Adelaide Overview

Named after the wife of King William IV, Adelaide is a gracious city boasting beautifully planned gardens, historic buildings, colonial pubs and churches and a number of modern high-rises mixed with fine examples of Edwardian and Victorian architecture. The centre of the city is surrounded by lovely parkland that separates the business district from the suburban area, and it is protected on one side by the Adelaide Hills and on the other by Gulf St Vincent.

The city is the capital of the state of South Australia, and home to over one million residents. It's also home to designer shops and cafés that have taken up residence in colonial-era buildings. Adelaide boasts many fine dining options: in fact, it is said that there are more restaurants per capita here than anywhere else in the country, ensuring there’s always an eatery of interest just around the corner.

Shopping opportunities abound in Adelaide. In the centre, the focus is on Rundle Mall, which is an area noted for its trees, modern sculptures, outdoor cafes and throngs of people. You can be entertained by street artists while watching locals enjoy the city. The centre is a place where you can shop at your leisure, look for special buys at designer boutiques, join the crowds at the Central Market or enjoy the nightlife by partying into the early hours.

Although the city itself has plenty to offer, you’ll find yourself drawn to the Adelaide Hills and the coast – both just a short drive from the centre. The Adelaide Port, located just a few miles from Rundle Mall, makes for an interesting contrast to the city centre and is graced by a number of historic structures.

The tourist infrastructure here, as in all of Australia’s cities, is well-developed, and accommodation options reflect this. There’s a wide range of guesthouses, hotels and resorts, many with outstanding facilities. Adelaide offers up the best in an urban destination: fine dining and entertainment in a vibrant centre, all in the proximity of comfy hotels, lush parklands, rolling hills and the sea.

The early inhabitants of the site now called Adelaide were the Kaurna, an aboriginal group of approximately 300 people. The territory that they occupied extended to the south in the direction of Cape Jervis, and to the north in the direction of Port Wakefield.

Their ties with the Narungga on Yorke peninsula were close and peaceful. Even before the first white settlers arrived, the Kaurna population had dwindled, as they had suffered from smallpox and other diseases borne from New South Wales by way of the Murray River.

Colonial William Light chose his site for the settlement that would be called Adelaide, in December of 1836. Light was also responsible for the city’s well-planned design. The site of choice featured well-drained, fertile soil on both banks of the Torrens River, providing the settlers with a constant supply of fresh water. The city was named after Queen Adelaide, wife of the British monarch, William IV.

The settlement of Adelaide was unusual in the history of the country, in that it was not settled by convicts. It was also unusual that the British government did not support the settlement financially, which was advantageous to the residents when it began to prosper.

The colony attracted immigrants by promising settlers both civil and religious liberties. By the early 1850s, the immigrant population from Europe had reached over 14,000. The wheat boom of the 1870s and ‘80s led to a period of rapid expansion and construction of new and lovely buildings, many of which still line the streets of the city today. During WWI, the 1920s and post-WWII, periods of significant development were also experienced.

South Australia was the site of major political reforms during the 1960s and ‘70s, outlawing capital punishment, prohibiting racial and sexual discrimination and recognising the land rights of aboriginals. Nowadays, the greater Adelaide area has expanded into the suburbs that are beginning to fill the area toward Maslins Beach to the south and Gawler to the north, and the space between the sea and the Mount Lofty Ranges.

In recent years, Adelaide has grown to be a popular destination for both Australians and foreign visitors. Known as the ‘City of Churches’ for the unusual number of houses of worship that were built here, it features great accommodation and restaurant options as well as nearby beaches and wineries. It is also well situated for those interested in experiencing the Australian bush and the unique native fauna.

Adelaide’s climate is largely Mediterranean in nature, with very warm and dry summers and mild, cool winters. The city sits on a flat stretch of land that is situated between the Mount Lofty Range and Gulf St Vincent. Average temperatures during the summer are around 28°C, which drop to 15°C in the winter.

The city experiences four distinct seasons, with the warmest period occurring during the months of November to March. Winter minimums can fall to as low as 10°C from June to September. Most of the rainfall occurs from May to September.

Although the main festivals are held during the summer months, Adelaide can get quite hot then. If you don’t have access to air conditioning, you may want to think about visiting at another time of year. If you don’t mind the heat and you're interested in attending the festival, you should time your visit for the three week period beginning mid-to-late February.

The ideal time to visit, if weather is a major factor, is during the spring or autumn, when temperatures are at their most pleasant. June and August, the winter months, can be quite cool and wet.