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Visit Adelaide

Things to do in and Around Adelaide - Adelaide City Centre

I'm a Brit living in Adelaide, South Australia. I'm getting married next month and have a fair few family and friends coming out to visit so have been thinking a lot recently about what they can do in and around Adelaide. Here are a few of the ideas we have had for visitors to Adelaide to do:

Things to do in Adelaide

Adelaide is a very beautiful city and is also very well laid out which makes it pretty easy to find your way around. That said even long time residents of Adelaide need their trusty Street Directory sometimes, especially if they are visiting a suburb they are not familiar with. So do make sure there is a Street Directory in your hire car when you visit Adelaide. Adelaide was founded by Colonel William Light in the early Nineteenth Century (South Australia was never colonized by convicts by the way, a fact South Australians will readily remind you should you utter any jokes on the subject!) and is laid out in a very sensible grid system with parks surrounding the Central Business District. This is particularly handy if you miss the street you were aiming for as you can just take the following turn and do 'a blocky'. It's very easy to think there is nothing but endless sprawling suburbs when you are driving around but in fact if you enter Adelaide from Main South Road (or the Southern Expressway) or down from the hills you will see a very different picture. We live in the southern suburbs and as we drive along Main South Road towards the city we crest a hill and suddenly see before us masses of trees that almost completely obscure the suburbs we know to be there, with the CBD rising above them like a glittering beacon of civilization, then we see Glenelg, a popular area on the coast sometimes referred to as 'the bay' and, of course, the ocean. It is a truly beautiful sight.

Things to do in Adelaide - the City Centre

Well, I love my food and drink so I guess the best place to start our tour would be The Central Markets. Situated in the block between Grote and Gouger Streets (parking is accessed on Grote Street) The Central Markets are permanent covered markets that are open on Tuesdays (7am - 5.30pm), Thursdays (11am - 5.30pm), Fridays (7am - 9pm) and Saturdays (7am - 3pm). They run adjacent to China Town and have a fantastic food court at the western end if you like Asian food - my fiancee swears the laksa soup she gets there is second only to the one she had when we holidayed in Singapore. Coming from the food court there are some Asian supermarkets before you enter the markets proper. These markets are chock full of fantastic food stalls - numerous butchers and greengrocers, some great deli-style stalls and some more specialist stalls offering items such as cheese, coffee, nuts and lollys (as a Pom I would call them sweets, but there you go!) and local delicacies. There are also jewelers, souvenir shops and erm, well I think you would have to file them under miscellaneous! If that sounds good to you then definitely put The Central Markets on your Things to do in Adelaide list and spend a morning, afternoon or both. Be warned though - it can get very busy.

As you leave The Central Markets you can have a wander down to the end of the block to Victoria Square. This is where the tram from Glenelg enters the city. There are also several bus stops here and you can jump on the 'b-line' bus up to Rundle Mall or North Terrace. This is a free bus service and saves a fairly long walk - it is only about four blocks but it will take it out of you on a hot day or if you are doing a lot of shopping.

Rundle Mall is a pedestrianised shopping precinct running between King William Street and Pulteney Street and is probably the heart of Adelaide's shopping. If shopping is a 'thing to do' for you then head to Rundle Mall. I always thought a Mall was an enormous building full of shops but this is essentially a closed off street. Rundle Mall does, however, have several of the 'building full of shops' style malls as well so an enthusiastic shopper could quite easily loose herself (ok, or himself!) for a day or more exploring and shopping. For a bit of a break from the shopping try the food court under Rundle Mall Plaza or in Southern Cross Arcade or for nice cafes, bars and restaurants head to the far east end of Rundle Mall and cross into Rundle Street. The shops do continue into Rundle Street but it does become a lot more food oriented once you leave the Mall.

From Rundle Mall it is very easy to get to a few more things to do in Adelaide. If you continue east along Rundle Street one block you will find yourself at the edge of one of the many parks in Adelaide. Being able to walk into the peace of one of these parks from just about anywhere in Adelaide is one of the most charming aspects of the city. The parks have also been put to fantastic use, and are most years, by the Adelaide Festival of Arts and the Adelaide Fringe Festival. March is a very active month for Adelaide with festivals, horse racing (the Adelaide Cup) and motor racing (the Clipsal 500). The city positively buzzes and the parks and other venues are usually absolutely packed with people.

Also within a block of Rundle Mall is North Terrace. This is where you will find the train station, Adelaide University, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the South Australian Museum. The Art Gallery and Museum are both free to enter and are pretty decent too. The Art Gallery is hung, lit and laid out in the manner of some of the best European galleries (such as the National in London) so is easy to walk around and view. Unfortunately (and I guess, expectedly - and by the way this is my personal opinion) the collection is not very big and lacks the classics that as a frequent visitor to European galleries I'm used to seeing. That said it is definitely worth including on your list of things to do if you enjoy art - some of the Australian works are very worth looking at.

From North Terrace it is a short walk to the river Torrens which has some really beautiful walks along it. Also nearby is the Adelaide Oval and Adelaide Zoo. Adelaide Oval is a great cricket ground and if there's a fixture during your visit then it is definitely worth checking out. Adelaide Zoo is quite charming - it is not too big which is really nice for the smaller kids (my daughter is one and a half and loved it) but there is still plenty to see (for more animals check out my article on things to do around Adelaide).

Well, I guess that is about the end of this article on things to do in Adelaide - I will probably revise and update this article as I learn more about Adelaide myself. There are plenty more things to do around Adelaide as another of Adelaide's great strengths as a city is how close it is to so many other great places - there are at least five fantastic wine regions in easy reach, wildlife parks, beaches and country towns and even some 'BIG' things! If you are planning to visit Adelaide then do plan to put on some k's on the hire car and head out of the city for a few day trips:

The Personal Opinions and Observations of Matt Maclay-Ross

For official advice you could try http://www.southaustralia.com

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