8 Days The Food, Wine & Art tour of Australia Vacation and Luxury Tour Package

Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Priced From: $2,196 pp Dbl. Occ.
Dates: Jan - Mar /09 

Arrive in Adelaide mid-morning, your driver will meet you at the airport by private car and transfer you to the Hyatt Regency Adelaide. 

Adelaide boasts more restaurants per capita than any other city in Australia.  The diverse culture of the city offers you a range of dining options you won't find anywhere else in the country.  Explore & indulge, dinner tonight is what you make of it, at own arrangements.

Day Two

The most understated of Australia's state capitals, Adelaide is a charming, medium-sized city with a contemporary edge. It has a dry, Mediterranean climate, which ensures the greenery of the parks and gardens year round and makes the many outdoor restaurants and sidewalk cafes very tempting. We will show you the highlights of the city and Adelaide Hills on a half day tour. We start at Victoria Square. Eight acres in extent, it was laid out as the principal square of Colonel Light's plan of Adelaide in March 1837. He refers to it on his first map as 'the great square'.

Your half day tour will take in the historic General Post Office, Parliament House, and the Torrens River for morning tea. Then we head out of the city, into the Adelaide Hills and enter the town of Hahndorf. Settled in 1839 by Prussian and East German immigrants, Hahndorf is Australia's oldest surviving German settlement.

Day Three

You travel through the scenic Torrens Gorge to the Barossa Valley. The Torrens Gorge is a natural chasm carved out of the Adelaide Hills by the River Torrens.
If time permits we may stop at a local bakery to taste the best of the fine German pastries.  We travel over the Jacobs Creek for our first tasting of the fine wines at the Peter Lehmann winery.

We visit Torbreck wine cellars, a small winery with rustic charm, making wines in traditional Barossa methods. We will also include visits to other small wineries and meet well-known wine identities.

We stop for a stroll in the German town of Tanunda with time to discover the small shops, many of which specialize in arts & crafts made by the locals.

Before lunch we take the picturesque drive up to Menglers Hill for an unsurpassed view over the entire Valley. We continue into historic Angaston - the more English of the villages in the Barossa. Taking time to Angas Park specializing in fine dried fruits or the local cheesemaker.

Lunch will be alfresco under the vines or at Vintners restaurant. After lunch it is on to Henschkes winery. This fifth generation German winery produces outstanding wines that incorporate the best of old world and state of the art winemaking or historic Yalumba the biggest family run winery in Australia. If time permits we may visit small boutique producers such as Charles Melton or Turkey FlatA visit to Maggie Beer Farm shop is a must for food lovers.

Day Four

Your private car & driver will meet you for your transfer to Adelaide Airport. Fly to Melbourne (air not included).

You'll pick up your car rental at Melbourne Airport for the scenic drive out to Daylesford.

 This pretty village is located an hour from Melbourne airport. The surrounding spa country region boasts the largest concentration of natural springs in Australia.

The village itself is surrounded by several thousand hectares of state forest. Walking tracks through the forest alongside rivers, lakes and waterfalls yield frequent encounters with an abundance of Australian animals including wallabies, wombats, possums and platypus.

Your accommodation here is world famous, award winning and indulgent: The Lake House.

Nourish your body at the Salus Spa.  Indulge your senses & tastebuds in the candlelit dinning room of the Lake House restaurant.

The Lake House Cellar houses approximately 10,000 bottles.  And because The Lake House is located between three fantastic wine producing areas, the cellar list features many of the surrounding regions' flagship bottles and boutique gems alongside some of the world's most renowned labels. (Dinners and spa treatments not included)

Day Five

A Day at in Daylseford. Spoil yourself in the Lake House's Spa, or take a drive through the Victorian countryside.

Day Six

Drive into Melbourne and check in at the elegant, boutique Lyall Hotel for 2 nights.

Lyall Hotel and Spa, in a word, is about lifestyle - it has both life and style. In fact, guests at The Lyall can enter shopping-frenzy mode armed with the hotel's exclusive Privilege Shopping card. There is an elegant pace to the hotel. There are art galleries on every floor and, contemporary bedrooms in soothing colors that instantly promise comfort, convenience and luxury.  The Lyall Spa justly lays claim to be one of Australia's best day spas.

Day Seven

This morning it's an early rise - your driver will pick you up for a transfer out to one of Australia's leading wine regions - the Yarra Valley. Here - before indulging in a champagne buffet breakfast at Fergusons Winery, you'll spend a glorious 60 minutes high in a balloon flying over this spectacular region.

Then it's back into Melbourne for a leisurely day exploring the city's shops, galleries and restaurants.

When you wish to explore the arts and culture of Melbourne, you will find there is no shortage of entertainment outlets.

Perhaps you just want to catch a breath of fresh air and admire the great outdoors. There are plenty of opportunities to stroll about the numerous parks and gardens in Melbourne Australia.

While Touring Melbourne, there are a few attractions that you may want to add to your itinerary.

For the most sophisticated city in Australia check out some of the most popular tours:

• Penguin Parade at Phillip Island- Australian Wild Escapes private touring
• Dinner aboard the Colonial Tramcar
• Interested in sports? Go and see some Aussie games with a guide who can explain the rules!
• Wildlife walkabout
• Hot air balloon fly over the Yarra Valley
• Tour along the stunning Great Ocean Road

• 3 nights accommodation at the Hyatt Regency Adelaide
• Guided tour through Australia's premier wine region - the Barossa Valley
• City tour of Adelaide
• Visit Tandanya Aboriginal Museum with Gallery Tour
• 2 nights accommodation at the award winning Lake House in Daylesford including breakfast
• Champagne breakfast and 60 minute balloon flight over the Yarra Valley
• 4 day car rental in Victoria
• 2 nights at Melbourne très chic Lyall Hotel
• Private transfers

03/09