Must-see attractions in South Australia

  • Test cricket match at the Adelaide Oval with the heritage scoreboard in background.

    Adelaide Oval

    Adelaide

    Hailed as the world’s prettiest cricket ground, the Adelaide Oval hosts interstate and international cricket matches in summer, plus national AFL and…

  • Central market.

    Central Market

    Adelaide

    A tourist sight or a shopping op? Either way, satisfy your deepest culinary cravings at the 250-odd stalls in superb Adelaide Central Market. A sliver of…

  • Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island, South Australia
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formation, rock, flinders chase

    Flinders Chase National Park

    Kangaroo Island

    Occupying the western end of Kangaroo Island, Flinders Chase National Park is one of SA’s top national parks. Much of the park is mallee scrub, but there…

  • Front entrance (The Elder Wing) of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

    Art Gallery of South Australia

    Adelaide

    Spend a few hushed hours in the vaulted, parquetry-floored gallery that represents the big names in Australian art. Permanent exhibitions include…

  • Australia, South Australia, Adelaide. The South Australian Museum.

    South Australian Museum

    Adelaide

    Dig into Australia’s natural history with the museum's special exhibits on whales and Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson. Over two levels, the amazing…

  • Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, Australia, Australasia
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    Seal Bay Conservation Park

    Kangaroo Island

    'Observation, not interaction' is the mentality here. Guided tours stroll along the beach (or boardwalk on self-guided tours; adult/child/family $16/13/42…

  • Snelling Beach, Kangaroo Island. Beautiful aerial view at sunset.
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    Snelling Beach

    Kangaroo Island

    The best swimming beach on the north coast, with a lovely arc of powdery white sand and sheltered shallows. There's not much else at Snelling by way of…

  • "Located in Flinders Chase National Park, the impressive Remarkable Rocks are a cluster of precariously balanced granite boulders which have been shaped by the erosive forces of wind, sea spray and rain over some 500 million years."
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    Remarkable Rocks

    Kangaroo Island

    At Kirkpatrick Point, a few kilometres east of Cape du Couedic, the much-photographed, rather Dalí-esque Remarkable Rocks are a cluster of hefty, weather…

  • Adelaide Park Lands

    Adelaide Park Lands

    Adelaide

    The city centre and upmarket North Adelaide are surrounded by a broad band of parkland. Colonel William Light, Adelaide’s controversial planner, came up…

  • Palm House, Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

    Adelaide Botanic Gardens

    Adelaide

    Meander, jog or chew through your trashy airport novel in these lush city-fringe gardens. Highlights include a restored 1877 palm house, the water-lily…

  • Giant Panda (Wang Wang; male), Adelaide Zoo.

    Adelaide Zoo

    Adelaide

    Around 1800 exotic and native mammals, birds and reptiles roar, growl and screech at Adelaide’s wonderful zoo, dating from 1883. There are free walking…

  • West Terrace Cemetery

    West Terrace Cemetery

    Adelaide

    Driven-by and overlooked by most Adelaidians, this amazing old cemetery (established in 1837, and now with 150,000 residents) makes a serene and…

  • National Wine Centre Adelaide South Australia, Australia

    National Wine Centre of Australia

    Adelaide

    Check out the free self-guided, interactive Wine Discovery Journey exhibition at this very sexy wine centre (doubling as a research facility for the…

  • Adelaide Gaol

    Adelaide Gaol

    Adelaide

    Only decommissioned in 1988 after housing 300,000 inmates since 1841, this old Victorian lock-up has a grim vibe, but its displays of homemade bongs,…

  • Migration Museum

    Migration Museum

    Adelaide

    This engaging social-history museum tells the story of the many migrants who have made SA their home. The museum has info on 100-plus nationalities logged…

  • Penfolds Vineyards, Robe, South AUstralia, Australia

    Penfolds Magill Estate Winery

    Adelaide

    This 175-year-old winery is home to Australia's best-known wine − the legendary Grange. Taste the product at the cellar door; dine at the fab restaurant…

  • Statue of Colonel William Light

    Statue of Colonel William Light

    Adelaide

    The famous statue of Adelaide's town planner (official name Light’s Vision) sits atop the grassy flanks of Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide.

  • Frenchman's Rock

    Kangaroo Island

    When intrepid French explorer Nicholas Baudin surveyed the KI coast in 1803, he came ashore at what's now Penneshaw for a look around. He left his mark:…

  • Clifford's Honey Farm

    Kangaroo Island

    It's worth swimming the Backstairs Passage for the honey ice cream (sourced from rare Ligurian bees) at this charming, uncommercial farm, which is a bit…

  • Kangaroo Island Farmers Market

    Kangaroo Island

    Has baked goods, chutneys, seafood, olive oil, honey, eggs, cheese, yoghurt and of course wine and dodgy buskers (including, once, a certain Lonely Planet…

  • Waterfall Gully

    Adelaide

    Yes, it's a gully. And yes, there's a waterfall at the end of it – a rather spectacular 30m-tall one, too, especially if it's been raining in the Adelaide…

  • Ravine des Casoars

    Kangaroo Island

    At Harvey's Return near Cape Borda, a cemetery speaks poignant volumes about the reality of isolation in the early days. From here you can drive to Ravine…

  • Kelly Hill Conservation Park

    Kangaroo Island

    This series of dry limestone caves was 'discovered' in the 1880s by a horse named Kelly, who fell into them through a hole. Take the standard show cave…

  • Raptor Domain

    Kangaroo Island

    Check out some KI wedge-tailed eagles, barn owls and kookaburras (all in optimal condition) at a one-hour birds-of-prey display (11.30am and 2.30pm), or…

  • South Australian Maritime Museum

    Adelaide

    This salty cache is the oldest of its kind in Australia. Highlights include the iconic Port Adelaide Lighthouse ($1 on its own, or included in museum…

  • Cape Willoughby Lightstation

    Kangaroo Island

    About 28km southeast of Penneshaw (via an unsealed road) on a treeless headland, this tidy white turret started shining out in 1852 (SA's first lighthouse…

  • Rocky River

    Kangaroo Island

    Once a farm, Rocky River, the area around the park visitors centre, is now a rampant hotbed of wildlife, with kangaroos, wallabies and Cape Barren geese…

  • MOD.

    Adelaide

    Innovative MOD. science museum on the University of South Australia campus races towards the future, with seven interactive, surprising gallery spaces…

  • Coopers Brewery

    Adelaide

    You can't possibly come to Adelaide without entertaining thoughts of touring Coopers Brewery. Tours take you through the brewhouse, bottling hall and…

  • US Schooner Independence

    Kangaroo Island

    In a big tin boatshed near the American River jetty, the timber ribs of the new US Schooner Independence are slowly starting to resemble a hull. A…

  • Flour Cask Bay

    Kangaroo Island

    Down a well-maintained dirt road south of American River, this remote beach is just the spot for a little soul-searching, a breezy paddle in the brine or…

  • Cape Borda Lightstation

    Kangaroo Island

    On the northwestern corner of the island, the square 1858 Cape Borda Lightstation stands tall above the rippling iron surface of the Southern Ocean. There…

  • Bay of Shoals Wines

    Kangaroo Island

    Out past Kingscote's cemetery, overlooking the shallow Bay of Shoals itself (yes, plenty of shoals), this established winery instills confidence with its…

  • Penneshaw Maritime & Folk Museum

    Kangaroo Island

    Inside a 1922 stone school house, this salty museum displays artefacts from local shipwrecks and early white settlement (check out those girthsome…

  • Little Sahara

    Kangaroo Island

    A turn-off 6km west of Seal Bay Rd leads to a rolling white dunescape towering above the surrounding scrub. Amazing! You can hire sandboards from Kangaroo…

  • Kangaroo Island Spirits

    Kangaroo Island

    One of SA's original gin distillers (there are now more than 20!), this fiesty little moonshiner makes small-batch gin with KI native juniper berries,…

  • Admirals Arch

    Kangaroo Island

    At the far end of the road within Flinders Chase NP, a boardwalk weaves down to Admirals Arch, a huge archway ground out by heavy seas, and passes a…

  • Bradman Collection

    Adelaide

    At the Adelaide Oval is the Bradman Collection where devotees of 'the Don', cricket's greatest batsman, can pore over the minutiae of his legend. Check…

  • Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

    Kangaroo Island

    From Rocky River, a road runs south to a remote 1906 lighthouse atop wild Cape du Couedic (pronounced 'coo-dick'). You can't access the lighthouse – but…

  • Browns Beach

    Kangaroo Island

    A lovely protected beach, around 14km southwest of Penneshaw en route to American River and Kingscote. Good for a quick dip.

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