Adelaide is Australia's fifth-largest city (after Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth) and the capital of South Australia, home to just under 1.5 million people. It's one of the country's best-known areas for wine with countless wineries surrounding the city.
We're currently living full-time in our campervan, a 2018 Mercedes Sprinter, and exploring Australia, with a plan of "driving the lap" (completing the entire perimeter of the country). I first visited Australia in 2019, following the classic backpacker route, mostly visiting big cities, staying in hostels and traveling by public transport. This time, with the freedom of our campervan, we're trying to hit the lesser known spots and go slower.
For thousands of years, the Kaurna people lived on this land, long before any Europeans arrived, calling it Tarntanya.
The first Europeans to settle the area arrived in 1836, looking specifically for a free place to settle versus other areas in Australia which arose out of former British penal colonies. The city was named after King William IV's wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, and designed by Surveyor Colonel William Light who designed the world's only city within a park, surrounded by 2,224 acres of greenery. South Australia became a self-governing colony in 1856 with Adelaide named its capital.
We spent a week exploring Adelaide and its beautiful surrounding areas. Here is my complete guide:
Every single spot (and more) that I mention in all my blog posts about Australia can be found in my Australia | Ultimate Map!
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Each pin includes exact locations, images, detailed information, the ability to open and save the spot in your Google Maps and a link to my relevant blog post to read more.
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Below is some useful information for preparing for your trip to Adelaide. In all cases, please be sure to check with the relevant local authorities for the latest and accurate information.
Language: The official language of Australia is English. In Adelaide, the traditional language of the Kaurna people is Kaurna.
→ Learn more about the language of the Kaurna people.
Currency: The currency used in Australia is the Australian dollar, denoted as AUD $. I use a Wise account when I travel which allows me to have a single, free account with multiple currencies. I only have to pay once to convert my money in the app and then I can pay in AUD $!
→ Check the latest currency conversion between AUD $ and your local currency.
Data/WiFi: Before you arrive, I recommend purchasing an eSim on your phone so that you can access data the moment you land. eSims are much more convenient as it means you don't have to put a separate physical Sim into your phone. AirAlo offers great deals for eSims of various data sizes and time lengths with Optus.
→ Load an international eSim on your phone with AirAlo.
If you are visiting Australia long term, you might wish to put a physical Sim in your phone as AirAlo is geared more towards short term visitors on holiday. This way you can access a local phone plan. There are three main mobile phone network providers in Australia: Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Telstra has the best coverage across the country whereas Optus and Vodafone are good within cities. I recommend Telstra as it means you have the best coverage while you travel around the country, especially in rural areas.
We travel with a Starlink in our campervan which enables us to have unlimited WiFi wherever we are, even in places without coverage.
Free WiFi is provided by the City of Adelaide throughout many areas of the CBD, public parks and libraries on the ADLFree powered by TPG network. Major shopping centres, cafes, restaurants and libraries also offer free WiFi.
Visa: All passport holders except New Zealand require a visa to visit Australia. All arrivals must fill out an Australian arrival card before landing.
→ Check which visa you need for Australia.
Time of year to visit: Australia can be visited all year-round. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, can get very hot and busy in the summer, especially around school holidays, and cool in the winter months. I recommend visiting in spring (September-November) or autumn (March-May) for pleasant, sunny days.
Length of stay: We spent about a week in Adelaide and the surrounding area. There is so much to do, especially counting the beaches to the south and all the wineries around the city!
As Adelaide is Australia's fifth-largest city (after Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth) and the capital of South Australia, home to just under 1.5 million people, it is a major destination to travel to.
By flight: The easiest way to get to Adelaide is by flying, home to a major international airport connecting 16 airlines to 34 destinations directly.
From Adelaide Airport, it's just a 13-minute drive into the city; Uber is a popular choice here. You can also grab the J1 or J2 bus straight from the airport to the CBD in 20 minutes.
By car: If you're driving around the country as we are in our campervan, then the easiest way to get to Adelaide is with your own wheels. The most popular way of exploring Australia is by camping - whether with a motorhome, campervan, caravan or a roof tent on top of a car. This gives you the ultimate freedom of going as fast or as slow as you like.
You might want to start in Adelaide as your base for renting a campervan to explore Australia.
→ Rent a campervan in Adelaide with Apollo, Camplify, Indie or Juicy.
By coach: Greyhound connects Alice Springs and Coober Pedy with Adelaide. Firefly connects Melbourne with Adelaide, offering connections on to Sydney.
By train: Indian Pacific, a luxury rail company, offers a train service between Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. The three-night service could be a fabulous way to cross the country in style.
On foot: The main CBD area, surrounded by 2,224 acres of greenery, the world's only city within a park, is very walkable and exploring on foot is the best way to get around and visit many of the city's main highlights.
By public transport: Adelaide Metro runs a comprehensive bus, train and tram network around Adelaide, making this a super practical and easy way to get around.
→ Plan your trip by public transport around Adelaide.
By car: If you have your own wheels, of course you can drive yourself around.
→ Find out about parking in Adelaide.
By Uber: Uber is readily available throughout Adelaide.
By guided tour: There are countless guided tours of all sorts in Adelaide available, no matter what you're interested in, including city tours, winery tours, bike tours, river cruises, kayaking trips and food tours.
Hotel: Not traveling by campervan? Driving in a car? Whatever your reason for needing a place to stay, there are some great accommodation options in Adelaide to suit any budget.
→ Check out all the accommodation options in Adelaide.
Camping: We are driving "the lap" around Australia, exploring the country in our campervan. As with the rest of Australia, South Australia permits freedom camping on designated sites. These sites can vary greatly; some offer a variety of facilities such as toilets, trash bins, picnic tables, outdoor cooking stations and others have none of this and might simply be a pull-out on the side of the road.
The best way to find legal freedom camping spots is to use an app. We use Wikicamps Australia, a cheap app that has every single amenity listed (both free and paid) that you might need on the road. This includes things like where to fill up fresh water, where to dump grey water, where to empty toilets, where to stay, gas stations, information points and also has suggestions for things to do as you go.
→ Download the Wikicamps Australia app.
There is no free camping in Adelaide itself; we stayed at three spots in the surrounding area.
Narrung Jetty Reserve is a bit of an out-of-the-way spot on the end of a peninsula in South Australia bordered by Lake Alexandrina on the north and Lake Albert on the south but it ended up passing all our expectations. It's a bit of a niche destination, but we detoured here to spend the night on our way up to the coast from Mount Gambier towards Adelaide. Because it's surrounded by water, we ended up having one of the best nights sleep, void of all sounds of traffic with only pelicans for company!
The next morning, hop on the 24-hour free ferry across the Albert Passage to carry on to Poltalloch Road. To get ferry access, simply push the big green button and the old man will collect you on the small car ferry to bring you across the passage. It's free and takes just a few minutes to cross!
Pelicans at the campsite
Riding the free ferry across the Albert Passage
Greenock Centenary Park is the only free one in the Barossa Valley ($10 donation requested). The grounds are not very flat but they do have toilets, fresh water and a dump station so make for a convenient place to camp while visiting the Barossa area.
Lochiel Oval Free Campground is a fairly basic campground at the athletic oval in Lochiel, near to Bumbunga Lake, a famous pink salt lake. There are toilets provided making it a free and easy stopover when visiting the lake and heading to or from Adelaide.
Adelaide is Australia's fifth-largest city and has countless food options to go with it. It's also the heart of Australia's most famous wine region and is surrounded by countless wineries, many with delicious restaurants at their cellar doors.
We absolutely loved having dinner at The Salopian Inn, located in McLaren Vale. Inside a cozy, homey restaurant with views overlooking the nearby wineries, The Salopian Inn is an Australian-Asian fusion restaurant. The owners focus on growing as much of the food as they can in their own garden so every month is a seasonal menu based on what's available. The rest is transparently sourced from across the region, including many vegetarian options and it was all SO good. They even had some amazing non-alcoholic drinks available - I am a full-blown Altina fan now!
Ekhidna was one of the best winery restaurants we visited in the Adelaide area, located in McLaren Vale. I don't drink but Ekhidna had a fantastic non-alcoholic sparkling white on the menu while my partner shared a bottle of white with friends visiting from Germany. A mouthwatering menu, including lots of vegetarian options, is served in a bright, airy outdoor courtyard overlooking the barrels of wine and the beautiful green vineyard. A delightful place to spend a long, slow lunch.
Adelaide is Australia's fifth-largest city surrounded by gorgeous beaches and countless wineries for which the region is so famous for. We spent about a week exploring the area.
Visit the National Wine Centre of Australia
The National Wine Centre of Australia is in the heart of Adelaide's Botanic Gardens and features the country's largest wine cellar, with space for 38,000 bottles. Upstairs is a small but interesting exhibit about the history of wine in Australia dating back to the 1800s and the first vine brought to the country from South Africa.
You can do wine tastings here and there is also a lovely restaurant on site.
Explore Adelaide's Botanic Garden
This was our favourite botanic garden in Australia. Compact enough to wander through much of it in just a few hours but big enough to encompass plenty of different plants and houses, there is so much to see here.
Our favourite spots included the Palm House, an exquisite glass greenhouse with a blue Chihuly blown glass feature hanging from the ceiling. It was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875 and restored and is considered the last of its kind in the world. We also loved walking through the Bicentennial Observatory (it reminded us of Singapore's Cloud Forest!) with lush gardens to wander through in a massive glass dome. It was built in 1988 and is the largest single span conservatory in the Southern Hemisphere.
Everything is free to visit in the Botanic Gardens.
Walk along the River Torrens
Adelaide is such a unique city, the only one in the world to be designed and built within a park. Over 2,224 acres of greenery surround Adelaide and there are so many gorgeous places to stroll through. We loved the section along the River Torrens near the Adelaide University Footbridge.
Take in the views from the rotunda in Elder Park
See Adelaide's oldest shopping mall
Built in 1885, this is the oldest shopping mall in the city. There are 50 shops inside and the whole thing is very ornate with gorgeous tilework. It's nice to step inside while you're in Adelaide as it's conveniently located on Grenfell Street and Rundle Mall, the heart of present-day shopping in the city.
Visit South Australia's most beautiful beach
Sellicks Beach is, in my opinion, South Australia's most gorgeous beach; a bold statement, I know. Pristine white sand is lapped upon by the most perfect, gentle waves from an ocean that stretches far beyond the horizon. Best of all, impressive red cliffs line the beach, creating an immense backdrop that seems to fall into the ocean. The colours are vivid and it's just wonderful. You can also drive your car on the beach here and park up for a picnic and a swim!
See the dogs on Silver Sands Beach
This beautiful stretch of beach seems to go on forever. We stopped here as we beach-hopped along Adelaide's south coast and enjoyed watching loads of dogs running around happily in the sand and shallow waves.
Take in the cliff views at Port Willunga Beach
See the viewpoint over the Onkaparinga River Mouth
This gorgeous viewpoint looks over the mouth of the Onkaparinga River where it enters the southern ocean at St Vincent Gulf. The water laps around the sandy South Port Beach which you can walk to at low tide.
Walk to The Sugarloaf
This easy walk in Hallett Cove Conservation Park is just beautiful. Starting along a paved walkway, turn right at the sign for The Sugarloaf up a series of wooden steps and then follow the boardwalk. You will feel like you've stepped foot on Mars!
The Sugarloaf is a 6000-year-old rock formation that looks like a lump of hard sugar. The red layers are sediment which were originally on the bottom of an ancient glacial lake. As the lake drained, white sand settled on the red sediment creating the look that you can walk around and photograph today.
Make sure to grab a gelato from the Boatshed after your walk.
Check out the Dutch Pantry
Okay, this might be a niche one, but there is an adorable shop and restaurant entirely dedicated to goods and foods from the Netherlands. I'm half-Dutch, so always have to find fun ways to honour my heritage and a Dutch restaurant isn't such a common thing to find!
Hike the Mannum Waterfalls
Mannum Waterfalls is a gorgeous hike through an oasis in a Crown Land recreation reserve near the historic town of Mannum on the Murray River. It's a total hidden gem and such a great short trek.
→ Check out my complete guide to hiking the Mannum Waterfalls!
Explore the Barossa Valley
I don't drink, so I can't personally recommend any wineries, but the Barossa Valley is one of Australia's most famous wine regions home to countless wineries to do tastings at and fields full of vines to explore.
My favourite things to do in the Barossa Valley as a non-drinker were to simply drive through the endless fields. We stopped at the iconic Avenue of Palms, a beautiful photo spot along the Seppeltsfield Road. Lined with fat palm trees and surrounded by vineyards, it's a beautiful spot to drive through and snap a few photos. Be respectful of the property along the palm trees, please!
We also visited Maggie Beer's Farm Shop, a sweet farm shop famous for its cooking classes and wine tastings. You can also shop Maggie's cookbooks and a selection of gourmet groceries and kitchenware.
See the pink salt Bumbunga Lake
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Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
