The state most visitors fly over, and their loss entirely. World-class wine, wild islands, volcanoes and sinkholes, all within easy reach of a calm, green and walkable capital. Here is how to plan a trip.
South Australia gets a bad wrap from its Australian neighbours, and after a week there we can tell you it is entirely undeserved.
This is the state where the best of Australia sits within a day’s reach of the capital. The Barossa Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in the world still growing on original European rootstock, is an hour from Adelaide. Kangaroo Island and its sea lion colonies are a long day trip.
Head south east and the Limestone Coast serves up volcanoes, crater lakes and sinkholes you can swim in, on quiet roads that lead all the way to the Great Ocean Road. It is slower paced than Sydney or Melbourne, considerably better value, and a very peaceful place to start an Australian adventure.
Everything here comes from our own solo road trip through the state. Pick a thread and pull on it, or see the ready-made plan further down.
Calm, green, walkable and very well fed, with free world-class museums, the only Giant Pandas in Australia and a food scene that beats Sydney and Melbourne on value.
The big one. Endangered sea lion colonies at Seal Bay, fur seals beneath Admirals Arch and the wilds of Flinders Chase National Park. A very long day from Adelaide, and worth every hour.
One of the oldest wine regions in the world still growing on European rootstock, which is why the Barossa Shiraz tastes the way it does. An hour from the city, and best done on a guided tour so nobody has to drive.
Our four day route from Adelaide to the official start of the Great Ocean Road, along a stretch of coastline full of sinkholes, crater lakes, sleepy fishing towns and volcanoes. The east to west drive barely anyone does.
A relaxed surfing, sailing and fishing town and a favourite Australian summer holiday spot. The sunrise coastal walk to the Cape Dombey Obelisk was one of the most reflective moments of our whole trip and the local rock lobster is delicious.
A town built among craters and sinkholes. The famously cobalt Blue Lake, the sunken garden of Umpherston Sinkhole, and nearby Mount Schank and the Little Blue Lake, where you can climb a dormant volcano and swim after.
Want to know how we managed to fit so much into just a week city break to Adelaide?
Not sure how to string it together? Our seven-day itinerary combines two days in the city, day trips to the Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island, and slower days for beaches and parklands, with where to eat and what is worth booking.
A full orientation to get you started. For the day-by-day detail, our Adelaide and Limestone Coast itineraries do the heavy lifting.
For us, absolutely. South Australia has a reputation among Australians for being quiet, and as we made the case in our guide to whether Adelaide is worth visiting, that reputation is undeserved. What you actually get is a state where wine country, wildlife islands and volcanic lakes all sit within reach of the capital, without the crowds or the prices of the east coast. In March, the whole of Adelaide comes alive for the Fringe, the Adelaide Festival and a world music festival in Botanic Park.
A week is ideal for Adelaide and its surrounds. That gives you two days in the city, a day each for the Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island, and slower days for beaches or the Adelaide Hills. Four days is the realistic minimum if you want both of the big day trips. To drive the Limestone Coast to the Great Ocean Road as well, add another four days. Our week in Adelaide itinerary maps out the first half, and the Limestone Coast road trip the second.
If you have the choice, aim for spring or autumn. October to November brings thinner crowds, wildflowers and better value, while March to April pairs mild temperatures with autumn colour in the Adelaide Hills, and the festival season in the city.
Summer is peak beach weather and the Blue Lake at its most intensely cobalt, but it is also hot, busy through the January school holidays, and wildfire season, when parks and reserves can close at short notice. Winter is the quietest and most budget friendly, suited to cellar doors, caves and windswept coastlines rather than beach swimming.
The classic route is South Australia’s official coastal touring route, the Southern Ocean Drive, which runs from Adelaide along the Fleurieu Peninsula, past the ferry to Kangaroo Island, then alongside the lagoons of the Coorong and down the Limestone Coast to Mount Gambier. It is the quiet alternative to the Great Ocean Road, and the two join up beautifully if you are heading for Melbourne.
Between Adelaide and Mount Gambier you have two highways to choose from. The Princes Highway hugs the coast with beaches, lagoons and towns like Robe and Beachport along the way. The inland Riddoch and Dukes Highways are slightly faster, running through wine and farming country via the Coonawarra, famous for cabernet sauvignon, and the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves, though they are also the main freight corridor, so expect trucks.
Past Mount Gambier, you cross into Victoria, and about two hours later reach Port Fairy and then Allansford, the official start of the Great Ocean Road. Arriving from the west like this means joining it at its quiet end, away from the Melbourne day trip buses. The full four day version, with overnight stops, accurate driving times and the mistakes we made so you do not have to, is in our Limestone Coast road trip itinerary.
Adelaide is the gateway, with direct flights from the other Australian capitals and good connections from Asia and the Middle East. Within the city, walking is your best method of transport, as the centre is compact, flat and pleasant, and there are plenty of Ubers for everything else. For the two big day trips, let someone else drive. Both are long days and neither is improved by you being behind the wheel.
If you are hiring a car, a few local quirks are worth knowing. Rush hour traffic in Adelaide is far worse than the size of the city would suggest, so avoid driving into the centre for a morning tour. Speed cameras in South Australia are grey and not signposted the way they are in Western Australia. Kangaroos are most active at first and last light, so scan the verges and avoid rural roads in the dark where you can. And fill the car up in every major town, because the distances between them are long by UK standards.
One of us travels with a severe nut allergy, and South Australia handled it well on the whole. Tour operators and their lunch venues were careful, provided the allergy went in at booking rather than being mentioned on the day, and Adelaide’s restaurants coped better than most. The full picture, including how the airlines compare, is in our guide to solo travelling Australia with a nut allergy, and our free allergy translation cards are worth packing wherever you are heading next.
South Australia runs half an hour behind the east coast, so you jump 30 minutes forwards when you cross into Victoria. Book restaurants early rather than late, as Adelaide is a working city and the popular spots fill from 5pm. Watch the public holidays, because coastal towns take them seriously and kitchens close. And in summer, check your emails and booking apps before setting out, as parks and attractions can cancel at short notice on days of high fire danger.
Do not stack the two big day trips back to back. Kangaroo Island in particular is a 16 hour day, and putting it next to the Barossa will leave you flat for the rest of the week.
A few things we would sort in advance. We book through GetYourGuide where it makes sense.
Absolutely. It is the state most visitors skip, which is exactly why we loved it. World-class wine an hour from the city, sea lions and sinkholes, and a calm, green, walkable capital that is far better value than Sydney or Melbourne.
A week covers Adelaide and the two big day trips, the Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island. Add another four days if you want to drive the Limestone Coast east towards the Great Ocean Road.
Either drive to Cape Jervis and take the ferry, or book a full day tour from Adelaide with the coach transfer and ferry crossing included. The day trip runs to around fourteen hours, so if you have time, two nights on the island is the better way to do it.
South Australia’s official coastal touring route, running from Adelaide along the Fleurieu Peninsula, past Kangaroo Island and the Coorong, then down the Limestone Coast to Mount Gambier. Our Limestone Coast road trip follows the eastern half of it.
Yes, and it is one of Australia’s most underrated drives. Follow the Princes Highway along the Coorong and the Limestone Coast to Mount Gambier, cross into Victoria, and join the Great Ocean Road at Allansford. Four days is a comfortable minimum.