Private wine tour operators out of Adelaide

[vinonme2]

We will be in Adelaide in Feb. 2024 on a cruise and want to do a Barossa Valley small, private wine tour.  

 

My research isn't coming up with anything other than the large tour companies and group tours.  I'm really hoping you "locals" will be able to help me.  

 

Thank you.

[windsor26]

5 hours ago, vinonme2 said:

We will be in Adelaide in Feb. 2024 on a cruise and want to do a Barossa Valley small, private wine tour.  

 

My research isn't coming up with anything other than the large tour companies and group tours.  I'm really hoping you "locals" will be able to help me.  

 

Thank you.

Be very very very careful   We as a group booked a tour with a bus company for McLaren Vale wine tour and lunch and paid up front including insurance cover - quite a fair chunk of $$$.   We were stuck in Melbourne so had to cancel   The bus company SAID  they had not read the e mail for cancellation in time and would not refund one cent.   We did everything correctly but they were scammers    Speak with @diecastaussie  before you book in Adelaide

[Bubbeh]

2 hours ago, windsor26 said:

Be very very very careful   We as a group booked a tour with a bus company for McLaren Vale wine tour and lunch and paid up front including insurance cover - quite a fair chunk of $$$.   We were stuck in Melbourne so had to cancel   The bus company SAID  they had not read the e mail for cancellation in time and would not refund one cent.   We did everything correctly but they were scammers    Speak with @diecastaussie  before you book in Adelaide

What a dreadful story.  I may be naive but it wouldn't occur to me that a company operating out of SA would be scamming.  Crikey, that a bad image.  Were they actually located in SA and traceable?  Or, were they based OS and using a fake website? 

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

What a dreadful story.  I may be naive but it wouldn't occur to me that a company operating out of SA would be scamming.  Crikey, that a bad image.  Were they actually located in SA and traceable?  Or, were they based OS and using a fake website? 

It was coachhire.com.au - we were part of the  group that got scammed. I just checked their website and they are actually based in Newcastle. From what I gleaned from the reviews they contract other bus companies to provide the services. 

[NSWP]

Bad news re my Coral shipmates in Sept getting ripped off.  Coachhire.com gets terrible reviews.

 

Anyway back to the OP, check out Viator, I have used them for many tours world wide, they generally use decent tour operators and have some wine tours from Adelaide.

Edited January 12, 2023 by NSWP

[Creekside89]

We are booked with CP Tours for next month. There will be 10 of us. The company has 3 vans going to the Barossa that day and 2 going elsewhere. Payment is 3 days before, will automatically come off your credit card. 

[Bubbeh]

30 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

coachhire.com.au

Thanks for the heads up.

[ScottishRobbie]

I'd recommend these guys https://www.topfoodandwinetours.com.au/

[arxcards]

11 hours ago, vinonme2 said:

We will be in Adelaide in Feb. 2024 on a cruise and want to do a Barossa Valley small, private wine tour.  

 

My research isn't coming up with anything other than the large tour companies and group tours.  I'm really hoping you "locals" will be able to help me.  

 

Thank you.

While your search comes up with large companies, they mostly provide a banner for smaller companies to operate within. As an example, Viator won't operate tours to the Barossa Valley, but they allow for a reliable way to book and pay for those tours with a private operator. Yes, they also take a cut, but they will only keep good reliable tour operators on their books. As you would expect, they won't provide the tour operators details and risk losing their commission.

 

There are a couple of really good Barossa tour operators I know of but they don't pick-up from Adelaide, so I can't help with a personal recommendation.

[vinonme2]

 

I'm a bit gun shy right now as I did have a private tour booked but 2 days later he cancelled because he had gotten a booking for the same day from a travel agent that gives him business. So, I'm starting all over again. 

Thank you all for your responses, I will be checking into all of them (except for coachhire!). 

[willsaway]

On our 2020 circumnavigation cruise, I arranged a private tour for 10 from Taste The Barrosa. They picked us all up at the cruise terminal and we had an excellent day. Dropped back in plenty of time to board. The owner is a lass named Nicki. I can highly recommend her company. Is it still operating post Covid? I have no idea but I would hope so.

[Nang]

2 hours ago, willsaway said:

On our 2020 circumnavigation cruise, I arranged a private tour for 10 from Taste The Barrosa. They picked us all up at the cruise terminal and we had an excellent day. Dropped back in plenty of time to board. The owner is a lass named Nicki. I can highly recommend her company. Is it still operating post Covid? I have no idea but I would hope so.

It seems they are still going https://tastethebarossa.com.au/

[buchhalm]

13 hours ago, Nang said:

It seems they are still going https://tastethebarossa.com.au/

I can also recommend this company. Their coaches are not too big and they are not trying to "show" too many wineries. 

We had an excellent tour about a year ago with a very good driver/guide. My favourite stop was the first one, at Chateau Yaldara. 

[willsaway]

Chateau Yaldara was also a favourite of ours. So pleased the company survived. 

[Kellyansapansa]

Get in touch with Caprice Cars Chauffeured Vehicles. They are an independent local business with a small fleet offering very personalised service.

 

https://capricecars.com.au/