Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia, and is one of the great wine capitals of the world. It is called the “20 minute city” as it is 20 minutes from the coast and 20 minutes from the Adelaide Hills area. South Australia is the only state not to be settled by convicts. It is popular for its many festivals, cultural events and especially for some of Australia’s big sporting events. The American Architectural Digest ranked Adelaide as the most beautiful city in the world in 2024.

Getting around Adelaide is easy as it is designed as a grid pattern. The city is bordered by North Terrace, South Terrance, East Terrace and West Terrace.

There is a free shuttle bus that goes around the city and the tram system is very easy to use. You can catch a tram to the coastal city of Glenelg and it will only take you 30 minutes.

The Torrens River runs through the middle of the city of Adelaide, and although it is not a big river, it is picturesque. There are walking and bike paths which run along the river and several cafes and restaurants with great views back to the city and Adelaide oval.

We stayed in the area of North Adelaide which is one of the prettiest in the city. Most of the houses are Victorian and Federation styles that are surrounded by stately trees and pretty gardens. Even the footpaths along each road in this area of Adelaide are pretty with their Jacaranda trees and plentiful rose gardens.

Adelaide city and North Adelaide are surrounded by 760 hectares of gardens which include 29 parks.

Two of the standout landmarks in Adelaide, which are very close to each other are, the Adelaide Oval and St Peter’s Cathedral which was founded in 1869. The oldest church in Adelaide is also in the city and is the Holy Trinity Church which was built in 1836.

Adelaide Oval has a capacity of 53,500 and had a major redevelopment in 2014. There is a pedestrian only bridge that links the oval directly to the city.

One of the most popular places to see in the heart of the city is the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The gardens cover 50 hectares and were opened in 1857. They contain a glass house called the Palm House. The Palm House is a Victorian Glass House designed by a German architect and features hanging glass walls. It is the only German-built glasshouse of its periods still in existence.

The gardens are stunning and easy to walk around the wide paths to view the stunning collection of plants and trees. The gardens often exhibit art collections including the famous Chihuly large-scale glass sculptures. There is a nursery, a gift shop, a tourist information centre as well as a restaurant and cafe to enjoy some refreshments. The day we visited there was a live piano player and singer entertaining the lunchtime crowd. It is really a stunning place to visit while you are in Adelaide.

As we are the Beach Travel Wine podcast we of course visited the National Wine Centre of Australia, which is next to the Botanic Gardens. It is a stunning building and often holds conferences and wine events. You can learn about the history of Australian wine and all the wine regions in Australia. There is also a lovely tasting area where you can sample over 120 wines from 55 of Australia’s 65 wine regions.

We had a few reasons to visit Adelaide at this particular time of the year. We were there to visit friends, check out some wine regions for the podcast, but timed these with the Adelaide Vailo 500 which is one of the biggest sporting events in the city each year. The main attraction are the super cars, but we were there for the Porsche Carrera Cup as Lyle’s godson, Harri Jones drives in this class, and this was the last race event of the year. Harri actually won the Australian Championship in the first race of this event, as he was too many points in front for any one else to catch him.

An absolute added bonus to the car racing was the after race entertainment, who just happened to be my favourite band of all time with Jimmy Barnes out the front - Cold Chisel. It was an awesome night. One of the supporting bands was the well-known Adelaide Band, the Super Jesus. They were awesome too, and I am so glad I got to see them perform live. Their lead singer is incredible.

We had an absolute blast in Adelaide - or as some people call it - Radelaide! We believe it is totally underrated, and you should definitely visit if you live in Australia or are visiting any time soon. The food and wine scene are incredible, lots of live cultural and music events and it is stunning to look at, is close to gorgeous beaches and is surrounded by world-famous wine regions. Oh, and the people are so friendly and helpful.