Adelaide is the capital of the state of South Australia and, with around 1.2 million inhabitants, the fifth largest city on the continent; a green belt up to 600 m wide runs around the friendly city centre. Locals like to emphasize that their city, the only one of Australia’s seven provincial capitals, did not emerge from a convict colony. The international National Park City Foundation awarded the city on the River Torrens National Park City status in 2021, making Adelaide only the second city in the world (after London 2019) to receive this award.
“The driest city in the driest state in the driest country in the driest continent in the world”, as Adelaide likes to call itself, is known as Australia’s festival city. The Adelaide Festival takes place every March with several hundred thousand visitors and is a major international cultural event, comparable to the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Around 100,000 students at the universities ensure that there is also plenty of partying in the remaining months.
The city’s main attractions such as the Botanical Gardens and Zoo, the University Campus with the Art Gallery of South Australia, Parliament House, the historic Railway Station, the modern Convention Centre and the Festival Plaza are all located close to each other in the Central Business District. Victoria Square and Central Market are just two stops away on the streetcar, which is free in downtown. A stroll along Rundle Mall takes you through Australia’s oldest pedestrian zone.