Things to Do in Adelaide

Central Market early morning browse

Before 9am the market halls buzz with forklift beeps and coffee steam. Vietnamese women stack pyramids of dragon fruit while Italian cheesemakers unwrap cloth-bound cheddar that reeks of cellar floors. The honey stall hands out tastings that taste like different shades of sunlight.

Sunset from Mount Lofty Summit

The view rolls over Adelaide's patchwork of red roofs to the Gulf, shifting from peach to violet while kookaburras laugh from the gum trees. The air up here smells of pine needles and feels ten degrees cooler than the plains below.

Glenelg tram ride and beach time

The vintage tram clatters through suburbs where jacaranda petals carpet the streets purple, then leaves you at a beach where the water shows that particular Southern Ocean shade of metallic turquoise. Seagulls scrap over hot chips while old men cast lines from the jetty.

North Terrace culture walk

The sandstone buildings along here shine honey-coloured in afternoon light. Inside the Art Gallery, indigenous paintings pulse with ochre and charcoal; outside, the wind carries jasmine from the university gardens. The library's old reading room smells of paper and furniture polish.

McLaren Vale wine tasting afternoon

The vineyards roll like green corduroy to the hills, where cellar doors pour shiraz that tastes of chocolate and black pepper. Between tastings you may catch eucalyptus drifting from roadside gums or hear the soft thud of grapes being loaded into trucks.

East End, warehouse conversions near Rundle Street where you'll wake to coffee aromas drifting from the laneways

North Adelaide - terrace houses with verandahs and the sound of church bells

Glenelg - beachfront apartments where you can hear waves from your balcony

West End - former industrial buildings turned into loft hotels near the markets

Norwood - leafy suburb with good pub food and frequent buses to town

Henley Beach - quieter than Glenelg with sunset views over the Gulf