Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, boasts a city centre surrounded by beautiful parkland in a grid layout. Renowned for its wine regions, South Australia contributes around 60% of Australia’s wines, featuring some of the finest vineyards. In addition, stunning beaches are conveniently close to the city centre.

This is our first time to Adelaide. We took a flight from Melbourne to Adelaide which took 1 hour 20 minutes. Arriving around 9 am, we then took a 15-minute Uber ride from the airport to the city.

 

Hotel Grand Chancellor Adelaide

We spent two nights in the CBD at a cost of $320 for an Executive King Room at Hotel Grand Chansellor. The room was spacious and comfortable! In addition, the 24 hours reception was handy given that we needed to check out at 4am.

 

Exploring the city centre

Being here over the weekend, opting for Saturday in the CBD was wise, given that some shops, including the popular Adelaide Central Market, are closed on Sundays.

Our original plan was to join a free walking tour but when we reached the meeting point on time, no one showed up. Anyway, it turned out fine as this allowed us more time to explore the city, particularly Rundle Mall. In addition, we managed to enjoy a delicious croque monsieur at Hey Jupiter, one of Adelaide’s top French restaurants.

We also received a free McDonald’s ice cream chocolate soft serve as they were doing a promotion at that time.

 

Our little celebration

We came to Adelaide to celebrate our wedding anniversary and selected Louca’s Seafood Restaurant specifically for its seafood chowder and whole fish of the day. Unfortunately, those were unavailable, leading to some disappointment. Nevertheless, we ordered a variety of small plates of appetisers, and thankfully, they turned out to be very delicious.

However, the celebration was not the only reason for our trip, as Ben also aimed to accumulate a few more points in the Qantas frequent flyer program to become a Platinum member before its expiry by the end of the month. Now, I will always have doubt… as I can’t help but question his true intentions for bringing me to Adelaide – is it for me or status?

 

Adelaide Hills and Hahndorf

A trip to Adelaide is not complete without visiting a wine region! Adelaide is known as the wine capital of Australia, as South Australia accounts for about 60% of wine regions in Australia.

It was a truly unique experience and I had a lot of good memories, so I think it deserves a standalone blog post 🙂

A day in Adelaide Hills & Hahndorf – hop on hop off tour

 

Visiting beaches and nearby

On Sunday night, we gathered with friends who graciously took us on a drive, exploring Windy Lookout Point, Hallett Cove Beach, and Glenelg. Then, we had dinner at Seafire on the Marina Restaurant.

Next day, we woke up at 3am+ to make a 6am Monday flight, ensuring we’d be on time for work… it was exhausting for me! We arrived in Melbourne just before 8 am on Monday, having spent a fulfilling 48 hours in Adelaide and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

 

For our next visit to Adelaide, we might explore something new – perhaps venture into different wine regions or opt for staying in a vineyard.

Adelaide is ideal for wine enthusiasts seeking a relaxing trip, but it’s worth noting that the nightlife is relatively quiet. We were surprised to find out that Woolies and Coles closed at 5pm in the weekend in CBD. By the way, our Uber driver told us that it only takes 45 mins to drive from the easternmost to the westernmost point so it is quite a small city. Perhaps, we might consider retiring here in the future!