South Australia
Highlights
Must Do Activities
Itinerary Suggestions
South Australia is Australia's Festival State, hosting more than 500 hundred festivals a year, and is also known for its internationally acclaimed wines. The capital city of Adelaide is also known as the gateway to the Outback.
Beyond Adelaide there is a wide variety of things to see. Spend some time tasting world class wines in the Barossa and Clare Valleys or take a drive north to one of the oldest landscapes on earth, the Flinders Ranges. Get close to nature on Australia's third larges island, Kangaroo Island or try living underground for a couple of days in the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy.
The major regions of South Australia are:
- Adelaide
- Adelaide Hills
- Barossa
- Clare Valley & York Peninsula
- Eyre Peninsula
- Fleurieu Peninsula
- Flinders Ranges
- Kangaroo Island
- Limestone Coast
- Murray River
- The Outback
South Australia has a mediterranean climate with mild winters and warm, dry summers. In Adelaide the average temperature on a summer's day is 29 degrees C with the average nightly temperature 16 degrees C. In Winter the temperatures get as low as 15 degrees C during the day and 7 degrees C at night. Very hot conditions can be experienced in the summer time in the outback regions of the state.
There is so much to see and do in South Australia!
With a Mediterranean climate, South Australia is a fantastic year-round destination.
Gateway to the Outback, this friendly southern state produces the majority of Australia's premium wines and is home to the most diverse and abundant offering of native wildlife.
From pristine coastline to the legendary Outback, South Australia offers the best of Australia, all within a short distance from the state's elegant capital city, Adelaide.
Highlights
- The best place to see Australian native animals in the wild, especially on Kangaroo Island
- Tours of wine regions such as The Barossa
- 2005 Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive - an epic journey driving 600 cattle on horseback through the South Australian Outback.
- Swimming with sea lions and dolphins a Baird Bay on the Eyre Peninsula
- Flinders Ranges for aboriginal culture, spectacular scenery, and wildlife.
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Must do activities
Adelaide
- Shop the culturally diverse and vibrant Adelaide Central Market, the Southern Hemisphere's largest fresh food market.
- Experience the thriving arts and culture scene, including hundreds of festivals and events such as the famous Adelaide Festival of Arts.
- Stroll along the "cultural boulevard" of North Terrace and explore the lush parklands that surround the city.
- Visit the world's largest collection of indigenous artifacts at the Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, South Australian Museum.
- Relax beachside at nearby Glenelg. Enjoy the many shops and restaurants or a take a cruise from the marina and swim with wild dolphins.
- In the Adelaide Hills get ‘up close and personal’ with a variety of Australian native animals at Cleland Wildlife Park or Warrawong Sanctuary.
Kangaroo Island
- Walk among playful, rare Australian sea lions at Seal Bay.
- See wildlife such as koalas, kangaroos, echidnas and many birds in the numerous National Parks.
- In Flinders Chase, enjoy the spectacular coastal scenery and marvel at Remarkable Rocks and Admiral's Arch.
Flinders Ranges and Outback
- Take a 4WD tour through the area's deep red gorges and starkly beautiful deserts.
- Stop and chat with friendly locals at an Outback Aussie pub.
- Stay in an "underground" hotel room in the unique opal-mining town of Coober Pedy.
- Learn about Aboriginal culture with local communities such as Iga Warta in the northern Flinders Ranges.
- Explore the Flinders Ranges on foot along many excellent buswalking trails.
- Watch the Outback scenery slide by as you relax on the continent-spanning train, The Ghan between Adelaide and Alice Springs/Darwin.
Itinerary Suggestions
- Explorer Highway (230 kb)
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