Here’s your guide to 15 unmissable South Australian escapes and experiences to keep your travel calendar exciting well past summer.
Why pack a passport when South Australia keeps topping its own best-of list? The 2025 South Australian Tourism Awards prove once again that our backyard has everything you need for an unforgettable summer – from wild safaris to cooking classes, stargazing and city adventures.
As part of this year’s awards, a new class of Hall of Fame inductees joined the honour roll of tourism legends: d’Arenberg, The Big Duck Boat Tours, Spirit of the Coorong, Seppeltsfield Barossa, Copper Trails Bike Hire, West Beach Parks, ibis Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe. After winning their categories three years in a row, they’ve cemented their place as some of the state’s most loved and consistently outstanding experiences.
But while the icons are still shining bright, this year’s other award winners show there’s no shortage of fresh, standout reasons to explore SA.
What are the South Australian Tourism Awards?
Delivered annually by the Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA) with support from the South Australian Tourism Commission, the South Australian Tourism Awards recognise excellence, innovation and outstanding achievement across the state’s tourism industry.
Now in their 39th year, the awards celebrate the operators who help make SA a must-visit destination – from family-run businesses and community festivals to world-class attractions and luxury retreats. This year’s winners highlight the passion and resilience behind a sector worth almost $10 billion to the state economy and supporting more than 40,000 South Australian jobs.
So grab your sunnies, load up the esky, and start planning – these award-winning destinations are waiting.
Sleep beside the savannah at Monarto Safari Resort
Lions by day, luxury by night. Just an hour from Adelaide, Monarto Safari Resort offers South Australia’s first true safari-style accommodation – complete with 78 guest rooms and suites, and 20 luxury tents coming soon. Guests can step out onto their balcony to watch giraffes, zebras and rhinos around the waterhole, dine in one of three restaurants, unwind in the day spa or take exclusive dawn or dusk safaris through the adjacent open-range park. It’s the ultimate staycation for anyone who’s ever dreamed of Africa but only has a long weekend to spare.
See Adelaide with new eyes on a Flamboyance Tour
Forget boring bus rides – Flamboyance Tours turns the city into a storybook. Led by passionate local guide Katina, these small-group walks dig into Adelaide’s hidden histories, laneways and characters (with the occasional coffee stop thrown in). There’s even a Port Adelaide tour that pairs maritime tales with street art. Think of it as sightseeing for people who hate sightseeing – all the culture, none of the yawns.
Make a mess with your mates at Woodhouse Adventure Park
This Adelaide Hills icon isn’t just for school camps. Grab your mates, book a day pass and see who survives Challenge Hill – a giant obstacle course that’s equal parts mud, laughter and upper-body strength. Between the tube slides, disc golf and barbecue spots, Woodhouse Adventure Park is the perfect chaos-filled alternative to another lazy beach day. You can even crash in a heritage lodge or glamping tent if you don’t feel like heading home.
Where art meets sci-fi at MOD.
If museums make you think of velvet ropes and bored yawns, MOD. is your antidote. This futuristic museum of discovery blends art, science and technology into bold, hands-on experiences that feel more like stepping inside an idea than wandering a gallery. It’s built for curious minds, big questions and very good Instagram moments.
MOD.’s 2026 exhibition, BEGINNINGS, runs til November and explores how the choices we make right now shape what comes next. From creating sound in the MiNi sonic studio to grappling with everyday decisions at The Convenient Store, it invites you to play, experiment and think differently about where we’re headed. Spoiler: it’s still seriously cool.
Pick, blend and breathe on a Jurlique Farm experience
You’ve used the skincare – now meet the soil it’s grown from. Visitors can go behind the scenes of Jurlique’s Adelaide Hills farm for its Handpicked Masterclass. Walk through biodynamic gardens, pick your own botanicals, then craft a personalised essential-oil blend to take home. It’s nature, wellness and sustainability rolled into one – the kind of slow-summer experience that leaves your phone locked and your mind refreshed.
Lunch among the vines at Monkey Nut Café
Perched among the vines at Kies Family Wines in the Barossa, Monkey Nut Café is proof you don’t need white tablecloths for five-star flavour. This is destination dining without the pretension. Expect wood-fired pizzas, big Barossa platters and easy laughter under the verandah. It’s family-friendly, wallet-friendly and totally relaxed – the kind of lunch that accidentally lasts all afternoon.
Soak up luxury above the valley at Sequoia Lodge
If your idea of roughing it involves deciding between a massage and a glass of pinot, Sequoia Lodge at Mount Lofty might just ruin you for normal life. Each suite overlooks the valley and every detail whispers quiet luxury. It’s all eucalyptus-scented breezes, infinity pools and fine dining next door at Hardy’s Verandah – a cool adults-only retreat for a hot summer.
Cook, create and taste with Fleurieu Food and Wine
Escape the city and roll up your sleeves – Fleurieu Food and Wine’s hands-on cooking classes turn South Australian produce into a day out to remember. Held in beautiful venues across the Fleurieu Peninsula, these small-group experiences celebrate local ingredients, native flavours and the simple joy of cooking. You might stretch your own pasta, master the perfect hibachi steak or try your hand at cheesemaking.
Dairy Adventures
If you have kids to entertain this summer, you need to know about Dairy Adventures at Mannum. This working dairy farm turns a day in the country into an unforgettable experience. You’ll bottle-feed calves, see the milking in action, and meet the farm’s larger-than-life locals – including Bessie the mascot, Julius the enormous bull, and Elvis, a speckle park steer who loves a scratch and a selfie.
Sip, tour and master the craft at 23rd Street Distillery
At this Renmark Distillery, every drop has a story – and you can taste it, mix it, and even make it yourself. Take a guided tour through the working distillery to see how gin, whisky and brandy are crafted, then join a cocktail masterclass to learn the tricks of the trade. Stay on for lunch at the Distillery Restaurant, where the menu heroes Riverland produce and pairs perfectly with a tasting flight. It’s the ideal mix of heritage, creativity and hands-on fun.
Stay in the centre of it all at Oval Hotel
You don’t have to leave the city to feel like you’re on holiday. The Oval Hotel gives front-row seats to the Riverbank precinct and the kind of sleek comfort that makes you wish your home had housekeeping. Grab a drink on the terrace before a show, a match or a festival gig – then roll upstairs to a room with skyline views and blissful aircon.
Take a midday mini-break at Adelaide Botanic Garden
If you’re one of the CBD crew counting down to annual leave, here’s a great midday escape. Adelaide Botanic Garden is your instant mini-break: a lush, shady world of giant figs, hidden fountains and café courtyards where deadlines and customers can’t find you. Wander through the Bicentennial Conservatory, sneak in a sandwich under the palms, and enjoy ten minutes where work doesn’t exist.
Book it now, thank yourself later
Summer’s all about spontaneous road trips and lazy afternoons – but when the days start cooling down, it’s time to swap beach towels for hiking boots.
These Flinders Ranges & Outback-region escapes are here for you in autumn, when the air’s crisp, the stars feel closer, and your road-trip playlist finally gets a workout. Book now, and your future self will thank you.
Switch off and reconnect at Henders House
Some stays make you exhale the moment you arrive. Located on the working Almerta Station in the Southern Flinders Ranges, Henders House blends off-grid simplicity with all the right luxuries – solar power, rainwater, air-conditioning and a seriously good coffee machine. The beautifully rebuilt stone cottage sleeps up to four, with an outdoor bath for stargazing, walking trails beyond the verandah, and no phone reception unless you wander up the nearby hill – a gentle reminder of why switching off feels so good.
Tackle the outback classic at Skytrek Willow Springs Station
Craving red dirt and ridiculous views? This 4WD trail through the Flinders Ranges delivers. The epic 80-kilometre Skytrek route winds past gorges, lookouts and wildlife that never sit still for selfies – and when you’re done, you can stay on for a night under the stars, with camping and cabins available on the family-run station. It’s closed over the hottest weeks, but that’s your cue to plan ahead for a cooler-weather long weekend.
Read about all the 2025 South Australian Tourism Award winners here.
