dark skies from the cosy, minimal tasting room is unbeatable. “It gives you some time to spend with the wines and the place. It’s a connection to the soil and the land,” says Shaw and Smith trade sales and education manage Dan Coward.
Shaw and Smith. Photo: Tyrone Ormsby
Lunch | Emma and Ivy
Located in the hamlet of Lobethal, Emma and Ivy has gained a following for its excellent coffee, healthy (or sometimes indulgent) brunches, and beautiful flower arrangements.
Dinner and Drink | Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant or The Olfactory Inn
Accommodation | HideyHole or The Crafers Hotel
Solstice Media has partnered with the South Australian Tourism Commission to tell South Australian’s the reason why they need to take their next holiday in their own state.
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