Arts & Culture
Galleries & Makers
The best arts & culture in Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu has long drawn painters, sculptors and ceramicists. Today it is dotted with galleries, open studios, public sculpture trails and annual art prizes.
For a string of small coastal and country towns, the Fleurieu Peninsula has a deep creative streak. Artists and makers have long been drawn to the quality of the light and the landscape, and you'll find galleries, working studios and craft spaces scattered through Port Elliot, Goolwa, Willunga and McLaren Vale.
The region mixes the contemporary with the historic. The striking d'Arenberg Cube has become an icon of art-meets-wine in the McLaren Vale vineyards, while heritage galleries, public sculpture and regular exhibitions fill the old stone buildings of the river and coastal towns. Live music, festivals and open-studio weekends bring the calendar to life, especially through the warmer months.
Just as importantly, this is Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna country, and there are growing opportunities to learn about the peninsula's deep Aboriginal cultural heritage through guided walks, cultural tours and interpretive sites. Whether you're hunting for an original piece to take home, watching a maker at work, or simply wandering a gallery on a slow afternoon, the Fleurieu's arts scene rewards the curious. Many galleries and studios are free to visit, though hours can vary, so it's worth checking before you set out.
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9 places
Armfield Slip and Boatshed
A 1926 boatshed where wooden hulls are still saved
A working heritage boatshed on Riverside Drive where volunteers restore and build traditional wooden Murray River boats using century-old slipway equipment. Drop in on open days to watch the craft in action.
Big Easy Radio
$$Wine, music and a heritage stone cottage
A wine, music and lifestyle destination built around an 1875 stone cottage on Malpas Road, combining craft McLaren Vale wines with live music.
Gilbert's Motor Museum
Classic cars and motoring memorabilia
A family-run motor museum in the heart of Strathalbyn housing a rotating collection of classic cars, motoring memorabilia and vintage advertising.
Magpie Springs
$$Boutique wines and paintings on Willunga Hill
A boutique cellar door and working art gallery on the Willunga scarp, showcasing estate wines alongside paintings by Adelaide artist Avril Thomas in a garden setting with valley views.
Red Poles
$$Cafe, gallery and B&B on McMurtrie Road
Long-running McMurtrie Road cafe, restaurant, art gallery and B&B hidden in the bush behind Wirra Wirra - a McLaren Vale institution since the 1990s.
Red Poles Bed & Breakfast
$$Three-room B&B behind the Red Poles cafe
A three-room, pet-friendly B&B built around a central courtyard at Red Poles on McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale - with the cafe, gallery and gardens on the doorstep.
The Gallery at McLaren Vale Visitor Centre
A contemporary art gallery built into the rammed-earth Visitor Centre at the entrance to McLaren Vale, with rotating exhibitions and sweeping views over the vineyards.
Willunga Courthouse Museum
Step into an 1855 courtroom and police lock-up
The 1855 Willunga Courthouse and adjoining police cells have been preserved as a pocket museum by the National Trust, complete with magistrate's bench, dock, cells and stables.
Willunga Slate Museum
Tools and tales from a slate-roofing empire
A small National Trust museum on Willunga's historic High Street dedicated to the 19th-century slate quarries that roofed half of South Australia. Entry is free and the galleries are packed with original tools, photographs and local stories.