Adelaide Region is the larger area around the state capital Adelaide in South Australia.

Cities

• 1 Adelaide - the capital of South Australia and the largest city in the state by a huge margin, as well as the fifth largest city in Australia
• 2 Gawler – a smaller more quiet city 40 kilometres north of Adelaide
• 3 Hahndorf - A German town on the outskirts of Adelaide

Other destinations

• 1 Adelaide Hills - mountains overlooking the city
• 2 Barossa Valley - wine country north of Adelaide
• 3 McLaren Vale - wine country south of Adelaide
• 4 Gumeracha - home of the Big Rocking Horse

Understand

Much of this area is basically most of Adelaide itself, but the region is much more than just Adelaide, as the two things that Adelaide is worldwide famous for – chocolate and wine, have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is Adelaide Hills. Adelaide Hills also include cities and towns like Gawler, or the German town of Hahndorf.

The only place in the Adelaide Region where it snows is on Mount Lofty, and only on rare occasions. Otherwise, it's cool all year around, and it's mostly dry.

Get in

By plane

Main article: Adelaide#By plane

The only major airport in the region is Adelaide Airport (ADL ^IATA), which has flights from nearly every Australian capital or major city and is a major connection point for much of Outback South Australia and Western New South Wales. Adelaide Airport does also get some international flights as well, but they usually stop at either Sydney, Perth or Melbourne, and to a lesser degree, Brisbane but there are direct flights too, such as from Singapore or New Zealand.

By car

The Adelaide region is well connected via roads, and with the exception of Brisbane, it's well connected to all other state capitals. However, unless you're coming from Melbourne, Mildura or Broken Hill, you're going to need a night stay.

• From Melbourne, it's a whole 8 hours via the Western/Dukes Highways, and is the only capital from Adelaide that can be reached within a day
• From Sydney, it's a 14-hour drive, and it can be done via two ways, one slightly longer but more straightforward, and the route taken by trucks via the A20 Sturt Highway. The shorter one takes you via Ouyen, but it goes through some other roads in Victoria
• See the Adelaide article for info on Brisbane, Perth and Darwin

By train

Journey Beyond (formerly known as Great Southern Rail) runs long distance tourist train services to and from Adelaide. The Ghan runs to Coober Pedy, Alice Springs and Darwin, The Overland runs to Melbourne, and the Indian Pacific runs to Perth, Broken Hill and Sydney. These journeys are train experiences, and offer sleepers, and the opportunity to take your car with you on the train. However, they take considerably longer than a plane journey. The Ghan and the Indian Pacific are also generally more expensive than a plane ticket would be, but the Overland is usually cheaper — even the equivalent of a business-class Overland ticket is comparable to an economy-class Adelaide-Melbourne flight on a full-service airline. The trains also have interim stops at a number of rural locations, which may be convenient if your travel itinerary involves some smaller towns. Note that Great Southern Rail trains lack Wi-Fi.

Get around

By car

While the region's road network is generally good, the inner city area of Adelaide lacks freeways/expressways. The national highways south of about 20 km north of Gawler are usually divided highways and have a 110 km/h limit, and from Gawler and Adelaide, there's a high quality expressway and is the prime northeast-southwest corridor. To the east, the South Eastern Freeway goes up the Adelaide Hills and off to the other side of the mountain range, passing the only areas of Adelaide where it snows.

By public transport

Tram in the region

Public transport is generally good, except in the eastern mountainous areas of the Adelaide Region. The Adelaide Metro goes up a bit further north of Gawler in the north, and goes up to Outer Harbor in the northwest. In the south, it goes down south to places such as Seaford and the Belair.

On foot

Walking should be only be done over short distances or on well known routes, unless you are a seasoned hiker. Hydration is essential, especially in hot weather.

See and do

Plenty of good stuff to see, from the city itself, to the rural idylls around.

Adelaide CBD features a wide variety of museums and is perhaps the perfect example of what a planned grid city looks like. It's also completely surrounded by parklands, which is the remains of a now-cancelled inner ring freeway plan.

Hahndorf has a moderately strong German culture and is just off the freeway – although its rather short main street no longer exclusively German, it retains many heritage buildings that resemble some features of German architecture. The Adelaide Hills Visitor Information Centre has more information about the town's history and also features some niche but quaint German items.

The Adelaide Hills has perhaps an interesting mix of things to see: the Mount Lofty Summit (accessible by car and by bus) provides an excellent panoramic view of Adelaide and contains a charming botanic garden nearby. The National Motor Museum to the north is also worth a visit, which tells the Australian automotive story before the industry fully died in the 2010s.

Wine regions of this area include McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley – the latter being Australia's most famous wine region.

Eat

Consider eating some Haigh’s Chocolate. Or perhaps visiting the 145-year-old Adelaide Central Market. Adelaide has many great cafe's and restaurants.

Drink

Adelaide is Australia’s wine capital. If you don't like wine, other drinks are available.

Stay safe

Take plenty of water with you if driving anywhere. Especially if it is very hot you should avoid getting dehydrated.

Snakes are very rare in Adelaide, if lucky enough to see one remember: don't get near to snakes, if you see one (more likely in the rural bush), then back away from it slowly or walk away without startling it or stepping on it. If bitten, contact an ambulance on Triple Zero (000) or visit a hospital immediately to receive the appropriate anti-venom if needed. Try to take note of what the snake looked like since most are not dangerous, but some do require treatment.

Go next

Consider visiting other regions of Australia, depending on how hot you want to be, either head north (hotter) or south to Tasmania (colder).