Welcome to Adelaide!
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth largest Australian capital city. Over 75% of the South Australia state’s population live within the metropolitan capital of Adelaide. And no wonder – this city is absolutely stunning – surrounded by the hills on the East and coastline on the West. Adelaide has more than 2 and a half thousand hours of sunshine a year, and without the humidity like other Australian cities. It is one of our favorite places! Check out our TOP 5 Must-See Places in Adelaide!
1. Those beautiful, beautiful parks!
Adelaide is a wonderful city where you can feel both – the city’s life and nature in lush-green areas to be only with yourself. Two of our favorite parks are Adelaide Botanic Garden and Himeji Garden. Adelaide Botanical Garden covers an area of 51-hectares. Here you will be able to find many interesting buildings each with its story, but the best is that diverse flora to enjoy. The Himeji Garden contains features which are of profound religious significance to the Japanese people. This is a small garden, but very beautiful and calm as not everyone knows about it. Another green area to visit is actually the cemetery. Yeah, the State Heritage Listed West Terrace Cemetery is also one of Australia’s oldest capital city cemeteries, for a long time, it was the only crematory in the country. Amazing monuments and history can be explored just here! All these places are free of charge.
2. Stunning galleries and interesting museums
This city has loads up its sleeve to introduce the visitor of its history and culture. And the best thing is that so many of those are entrance-free! Visit the Art Gallery of South Australia – join a free guided walking tour or explore the galleries of Aboriginal people, animals around the world and so much more by yourself! Then there is State Library of South Australia that presents local artist works as well as many interesting books along with photos from the city then and now. Migration Museum deals with the immigration and settlement history of South Australia and maintains both a permanent and a rotating collection of works. And Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute that is actually Australia’s oldest Aboriginal-owned and managed multi-arts center, with fascinating art and cultural exhibitions.
3. That architecture!
This city is also known for its churches and it’s worthwhile to visit some of them, e.g. St.Peter’s Cathedral and St. Francis Xavier’s Catholic Cathedral. In these religious buildings, you will find kind locals that will give you leaflets of information about the history and descriptions of specific areas of the building. And not only these are special. There is Adelaide Oval stadium where it’s possible to enter free of charge! Adelaide Oval is a sports ground, used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, soccer, tennis among other sports as well as regularly being used to hold concerts. You can take also a guided tour for 25$ three times a day or climb on the roof of the stadium for 104$.
4. Go there where the locals are!
The busiest part of the city is definitely the Rundle Mall pedestrian street – usually full of street performers, musicians, and artists. Here you will also find the best places to shop and dine. Another two worth visiting are Adelaide Central Market and Chinatown. Central Market is special because of many and various food stalls under one roof as well as wide range of products on offer. And what about Chinatown? It’s located just beside the Central Market and offers a huge variety of Asian products.
5. Free tours
Adelaide is super-friendly for budget travelers as here you can find so many sites for free! And also guided tours! One of those is Haigh’s Chocolate Factory tour of 20 minutes. It is guided viewing tour to learn the history of Haigh’s and the process of making the premium quality chocolate from cocoa beans sourced from plantations around the world. The tour has to be booked by (08) 8372 7070 to check the availability. There is also Adelaide Greeters tour – this gives you an opportunity to go for 2 hours exploring the city with a volunteer. The tour has to be booked three days in advance in cityofadelaide.com.au/adelaidegreeters. You can find free tours in the museums as well, e.g., the State Library SA Walking Tour.
EXTRA.
A bit outside the very city center there are so many things to do! We will name a few, but there’s definitely such for every day of the year!
- Adelaide Hills region that is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, East of the city of Adelaide is something stunning. Besides the famous wineries, there are also many native species of fauna that can be encountered within the hills region.
- Barossa Valley is famous for the best wines. Many hectares of vineyards are the most distinctive feature of the area. This is internationally-acclaimed wine region where you can find free wine tastings, interesting tours, bright festivals, and purchase some of the finest wines of Australia and probably even the world!
- Gorge Wildlife Park which opened in 1965 is home to a large variety of animals, birds, and reptiles. This place is just incredible! The most special thing is to have this opportunity to roam around kangaroos and feed them, as well as hold the koala bear in the lap three times a day. The entrance in this park is 17$.
- Adelaide Port and Dolphin Sanctuary. Founded 175 years ago, Port Adelaide is one of South Australia’s earliest settlements and became South Australia’s first state heritage area in the 1980s. And just there is also the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary that is home to around 30 resident bottlenose dolphins you can actually see swimming around. Here you will also find 10,000-year-old mangrove forest and spot some colorful birds! And the park is entry-free!
- Different communities. Yeah, Australia’s nation is actually a mix of so many different nationalities! Settlers from Europe, visitors from the USA and China, Aboriginal inhabitants. And the amazing thing is that there are actually several centers for each community here! It was the best experience to meet Latvians here in Adelaide. Try out to find your nationality`s people here!
MOVING AROUND for free
Yeah, Adelaide has taken care of free transportation as well. There are trams for free within the city center and buses that cover bigger area. The free City Connector bus service runs on two loops – an inner city loop and an extended loop around North Adelaide providing a link to popular attractions, shopping, dining, and destinations. The large loop that is taken by buses 98A (anti-clockwise) and 98C (clockwise) connects North Adelaide and the city seven days a week, while the small loop of 99A (anti-clockwise) and 99C (clockwise) connects the inner city areas on weekdays. And if you are there for a bicycle ride – go to the tourism information center and take the bike there! They have plenty of bicycles that can be taken from 9 AM till 4.30 PM, you have to leave the passport or any other ID to the employees to ensure you are not keeping the bike.
Oh, Adelaide! “City of Churches”, the “20-minute city” (because everything is close to each other) and Kaurna Aboriginal heritage. Street art, always lively pubs and that vibe that this city has! Oh, this all made us fall in love with Adelaide! Come, explore and enjoy!