Highlights of Adelaide
Adelaide is a friendly city that's easy to explore. Here are some of the highlights of the City of Adelaide, as chosen by the AMUNC 2008 team. Discover these for yourself!
North Terrace and city centre
On North Terrace you will find not only museums and the South Australian Art Gallery, but also memorials, statues, plaques - and the bricks and mortar of many splendid historic buildings. Beginning at the western end, across the road from the University of South Australia campus, you'll find the City Sk8 Park. Opposite, there's the Lion Arts Centre and JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design and it studios and galleries. Adelaide's Convention Centre and Exhibition Hall are also surrounded by some of Australia's best hotels. SkyCity Adelaide casino is set inside the grand Adelaide Railway Station and provides ultramodern gaming facilities, dining and entertainment. The State Library is home to the Bradman Collection and fine exhibitions, the South Australian Museum is home of the world's finest Australian Aboriginal collection, and the Art Gallery of South Australia boasts the best display of Australian colonial art in the country amongst its collections. At the eastern end of North Terrace is the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Dine at the restaurant, or enjoy a snack while watching the ducks. Or taste some wines and wander through the National Wine Centre of Australia, the showcase for Australia's wine industry.
Rundle Mall
Rundle Mall is home to Australia's most concentrated collection of department stores, boutiques and specialty shops - matched with free live entertainment and an excellent range of food courts and dining venues. Designer label creations, unique gifts, flower stalls, and some of the best duty free deals anywhere are poured into a layered shopping strip just over 500 metres long. Head towards the East End and you will find Rundle Street. Relish the range of design shops, cafes, wine bars, welcoming pubs and arthouse cinemas screening the latest release films. Every Sunday, between 10am and 4pm, the street is given over to the Rundle Street Market.
Adelaide Central Market, Gouger Street and Chinatown
Buzzing with sounds, colours and wonderful aromas, Adelaide Central Market is truly a gourmet heaven. In the market proper, there's more than 80 traders selling fresh produce like fruit, vegetables and flowers, as well as seafood, meat and poultry. Around the market, in arcades, plazas and laneways you'll find more shops and stalls: specialty chocolate makers, bookshops, vintage clothes, souvenirs, jewellery, Asian groceries, gift shops and myriad places to eat. Gouger Street is Adelaide's key 'eat street' where cultural diversity is delicious. Take a five-minute stroll and you'll be embarking on a world tour of restaurants. Traditional Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Japanese, Asian fusion, noodle bars, regional Chinese and yum cha, French and Argentine cuisine, and a number of first-rate seafood restaurants.
Glenelg and the Bay
Glenelg and the City of Holdfast Bay are synonymous with festivals, sandy beaches, stunning sunsets, seven-day shopping, great restaurants and cafés, plus fascinating museums, galleries and attractions. You can be here in just five minutes from the airport, or take a trip on a moving icon - the City to Bay tram. The Bay Discovery Centre tracks the history of Holdfast Bay. The Rodney Fox Shark Experience is where the world famous underwater and shark adventurer provides his own piece of living history, while the Town Hall Wine Bar is just the place to kick up your heels at sunset. Nearby is the Beachouse amusement park, while further along the foreshore the new Holdfast Shores marina and complex provides stylish dining and shopping at the water's edge. Temptation Sailing's dolphin cruises operate from the marina. And Jetty Road is Glenelg's main street and an attraction by itself, always buzzing with people browsing through hundreds of shops or dining at sidewalk cafés.
Dining in Adelaide
Pull up a chair in one of Adelaide's fabulous restaurants.
In Adelaide, you'll find entire streets devoted to dining. These 'eat streets' are a mix of cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Gouger Street is Adelaide's key eat street. It's the gateway to the Adelaide Central Market and the exotic, bustling mall and foodhalls of Chinatown. Take a five-minute stroll and you'll be embarking on a world tour of restaurants. Traditional Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Japanese, Asian fusion, noodle bars, regional Chinese and yum cha, French and Argentine cuisine, and a number of first-rate seafood restaurants.
Rundle Street, in Adelaide's East End, has a popular casual atmosphere and is recommended for lunch and night dining. It's bursting with alfresco dining - a vibrant food, wine and coffee experience not to be missed. Nearby Hutt Street is a great breakfast spot and home to GoodLife Modern Organic Pizza (you'll also find a Good Life in Glenelg's Jetty Road).
Hindley Street is home to Apothecary 1878, an elegant wine bar that must be seen to be believed. And the award-winning Red Ochre restaurant has views of the River Torrens and famed cuisine to try.
O'Connell Street and Melbourne Street are fashionable dining locations in North Adelaide, five minutes drive north of the city. You'll find The Manse restaurant in North Adelaide - one of Adelaide's finest and oldest established restaurants, located within a beautiful Victorian Mansion.
Just ten minutes from the city centre, The Parade in Norwood is alive with cafes, Italian and Thai restaurants, pubs and more.
Coastal suburbs Glenelg and Henley Beach are also popular dining precincts. Dine outdoors while you watch the sun set over the ocean. Henley Beach Road has a cornucopia of food stores and eateries - Asian, African, Mediterranean and Indian.
Of course Adelaide's shopping hub, Rundle Mall, has an excellent range of food courts and dining venues when you need to take a breather from shopping.
Adelaide Nightlife
Adelaide's hot zones for nightlife are the pubs, clubs and bars of Rundle Street in the east and Hindley Street and Light Square in the west.
In the city centre, head to The Austral or Exeter in Rundle Street for a raucous welcome, good beer and good music. Or soak up the contemporary house beats at ultra chic Distill bar. Catch great live bands at the Crown and Sceptre, Grace Emily or Governor Hindmarsh hotels - where you'll often find leading musos enjoying a drink at the bar themselves. Dance the night away in The Garage, SAVY, Vodka Bar, SIX, Electric Circus. Other popular nightspots include Banque Bar, Archer Hotel, Royal Oak and the Lion Hotel in North Adelaide. There's also First at the Hotel Richmond, Boho Bar at Unley, Zootz at Henley Square and The Pier and Oyster Bar at Glenelg.
Visitor Information Centres
Visitor Information Centres can help you make the most of your time in South Australia.
You'll notice them by the bright blue and yellow 'i' sign that they display. These accredited centres are open 7 days a week and they're there to provide you with all the information you need for your travels around South Australia.
The staff can tell you about local attractions you shouldn't miss, the best accommodation, where to dine, and much more. And they should know - the VICs are staffed by locals who are keen to share their knowledge.
You can also grab brochures and maps there. So wherever you go in South Australia, don't hesitate to drop in to a Visitor Information Centre.
South Australian Visitor & Travel Centre
18 King William Street Adelaide
Telephone 1300 655 276
Email informationandbookings@mail.southaustralia.com
Rundle Mall Information Centre
Rundle Mall Adelaide
Telephone +61 8 8203 7611
Glenelg Visitor Information Centre
Foreshore, Glenelg
Telephone +61 8 8294 5833
Port Adelaide Visitor Information Centre
66 Commercial Road, Port Adelaide
Telephone +61 8 8405 6560