South Australia MICHELIN Road Trip itinerary via the Epicurean Way

/ The Villas - Barossa/

Route:  Adelaide – Mclaren Vale – Adelaide Hills – Barossa – Clare – Adelaide

Itinerary: 6 – 7 days

Distance:  Approximately 400 km

Michelin Star Dining:  11 MICHELIN star restaurants

What could be more appropriate than a MICHELIN Guide road trip, considering that the brothers who founded the French tire company created the guide to help motorists develop their trips using a little red guidebook!

More than 125 years later, the MICHELIN Guide continues to assist travellers, creating an appetite for epic journeys in the quest of extraordinary dining experiences.

Here in South Australia’s, the Epicurean Way Road Trip provides a scenic driving route which assists travellers in discovering our state’s food and wine regions, and globally recognised culinary culture.   The inaugural MICHELIN Guide South Australia 2027 has added a spark to the Epicurean Way, with 11 restaurants achieving MICHELIN Stars, and a total of 77 restaurants achieving MICHELIN recognition across the state.

We think it’s the perfect time to turn South Australia’s first MICHELIN Guide into an Epicurean adventure.

It’s not a fine-dining itinerary alone – more a flexible culinary road trip shaped around South Australia’s great food, local produce, artisan producers, wine regions, beautiful accommodation, city stays, and some very special meals worth planning ahead for.

IMAGE: SEPPELTSFIELD Road, barossa CREDIT: HARRY GRUTTNER

Stop 1 Adelaide

The Drive:  Your 400km self-drive route starts and finishes in Adelaide

Accommodation:   Majestic Roof Garden Hotel

Highlights:

  • Art Gallery of South Australia

  • Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Produce & Producers:

Adelaide MICHELIN Star Dining:

  • Aurora at ILA  One MICHELIN Star Cuisine: Australian Contemporary

Produce is the star at this elegant restaurant on the grounds of the ILA Visual Arts Museum. Inclusive meals are crafted, weaving vegan dishes and room for dietary flexibility into an already plant-focused, open-flame menu.

Some of the flora that make their way onto Botanic’s menu are recognizable world-wide: horseradish, thyme, even gooseberries, despite their many regional names. But, it’s the native ingredients, like warrigal, Geraldton wax and bunya, that pull curious diners to this dining room in a former 1800s teahouse.

IMAGE: restaurant botanic, adelaide CREDIT: Jonathan van der Knaap

Stop 2 Mclaren Vale

The Drive: Adelaide to McLaren Vale, approximately 40 kms

Accommodation:  The Vineyard Retreat McLaren Vale

Highlights:

Produce & Producers:

McLaren Vale MICHELIN Star Dining:

Maxwell Restaurant delivers a memorable culinary experience promoting seasonal produce, innovative cooking techniques, paired with a wine list that showcases the best of the Maxwell estate, providing a real sense of place.

Image: maxwell restaurant, mclaren vale credit: south australian tourism commission

Stop 3  Adelaide Hills

The Drive: McLaren Vale – Adelaide Hills approx. 50 km

Accommodation: Sticky Rice Villas and Cooking School

Highlights:

  • Cleland Wildlife Park

  • Hahndorf Main Street

  • Wine-tasting at approximately 50 cellar doors

Produce & Producers:

Adelaide Hills MICHELIN Star Dining:

LVN Restaurant sets the tone with high design and contemporary art while diners to settle into the warmth of open-fire cooking and the expanse of vineyard landscape before their eyes.

End your week with lunch or savor a sunset dinner in the light-bathed glass dining room of Anvers in Adelaide Hills. Through the language of Australian cuisine — Paroo Kangaroo, damper bread, mushrooms and herbs grown right on the estate — Anvers weaves a tale of wine and food. This is a meal defined by delicious simplicity and a strong sense of place.

  • Aptos  One MICHELIN Star Cuisine: Australian Contemporary

Aptos is deeply tied to its location, but not just through its devotion to indigenous produce and local beverage makers. There is a sense of reverence for the land, its ingredients, and the people who first discovered them. Set aside your evening and prepare to experience a 3-plus hour immersion.

IMAGE: restaurant aptos, adelaide hills CREDIT: henry trumble

Stop 3  Barossa

The Drive: Adelaide Hills to Barossa approximately 70km

Accommodation: The Villas - Barossa

Highlights:

Produce & Producers:

Barossa MICHELIN Star Dining:

  • Hentley Farm  One MICHELIN Star   Cuisine: Seasonal Cuisine

From Thursday to Sunday, this beautiful winery transforms its repurposed barn into a charming dining room in the hills of the Barossa Valley. Open for lunch service only, views of a garden teeming with flora and fauna compliment the lively yet classic dishes. Wine pairings come courtesy of the farm’s chief wine maker. Each course of the tasting menu carefully balances seasonal offerings with traditional culinary techniques.

image: hentley farm restaurant credit: south australian tourism commission / sven kovac

Stop 5  Clare

The Drive:  Barossa to Clare approximately 100 km

Accommodation:  Skillogalee

Highlights:

Produce & Producers:

 Clare MICHELIN Star Dining:

If honest cooking with a distinct eye for excellent produce is up your alley, this regional restaurant won’t disappoint. Solar power and water harvesting help ensure the future of its local ingredients, both grown on-estate and sourced from nearby farmers. Bathed in light and overlooking the vines, the dining room is the perfect setting for a glass of wine and one of Skillogalee’s classic lemonade scones or a braised lamb and vegetable pie.

IMAGE: Skillogallee, Clare CREDIT: Skillogalee Estate

 

Stop 6 Adelaide

The Drive:  Clare Valley to Adelaide approximately 140 km

Accommodation:  www.amorahotels.com/adelaide

Highlights:

Produce & Producers:

Adelaide MICHELIN Dining:

  • arkhé  One MICHELIN Star  Cuisine: Market Cuisine

It’s worth it to linger around the bar before dinner at this charming spot on “The Parade” in Norwood. At the counter, satisfying, vegetable-forward plates like spiced pumpkin and miso glazed eggplant with Asian salad are great balancing orders for the open-fire grilled proteins. The menu wavers between culinary genres — a plate inspired by the Mediterranean here, an echo of Chinese technique there — for a meal that stays interesting bite after bite.

  • Esmay  One MICHELIN Star  Cuisine: Seasonal Cuisine

At this historical locale dating back to 1883, diners crowd around Esmay’s central counter to chat with chef over plates of calamari and kohlrabi while enjoying a drink selection. The desserts, featuring root vegetables like parsnip and sunchoke, deserve a shoutout as well.

The visual language is fine dining at its finest, an expression of Australian gastronomy executed with precision. Magill Estate Restaurant features an outstanding view of Penfolds Winery from its prime location at the base of the Adelaide Hills. Warm service and a beautiful setting complement the other essential component: wine. An Icon pairing invites diners to try a wide range of wines, giving them ample time to sink into a long afternoon of beautiful plates.

image: magill estate restaurant credit: south australian tourism commission