South Australia attractions

Covering more than 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) and featuring more than 500 free-roaming animals, Monarto Zoo is Australia’s largest open-range zoo. Along with Aussie favorites such as wallabies and Tasmanian Devils, the zoo is home to Australia’s largest herd of giraffes, as well as lions, rhinos, cheetah, and meerkats.

Linking Adelaide city center to the historic beachfront suburb of Glenelg, the Glenelg Tram is a relic of a public transport network that once spanned the entire city. Attractive red heritage trams are available for charter and occasionally during special events, but almost all trams that run the scenic route are modern.

Just 7 miles (11 kilometers) from downtown Adelaide, the seaside suburb of Henley Beach offers more than just a long, safe, sandy beach and scenic jetty. Feast at the area’s spectacular seafood restaurants; paddle, swim, or fish at the beach; hike or bike along the coast; or watch the sun set over the Southern Ocean.

Light’s Vision, a life-size 1906 bronze statue of Adelaide’s founder Colonel William Light, stands atop grassy Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide, pointing boldly across the city. Laid out in 1938, the area, also known as Colonel Light’s Lookout, offers views over parkland and the city, especially the landmark Adelaide Oval cricket ground.

With its traditional horse-drawn trams, elegant colonial buildings, and sandy shores; Victor Harbor is one of South Australia’s most charming seaside resorts. In a prime location along the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, it’s surrounded by surf beaches, wildlife-filled islands, and scenic coastal hikes.

An Adelaide original, Haigh’s has been crafting chocolate since 1915 and is still family-owned today. At their factory, just south of Adelaide city center, the Haigh’s Chocolate Visitor Centre offers free tours plus the chance to shop Haigh’s specialties, from truffles and liqueurs to their signature chocolate frogs.

The Clare Valley is a shock of green hills among South Australia’s dry, flat landscape, which stretches from Auburn to Clare. Small towns with heritage cottages, vineyards, and forests provide a backdrop for the Clare Valley’s main focus as one of the state’s oldest wine regions: eating and drinking.

A vast natural stadium framed by 800-million-year-old mountains, Wilpena Pound is one of South Australia’s most recognizable landmarks. Positioned where scrub meets red desert, it’s a highlight of the Flinders Ranges. In the mythology of the Adnyamathanha people— the traditional owners of the land—two giant serpents formed its sinuous outline.

Travel back in time to South Australia’s opal boom days at Coober Pedy’s Old Timers Mine and Museum, an underground museum, mine, and cave home complete with eerie waxworks of a 1920s family. See fossils and opals in the mining tunnels, sift through piles of rubble for stray opals, and shop all things opalescent in the underground gift store.

A low-lying valley in the Flinders Ranges, with gum trees where yellow-footed rock wallabies hop, the Brachina Gorge carries a map of geological time in its striated rock formations. Travelers driving the Brachina Gorge Geological Trail can see the mark of a meteorite impact, fossilized early life forms, and layers of rock from 500–800 million years ago.

A tribute to Adelaide’s sister city, Himeji in Japan, the Adelaide Himeji Garden incorporates two classic styles of Japanese garden design. The minimalist rock-and-sand garden is raked daily for maximum serenity. The tranquil lake garden features lush greenery, stepping stones, statues, a traditional bamboo water tube, and more. It's perfect for lunch, reading, or meditation.

Traditionally owned by the Nganguraku and Ngaiawang people, Ngaut Ngaut Conservation Park is an important indigenous site on the banks of the Murray River. Yellow ocher cliffs house rock shelters dating back at least 5,000 years; a boardwalk runs along the river; and the rock art here has rich cultural significance.

Perched on the north coast of the Dudley Peninsula, the port town of Penneshaw is the gateway to Kangaroo Island. If you’re arriving on the island by ferry from Cape Jervis, this will be your first port-of-call, but the lively seaside town is more than just a travel thoroughfare—it’s also renowned for its beachside colony of Little Penguins.

Jacob's Creek is a global wine brand and the oldest commercial winery in the Barossa Valley. Given its prestigious lineage, it's no surprise that the Jacob's Creek Visitor Center offers guests wine tastings, gourmet picnic lunches on the estate grounds, a café, education around the winemaking process, and accommodations.

Australia’s oldest steel-railed railway line has been running since 1887, when a horse-drawn train would carry passengers down to the seashore to collect cockles. Today, the Cockle Train keeps its original nickname and still chugs along the same historic route between Goolwa at the mouth of the Murray River, and Victor Harbor on the south coast.

Beneath the woodlands and bushland trails of the Kelly Hill Conservation Park lies one of the most impressive natural wonders on Kangaroo Island, formed from millions of years of erosion, sea level change, and weather patterns. Venture underground and discover an expanse of ancient limestone caves, where you'll see dramatic rock columns, multicolored shawl formations, and towering stalagmites and stalactites.

On the site of the shop that launched the R.M. Williams leather goods brand in 1934, the R.M. Williams Outback Heritage Museum is both museum and retail outlet. More than simply a tribute to one of South Australia’s most successful sons, the museum tells the story of bush culture and a defining Outback brand through displays, panels, and machinery.

Originally named Masterson Wines, after the gambler Sky Masterson from the musical “Guys and Dolls,” this mid-size South Australian vineyard was established in the late 1970s, eventually taking on the moniker of its winemaker, who has been credited with helping shape the Barossa winemaking industry. Since then, Peter Lehmann Wines' luscious reds and whites have been celebrated locally and internationally, and its family farm feel has welcomed visitors for generations.

Established in 1966, Wolf Blass, with vineyards located in the heart of South Australia’s wine country, has produced some of the most loved—and most awarded—bottles of red and white in the world by combining traditional and modern winemaking techniques. The luxurious estate welcomes travelers from across the globe to participate in tasting tours, including the opportunity to sample straight from the barrel.

In northwest Adelaide’s Port Adelaide suburb, the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide pays tribute to all things locomotive. Climb aboard a small train for a ride around the museum; admire steam engines and retro carriages; be immersed in Australia’s rail history; discover a model railway; and stock up on train-related souvenirs at the shop.

In addition to being one of Australia’s most luxurious hotels, the Barossa Chateau sits on the country’s most well-known (and well-kept) rose garden, too. With some 25 acres (10 hectares) of estate land, including 22 acres (9 hectares) of gardens and 3 miles (5 kilometers) of scenic pathways, the Barossa Chateau offers travelers the perfect country escape.

With a land area similar to Switzerland, the triangular Eyre Peninsula juts out into the Southern Ocean, with Port Lincoln, its adventure capital, near the tip. The east coast is known for oysters; whales, dolphins, sea lions, and great white sharks draw travelers to the west. On land, enjoy pristine national parks and Indigenous culture.

A low red canyon formed by a creek that’s usually dry, Sacred Canyon (Yura Mulka) is, as its name implies, a site sacred to the Indigenous Adnyamathanha people. A walk down the riverbed, where red gums provide a little shade, reveals ancient Aboriginal engravings, sadly intermingled with more recent vandalism.

Just outside Port Lincoln, in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, Glen-Forest Tourist Park offers attractions from minigolf and Segway rides to vineyards and wildlife encounters. For most, animals will be the major draw. The park is home to koalas, dingoes, wombats, kangaroos, emus, and more, and many species can be hand-fed.