Things to do in Adelaide: Vacations, Tourism, and Hotels

What to do in Adelaide

The city of Adelaide is widely known as Australia’s wine capital: The area surrounding this metro of more than 1.25 million people lays claim to some 200 cellar doors, many of which have become household names—Penfolds, Wolf Blass, and Jacob’s Creek. The state of South Australia itself is home to 16 distinct wine regions, including the internationally acclaimed Barossa area (an hour north). Dig deep into wine culture at the University of Adelaide’s National Wine Center, which has 500 vines of Australia’s most important varietals and offers courses and tastings for oenophiles and neophytes alike. Test your chops at wine bars and boites like Distill, Cork, and Apothecary 1878. In addition to its vino credits, park-filled Adelaide is an eco-capital, too; ride on one of 500 free bikes or hop on Tindo, the world’s first solar-powered bus.

Traveler Reviews of Adelaide

Fat Paddler rates Adelaide

Adelaide is pretty sleepy but if you can find it, it has a great underground nightlife centered around wine and vodka bars. Surrounding the city are plenty of wine regions (eg Barossa, Claire Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale) and if you check, there's usually a jazz, food and wine festival on somewhere attended by much of Adelaide's locals. Adelaide also has miles and miles of beaches which are great during the hot summer months, but don't expect much surf here as Kangaroo Island to the south blocks off swell coming from the Southern Ocean. Adelaide has a thriving restaurant scene, possibly the best in Australia, with lots of top quality and reasonably priced restaurants both dotted down the coast and in the CBD itself (especially around Gouger Street and Henley Square). Really, eating and drinking are the highlights of this city!

Submitted on December 04, 2011