Adelaide

ADELAIDE


ADELAIDE
is the capital of the state South Australia. The city is located at the St. Vincent Golf about 650 km west of Melbourne and impressive 2100 km east of Perth.

The Aussies call Adelaide ‘The City of Churches’ or  ‘The Big Country Town’. That’s because the city centre of Adelaide is rather small compared to the overall size of the metropolitan area. Internationally, Adelaide is famous for the excellent wines of the region. The wine regions McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and further north the Clare Valley producing fantastic red and white wines. But Adelaide has also a few good beaches to offer and the region is good for outdoor activities. Historically Adelaide can be interesting for people looking into their ancestry. You can still find a lot of German names in Adelaide. The German settlers came in the early 1900s and there is even a city called Hahndorf close to Adelaide, more about this below.

In which time zone is Adelaide located ?


Adelaide has Central Australian Time and is half an hour behind Victoria and 2.5 hours ahead of Western Australia. So you got to keep an eye on the time when arriving in Adelaide.
South Australia also has Daylight savings


How to get to Adelaide?

Via plane
Adelaide has an international airport and is approached by planes coming from the hubs in the Middle East and Asia on a daily basis. But a lot of tourists don’t even look into this option.
The Domestic Airport of Adelaide is also approached by regional jets and Charter Airlines almost every minute. But why not start your trip from Adelaide.
How to get into the city and back to the airport ->
You can reach the city center easily by bus, taxi cab or shuttle bus. When it is not busy the trip takes you about 15 minutes only.

By car
From Melbourne, you can drive to Adelaide within one or two days. We recommend at least two days, so you can enjoy the Great Ocean Road or the Grampians. If you are coming from West or the North you will have to plan that trip in detail. In that case please read our article Roadtrip.

By train
You can reach Adelaide also by train. The Overland takes from Melbourne about 11 hours. So this is a good and cheap alternative to flying. Especially interesting for everyone traveling alone or with two people and having excess luggage.

By Bus
There are also coach services between Melbourne and Adelaide. The bus also takes about 10 hours for the trip.

How to get around in Adelaide ?

Adelaide’s public transport is a mix of trams and buses. If you are staying in the city center you will barely need any public transport as everything is easy to reach by food. But there is even a tram line taking you to the beach. Check out the Adelaide Metro website to learn about the rechargeable MetroCard.  But there are also conventional paper tickets costing you about AUD 10 per day. A good alternative for everyone staying three days in Adelaide is the 3-Day Visitor-Pass for unlimited use of the public transport, costing AUD 26 (03/2017)

Other options are taxis or Uber.

Tipp:
But there is another free alternative to public transport in  Adelaide:
Free-Bikes.
You will need to provide a valid photo ID such as your passport and you can get a bicycle and helmet for the day. Check here for more info http://www.bikesa.asn.au/adelaidefreebikes

What to do and what to see in Adelaide ?

City centre and Market
The city centre is easy to explore by foot. Check out the historic malls and the market for fresh produce.

Museums
Certainly worth a visit is the Art Gallery of South Australia
right next to it you can find the Library of South Australia  Within the library is also a nice cafe. Also right next to it you can find the Immigration Museum. So in case of a rainy day, you can easily cover a couple of hours by museum hopping. From this highly concentrated museum area, you can walk via the campus of the University of South Australia towards the  Botanical Garden and Adelaide Zoo.

The Royal Botanical Garden of Adelaide
The Royal Botanical Garden of Adelaide is one of the must sees in Adelaide. Especially interesting are the Cactus House and the Sea-Lilly House.

Nightlife
Adelaide has a pretty vital nightlife famous for electric dance music. Most bars and clubs are concentrated on one strip,  the Rundle Street / Hindley Street.

For everyone who likes live-music, we recommend visiting the Grace Emily Hotel.

The Grace Emily HotelGrace Emily Hotel
So if you are an appreciator of live music and beer on taps you should check out the Grace Emily Hotel . Besides the UFO on its roof, the bar appears to be very normal. Inside you will find a very cosy bar, serving pretty much all varieties of the local Coopers Beer. Further, there are pool tables and the stage where bands are playing several times a week.  Also very nice is the beer garden in the back. The Grace Emily Hotel is located at 232 Weymouth Street graceemilyhotel.com.au

City view
For everyone who likes it really quiet, we recommend to head up in the Adelaide Hills on a clear night. This viewpoint offers a great view overlooking the city. If you have never seen Mars with your bare eye, this is a good spot to do so.

Mor info about what is on in Adelaide
Check out: http://whatsoninadelaide.net.au/


Surroundings


Tours to the Wineries
As mentioned,  Adelaide it’s surroundings is well known for their wines. We highly recommend to visit at least one of the wine regions and tour the wineries. Pretty much all wineries are offering free cellar door tastings and some also have a restaurant for fine dining. There are plenty tour operators to take you to the wineries. This is a good option so you don’t have to worry about driving.

Hahndorf
Hahndorf is a country town half an hour drive  / or one hour by bus  Bus southeast of the city centre of Adelaide. In Hahndorf, the German settlers left a lasting impression. So if you have any desire for some pretzels, pork-knuckle and a German beer you should consider a trip to Hahndorf.

Kangaroo Island
Visiting Kangaroo Island is almost a  guarantee to see Kangaroos and Koalas. The island has the highest Koala population of Australia. If you are adventures you can also ‘Sandboard’ on massive dunes.
More info: http://southaustralia.com/places-to-go/kangaroo-island/about?gclid=CIHVsYCWvNICFU8KKgodtD0Iug&ef_id=WHqcMwAABdXrVhQK:20170304060011:s

 

How much time should you calculate for a visit in Adelaide?
Of course, this is highly dependent on your personal interests. The city centre can be explored easily in less than a day.  To visit a wine region you should calculate a long afternoon. Adelaide’s aren’t bad but for everyone on a tight schedule, we would recommend spending this time at Sydney’s magnificent beaches. Everyone who likes to see wildlife and visit für Kangaroo-Island should factor in an additional 2-3 days.