Five South Australian road trips made for slow travel.

Begin around McLaren Vale or the northern coast. Choose one food or wine anchor and one landscape stop, then stay locally rather than treating the peninsula as a detour.

Move through the Hills slowly: one village, one garden or short walk, and one pre-booked meal is enough. Keep live fire and park conditions in the plan.

Use a booked tour, transfer or designated driver for tastings. A focused afternoon and a local night leave room for dinner without an onward drive.

Give Clare two days so the 33-kilometre Riesling Trail, villages and producers do not compete for the same afternoon. Return to Adelaide only after a proper second morning.

Travel south through one coastal base—Port Elliot, Victor Harbor or the southern peninsula—then position close enough to protect the ferry check-in. Deep Creek still has bushfire-recovery closures, so let live access decide the walk.

The Cape Jervis–Penneshaw ferry takes about 45 minutes, but check-in, loading, weather and onward island driving require much more time. Book vehicle, passengers and accommodation together, then keep the arrival day light.

Separate the east and west, reserve a full day for Flinders Chase and check National Parks SA alerts before committing to the long western drive. Keep wildlife, weather and road conditions—not a checklist—in charge of the pace.

Leave enough margin for the booked sailing and the drive from Cape Jervis. If the crossing moves because of conditions, the final day should absorb the change without risking a flight or another fixed deadline.

Use Ardrossan, Stansbury or a nearby town as the first coastal pause. This is a transfer day with room for a jetty, foreshore or local meal—not the day to chase the peninsula's southern tip.

Stay two nights near the southern park and build walks, beaches and heritage around conditions. Feral bee activity is currently higher than normal and Pondalowie Bay's surfers' viewing platform is closed after storm damage.

Move north through only the stops that fit the weather and daylight, then stay around Point Turton, Hardwicke Bay or another matched base. Leave remote beaches alone when access or seas are doubtful.

Finish around Wallaroo, Moonta or Kadina before the return. Five days makes the peninsula a road trip; adding every coastal town would make it a sequence of car parks.

Use Clare as the transition from city to outback: arrive early enough for a trail section or town walk, and use a tour or designated driver if wine is part of the afternoon.

Continue through the Mid North and Port Augusta, then choose one outback town as the overnight base. Refuel early, arrive in daylight and check the Desert Parks Bulletin before leaving sealed roads.

Bunyeroo and Brachina Gorge roads remain closed after heavy rain, while several walks have reopened. Build these days around places National Parks SA explicitly lists as open, then recheck every road, creek crossing and walk immediately before setting out.

Break the drive in Quorn, Port Augusta or the Mid North and reach Adelaide before fatigue or wildlife turns the last hours into the hardest part of the journey.

Begin with one northern or central Fleurieu experience and stay around Victor Harbor or Port Elliot. Check Deep Creek's fire-recovery access before treating a park walk as part of the day.

Follow the coast through the Coorong with one deliberate wetland or town stop, then make Robe the base. This is a long landscape day, not an excuse to collect every lookout.

Give the coast a full conditions-led day around Robe or Beachport. Use marked access, take exposed water seriously and leave a winery for the inland section.

Book the cave tour that suits the group's access needs, then continue toward Penola or Coonawarra. If tasting, arrange transport before the first cellar door.

Use one day for Warwar, Balumbul and the city, then one for a booked cave or southern-coast detour. Little Blue Lake is for experienced swimmers only and cliff jumping is prohibited.

The direct Mount Gambier–Adelaide drive is substantial. Leave early, stop properly and avoid attaching a fixed evening commitment to the end of the road trip.