SOUTH AUSTRALIA
South Australia is bursting with culture, wildlife encounters, exceptional food and wine, events and entertainment. Taste your way through world-famous wine regions only minutes away from Adelaide, soak up the sun at picture-perfect beaches, get up-close and personal with sea lions, dolphins, koalas and kangaroos at wildlife parks and in crystal-clear waters, join the party at our immersive festivals and events or spend the night exploring a thriving restaurant and bar scene. There’s a world of experiences right at your fingertips – do it all in South Australia.
Adelaide is bursting with culture, flavours, events and entertainment. Taste your way through world-famous wine regions only minutes away from the city or indulge in some of Australia’s most-award winning restaurants in the heart of Adelaide. Join the party at our immersive festivals and events or spend the night exploring Adelaide attractions and a thriving restaurant and bar scene. Adelaide is a gateway to some of Australia’s best wine country and is dotted with historic buildings, lush parklands and sprawling botanic gardens.
Abandoned by Aborigines a few thousand years ago, Kangaroo Island attracts over 140,000 visitors each year. Flinders Chase National Park is a big draw for nature gazing, so bring your hiking boots and camera to capture images of koalas, kangaroos, and other protected wildlife. One species plays an important role in the economy, namely the Ligurian honey bee. These little workers produce some of the best honey in the world. The amount of recognition that the bees have brought the island is ironic considering the first settlers made their living off the hunting and export of whales and seals.
Nowadays, these two species are protected and live peacefully along the shores of the island paradise. Kangaroo Island is in South Australia. Some of the best events in Australia happen in South Australia, and you might want to plan your visit to coincide with one of them.
Come to Adelaide between February and March to experience a riotous month of cabaret, circus and comedy at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. March is also the month of the Adelaide Festival, one of the world's biggest celebrations of art and culture, and WOMAdelaide, featuring world music and dance in the Adelaide parklands. In late April and early May the focus is on local food and wine, when Tasting Australia comes to town (as well as elsewhere in the state). There's a hot date in June too, when the Adelaide Cabaret Festival kicks off. And that’s just the start.
South Australia truly is the land of legends. From culture-rich Adelaide to the lush Adelaide Hills; the bountiful Barossa to the Eyre Peninsula; our state has been named a Great Wine Capital of the World and is home to an all-star cast of world-famous chefs, winemakers and producers. Adelaide is a culinary playground with a smorgasbord of cuisines on offer. Steeped in history and drenched in class, wash it all down at booming city bars, regional distilleries, cellar doors and wineries.
You can experience the heart of Australia by luxurious train on The Ghan, a legendary four day, three night journey that crosses the continent from south to north for 2,979 kilometres (1,851 miles) from Adelaide to Darwin (and vice versa). Another of the great cross-continental rail journeys of the world is the Indian Pacific, which travels for 4,352 kilometres (2,704 miles) from Sydney on the east coast, via Adelaide, to Perth on the west coast. The Overland train covers the 828 kilometres (514 miles) between Adelaide and Melbourne.
Australia's longest river, the Murray, winds through South Australia from its source near the ski slopes in the Australian Alps, and drains into lakes near the river mouth, before emptying into the Southern Ocean near the waterbird-rich lagoons of the Coorong. Explore the river on a traditional paddle-steamer or houseboat from the historic riverboat town of Mannum. In the Riverland region you'll also find a range of wineries, craft breweries and distilleries to explore. Stretching eastwards from the Coorong to the border with Victoria is the Limestone Coast, another idyllic area of beautiful beaches and vineyards.
South Australia is one of the world's premier wine producing areas, and there are more than 200 wineries within a short drive of Adelaide. The state is home to 18 major winemaking regions and Australia's most iconic wine, Penfolds Grange. Just 20 minutes by car from the centre of Adelaide is the cool-climate grape growing area of the Adelaide Hills, where early German settlers influenced the food and architecture in historic towns such as Hahndorf.
The most famous wine area is the Barossa, a one-hour drive north-east of Adelaide. It's known for its five-star retreats, great food, high quality wines and old stone cottages. Make sure you leave time to discover other South Australian wine regions too, including the Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, the Coonawarra and Eden Valley. And don't miss the wildlife haven of Kangaroo Island.