Occupying a converted, U-shaped winery office building 500m from Tanunda's main street, this newish backpackers is a clean, secure and shipshape affair, with good weekly rates. Management can help you find picking/pruning work. Bike hire $20 per day.

This boisterous ol' 1846 pub in the town centre is a real community hub. Pub rooms upstairs are good value and clean; out the back are nine ritzy mauve-coloured apartments. Downstairs, Duran Duran wails on the jukebox and schnitzels fall off the edges of plates (mains $18 to $37, serving noon to 2pm and 6pm to 8pm).

This spacious park just south of town is dotted with mature trees offering a little shade to ease your hangover. Facilities include a playground, barbecues, a laundry and bike hire for guests (per day $35). The flashy villas sleep up to six and have a two-night minimum stay.

These romantic, waterfront spa retreats and cottages are surrounded by vines and offer unbeatable privacy, comfort and serenity. Pet ducks waddle around rusty old ploughs as waterbirds splash down in the reservoir. Pricey, but worth it (good online specials; cheaper for multinight stays).

There are at least six different kinds of cabin at this shady park lined with pine trees, next to the Nuriootpa football oval (go Tigers!). All cabins have TVs, fridges and cooking facilities (not all come with with linen). Check out the 1930 Dodge 'House on Wheels' out the front − the seminal caravan?

Surrounded by vineyards and native shrubs, this farmhouse B&B has a private guest wing with exposed timber beams, separate guest entry and two country-style rooms. Snooze on the wide verandah and contemplate a day's successful (or imminent) wine touring.

Until a few years ago this quirky, retro place was actually a garage: now it's a bright B&B crammed full of amazing '50s and '60s memorabilia – everything from an old petrol pump to Coca-Cola glassware and chrome-and-red-vinyl barstools. Sleeps six in two bedrooms (no kids, sadly).

Celebrity SA gourmet Maggie Beer has been hugely successful with her range of condiments, preserves and pâtés (and TV appearances!). The vibe here isn't as relaxed as it used to be, but stop by for some gourmet tastings, an ice cream, a cooking demo or a takeaway hamper of delicious bites. Off Samuel Rd.

Spice up your Barossa experience with a visit to this converted red-brick bank (love the old brass vault!), now the backdrop for select Indian offerings such as ginger and garlic prawns, vegetable korma and a 'ridiculously tasty' chicken vindaloo.

A grandiose 1915 Federation-style villa on the hill behind the town, built from local pink and white granite. Accommodation in two plush suites behind the house (high colonial or high kitsch, depending on your world view). Breakfast is served in the main house.

An elegant, breezy room with huge windows facing the main street, Blond serves nutty coffee and all-day cafe fare, including awesome pumpkin, capsicum and feta muffins, plus blackboard specials (beef and shiraz pie!). Fake-blonde, botoxed tourists share the window seats with down-to-earth regulars.

The better looking of the town's two pubs, the friendly 1846 Angaston serves Barossa wines and the cheapest steaks this side of Argentina. Just try to ignore the Triumph of Silenus mural on the dining room wall ('Oh, it's hideous!' says the barmaid). There's basic shared-bathroom pub accommodation upstairs (singles and doubles $70).

One of the Barossa's landmark restaurants, Vintners stresses simple elegance in both food and atmosphere. The dining room has an open fire, vineyard views and bolts of crisp white linen; menus concentrate on local produce (pray the cider-baked pork belly is on the menu when you visit).

This small motel on the Adelaide side of town has been proudly renovated with shiraz-coloured render and cabernet-coloured doors. There are nine bright units and friendly hosts. Bike hire $40 per day.

This classic 1850 pub has a huge rep for its atmosphere, food and accommodation. The pub food is inventive with plenty of local wines to try. Accommodation takes the form of en suite pub rooms and cottage mews rooms out the back (doubles including breakfast from $80 and $125 respectively).

'Terroir' – a word often associated with the wine trade – defines the nature of a place: its altitude, its soil, its climate, its vibe. At this excellent restaurant it applies to ingredients, sourced seasonally from within 100 miles, and cooked with contemporary savvy. The menu changes weekly (pray for the house halloumi). Love the Mintaro slate floor!

About 12km north of Clare this beautiful, 170-year-old homestead – once with 50 staff, a church and a school – is still a 3000-acre working farm. Accommodation is in simple, renovated heritage buildings, sleeping two-to-10, some with shared bathrooms. You can also feed farm animals, walk a history trail (per person $15) or have a dip in the pool.

This huge, efficiently run park 4km south of town towards Auburn has secluded sites, all en suite cabins, a creek and giant gum trees. There's also an in-ground pool for cooling off postcycling.

On an 80-hectare farm over the hills 2km west of Watervale (it's a little hard to find − ask for directions), Batunga has four apartments in two stone cottages with Mintaro-slate floors, barbecues, kitchenettes and wood fires. This is beautiful country − undulating farmland studded with huge eucalyptuses.

A well-managed outfit offering seven contemporary cottages, encircled by country gardens and right on the Riesling Trail (Riesling Trail Bike Hire is across the street). The biggest cottage sleeps six; there are good deals on multinight stays.

Upstairs in this reimagined 1918 corner building are 10 surprisingly mod motel-style rooms. Very central, and with a long balcony above the street on which to sit, sip and survey. Two- and three-bedroom apartments also available (from $259).

There are plenty of rambling old pubs around town, but the stately Murray Bridge Hotel is your best bet for a feed, with roasts, sticky BBQ beef ribs and more seafood than steaks. Savvy wine list, too.

A clean-cut caravan park right on the river next to the Mannum ferry crossing. Ducks and water hens patrol the lawns, and there's a pool table in the games room for when it rains. Lots of shade-giving gums.

This 1974 paddle boat is done with chugging up and down the river: these days it's a floating backpackers on the Waikerie riverfront, with basic bunkrooms – low-ceilinged and a tad dim, but undeniably novel. Also onboard are a bar, pool table, sundeck and Thai cafe (mains $14 to $20). Popular with the fruit-picking set.

Much of this huge pub burnt down in 2012, two days shy of its 100th birthday! The 19 rebuilt en suite pub rooms upstairs are awesome: fancy linen, glowing bar fridges and big TVs, with leather and granite everywhere. The bistro does pub-grub classics (mains $16 to $35). Slightly cheaper are the updated motel rooms out the back.

Offers a raft of riverside properties to rent from Mannum heading upstream, sleeping two to 20 bods. Most of them are right on the water: 36 River Lane is a solid Mannum-centric option with room for 10 (from $450). Houseboats also available.

The family-friendly Pretoria (built 1900) has a vast bistro and deck fronting the river, and plates up big steaks, roo medallions, parmas and good seafood. When the 1956 flood swamped the town they kept pouring beer from the 1st-floor balcony!

This keenly managed, facility-rich lakeside park has small beaches (safe swimming), electric barbecues, a camp kitchen, a laundry and plenty of room for kids to run amok. Lots of trees and waterfront camp sites too, plus tandems, canoes and paddleboats for hire.

Right across the road from the lake, this tidy, good-value motel has a pool, in case the lake is looking a bit soupy. Rooms are compact and nothing flash, but they're immaculate and many have lake views.

About 19km northwest of Barmera, this moody 1859 boozer is named after a Murray River bend where drovers used to camp. The pub walls ooze character and the meals are drover sized, plus there's a museum, resident ghosts, a beaut beer garden and four walking trails leading down to the river (pick up the Historic Overland Corner brochure in Barmera).

On the gum-studded Habels Bend, 2km from town, this affable riverside park bills itself as 'The Quiet One'. You can hire a canoe (per hour $15), and there's a free nine-hole golf course (usually sandy, occasionally flooded). Free wi-fi.

With all profits siphoned back into the Loxton community, this large complex offers immaculate rooms with tasty weekend packages. The original pub dates from 1908, and it has been relentlessly extended. Bistro meals available for breakfast, lunch and dinner (mains $18 to $32). Free wi-fi, too.

This eclectic hostel is destination numero uno for work-seeking travellers, who chill out in quirky New Age surrounds after a hard day's manual toil. Rooms range from messy dorms to doubles, share houses, a tepee and a yurt − all for the same price. The managers can hook you up with harvest work (call in advance).

This mustard-and-maroon monolith near the river has hotel rooms (shared bathrooms) and a wing of spacious en suite motel rooms. The cavernous bistro serves upmarket pub grub (mains $19 to $33, open for dinner), or there's a cafe for lighter breakfasts and lunches. A slick operation, albeit a bit Vegas. Free wi-fi.

A cheery new cafe on the hill a few blocks back from the river, with a natty lime-green colour scheme. Serves soups, quiches, burgers, curries, wraps and good coffee. Homemade cakes, scones and chocolate pecan pudding, too.

Highlights of this spiffy riverfront park, 1km east of town, include a camp kitchen, canoe and paddleboat hire, and absolute waterfront cabins and powered sites. The newish corrugated-iron cabins are top notch, and look a little 'Riviera' surrounded by scraggy palms. The waterskiing fraternity swarms here during holidays.

What a beauty! The sexy art deco curves of Renmark's humongous pub are looking good. Choose from older-style hotel rooms and upmarket motel rooms. On a sultry evening it's hard to beat a cold beer and some grilled barramundi on the balcony at Nanya Bistro (mains $18 to $37, serving noon to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 9pm). Free wi-fi.

Right on the river, this old pub/club has been reborn as a shiny mod bistro, serving upmarket pub food (rustic shank pie, brandy-braised beef cheeks) with unbeatable water views. The club also runs the slick new taupe-and-timber Renmark Holiday Apartments (%1300 855 563; www.renmarkholidayapartments.com.au; 161 Murray Ave; 1-/2-bedroom apt from $195/235; a), across the road.

Generous in spirit and unfailingly clean, this lakeside B&B goes to great lengths to ensure your stay is comfortable. There'll be fresh bread baking when you arrive, jars of homemade biscuits, and bountiful bacon and eggs for breakfast. There's a modern self-contained studio off to one side, and a renovated stone cottage − book either, or both.

A breezy park with a beaut aspect overlooking pelican-prone Lake Albert (the best camp sites are right on the lakefront). The four deluxe two-bedroom cabins ($155) are the pick of the cabins.

Lean on the front bar with the locals, or munch into steaks, schnitzels, Coorong mullet or a Coorong wrap (with mullet!) in the cavernous dining room of this converted cheese factory (you might have guessed!). The very lo-fi Meningie Cheese Factory Museum (%08-8575 1914; www.meningiecheesefactorymuseum.com; 3 Fiebig Rd, Meningie; per person $5; h8.30am-5pm) is here, too (butter churns, old typewriters, domestic knick-knackery).

This historic inn (1859) has a half-dozen bright and cosy upstairs pub rooms with shared bathrooms – great value. The pub grub is good, too (mains $17 to $40, serving noon to 2pm and 6pm to 8.30pm).

Right on Lake Fellmongery (a 'fellmonger' is a wool washer, don't you know), this abstractly laid out, rather boutique park has heritage-listed pine trees and reception building (130-year-old former stables), plenty of grass, basic cabins and flashy villas.

At the quiet end of town (and a five-minute walk from the action), this tidy, well-run motel has namesake harbour views from the best half-dozen rooms at the front. The standard rooms out the back don't have views but are perfectly decent (who needs views when you're asleep?). Expect nice linen, subtle colours and vamped-up bathrooms.

Overlooking the waterskiing mecca Lake Fellmongery, Lakeview is one of Robe's better motels. The decor is on the improve (slowly banishing the late-'90s), the rooms are roomy and immaculately clean, and the barbecue area pumps during summer. Free wi-fi.

A lovely, L-shaped, low-ceilinged 1850s stone cottage behind the local bookshop. The two bedrooms sleep four, and there's a compact kitchen, welcoming lounge and flower-filled garden. The Savage family (Mr and Mrs Savage and their 12 sons!) once lived here. Minimum stay of three nights during summer.

A well-pruned, shady park nooked into the base of a hill in the town centre; new management has really lifted it off the canvas. Facilities include a laundry, covered barbecues, crayfish cookers and a great little playground. The kitchen cabins on the hilltop are lovely.

In what was Beachport's first pub (1873), Bompas is an all-in-one small hotel and licensed restaurant-cafe. Rooms upstairs are generously sized and strewn with modern art (room No 3 has million-dollar views). Menu offerings downstairs (mains $13 to $32, serving noon to 2pm and 6pm to 8pm) include Chinese stir-fries, lamb shanks and steaks, plus there are quiz nights and decent beers.

If you can forget that this place was a prison until 1995 (either that or embrace the fact), these refurbished old buildings make for an atmospheric and comfortable stay. There's a backpacker dorm in one building, or you can up the spooky stakes and sleep in a former cell. There's a bar with occasional live bands, too. Free wi-fi.

Adjacent to the Blue Lake, a golf course and walking and cycling tracks, this amiable park has some natty grey-and-white cabins and well-weeded lawns. There are also spiffy contemporary, self-contained 'retreats' (from $192) that sleep four.

Most locals don't know about Colhurst − it's up a laneway off a side street (Wyatt St), and you can't really see it from downtown Mt G. It's an 1878 mansion built by Welsh migrants, and manages to be old-fashioned without being overly twee. There's a gorgeous wrap-around balcony upstairs with great views over the rooftops. Cooked breakfast.

In Mount Gambier's western wastelands, this old corner pub has spent a fortune renovating its three upstairs rooms. Polished timber floors, double glazing, marble bathrooms and coffee-and-cream colour schemes − a really slick product. Shared kitchen for cooking breakfast (provisions provided).

A 7km drive out of town on the road to Nelson, the Barn is a complex of fancy new motel-style accommodation options – from doubles to two-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom houses – plus a fab steak restaurant, plating up local beef (mains $33 to $38, serving dinner nightly). Popular with the conference set.

In a Spanish Mission–style house on the main street, this five-bedroom backpackers is a timely addition to the Limestone Coast accommodation scene. There's a tidy and clean kitchen, roses and daffodils out the front and a BBQ terrace out the back. Air-con in some rooms. Ask about their beach house in Southend.

This lace-trimmed megalith (1872) is Penola's community hub. The rooms upstairs are nothing flash and share bathrooms, but they're decent bang for your buck. Downstairs is a huge tartan-carpeted dining room (mains $15 to $23, serving 11.30am to 2pm and 6pm to 8pm) serving contemporary pub food and schnitzels as big as your head.

Plush Must has sexy roof curves reminiscent of a certain opera venue in Sydney. Accommodation ranges from studios to apartments, with sustainable features aplenty: rainwater showers, double glazing and insulation, solar hot water, natural cleaning products etc. Bike hire $20 per day.

Feeling romantic? A short stroll from town on the road to Millicent, Georgie's is a cute little stone cottage fronted by blooming roses and hollyhocks. Gourmet provisions include chocolates and sparkling wine, which you may or may not feel like cracking into for breakfast.

A bright, mod cafe serving baguettes, all-day breakfasts, great coffee and internationally inspired lunches (try the Chinese pork-and-prawn rice paper rolls). Nattering Penolans chew muffins and local cheeses, discussing the nuances of various vintages.

A classy, intimate dining room tastefully constructed inside an old Methodist church, with friendly staff and seasonal fare. The menu is studded with ingredients like truffled parsnip, date couscous and mustard 'liaison' − serious gourmet indicators! The prices are getting up there, but so is the quality. Superb wine list with lots of locals (…the beer list could be craftier).