The Gungellan Hotel, est. 1886, Freeling S.A.
The Gungellan Hotel building and car park on Gray Street, Freeling, on a clear sunny day

The Gungellan Hotel, Freeling, South Australia: the McLeod's Daughters pub

The Gungellan Hotel, est. 1886, Freeling S.A.

A working front bar in Freeling, South Australia, pulling beers since 1886. Since 2001, the pub has been re-established as the one the whole country knows as the Gungellan Hotel from McLeod's Daughters.

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2 Gray St, Freeling SA 5372 • (08) 8525 2009 • Lunch 11:30–3 · Dinner 5:30–8 · 7 Days • As Seen on McLeod's Daughters, 2001–2009 • 2 Gray St, Freeling SA 5372 • (08) 8525 2009 • Lunch 11:30–3 · Dinner 5:30–8 · 7 Days • As Seen on McLeod's Daughters, 2001–2009 •

One Building, Two Names

From railway town to screen legend

Freeling was surveyed in 1860 as a stopping point on the new Gawler–Kapunda railway. Not long after, the town got a pub to match: the Railway Hotel, which opened its doors in 1886 and has been serving the district ever since.

For over a century it was simply the local: a bar for shearers, railway gangs and Barossa farmers on their way through the Mid North. That changed in 2001, when producers scouting South Australia for a new rural drama picked the pub, the truck stop and the showgrounds around it to stand in for the fictional town of Gungellan.

Eight seasons of McLeod's Daughters later, the name stuck. The hotel is still registered under its original title, but everyone, from locals to tour buses to the sign out front, knows it as the Gungellan Hotel.

1860
Freeling surveyed as a railway stopping point between Gawler and the Barossa Valley.
1886
The Railway Hotel opens on Gray Street, in the middle of town.
2001
Filming begins on McLeod's Daughters; the pub, truck stop and showgrounds become Gungellan.
2009
The series wraps after eight seasons, but the fans keep coming.
Today
Same front bar, same fireplace, still pulling beers under both names.

Gungellan, South Australia

The pub that plays a pub on TV

Gungellan was written as a fictional town, but the Ryans, the McLeods and half of rural Australia's television audience came to know this exact front bar as the beating heart of the show. Walk in and you're standing where the cast filmed for eight seasons straight.

The pub leans into it without turning into a museum. There's a section of wall kept as a tribute to a much-loved local who appeared as an extra throughout the series, and new and improved Gungellan Hotel merch is coming soon to the fans who make the trip.

Most of them come a long way to get here. Ask the tour operators who bring bus loads up from Adelaide and they'll tell you the same thing: this is a pilgrimage stop, not a pass-through.

The Gungellan Hotel on the main street of Freeling, as if playing on an old TV screen

By the numbers

~75%

of visitors on McLeod's Daughters location tours are estimated to have travelled from overseas, drawn to Freeling specifically to see this bar.

Local tour operator estimate, via The Adelaide Review

Inside The Front Bar

What you'll find when you push the door open

The front bar at the Gungellan Hotel, with corrugated iron, a stone fireplace and bar stools
01

Front Bar & Fireplace

The original bar, still doing what it's always done: cold beer on tap and a fire going when the Mid North nights turn cold.

The beer garden at the Gungellan Hotel, with umbrellas and wine-barrel tables on the lawn
02

Beer Garden

Barrels for tables and gum trees overhead: the spot for a drink outside once the sun's out over the Mid North.

The dining room floorboards and tables in the Gungellan Hotel's bistro room
03

Kitchen & Bistro

Lunch and dinner, seven days a week, from bar snacks to steak. The full spread is on the Menu.

04

Gaming Room

A quieter room off the main bar for the regulars who'd rather have a punt.

Mural of the Gungellan Hotel and McLeod's Daughters, with cowboy silhouettes on horseback and a windmill, painted on the dining room wall
05

The Tribute Wall

A corner of the pub set aside for a local who spent years as a background face on the show, still missed and still remembered.

Something On Every Night

Daily Themes

A different reason to come in most nights of the week: schnitzel night, happy hour and more.

Schnitzel Night, Tuesdays 5:30pm to 8pm, $22 schnitzel including gravy, $24 parmy, at the Gungellan HotelHappy Hour, Monday to Friday 4pm to 6pm, $7 pints, $5 schooners, $6 wines, at the Gungellan Hotel

Live & Loud

What's On

Live music and special events at the Gungellan. See the posters below for who's playing and when.

Kool Katz live at the Gungellan Hotel, Sunday 18 October, 12pm–3pmMon Cheri live at the Gungellan Hotel, Saturday 31 October, 8pm–lateBarking Ants live at the Gungellan Hotel, Saturday 7 November, 8pm–lateGungellan Goes Country with Derani, featuring Dallas List, Sunday 29 November, 12pm–4pmKool Katz live at the Gungellan Hotel, Friday 18 December, 8pm–late

From the Kitchen

Gungellan Must Haves

Schnitzel (GFA)

300g chicken or 300g beef, served with green salad & chips

$24.00

Fish & Chips (GFA, DFA) (I)

Crumbed, beer battered or herb grilled, served with green salad, chips & tartare

$19.00

Lime & Chilli Squid (GF, DF) (I)

Slaw, crispy shallots, chipotle aioli

$26.00
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Find Us

On the highway between Gawler and the Barossa

Contact & Location

Address
2 Gray Street, Freeling SA 5372
Phone
(08) 8525 2009
Region
Light Regional Council, ~60km north of Adelaide
On the way to
Barossa Valley & the Mid North
Lunch
11:30am – 3:00pm
Dinner
5:30pm – 8:00pm
Open
7 days a week

Getting Here

Freeling sits just off the Thiele Highway, on the old Gawler–Kapunda railway line, an easy detour if you're heading into the Barossa Valley for the day, or a stop in its own right if you're chasing the show.

The pub is easiest to spot by the crowd taking photos out front: look for the corner building on Gray Street, right in the middle of town.

Bus tours welcomeMerch at the barDogs on the verandah

Reserve Ahead

Book a Table

Lunch, dinner, birthdays, or a big group before the football. Online bookings are coming soon. In the meantime, give us a call and we'll have your table waiting.

Call (08) 8525 2009