Family Activities
For Kids & Parents
The best family activities in Fleurieu Peninsula
The horse-drawn tram at Victor Harbor, steam trains at Goolwa, calm bays for swimming, farm animal experiences and playgrounds - the Fleurieu is a family holiday legend.
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a brilliant place to travel with children, with a stack of things to do that work for all ages and most weather. The classic family day out is at Victor Harbor: ride the heritage horse-drawn tram across the causeway to Granite Island, then hop aboard the Cockle Train, a historic steam-and-heritage railway that runs along the coast to Goolwa.
There's plenty more to keep kids busy. Think mini golf and foreshore playgrounds, the trout farm at Tooperang where you can catch your own, wildlife parks, and gentle, swimmable beaches up and down the Gulf St Vincent coast. Markets, farm gates and pick-your-own orchards turn a simple drive into an adventure, and the region's many short, flat walks and rail trails are easy going for little legs and prams.
Rainy days are well covered too, with museums, galleries, indoor play and family-friendly cafés in the larger towns. Most attractions are close together and easy to string into a single outing, and lots of beaches, walks and parks are free. For the most popular activities and the Cockle Train, check seasonal timetables and book ahead during school holidays.
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114 places
Adelaide's Top Food & Wine Tours
Personalised small-group food and wine tours showcasing McLaren Vale's signature producers - Adelaide pickup with a focus on long lunches and multiple cellar doors.
Aldinga Beach
Drive-on beach of firm beige sand
One of the few South Australian beaches where you can legally drive your car onto the sand, a broad flat stretch perfect for kite-flying and sunset-watching.
Alexandrina Cheese Company
A small family Jersey dairy in the Mount Compass hinterland, hand-crafting hard-style farmhouse cheese from a single herd of grass-fed Jersey cows.
Basham Beach
A quiet, family-friendly stretch of sand just east of Middleton, part of the Basham Beach Regional Park, with a clifftop walking trail and good rock pools.
Big Duck Boat Tours
Eco-certified marine wildlife tours on the south coast
Small-group wildlife boat tours from the Granite Island Causeway at Victor Harbor, with seals, dolphins and - in winter - southern right whales.
BIG4 Cape Jervis Station & Caravan Park
$$Working station accommodation above Backstairs Passage
Working station-turned-holiday park perched above Cape Jervis, with motel rooms, cottages and campsites overlooking Kangaroo Island and the Heysen Trail.
BIG4 Port Elliot Holiday Park
$$Beachfront caravan park at Horseshoe Bay
A family caravan park right on the beach at Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot - cabins, ensuite sites, caravan and camping sites, and a direct walk to the sand.
BIG4 Port Willunga Tourist Park
$$Shaded bushland tourist park near the cliffs
Shaded bushland caravan and cabin park a short drive from the iconic Port Willunga cliffs, Aldinga Beach and the McLaren Vale cellar doors.
Bristow Smith Reserve
A riverside nature playground with a wooden boat
Goolwa's premier riverside park features an award-winning nature playspace built around a 10-metre restored wooden fishing boat, right on the Murray River with BBQs, shelters and a shallow swimming beach.
Canoe the Coorong
Kayak tours into the Coorong wetlands
Guided kayak tours from Hindmarsh Island into the Coorong National Park - a Ramsar-listed wetland system of lagoons, sand dunes and waterbirds.
Cape Fishing Charters
A custom-built charter vessel fishing Backstairs Passage and The Pages from Cape Jervis - seven days a week, tackle provided.
Carrickalinga Beach
A wide white-sand beach north of Normanville
A wide, flat, white-sand beach stretching 3km along the Gulf St Vincent north of Normanville - safe for swimming, excellent for beach walks and one of the Fleurieu's best family beaches.
Carrickalinga Lookout
A clifftop lookout on Forktree Road above Carrickalinga with sweeping views over the bay, the Sellicks Hills and the Gulf St Vincent coast.
Chook's Little Winery Tours
Multi-award-winning small-group minibus wine tours visiting boutique McLaren Vale cellar doors - Adelaide and Glenelg pickup, up to six wineries per day.
Christies Beach
A long, sheltered family beach at the northern gateway to the Fleurieu, with a foreshore playground, boardwalk and a popular surf life saving club.
Coast to Vines Rail Trail
Thirty-seven flat kilometres from sea to slate
A 37-kilometre sealed rail trail along the old Willunga railway corridor, running from Marino on the coast through the McLaren Vale vineyards and ending on the edge of historic Willunga township.
Currency Creek Township
A historic township once considered by William Light as the capital of South Australia, with a Lions Park picnic area beside the spring-fed creek and an 1913 Institute building.
Day Spa at McCracken
The resort day spa at McCracken Country Club, offering massage, facials and couples treatments alongside the golf and accommodation.
Down The Rabbit Hole Wines
Alice in Wonderland meets McLaren Vale
A whimsical, Alice in Wonderland-themed cellar door and restaurant on Binney Road, with vineyard gardens, long lunches and estate wines.
Dunes Mini Golf Park
An 18-hole marine-themed mini golf course on the Victor Harbor Esplanade, right next to the Granite Island causeway and the horse-drawn tram.
Encounter Bikeway
30km sealed cycling and walking path
A mostly flat 30km sealed path running along the Encounter Coast between Victor Harbor and Goolwa - perfect for families, casual walkers and cyclists.
Encounter Lakes
A calm man-made saltwater lake at Encounter Bay with two swim beaches and sheltered paddling for families - one of the safest swimming spots near Victor Harbor.
Encounter Wetlands Reserve
A samphire estuarine wetland on Matthew Flinders Drive at Encounter Bay, with a sealed walking path, shaded shelters, fish nursery and rich birdlife.
Encounter Yoga
Hatha yoga classes across Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor and the south coast, suited to all levels with beach and studio sessions.