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Tailem Bend, SA

Tailem Bend is the first town you arrive at if you drive east from Adelaide. Many a traveller has been pleasantly surprised by what they find when they leave the highway and arrive in the town centre.

Tailem Bend ‘an hour from anywhere’ – Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa Valley, the Riverland, and the Fleurieu Peninsula. This makes it the ideal place to stay and venture out for daily visits around the region.

Visit Old Tailem Town, a replica colonial village. Picnic on the river’s edge, where you can sit in peace and enjoy the scenery.

Pioneer village

You can pick up a lot about the region’s European history at Old Tailem Town, one of Australia’s largest pioneer villages, five kilometres from Tailem Bend off the freeway to Adelaide. The centre opened in 1988 to preserve Australian social history, with the conservation of 90 old buildings and the restoration and presentation of various relics, including old railway equipment, along 12 streets.
Nearby, the Coorong, an inland sea of shimmering, shallow lagoons running south from the Murray River, remains an untouched bastion of coastal wilderness.
A protected national park, the region is home to more than 200 nesting bird species and 275 plant species. Pelicans breed here in large numbers. Banded stilts, black swans, Australian shelducks, Pacific black and musk ducks and chestnut teals bob on the water and add to the early morning noise. Keen birdwatchers spend hours seeking the elusive rufous bristlebird and the exquisite firetail.
Those with a desire to experience Australia’s indigenous culture head for Camp Coorong, an Aboriginal cultural centre where visitors can stay and learn about the lifestyle of Australia’s first  inhabitants. Camp Coorong is run by the Ngarrindjeri people to teach visitors about bush food, traditional life and Dreaming stories. Learn about the Ngarrindjeri people’s relationship with land and their culture; view a midden site; watch the art of Ngarrindjeri basket-weaving and gain insights into the environment, animals, medicine and food plants of the Coorong.

Nearest Airport: Adelaide

Where to stay?

Experiences

  • Caravan and Camping
  • Rural/Country
  • Food and Wine
  • Historic/Heritage
  • Nature based
  • Self-Drive

Popular Activities

  • Bird Watching
  • Fishing - Estuary
  • Golfing
  • Swimming
  • Golfing
  • National Park
  • Fishing
  • Golfing
  • National Park

About Tailem Bend

  • Locality: Urban locality
  • Tailem Bend Postcode: 5260
  • State: South Australia
  • Region: Murray River Lakes and Coorong
  • Latitude: -35.2538
  • Longitude: 139.45428
  • Elevation: 23m
  • Population: 1665
  • Median Income: $24492
  • Area (Sq/km): 233.814
  • Timezone: Australia/Adelaide

Accommodation In Tailem Bend

Discover some of the accommodation in and around Tailem Bend

Explore The Outback

Australia has a vast remote interior, much of it largely untouched. By night, the outback is deathly quiet, with the only light provided by the stars and the moon - a perfect oportunity for stargazing. Explore the isolated heart of the country, meet and connect with Aboriginal people and experience one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Go ‘walk-about’ and immerse yourself with Australia’s endless outback horizons.

Outback Experiences

Luxe Accommodation

Enjoy a distinctly Australian luxury experience, such as the unforgettable reefs, islands, beaches and coast; rugged mountain ranges, rainforests and vast national parks; and the many vibrant food and wine regions. Take a once in a lifetime adventure and discover the sheer indulgence of experiencing the wonders of Australia in style and stay in total luxury.

Australia has wide variety of accommodation options to suit most budgets and travelling preferences. Choose from luxury lodges, boutique hotels, serviced apartments, motels, bed and breakfasts, caravan parks as well as youth and backpacker hostels.

Accommodation

Glasshouse Mountains

The Glasshouse Mountains in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast are actually the cores of 20 million year old volcanoes. The sides of the volcanoes have eroded away leaving only the hardened rock spiremountain cores we see today. Learn more about this awe-inspiring landscape.

Glasshouse Mountains