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Adelaide and environs offer city life with a beach, great food, wine, culture, history, natural beauty, wildlife and railroads. Really, you'll find them all here.

We began our Australian journey in the city of Adelaide, located in the province of South Australia. An odd choice, some might think, with Melbourne and Sydney perhaps the more obvious. We came to Adelaide mostly because my husband, a railfan, just had to visit the National Railway Museum here, and we discovered that it was, after all, the perfect place to begin our sojourn “Down Under.”

Our Introduction to Adelaide

Having lost all track of time due to the very long flight, we checked into our hotel around mid-day and quickly freshened up and went out to explore. One of our first stops was at the Adelaide Central Market to check out the offerings, which were plentiful. A combination of farmer’s market, eateries, cafés and novelty shops, this colorful, bustling, aromatic place was the perfect spot to get a bite to eat (even if we didn’t know if we should get breakfast, lunch or dinner.) We perused the over 80 stalls of baked goods, candy, nuts, fish, meat, flower, vegetables and fruits (and tried a custard apple, which I commented that I had never before seen, so the proprietor handed me one to try). We settled on a light bite, but couldn’t resist a treat, so my husband had some authentic Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, and I had a scone and a cup of freshly brewed tea.

The Market is on Gouger Street, which is also Adelaide’s main dining street. We noted restaurant after restaurant, mostly Asian, offering Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian cuisine. Additionally, there were a few French and Argentinean spots, as well as some seafood restaurants.

We knew we would be returning here after some sightseeing later that day, and probably again, the next. We did, and enjoyed an amazing Malaysian feast the first night, and Greek-style seafood the following.

Adelaide Museums, Galleries & More

Our hotel was located on North Terrace, also home to the stately Parliament House and Government House, plus several museums (all free to the public) and other places of interest. The Adelaide Festival Center, just behind the Parliament House is this city’s answer to Sydney’s Opera House, considered by some to have better acoustics. It contains four theaters, and an art gallery, plus outdoor seating in an amphitheatre, part of the outdoor plaza where people can come just to relax.

The State Library, with both classical and modern architectural features, offers many research opportunities for those interested in Australian and Aboriginal history, or those involved in genealogy. Next door is the South Australian Museum, a natural science museum with displays on biology and mineralogy among other sciences, but its claim to fame is that it presents the world’s largest collection of artifacts of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. This is certainly a great way to introduce your family to the native Australians.

Next along the avenue is the Art Gallery of South Australia which has a nice collection of American, European and Asian art and artifacts, but whose real treasures are the many Australian works of art that I was not at all familiar with – and happy to meet.