Adelaide, South Australia – 12 Best things about the city
Why this growing city of just under 1.5 million makes the perfect weekend getaway.
If you’re not keen on large cities, Adelaide could be an ideal Australian destination for you. It’s big enough to have lots going on, but not so large as to overwhelm you. We took an autumn break in the region and had a fantastic time. Here’s our list of top attractions in Adelaide.
1. The River Torrens
The river runs peacefully through the city centre, offering pleasant paths and green spaces to stroll along. Parts of the riverside reminded me of the South Bank in London, especially Festival Drive with its modernist galleries, exhibition venues, public spaces and top-end hotels.
A footbridge leads across to the Adelaide Oval sports arena. We enjoyed watching beautiful sunsets from this bridge (see top picture) and seeing flocks of bats circling above the trees.
You can take a river cruise with Popeye – we didn’t do this ourselves due to lack of time, but we saw the boats passing by and will definitely do this next time.
2. Trams
Like Melbourne, Adelaide has a tram network to help you get around the city. Best of all, it’s free within the central business district! The trams are modern, efficient and easy to use. If you do go beyond the ‘free’ perimeter, you can pay for your journey by simply swiping your credit card on the readers placed along the train carriages. We took a tram out to the seaside suburb of Glenelg, a journey of around 25 minutes (see below under ‘beaches’).
3. Art Gallery of South Australia
AGSA is the second largest state gallery in the country. Its bold vision is ‘to be the most inspiring art destination in Australia’, with a strong focus on cultural inclusion. Coverage extends over many different fields of art and design including painting, drawing, textiles, jewellery, sculpture, glass and photography.
The world-renowned collections hold over 47,000 works of art from Australia, Europe and Asia, housed in an impressive building with a neoclassical fa̤ade. Particularly noteworthy are the William Morris decorative works Рthe largest collection outside the UK Рand the Rodin sculptures.
At the time of our visit, an exhibition of ‘Radical Textiles’ was showcasing clothing and homeware designs by activists like Morris himself, Sonia Delaunay, Issey Miyake and Vivienne Westwood.
4. Central Market
The Adelaide Central Market was first established in 1879 as a venue for food producers to sell their produce. Today, over 70 traders still sell their fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. But you can also find specialist stalls selling chocolate, cheese, deli foods and doughnuts. There’s even a stall dedicated to mushrooms! Plus some very good cafes and eateries.
An ambitious expansion plan is in preparation for the market. This will add an impressive atrium, modern laneways and more stalls and shops to what is already one of the largest covered food markets in the southern hemisphere. Note: the market is closed on Mondays.
5. Parks and gardens
When we first admired the view of Adelaide from our 5th floor hotel room, what really struck us was the vast amount of green space in the city. That’s because Adelaide is the world’s first, and only, planned city in a park! Adelaide Park Lands encompass 29 numbered parks and 6 city squares. The layout of the Park Lands and city are even heritage listed. How good is that!
During our short stay, we visited the most notable of these parks – the Botanic Garden. Easily accessible, with its own tram stop, the Botanic Garden is a pleasure to stroll around. It encompasses many different areas: a rose garden, herb garden, succulents, a lake, wetland, Australian forest and waterlily pavilion. There’s also a stunning Victorian palm house, one of the last of its kind in the world, housing a collection of Madagascan plants.
There are two highly-regarded restaurants within the Garden for a lunch stop plus a deli and ‘food to go’ stop if you just want a snack or an ice cream.
6. Beaches
I mentioned earlier our tram trip to the seaside area of Glenelg. We highly recommend at least a half day in Glenelg, especially if you’re feeling the heat in the city. Glenelg beach has the most beautiful, wide sweep of the whitest and finest sand I’ve ever seen. It was almost pleasurable to have it in my shoes! And there was a cooling breeze blowing.
Moreover, on this March Monday morning, there was hardly anyone there. Bliss! After walking out along the pier, we strolled along the waterfront towards the marina and stopped for a light lunch at Juniper. The good thing about this restaurant/bar is that you can either sit outside looking over the ocean, or the marina. Depending on whether you wish to soak up the sun or avoid it, you can choose either side – and still have a lovely view.
7. Railway Station
If you’re a train buff like me, beautiful railway stations are always of interest. Adelaide central station is a grand, neo-classical sandstone edifice. It dates from 1928, but trains have been running from the same site as far back as 1856. In fact, the first-ever government-owned steam railway in the British Empire operated from here to Port Adelaide.
Rather sadly, the terminal has mostly been taken over by Adelaide’s casino and neighbouring businesses. But at least the fine features of the building have been preserved, including its domed ceiling. Trains still operate from the station area, serving metropolitan areas only. Interstate trains, including the big names like The Ghan and The Indian Pacific, run from a separate terminal in the south-west of the city.
8. Festivals and exhibitions
When we arrived in Adelaide late on a Friday night in March, it felt like party time. There were crowds everywhere, bars were full and the sound of live music filtered up from the riverside. It’s not always like this, said our taxi driver – it’s because the festival is on!
That festival turned out to be The Fringe, Australia’s biggest arts festival, which was running for a month. Music, theatre, comedy, interactive shows, shows for kids, music, literature – you name it, there was an event associated with it. Although we had not planned to coincide with the festival, it certainly brought an energetic vibe to the city during our stay.
One exhibition we particularly enjoyed was Chihuly in the Botanic Garden. Dale Chihuly is an American contemporary glass artist. His pieces, two of which were specially created for this exhibition, were placed strategically throughout the gardens. They were colourful, playful and quirky. It was fun to wander around the different gardens and look out for the exhibits.
9. People
During our week in the Adelaide region, we naturally conversed with a wide range of hospitality professionals – in hotels, restaurants, bars and transport services. Plus a few locals. Without fail, everyone was noticeably friendly, courteous and helpful. We didn’t encounter a single person with a bad attitude. Service was of a very high standard and we felt that everyone genuinely wanted to make sure we had the best time. We were very impressed.
10. Weather
If you’ve been looking for a holiday destination with almost-guaranteed hot sun and blue skies throughout your stay, then South Australia is a top contender. Of all the places I’ve visited, this is one of the best I’ve encountered for climate.
Officially, Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate – a hot, dry summer and a warm, wet winter. Wet winters have been rather lacking in recent years, and drought is an ongoing concern. But for us short-term visitors, the weather is wonderful – especially if you live in a climate that is less than perfect. We left all our rain gear at home. Autumn and spring are the best times to visit.
11. Food and wine
The warm sun provides South Australia with top-notch grapes and produce. During our trip, we enjoyed fine dining experiences and first-class pub food. We had lovely Italian food at ITL along the Torrens riverside and Basque-style tapas at Udaberri.
Out in the Adelaide Hills, for my birthday treat, we enjoyed a 7-course degustation dinner at Martha’s Verandah at Mount Lofty House, watching the sun go down over the Piccadilly Valley. On another night, we savoured a gourmet pub dinner at the Crafers Hotel – a fabulous historic pub in Crafers Village.
But our favourite food of the whole trip was served at Char Barossa, a modest restaurant in the town of Tanunda. Absolutely delicious and full of flavour.
When it comes to wine, of course, Australia’s premier world-class vintners are right on the doorstep, in the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale among others. So you’re spoilt for choice. See next section!
12. Days out
If you’re keen to explore the countryside and the wine regions around Adelaide, there are plenty of options available. We were fortunate in having locally-resident family members who showed us around notable places like Hahndorf, originally a German settlement. There were some amazing shops there including The German Village Shop – full of cuckoo clocks and beer steins – and Otto’s bakery, which had an incredible range of sweet and savoury pastries and delicacies.
We also took a guided wine tour of the Barossa Valley, stopping at 4 wineries. You can read more about this in my post Wine touring in the Barossa Valley. This was a great fun day out. Tours are also available to McLaren Vale and other wine regions.
Getting there
While Adelaide is not a major hub like Sydney or Melbourne, it is served by some notable international airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airlines, Air New Zealand and Australia’s own, Qantas. The journey from the airport to the city is an easy 15-20 minutes by taxi. There’s also an airport bus service – the J1 and J2 – to and from the city centre.
Where to stay
A number of new high-end hotels have opened in Adelaide in recent years, widening the choice for visitors. We chose to stay at EOS Sky City because of its great location and excellent reviews. We were not disappointed – it’s easily one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in. Spacious room, sophisticated styling and lovely staff. For these reasons, we’ve added the hotel to our Top 19 unforgettable hotels and awarded it our Coconut Lands Best Bathrooms in the World Award!
Note: we are affiliate partners of Booking.com and the hotel links below will take you to their site. Any bookings made via our links will generate a small commission for us, which helps to fund our site. There is no extra cost to you.
EOS by Sky City
We loved every moment of our stay here. Allure River View rooms have fantastic views and a terrace. Beautiful sunrises over the distant hills. Breakfast is a-la-carte and freshly cooked – and delicious. Nice pool and spa area too.
Intercontinental
Near to EOS Sky City is the Intercontinental Hotel, which would be a great alternative. Same location and views. There’s a Club Lounge and pool area.
Crowne Plaza Adelaide
Located in Adelaide’s trendy East End, near the Botanic Gardens and art gallery, this would be a good alternative location. It’s Adelaide’s tallest landmark and has a rooftop pool bar to make the most of the views.
Final thoughts
Adelaide is a great choice for a short break away. The city offers lots to do in its own right, but the surrounding countryside and wine regions are also well worth exploring. And ah, the lovely warm sunny weather!
One cautionary note is that we found many places closed on Sunday and Monday, even Sky City’s own restaurants and cafes. So it’s well worth checking opening hours in order to avoid disappointment.
If you are interested in reading more content on Australia and the Pacific region, go to our Oceania page.
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