The capital of South Australia, often described as not having a lot to do or boring, is anything but! We recently spent a weekend there and there is so much to see and do. Read ahead to see how exactly what we recommend to see the best of Adelaide in a weekend!

Adelaide has one of our favourite city centres as the whole thing is surrounded by parks! There are at least 10 different parks, lots of playgrounds, TreeClimb Adelaide and the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Honestly you could spend a whole day exploring all of these parks. If you only have a couple of hours, we’d recommend the Adelaide Botanic Garden, which is free to enter. Also make sure to wander along part of the River Torrens which has some beautiful riverside walks.

Within these parks also sits the Adelaide Zoo which is the only zoo in Australia with giant Pandas! Tickets are $46 for adults or $33.50 for students and the money goes towards conservation efforts for endangered species. It’s a really beautiful zoo with lots of greenery and some really interesting keeper talks so it’s worth a visit if you’ve got the time and money.

After exploring the parks, you should head into the city centre. The main shopping strip is called Rundle Mall and where you’ll see the famous Malls Balls sculpture. Next to the sculpture is the Regent Arcade which is a beautiful old building, built in 1928 originally as a theatre.

A 15 minute walk south is the Adelaide Central Market which is free to enter. The market is open varying hours between 7am and 9pm every Tuesday to Saturday. It is shut on Sundays and Mondays and many public holidays though so its best to check their website to make sure it’s open when you visit. This is a food market so there is lots of fresh produce as well as sandwiches, salads, baked goods, pizza, pasta and sweets. It is the perfect place to pick up some takeaway lunch to enjoy in the nearby parks.

The Old Croissant Factory in the south of the city has some of the most incredible croissants and pastries that we have ever tried. And we’re including all the pastries we ate in France and Denmark when we say that! They also have savoury pastries and some delicious drinks with adorable latte art. It is definitely worth a visit if you can get there!

The Adelaide Hills are an incredible part of Adelaide and are definitely worth a visit if you can get there. It’s easiest to drive if you have access to a car, as the towns of Hahndorf, Aldgate, Stirling, Mount Barker and more are all within an hours drive of the city centre. They’re all incredible cute with independent shops and cafes that are great to look around for an hour or so. If you don’t have access to a car there are buses from the city that run to all of these towns in an hour or less.

If you do have access to a car and you’re heading into the hills, a great place to visit is Mount Lofty. The summit is free to visit (apart from paid parking) and has a wonderful view of Adelaide and it’s surrounds. It’s also possible to visit on public transport but takes an hour each way on two buses. It is open 6am to 9pm every day and even later over winter. The peak is around 710 meters above sea level and there are a couple of walking trails you can do too.

Also on Mount Lofty are the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens which are free to enter. First opened in 1977, the garden takes up 100 hectares of space in the Adelaide Hills. Unfortunately its only accessible by car however parking is really cheap at only $4.40 for the whole day. They’re open every day of the year from 8:30am to 4pm and later on weekends and over summer.

There’s lots of beautiful walking trails around the garden and lake where you can see lots of native plants. There is a food truck where you can get drinks and small snacks but not much else so it’s a great excuse to bring a picnic and enjoy the gardens. Keep an eye out for animals around the garden too, while we were there we saw heaps of kangaroos!

If the hills aren’t really your vibe, another great thing to do on day two of seeing Adelaide in a weekend is to hit the beach. There’s lots of amazing beaches to visit along the coast including Henley, Grange, West, Brighton and Glenelg beaches. All of these are accessible by trains, buses or trams from the city so are super easy to visit. You could even couple a visit to the beach on the same day as your visit to the city as all transport options leave from there.

Glenelg beach is probably the most famous because of it’s big sandy beach, bustling main street and many restaurants and cafes. There is even an amusement complex called The Beachhouse with water slides, bumper cars, mini golf and an arcade. The Glenelg Foreshore Playground and Moseley Square also have lots of activities going on. However because of its popularity it does mean it gets very busy. So if you’d like a quieter more relaxed beach visit we’d recommend one of the other beaches.

We visited Henley beach which has a lovely little shopping street and square with some great places to eat. There’s also a market held alongside the beach once a month and you can find the dates here. For lunch we headed up to the even quieter Grange beach and got an unbelievable fish and chips lunch from Jack’s Chicken & Seafood which is right near the train station. Almost every beach has a jetty you can walk out onto, beautiful sand and very calm water due to Adelaide being situated on a gulf. Whatever beach you choose to visit will be great choice as they’re all beautiful.

A trip to Adelaide is absolutely NOT complete without a visit to Haighs chocolates. Haighs was founded in 1915 in Adelaide and now has stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Their chocolate is delicious and they sell so many different kinds including chocolate blocks, freckles, truffles and even have free tasters sometimes.

If you’re a wine lover, you might know that South Australia is home to the famous Barossa Valley. It’s not super accessible without a car but with one it’s only about an hour outside of Adelaide. If you do head to the valley, there is so much choice for a place to visit and have a sip with over 150 wineries. Of course there is also some incredible food in the Barossa and it even has its own cheese and chocolate companies.

There is honestly MORE than enough to keep you entertained in Adelaide for way more than a weekend. We hope this post has given you lots of ideas of what to do for your visit, whether it is just for a weekend or you’re lucky enough to visit for longer. If you do, let us know what you get up to and if we missed anything amazing for our next visit!

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