Boutique Watervale stay This is a boutique option for a stay…read morein the Clare Valley. Located about a 2-minute drive from Watervale and a 15-minute drive from Clare, you'll be staying in a with stone cottage on a country property. The grounds are beautiful, and the cottage is comfortable with a kitchenette/lounge/dining room and bathroom! Kerry is a wonderful hostess and stocks the cottage with ample breakfast provisions (fresh fruit, organic muesli, bread, a selection of jams, honey, yoghurt, bacon, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms) and gourmet snacks. We arrived to find a bottle of Riesling in the fridge, cheese, crackers, pate and olives - this was a wonderful touch. We really appreciated the gas BBQ because there is a fabulous butcher in nearby Clare. We stayed in the Kookaburra Cottage. The space didn't work that well for us because we are on a long road trip with lot of luggage, but this is a lovely option for a weekend treat!

We chose the Riesling Trail & Clare Valley Cottages (RTCV) due to the proximity to the trail--it's…read moreliterally at your front door--and the sense of privacy the photos suggested. We were chuffed with our decision. We stayed in Daisy Cottage which is the Southern most cottage, and one of the most private. It was small and tidy--just what we needed for a weekend away. The wood fire made the cottage just perfect. In the living area there was a queen size bed and small couch, off to the side an ample kitchenette, and a bathroom with a full-size spa bath. We opted for the Getaway Package which included provisions for a hot breakfast--I told them I was vegan and was met with tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, bread; all the good stuff,--a bottle of wine, port and a few other little touches to make the stay even more enjoyable. We also got discount bike hire as part of this package. As I said earlier, the cottages are right on the trail. The bike hire place is directly across the road. We spent half a day on the Riesling Trail, visiting Kirrihill, Tim Adams, Sevenhill and Little Red Grape in Sevenhill--the adjacent homeware store is amazing. All these wineries are highly recommended. RTCV Cottages are perfect for a couple wanting to get away from the city for a weekend. Highly recommended.

I had a lovely stay at the Clare Valley Motel. Clean, comfortable and sophisticated; this really…read moreis a top notch place. I'd never been to the Clare before, Lee and Jan were very helpful and friendly in suggesting which wineries to explore. There is also a lovely dog named Chippie, big pool, BBQ, and beautiful roses!

Best family room ever!! Children really loved the swimming pool and made good use of it. The…read morerestaurant meals were well presented and generous servings. Children n enjoyed the crumbed garfish while the adults both had Poe fillet with maple sauce and apple accompanied by seasonal vegetables which left no room for desert!! All staff were most helpful and friendly!!

Fantastic place to stay with the family. Great trail walk and you can wake up and feed the animals…read moreon the farm in the morning. Great breakfast provisions when you stay! Will be back!

This is quite a lovely pub, though it is easy to miss namely because it doesn't happen to be…read morelocated on the main road. However, the service was pretty good, even though there was a lack of beer selection, but then again that is sort of to be expected when dealing with a pub out in the country. However, they had a pretty large beer garden out the back, which was really cool, and the interior had quite a lot of charm about it as well. Yeah, it was also rather quiet, but then again I suspect that might have been because I was up here outside of the tourist season. The other thing about this place that I thought was really cool was the pet blue tongue lizard, but then again they tend to be frequent visitors this far out.

What a beautiful country pub. Cost on a winter's night with…read moreopen fire and leather lounges to sit around it and chat. Dining room is nice there is a closed in verandah. And with the new addition of the outside bar is great. I just wish the steps to the toilet had better hand rails. Great staff, change of menu would be nice but again the food is always a hit

Mintaro pub lunch We had a really enjoyable lunch at this…read moreheritage listed country pub. The lamb shank was delicious and the vegetable lasagne was good. The food on the other diners' plates also looked good! We did have to wait a while for our food though!

Right, so we were in the Clare Valley on a weeknight and desperately tried to find a restaurant…read more Our guide said that Mintaro is one of the most famous towns, not only for its historic buildings but also in terms of accommodation and restaurants. Well, whoever wrote that guide should consider rewriting it - at least in what concerns restaurants. The Magpie and Stump Hotel was the only place that was open in the whole town, it was probably also the only place where we saw lights or any sign of life. Walking in, you feel like you've been transferred back into time. Seriously. We walked in and my first thought was 'Where the hell am I here?'. The place looks old and outdated, yet somehow charming because it's very different to what you'd expect. They serve traditional pub food and the only other people in there had the same food as we did: pie. You can't go wrong with pie. It was good and they have a large selection of beer and wines. Would I go back? Well, it was truly a unique experience but, unless I'd be stuck in Mintaro, I don't really see a reason to drive into the middle of nowhere just to enjoy something I could have pretty much anywhere else.

Such an amazing place and it has been kept in mint condition. The tour guide was very knowledgeable…read moreabout the history of the place and was very easy to talk to. The smells in the rooms, combined with the beautiful music playing throughout, made me feel like we were stepping back in time a bit. Loved every inch of this place.

Martindale Hall is a place steeped in history and filled with stunningly beautiful carpets,…read morefurniture and artefacts . It is hard to imagine the wealth and inspiration required by the original owner. It is extremely well maintained and we as visitors felt relaxed in waking throughout the rooms without the piercing eyes of staff watching our every move as often happens in homes such as this. An extremely worthwhile experience!!

A roadhouse in a 19th century buttery. Sounds like it should be in a quaint ye olde English…read morevillage, instead it's located at the entrance to the Clare Valley. And with a debonaire looking grasshopper as its namesake, it could be a place straight out of Wind In The Willows. The Grasshopper Roadhouse is one of those places that you feel has been there forever. I remember passing it many times travelling from Clare to Adelaide as a kid. And now I can show it off to my own daughter. Apparently it was named after it's sister business, The Grasshopper Inn, in the UK. And I suppose a roadhouse is the modern equivalent to those old English inns. Unfortunately you won't be able to order a pint of ale to go with your slab of stilton, but you are able to get a decent coffee and Pine-Lime Splice ice-cream (if that's your bag - and when you're 5 years old, it generally is). They also proclaim to have a big all day brekkie, hamburgers and the usual roadhouse fare. You can also fuel up while you're there. There is the option of sitting inside and taking in the general quaintness of the stone building, or you can sit outside at the hewn stone picnic table and chairs. Although on a particularly sunny day, with minimal shade, it may leave you feeling a little on the cooked side. Coming into the so-called 'silly season', it's important to stop, revive, survive. What better way to do that, than in true Ratty and Mole style at the Grasshopper Roadhouse.