Adelaide is the capital of the state of South Australia. It lies on the eastern shores of Gulf St Vincent in the central, southern part of the Australian continent. Adelaide is Australia's fifth largest city, with a population of over 1.4 million in the greater Adelaide area. More than three quarters of South Australians live in the Adelaide metropolitan area. Adelaide is on a plain between the rolling Adelaide Hills and the Gulf and is bordered by many of Australia's famous wine regions.
The South Australia time zone is 30 minutes behind Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) used in Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. It's also an hour and a half ahead of Australian Western Standard Time (AWST), used in Western Australia and 45 minutes ahead of Eucla which uses Central Western Standard Time (CWST). Border Village in South Australia is the exception, which also uses CWST. South Australia observes Daylight Savings Time, similar to other southern/southeastern states but unlike Western Australia, Queensland, or the Northern Territory.
Train, tram and bus services are operated under the Adelaide Metro brand and use a unified ticketing system. The website and app can be used to plan a journey, including full navigation and real time updates. Apple Maps and Google Maps provide a similar experience. There are three ways to pay for your journey: Tap and Pay. Contactless credit or debit cards by Visa or Mastercard are accepted, including those in a digital wallet like Apple Pay or Google Pay. Ensure you tap on before each journey, there is no need to tap off like other cities in Australia. MetroCARD. A rechargeable plastic card that costs $10 (including $5 initial travel credit).
Adelaide's main important attractions are mostly centred in the City and North Adelaide. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth, Adelaide isn't a place you would want to go to specifically for city life and it's a lot less bustling than the other big cities. Instead, Adelaide is a place where you can enjoy a more laid back pace of life as if you were in the countryside, but with easy access to the usual big city amenities. Adelaide is known for its churches, and a trip to Adelaide is never complete without visiting one of its churches, not because of any historical or religious significance, but rather for their architecture. If you can only afford time to see one, St.
Adelaide's beaches are mostly in West Adelaide, given the fact that it's the only large district to have a coastline. While Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park—Winaityinaityi Pangkara also has a long coastline, it's protected and not really a beach for swimming. If there's anything that's a must at any Adelaide beach, it's surfing at one of the many surf beaches (Glenelg and West Beaches), an Australian classic. Some beaches have surf schools and places where you can rent surfboards, but to a much lesser extent than Sydney.
Adelaide's local cuisine generally does not differ much from standard Australian fare, but there are a handful of dishes unique to Adelaide that are worth trying while you're here. The pie floater is an Australian meat (usually beef) pie in thick pea soup, often garnished with ketchup. This is sold at numerous pubs and cafes throughout Adelaide, but the place locals will point you to if you want to get the most classic version is Cafe de Vili's in Mile End South. The AB is Adelaide's answer to the halal snack packs of the East Coast, consisting of yiros meat on top of a bed of hot chips, and topped off with tomato sauce, chilli sauce, garlic sauce and barbecue sauce, though it is not halal.
There are pubs and bars (also known as "hotels" in Australia) dotted all around the CBD, but a few districts are worth singling out. Rundle Street and its neighbouring area known simply as "The East End" have a number of popular pubs. Hindley St used to be notorious as the seedy home of Adelaide's strip clubs and bikie bars, but it has undergone a renaissance, along with "The West End". The eastern end of Hindley Street is more mainstream, whereas the western end, west of Morphett Street has a few trendier and more alternative venues. The seedy places are still there, but so too is a university campus and a number of trendy bars and clubs.
The Australia-wide emergency number is 000. The ambulance service, fire service and police are available through this number. For non-emergency police assistance, dial 131 444. Adelaide is considered a safe city, much more so than Sydney and Melbourne. People should however exercise personal safety, particularly at night. Most violent crime in Adelaide is fuelled by alcohol, so be vigilant and avoid any confrontations if you are in the bars or nightclubs at night. The city parklands are poorly lit and are best avoided after dark due to the presence of intoxicated people. If you need to cross the parklands to reach the suburbs, stay near the road.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Aug, Adelaide typically sees ~15°C daytime highs and 13 rainy days.
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