24 Hours in Adelaide
Credit: By Marc Llewellyn
7.40am – A swim with the dolphins
It’s an early start for a trip to the beachside suburb of Glenelg and a journey out to sea in search of dolphins. You can either stay on board the 58-foot catamaran as the animals approach, or you can jump into the water to frolic alongside them.
“On average people spend around 25 minutes in the water with the curious creatures, “says the owner of Temptation Sailing, Stephen Waites.
While the dolphins generally love playing around the boat and swimmers, the interaction is different on each cruise.
Swimmers wear wetsuits, facemasks and snorkels, and hold onto a floatation line while in the water.
Waites is so confident that you will see dolphins that he offers a full refund if you don’t.
Daily Swim with Dolphin cruises leave Glenelg Harbour at approximately 7.40am and return around 11.15am.
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11.30am – Hit the shops
Time for some retail therapy, and there’s no better place to start than Adelaide’s famous Rundle Mall. This long pedestrianised shopping strip is strung with whimsical sculptures, including four life-size bronze pigs depicted in lively poses, greeting shoppers, raiding rubbish bins, and sniffing out a bargain.
Buskers add to the entertainment and the mall has a real festive feel when there’s a festival on in the city.
There are flagship stores and boutiques to browse, and running off the mall are several arcades, including historic Adelaide Arcade, home to Haigh’s Chocolates and several ghosts.
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12.30 – Lunch at Adelaide Central Market
Since 1870, Adelaide Central Market has been at the epicentre of the food and lifestyle culture of South Australia.
It’s a vibrant, busy place filled with cafés, cheese shops, bakeries and patisseries, fruit and vegetable stalls, meat and seafood outlets, and dozens of artisan food producers selling everything from local olive oil to old-fashioned lollies.
“It’s a real melting pot of cultures, with old Italian and Greek families being here for generations and new waves of immigrants setting up shop too,” says guide Mark Gleeson from Adelaide Central Market Tours.
Lunchtime options include long-time Adelaide favourite Lucia’s Pizza Bar, which serves up traditional pizzas, pastries and pastas.
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Adelaide Central Market and Adelaide Central Market Tours
1pm – Art Attack
From café culture to art culture. You’ve only got time for one place, which is quite a shame. You really should stay longer next time.
In premier position on the art scene chart in Adelaide is The Art Gallery of South Australia, located on the cultural boulevard of Adelaide’s North Terrace. It was founded in 1881 and houses one of Australia’s best art collections.
There is plenty of influential Australian art from the time of European settlement to the present day, and an extensive assortment of Indigenous works, as well as European, Asian and Islamic art.
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Art Gallery of South Australia
2pm – High time at the Adelaide Oval
A tour of the famous Adelaide Oval on non-playing days can be a highlight of your trip to South Australia’s capital, especially if you attempt the Roofclimb.
Yes, you can dress in a special suit with a safety harness and climb on to the roof during this two-hour experience that takes you 50m above the playing field.
You climb up and down ladders and multiple flights of stairs, and inch across metal grate walkways and bridges between stands.
Up top you can enjoy views of the city and the Adelaide Hills. You can even lean out over the goalposts, which is quite a thrill.
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5pm – A drop of wine tasting
When you mention great Australian wine, Penfolds always comes to the tip of the tongue.
This legendary grape-wrangler has played a pivotal role in the evolution of winemaking in Australia since it was established in 1844, just eight years after the foundation of South Australia.
Luckily for you, the iconic Penfolds vineyards and its Magill Estate Cellar Door are just a 15-minute-drive from the centre of Adelaide.
It offers you the opportunity to taste some of South Australia’s finest wines.
Don’t worry, the cellar door closes at 6pm, so you have just enough time to sip and slurp, and pick up a few prize bottles too.
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6.30pm – Cocktail O’clock
Eight floors up atop an old bank building, the 2KW Bar and Restaurant has the perfect venue to relax in with a cocktail in hand.
Its Terrace bar is a large outdoor space with panoramic views over the River Torrens, Parliament House, and the Adelaide Oval. It’s one of the best venues in Adelaide to watch the sun go down with an aperitif.
Having just the right zing is a Lofty Lookout cocktail, made from coconut washed rum, apricot brandy and lime. Meanwhile, the Stormy Like Summer is hot and spicy thanks to the chipotle infused tequila, with green capsicum, parley, lime and sugar.
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7.30pm – Dinner time
For a cool vibe try Africola, with its large fire pit spluttering with ‘bush meats’ like South African spiral sausages, wood roasted hearts, and peri-peri chicken.
Set yourself down on a barstool or in a sky-blue booth surrounded by vibrantly coloured walls and chill out to reggae and African-tunes as the cocktails keep shaking.
A $75-a-head ‘Let Us Feed You’ taste experience will give you a good insight into what South African chef Duncan Welgemoed is all about.
If you fancy Thai food with a contemporary twist instead, head to Golden Boy in Adelaide’s East End.
The menu can be tricky to navigate, so shout out ‘tuk tuk’ if you don’t know your nam pla from your tom kha.
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Africola and Golden Boy
9.30pm – One (or several) more for the road
Adelaide’s laneway scene is making its mark on the map these days, with both vibrant Peel Steet and al-fresco Leigh Street showing the way.
If you fancy dinner in one of these side-by-side alleyways, the choice is huge. Moroccan, Indian, Spanish, Mexican, Korean, Serbian … the list goes on.
But now it’s bar hopping time.
Start off standing around a wine barrel at the Clever Little Tailor on Peel Street. This popular little watering hole has great cocktails and exotic whiskeys.
Then head to Leigh Street for a special gin and tonic in Udaberri, a smooth and moody hole-in-the-wall tapas bar with music.
Can you handle another brew, or a wine or cocktail with a jug full of atmosphere? Then slip into Leigh Street’s Pink Moon Saloon, a funky wood-cabin chalet tucked in between two multi-storied buildings.
Don’t stop now. There are plenty more bars and eateries around here to make more than one night of it.
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Clever Little Tailor, Udaberri Pintxos y Vino, Pink Moon Saloon
