Come for the footy. Drive for the food. Find the wine.

Heading to Adelaide to watch the Footy?

The recently revamped, renewed and re-energised Adelaide Oval has become an absolute beacon particularly for AFL fans across Australia, with delighted fans flooding into Adelaide to really enjoy watching and cheering for their team.

Many have discovered how to take that amazing sporting experience a step further. More and more footy fans who also happen to be serious ‘foodies’ are making a real weekend of it, by discovering all the touristy delights that South Australia has to offer.

So if you’re planning to head for the Adelaide Oval’s now world famous, football experience, why not plan a cheeky side trip or two, before or after the big match. A quick click to check out Adelaide car rentals will not only get you a great value deal on a latest model rental car, they’ll help steer you in the (various) right directions, no matter what interest you have.

Firstly, for all you football foodies, and as any Adelaide car rental consultant will happily tell you, the quality of Adelaide’s restaurants is something to behold, but if you’re feeling adventurous, jump in your Koala rental and head for McLaren Vale’s café’s restaurants and eateries, about 30 minutes drive south.

The area is not only a picture postcard location, with the southern Adelaide Hills providing a gorgeous backdrop, ‘The Vale’, as it’s fondly referred to, is brimming with an enticing array of local produce. Along with plentiful meats, fruits & veg, the region’s distinctive olives, cheeses, dairy products, condiments and the like, are lifting the local chefs menus to new gastronomic heights.

For all you footy-foodies with a more European palette, Hahndorf – 15 minutes along the South East Freeway in the Adelaide Hills – is a popular German community with a typically German passion for food and beer. Take it from us, the Hahndorf main street tastes as authentic as it looks. Out it this way, can any hardened footy fan resist the thought of a full German beerstein next to a serious Schnitzel.

The Clare Valley is another destination that’s popped up on the foodies-road-map. With surprisingly delightful restaurants peppered amongst the valley’s villages and wineries, drawing fans back again and again. The Skillogalee Restaurant nestled in the Kilikanoon Ranges has been both whetting and satisfying appetites for years, so it’s no surprise that more and more footy-foody-fans are sniffing it out and, as they say in footy fandom, ‘getting around it’!

And there lies the real value (and it’s no real secret!) of all these sumptuous Footy-Foodie-Fan Flings around South Australia. The chances are – every fabulous foodie destination you discover – thanks to your awesome valued Adelaide car rental – will have you smack bang in the high diddle diddle of… one of South Australia’s world-class wine regions.

McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and, of course, the mighty Barossa Valley all get the world’s wine lovers hearts beating faster, but if the old chestnut of “where’s there’s great wine, there’s great food” rings true, it’s here in South Australia.

After the big footy match, comes the equally big matching of wines with food, so here’s a quick guide as to which region produces which best wine varieties;

The Clare Valley can and does proudly hang its hat on its Riesling. In fact, if you want to sip the truth, may we suggest you grab a Pikes’ Riesling. Even red wine fans will know a quality white when it hits their lips.

The Adelaide Hills cooler climate is responsible for some pretty reasonable whites from wineries like Nepenthe and Starve Dog Lane. And while NZ’s Marlborough rules, our Hills produce South Australia’s best Savvy Blancs.

McLaren Vale is home to a name that died-in-the-wool red wine fans will know; Wirra Wirra and their Church Block Shiraz blend was, is and (this writer thinks) always will be one of the best quaffs and best value Red blends.

The Barossa Valley of course, is the benchmark and the Mecca’ of wine buffs. Barossa Cabernet Sauvignons are just one of the regions signature drops, along with stand out whites, sparling whites and dessert wines.

Suffice to say, the next time your planning an Adelaide Oval experience, remember this. Whether it’s a case of go the Power, go the Crows, go your team… make a big weekend of it and go Koala Car Rentals, too! A footy-foodie side trip to any of South Australia’s food & wine regions will be more than worth the investment in an Adelaide car rental driven adventure.