Adelaide is the fifth largest city in Australia and is the capital of South Australia. Adelaide is mostly known for its festivals, sports and its tasteful wines, where Barossa Valley and Clare Valley are some of the best known wine districts. March and April are busy festival months.
Like most other big cities there are a million things to do, such as attending festivals, go shopping, checking out arts, culture and food or go to sports events. The thing about Adelaide is that it has cheaper prices than the other big cities and capitals in Australia.
Because Adelaide was the first completely planned city in Australia, it has a layout quite different from other big Australian cities. The infrastructure is well planned out and easy to use and get around. The centre of Adelaide is compact and can easily be travelled by foot. Otherwise, there is a free bus from Victoria Square that will provide a quick and good impression of inner Adelaide.
If you are interested in Australian history, you should walk around and enjoy the historical buildings and churches, many of which are telling a story of the English settlement. In the northern part of Adelaide you will find the South Australian Museum, which has an amazing collection of aboriginal artefacts and Australia’s natural history. Just next to the South Australian Museum is the Art Gallery of South Australia, which contains a large collection of paintings from the 1800's to modern times by noted Australian artists. Both the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia have free entrance. Besides museums and architectual sites, Adelaide has many cafés and restaurants with world food. When the weather is too hot, most people take the tramline down to the beach.
Only a 20 minutes drive from Adelaide city, you will find Adelaide Hills. Giving you a beautiful vantage flat out across the water over Adelaide, it has an amazing view, inspirating a range of painters. There are plenty of walking and cycling trails, great attractions and heaps of restaurants. If one day is not enough, accommodation is available, so you can relax and enjoy the atmosphere a bit longer.
Barossa is the capital of Australia’s most famous wine growing area, and its wines are known all over the world. Barossa is located 60 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Because of the long and constant heat at the last stage before harvest, the grapes have a high content of sugar, which gives the wines a high level of alcohol, a lot of flavour and good fill. You can enjoy a view over the vineyards from the Mengler Hill lookout position. If you are lucky, you will meet the people behind some of the best wines and food in Australia, while you are relaxing in one of Barossa’s many restaurants, wineries and cellar doors or even on a golf course. At many of the wineries in the Barossa Valley you can taste the wines free of charge. You can easily spend a couple of days in Barossa Valley, if you are into wines and want to sample more than a couple of them. You can always combine it with golfing. There are two events in particular for lovers of wine. One of them is the Vintage Festival, where winemakers and producers come together to show their wine once a year. Another festival is held twice a year and celebrates the Barossa wine industry. This festival is called the Barossa Valley Vintage Festival and people come from all over the world to join this festival. The festival runs for a week and has a parade, concerts and gourmet dining.
Clare Valley is one of the oldest wine districts in Australia and is best known for its Riesling wines, but the area also produces many other varieties of grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Clare Valley is located about 120 kilometres north of Adelaide. If you would like to stroll around the vineyards, the Riesling Trail is a good walk through Clare and Auburn. There are also historical and scenic buildings to look at, like the old courthouse and the police station. Both are now museums. Like many other wine regions, the Clare Valley also has festivals throughout the year, especially April, May and November are big festival months. There are plenty of accommodation possibilities in Clare Valley, and you can easily stay for a couple days to explore and get deeper look into the area.
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