Adelaide

Adelaide is a cosmopolitan hub of about 1.2 million people with a reputation as the 20-minute city: everything is close and it’s always so easy to get around. Parks surround the city and the streets are filled with lively cafes and restaurants that reflect the huge diversity of its ethnic communities. And with immigrants from 150 countries making their ho......[More]

Adelaide

Adelaide is a cosmopolitan hub of about 1.2 million people with a reputation as the 20-minute city: everything is close and it’s always so easy to get around. Parks surround the city and the streets are filled with lively cafes and restaurants that reflect the huge diversity of its ethnic communities. And with immigrants from 150 countries making their home in South Australia, there’s a culinary sensation to suit every taste.

This is our festival capital. Thousands of art lovers from across the globe converge on the city for the biennial Adelaide Festival and annual Fringe Festival, biennial Tasting Australia food and wine festival, and major sporting events, the Clipsal 500, Adelaide’s super car race series, and the Tour Down Under, the first pro-tour cycle race outside of Europe.

Adelaide Attractions
The history and art of South Australia is on display along Adelaide’s cultural boulevard, North Terrace. The state’s library, museum, art gallery and migration museum have pride of place and are the first stop on your cultural experience of South Australia.

Aboriginal Heritage
Adelaide is the perfect place for an introduction to Australia’s Aboriginal heritage and contemporary culture. The South Australian Museum’s Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery on North Terrace is home to the largest collection of Aboriginal artefacts and archival material in the world, with 3,000 items and interactive multimedia displays. Nearby, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute is an award winning multi-arts centre featuring regular exhibitions by Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists.
www.samuseum.sa.gov.au
www.tandanya.on.net

Adelaide Botanic Garden
At the eastern end of North Terrace lies the Adelaide Botanic Garden. The magnificent Bicentennial Conservatory houses a tropical rainforest and is the largest glasshouse in the Southern Hemisphere.
www.botanicgardens.sa.gov.au

National Wine Centre of Australia
Accounting for 70 per cent of the nation’s wine exports, South Australia is the perfect home for the National Wine Centre of Australia. Designed to showcase 10,000 Australian wines and more than 50 wine regions, the National Wine Centre is next to the Adelaide Botanic Garden and will take you on an interactive journey through the past, present and future of the Australian wine industry.
www.wineaustralia.com.au

State Library of South Australia
Sir Donald Bradman’s personal collection of cricketing memorabilia spanning 1927-1977, is on display at the State Library. Sir Donald is the greatest batsman in the history of the game.
www.slsa.sa.gov.au

Adelaide Oval
Cricket fans should also take in a tour of the Adelaide Oval – renowned as one of the prettiest cricket grounds in the world. Tours feature the history of the ground and the sporting champions who have played there.
www.cricketsa.com.au

Haigh’s Chocolates
Visit the home of Australia’s oldest surviving chocolate-making company, take a free tour to check out the factory and heritage display, and taste some of the world’s best chocolates.
www.haighschocolates.com.au

Adelaide Central Market
Jostle with the crowd for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and fish and a host of gourmet specialties at the Adelaide Central Market. Most produce is harvested within 24 hours of sale and the heritage and character of the market remains, with the 1900s Grote Street facade still standing. The market is open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and is the perfect place for a hearty Adelaide breakfast.
www.adelaide.sa.gov.au/centralmarket

Jamfactory Contemporary Craft and Design
Watch artisans at work during a two-hour guided tour of the Jamfactory’s four professional studios – hot glass, ceramics, furniture design and metal design. The centre’s two galleries have exhibitions all year round and works are available for sale.
www.jamfactory.com.au

Glenelg
A 20-minute tram ride brings you from the heart of the city to the popular beachside suburb of Glenelg. Busking performances and street parties are common. Try your hand at tandem bike riding, parasailing, windsurfing or sailing. Glenelg is also home to a great historical exhibition in the Bay Discovery Centre, and the acclaimed Rodney Fox Shark Museum. Owner, Rodney Fox, survived a great white shark attack in his younger days and his collections are from more than 100 expeditions to film the great white shark.
www.baydiscovery.com.au
www.rodneyfox.com.au

Maritime History
Explore South Australia’s maritime history at Port Adelaide, 20 minutes northwest of the central business district. Take a walking tour through the old docks. Cruise boats ply the Port River, and often attract the local population of dolphins.
www.history.sa.gov.au/samm/samm.htm
www.natrailmuseum.org.au

Climate
The South Australian climate is often described as Mediterranean, with mild winters and warm to hot summers. In the state’s capital, Adelaide, the average maximum summer temperature is 28.8ºC, and in winter it drops to about 15ºC. Coastal areas are often a degree or two cooler. However, in the outback, summer temperatures regularly hover at about 40ºC. From October to March, daylight saving operates and clocks are advanced one hour.

Entertaining and dining
Adelaide’s restaurants offer exceptional quality, service and value. Local produce features on our menus. A host of new dining venues have taken eating out to a whole new level, and old favourites continue to build on their enviable reputations. Adelaide has many great restaurant strips offering everything from top-class cuisine to reasonably priced cafe fare.

Rundle Street
Rundle Street, in the east end of the city, is the centre of alfresco eating where restaurants and cafes take advantage of the Mediterranean climate. There are more than 50 cafes and restaurants – including Italian, Greek, Japanese, Thai, Indian and Mexican – along with wine bars and pubs.

Hindley Street
Some of Adelaide’s hottest nightclubs and swanky bars and restaurants can be found on Hindley Street in the west end of the city. It is also home to the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Gouger Street
This is the city’s fresh-food mecca, home of the Adelaide Central Market where the city’s top chefs create their daily menu from the fresh produce. Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian restaurants share the street with some of the best seafood restaurants in the city.

North Adelaide
North Adelaide has some of the state’s grandest homes. In keeping with this high-end lifestyle, many fine restaurants and cafes are located in North Adelaide, especially along Melbourne and O’Connell streets, where you dine under lacy iron verandas.

King William Road, Hyde Park
South of the city, King William Road is a favourite at weekends when the hip set of Adelaide flock to its cool cafes, restaurants and shops.

Dining on the beach
The city beachside suburbs of Glenelg, Henley and Grange have restaurants in the form of groovy beach shacks, modern cafes and grand old esplanade hotels offering seafood, wood-oven pizzas and contemporary Australian cuisine.

In the suburbs
For a family meal or special occasion, you can’t go past our inner-city suburbs. Unley Road in Unley and The Parade in Norwood are lined with quality restaurants and cafes.

At the pub
Adelaide has about 600 hotels. Many are treasured old buildings – their balconies decorated with fancy ironwork, their verandas wreathed with old grapevines. As well as a cooling ale or local wine, they offer great pub food. Some have fine-dining restaurants.

SPORT
Adelaide is a great city to be a spectator at an international tournament or a major sports event. As well as some of the biggest international cricket events held at the picturesque Adelaide Oval, the city is home to the Tour Down Under, the first pro-tour cycling event outside of Europe. The event sees international cycling superstars compete over six days of racing, travelling the city streets of Adelaide and picturesque South Australia.
The Clipsal 500 Adelaide is an annual racing carnival for Touring Cars held on a street circuit in the east end of Adelaide on a shortened form of the former Australian Grand Prix track. Held over four days, the main event is the 500 kilometre V8 Supercar race split over the last two days of the event. The rest of the four days are filled with support races for a number of other racing categories, including production cars and Australian Formula 3.
www.clipsal500.com.au

Getting Around
Adelaide is easy to get to know and love. Traffic jams are virtually non-existent, and the city streets are wide and easy to navigate. Adelaide is a level, compact city perfect for pedestrians. The city’s buses, trains, and trams are reliable and moderately priced and free buses and trams operate in and around the city centre giving easy access to the major attractions.
The domestic and international airport terminals are located about eight kilometres west of the city centre. You can catch an airport shuttle service, public bus or Skylink Adelaide to the city or your hotel. Transfers by taxi cost about $20.

The main coach terminal in Adelaide is the Central Bus Station at 101-111 Franklin Street. All interstate and intrastate coaches depart from and arrive at this terminal.
www.bussa.com.au

The interstate trains The Overland, The Ghan (Adelaide to Darwin) and the Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth via Adelaide) arrive and depart from the Keswick Rail Terminal, at Richmond Road, Keswick, about three kilometres from the city centre. For information and bookings contact Great Southern Railway:
www.trainways.com.au

Adelaide Metro is the city’s transport system, serving the greater metropolitan region with trains and buses and the Glenelg tram. The tram also takes passengers for a free ride from South Terrace, through the city on King William Street and down North Terrace. Look for the Metro sign to buy your tickets.
www.adelaidemetro.com.au

For all tickets and information, go to the Passenger Transport InfoCentre on the corner of King William and Currie streets.
www.southaustralia.com/AccessibleTravel

Shopping

West End
Shopping is a breeze in Adelaide. The revitalised west end of Hindley Street is home to the Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design, Lion Arts Theatre and the University of South Australia. A recent influx of cosmopolitan cafes, bookstores and galleries is creating a new contrast to the nightclubs of Hindley Street.

The East End
Pavement cafes and bars, bohemian pubs, funky record stores and boutiques jostle for space in the city’s trendy Rundle Street in the east end of the city.

Rundle Mall
Rundle Mall is the shopping hub of Adelaide, with more than 550 retail outlets, and acts as a geographical bridge between Hindley Street and trendy Rundle Street.

North Adelaide
As well as great restaurants and cafes, North Adelaide is one of Adelaide’s most exclusive shopping precincts. Melbourne Street is where you will find a top selection of stores.

Norwood
The Parade in Norwood has a good selection of designer shopping and great delicatessens, cafes, homeware and bookshops.

Port Adelaide
There is a growing artistic population in Port Adelaide and the nearby Semaphore area. A gallery guide lists the artistic haunts of the area, while another details the extensive range of antique shops.
www.southaustralia.com/AdelaidePrecincts.aspx
www.southaustralia.com/DiningInAdelaide.aspx

Information sourced from www.tourismaustralia.com
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