The capital of South Australia is too often overlooked by travellers, but this only means you don’t have to find yourself in tourist crowds. The most popular place to visit is Adelaide Central Market. But there are also the excellent Adelaide Botanic Gardens and Adelaide Zoo, and a lot of interesting Adelaide museums, including the old Adelaide Gaol. Adelaide’s problem is probably its location, away from the more popular east coast, but if you are in the area, the town is definitely worth a visit. In the end of this page there is a map of Adelaide.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Central Adelaide Adelaide is very symmetrically planned, with Victoria Square in the hub, and four other squares around it. The city centre is between the North, South and West Terraces in north, south and west; and Hutt Street in the east. The main street from south to north is King William Street which goes all the way to north Adelaide; and the main street east-west is Grote Street which changes name to Wakefield Street east of Victoria Square.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Eastern City Centre East from the Victoria Square is St Francis Xavier Cathedral, west is St Mary’s Convent, and north is the Town Hall with the tourist information centre. On the surrounding streets there are a lot of hotels and restaurants, and east of the Town Hall is the Tandanya Indigenous Cultural Institute, an interesting place to learn about the culture of Australian Aboriginal People.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Western City Centre West of the Town Hall are the Adelaide Central Market and the Chinatown. As all the other Australian Chinatowns, it’s a colourful place to stroll and not that you will understand many signs unless you can read Chinese, but that’s what makes it different. There are many Chinese restaurants and interesting shops; and the Adelaide Central Market is a great place to stroll around.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Northern Town Centre But most of the action happens in and around Rundle Mall, north of Town Hall and the Chinatown. Like the malls of many other Australian towns and cities, Rundle Mall is a pedestrian mall with lots of shops and restaurants.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Adelaide Museums North of the Rundle Mall are some of the best Adelaide museums: South Australian Museum, Art Gallery of South Australia, and Migration Museum. The South Australian Museum has displays about Australia’s natural history and Aboriginal Culture, while in the Migration Museum you find stories of the many nationalities that migrated to South Australia. The Art Gallery of South Australia is huge – there are both an Australian and an international art collection with works of many famous artists.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Rymill Park and Ayers House South-east from here there is an art gallery in the Urban Cow Studio; and the impressive Ayers House – former home of Henry Ayers who gave name to Ayers Rock (nowadays called Uluru). Henry Ayers was a politician and a successful businessman who made a fortune in South Australia’s copper mines, and the house is huge and really reflects all that wealth – it is so big there is even a library. The house is now looked after by National Trust who has put two restaurants in there, and not all the rooms are open to the public, but the ones that are, are interesting to discover. East of the Ayers House is Rymill Park – a lovely place to walk or paddle.
Adelaide Zoo and Adelaide Botanic Gardens North of Rymill Park is the National Wine Centre of Australia; and Adelaide Botanic Gardens. At the National Wine Centre of Australia you can go on a wine tasting tour, and in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens there are free guided tours. North of the Botanic Gardens is the Botanic Park, and the Adelaide Zoo south of the Torrens River.
Torrens River and the Old Adelaide Gaol The Torrens River, or River Torrens as it also is called, divides the town into a northern and a southern part. It is surrounded by lovely parklands with walking and bicycling paths which are very popular. On the western side along the river is the old Adelaide Gaol, an interesting museum that also has guided tours.
Adelaide Oval and St Peter’s Cathedral North of the Torrens River is North Adelaide. As you drive north along the King William Road, it changes name to O’Connell Street after the bridge across the Torrens River. You’ll pass the Adelaide Oval on your left hand side before you come to the beautiful St Peter’s Cathedral, one of the town’s most famous landmarks. Further north is North Adelaide’s central square - Wellington Square, surrounded by a few streets and lots of parklands.
Port of Adelaide and South Australian Maritime Museum About 20km north-west of the city centre is the Port of Adelaide – a port like others but the highlight is the beautiful red lighthouse that has been relocated twice and has been standing here since 1985. Inside is the South Australian Maritime Museum with displays about South Australia’s maritime history, ship models and nautical instruments, and even artworks and paintings of ships. It is an interesting museum, and the lighthouse itself is very pretty on photos.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Glenelg South Australia Adelaide’s most famous beach, Glenelg, is south of the city centre. It is popular with tourists as well as local swimmers and surfers, and there are some nice cafes on the beachfront. An interesting place to visit is Rodney Fox Shark Experience where you can learn all the good and bad things about Australian sharks, and the founder of the place is one of Australia’s most famous shark victims! You can also go scuba diving here with Glenelg Scuba Diving Centre.
Adelaide Hills and Cleland Conservation Park East of the town is Adelaide Hills – a lovely area up in the mountains with small townships, vineyards and olive plantations. You can reach it via the Princes Highway south-east of the city centre. Not far out of the town on your left hand side is Cleland Conservation Park with some walking tracks, and the summit of Mount Lofty. Inside the park is the Cleland Wildlife Park where you can see the usual Australian animals like koalas and kangaroos.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Eastern Adelaide Hills East of Mount Lofty are Mount Lofty Botanical Gardens; and around in the area are lots of vineyards such as Asthon Hills Vineyard and Barratt Wines in north, and Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill, Nepenthe Winery, Shaw & Smith, Hahndorf Hill and Mawson Ridge in east. Further east in Mount Barker are the Hahndorf Farm Barn and Beerenberg Strawberry Farm.
Adelaide Tourism Information - Festivals in Adelaide Adelaide has made South Australia famous as the “festival state” so let’s have a look at the town’s festivals. In March there are Adelaide Festival of Arts, Clipsall 500 and Womadelaide. In August there is Royal Adelaide Show and in October there are the Feast and Glenelg Jazz Festival. In November, south Australians celebrate Christmas Pageant and Horse Trials, and in December there are the Proclamation Day and Bay Sports Festival.
Adelaide Restaurants, Hotels and Tour Operators There are some good places to eat in the city, on the Rundle Street and in the Chinatown, and on the Jetty Street in Glenelg. Some of the places to stay in Adelaide are My Place, Blue Galah Backpacker Hostel, Backpack Oz, Cannon St Backpackers, Adelaide Travellers Inn and Glenelg Beach Hostel. There are a few tour operators in town, such as Top Food & Wine Tours, Tauondi Aboriginal Cultural Tours and Prime Mini Tours.
Here's a map of Adelaide, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
