Adelaide

Cruise ships berth at the Outer Harbor wharf. The upgraded Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal has a new road and traffic system in the terminal precinct, plus a direct walkway to nearby Outer Harbor railway station.

Central Port Adelaide is 10 suburban train stations from Outer Harbor, taking about 40 minutes, or about 15 minutes by taxi. Trains run every 30 minutes. The Port has some of Australia’s finest colonial buildings; walk the docks and old Port, take a self-guided or guided tour, and look for dolphins in the Port River. All-day train-and-bus tickets cost about $10 pp.

The Maritime Museum, Railway Museum and Aviation Museum are on Lipson Street and open daily. See the Spitfire, climb the old ketch and ride the steam train. On Sunday, the Fisherman’s Wharf Market, 9am-5pm Sun, has antiques, bric-a-brac and poor-quality collectibles.

Where provided, shuttles generally drop off and collect passengers at Rundle Mall in the heart of the city. The journey from the cruise terminal takes around 30 to 40 minutes.

A Port-to-City taxi costs about 30 Australian Dollar after the morning rush hour. Taxis are metered and nearly all accept credit cards, with a surcharge.

Public transport to the city centre is also available on bus route 150.

The city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital of a freely settled British province in Australia, and named for Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV.

Rundle Mall is the city centre’s main shopping focus, while North Terrace is its cultural focus, with the Art Gallery, Museum, State Library and Universities. The Casino is on North Tce above central railway station. The Adelaide Festival of Arts in March uses many venues, including the Festival Center close to the station. A new bridge leads to the rebuilt Adelaide Oval for cricket and Australian Rules (AFL) football.

Adelaide, South Australia’s capital, stands on the River Torrens between Gulf St Vincent to the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east. Named for Queen Adelaide, William IV’s consort, it was laid out in 1836 by Surveyor-General Colonel William Light as a square-mile grid of broad boulevards enclosed by parks and gardens. Once rather condescendingly called “the City of Churches”, it has become known over the past 30 years for its arts festival, alfresco lifestyle and manageable pace, helped by a climate where hot summers and warm autumns are separated by…

Elegant colonial buildings and preserved façades are scattered across the city. North Terrace includes Old Parliament House, now the Constitutional Museum, Parliament House, Adelaide Railway Station, Government House, South Australian Museum, Art Gallery of South Australia, Mortlock Library and Adelaide University’s Elder and Bonython Halls. Other sights include Festival Center on the Torrens, the Bicentennial Conservatory at the Botanical Gardens, St Peter’s Cathedral in North Adelaide, Ayers House at the eastern end of North Terrace and…

Adelaide’s city centre is easy to cover on foot. Most headline sights are within walking distance, many along North Tce, while the central Rundle Mall shopping district is entirely pedestrianised.

The free 99C city bus circles Adelaide’s principal sights in clockwise and anticlockwise directions. Each route has about 30 stops covering the main cultural and commercial centres, starting at Victoria Square and including Adelaide Railway Station. The buses have ground-level access ramps.

Glenelg, known as “the Bay”, is 10km from Adelaide City on Holdfast Bay’s long white-sand shore. This appealing seaside resort was South Australia’s original mainland settlement in 1836. A 25-minute tram journey from Moseley Square in central Glenelg reaches Adelaide City and, importantly, Rundle Mall.

Cleland Wildlife Park is 20 minutes from Adelaide city centre, within the natural bush setting of Cleland Conservation Park and beside Mount Lofty Summit. Its 35 hectares of open bushland allow interaction with Australian wildlife including kangaroos, koalas and emus.

Just west of Victoria Square, on Grote Street’s south side, the Central Market has supplied Adelaide with fresh fruit, vegetables and culinary delicacies since the second half of the 19th C. This colourful market was founded in 1870.

Rundle Mall is the city’s main shopping area, with local and national department stores, boutiques, specialist shops, cafés and pubs. Watch street entertainers, including mimes and musicians, and enjoy people-watching along this pedestrian mall.

The currency is the Australian Dollar.

The passenger terminal has telephones and free Wi-Fi.

Shops and services generally open Monday to Friday, 9am–5:30pm, and until lunchtime on Saturday. In Adelaide’s suburbs many shops stay open late on Thursday, while city-centre shops stay open on Friday evening, usually until 9pm, and all day Saturday. Shopping malls often also open on Sundays.

In remote country areas, roadhouses provide essential services and are generally open 24 hours a day on major highways. Tourist offices in tourist areas, even well off the beaten track, are often open daily or at least throughout the week and on weekend mornings; urban information centres are more likely to follow normal shopping hours.

Tourist attractions including museums, galleries and staffed historic monuments are often open daily, although those in rural communities may keep irregular hours.