Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of the Australian state of South Australia. There are about 1.3 millions inhabitants in the state, out of which 1 million in and around Adelaide. Known as "The Festival State", "City of Churches" and "Gateway to the Outback", it is rather the "City of Cafés" (highest number compared to the local population) Some of the friendliest/hippest cafes include the Vegan Cafe (known as Bliss Cafe), in Compton St off Gouger St, close to the Central Market in Victoria Square;and Wilson's Organic Cafe, in another nearby street. These are also places with great community notice boards, very few other cafes in Adelaide have these; it's a great way to find out about community events in the city.

It is a wonderful city that has all the commodities of a big city and that still has all the charm and intimacy of a small one. It should be noted that the city centre itself can be a little quiet on Sundays, although the retail shopping Mall in Rundle Mall is open, as is the funky strip on Rundle St further down. If you are on a tight budget, you can usually find good live music happening on Sundays at the Whitmore Hotel on Whitmore Square from 4pm, no door fee. There is a fantastic Farmer's Market at the Wayville Showgrounds each Sunday from 9 til 1pm, just take the tram from Victoria Square for six or seven stops to Wayville, and walk five minutes to Leader St, opposite the Goodwood Hotel. Entry is free, great buskers, good coffee and great vibe. Otherwise, if you are looking for something inexpensive to do, just take a walk along North Terrace and check out the Art Gallery of SA, and SA Museum - both are free and have fantastic collections and bookshops - you can spend hours there! Another great music venue on Sunday afternoons is the Wheatsheaf Hotel; take the tram going west along North Terrace about 1.5 kilometres, get off at George st (the conductor can show you) and ask directions. It's not far and it's worth the walk! Again, no door fee and it starts up around 3 or 4pm depending on the event line-up.

There is a lot to do and see already in the city centre, let alone looking outside of the parklands and starting to explore the beachside (Glenelg, West Beach, Henly, Semaphore, Brighton), the suburbs (Hyde Park, Unley, Prospect etc), the hills (Stirling, Hahndorf, Mount Barker) and the country (the Copper Coast, Flinders Ranges, etc).

Adelaide is a very attaching city, where the multicultural population blends in beautifully, allowing one to hear a multitude of languages even in one single day. Adelaidians are very friendly, helpful and laid back. Transport is extremely well developed for a city this size: buses, trains, trams and O-Bahn are for public daily transport, taxi stations are in several locations in the northern half of the city, pushbikes (for hire for free for the first 2 hours, ask for the Safe Bikes routes map), coaches (for country locations), car and carpooling, etc! Walking is a must in the northern half, which concentrates most of the shopping, business and administration, activities, entertainments, cafés, retail outlets, historical buildings and landmarks. Apart from Rundle St East, some of the funkiest places are gathered together nearer the Central Market, that's where artists, musicians, travellers etc tend to hang out a lot. It's right by China Town and lots of Thai, Cantonese and Vietnamese eateries (most of these have inexpensive menu options and are open on Sunday afternoons).

There is a good variety of retail shopping outlets in the city centre, which allows the chance to find little gems in extraordinary places. Outside of the city centre, shopping malls such as Burnside Village (chic but expensive, closest to the city), Westfield Marion (south-west, one of the biggest ones, 2 storeys high), Westlakes (west of the city, fairly big), Tea Tree Plaza (good excuse to use the O-Bahn!). If you don't like shopping malls much, try King William Road in Hyde Park - it's very close to the city's south parklands, you can walk easily if the weather is good. Or take a bus through North Adelaide to Prospect Road, in Prospect.

Transport
Air:

Adelaide International Airport (ADL) is new, clean and efficient. International and domestic flights are in the same building.

Getting to and from the airport by public transport is cheap. Use bus number J1, J2 or J7 from the upper level of the main terminal (turn left as you exit the upper level). Note: the pick up and drop off point is the same so be sure to look if the bus is going to the city or elsewhere as it is a trough route. The driver can soon tell you if you are on the correct one! The bus uses regular metro tickets. These tickets are the same as all other public transport in metropolitan Adelaide (Train, tram and bus). A normal ticket will last for 2 hours and you can change as many times as you like within this duration.
 * Adelaide Airport includes flight information and much more!
 * Adelaide airport to-and-from page
 * Jet bus information

Long distance bus:

The new central bus station is located between Franklin street and Grote street (opposite the China town lane).
 * Bus SA.
 * Long distance bus companies and timetables.
 * Location map Google map location for Adelaide central bus station (it is actually the large building on number 91).

Long distance train:

The interstate rail terminal is at Keswick. While it is adjacent to the CBD on the outer edge of the park lands it but not particularly convenient to get to via public transport. You can take a metro train from Adelaide central railway station on North Terrace (take a train heading south) and get of at the Keswick station then walk 200 meters to the interstate rail terminal. You can catch a bus (those going to ANZAC highway such as M44,241,167) and get off at stop 1 (south side) of ANZAC highway then walk about 400 meters. It would be best to use the Adelaide Metro website to find timetable and route maps.
 * Great Southern Rail: the company running these train services.
 * Location map A Google map pin for the exact location of the interstate rail terminal building.

Metropolitan Public Transport:

Adelaide Metro provides an integrated ticketing system covering all public bus, train and trams in the metropolitan area.
 * Adelaide Metro public transport information, time tables, routes, journey planner, ticket information. Note: Google maps for Adelaide has public transport information such as bus stops and routes embedded. PLEASE TAKE NOTE: Sunday bus timetables are not the same as weekdays; buses may sometimes be only once an hour. Ditto for some train routes, so you may need to consider this when planning your weekend travels on public transport. If in doubt, ask a local - we know ways around that problem!

What Events/Festivals happen in Adelaide?
Adelaide holds place to some unique world-class festivals and events. The Adelaide Fringe, the largest one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, only over-shadowed by the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The only WOMAD event in Australia is annually held in Adelaide, known as WOMADelaide, it coincides with the Adelaide Fringe once every two years also coincides with the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Adelaide Cabaret Festival

Adelaide Festival of Arts

Feast Festival

Adelaide Film Festival

Adelaide Fringe Festival

Glendi Greek Festival

Schützenfest

WOMADelaide

Adelaide Writers' Week

Santos Tour Down Under

SALA Festival

Royal Adelaide Show

OzAsia

City to bay Fun Run

Bay to Birdwood

Semaphore Music Festival

Lavazza Italian Film Festival

Fleurieu Folk Festival

Credit Union Christmas Pageant

French Festival

Adelaide International Guitar Festival

The Ashes

Lights of Lobethal

Bay Sheffield

World Tennis Challenge Adelaide

Italian Carnevale

Tropfest

Australian Mountain Bike Championships

Natuzzi The parade Food, Wine & Music Festival

Clipsal 500 Adelaide

Barossa Vintage Festival

BankSA Sea & Vines Festival

Links
Official Tourism Website for Adelaide Adelaide City Council Adelaide Fringe Adelaide Festival of Arts Churches hitch:Adelaide trash:Adelaide