7 Of the Best Free Things To Do In Adelaide City

How to see the best of the Festival City without spending a dollar.

Adelaide’s meticulously planned city centre is easy to navigate, especially with the free City Connector bus and tram that link the major attractions. And with a little planning, it’s possible to visit many of the city’s best sights without opening your wallet. Here are the best free things to do in Adelaide city.

1. Taste the local produce at Adelaide Central Market

Adelaide’s culinary landscape has come forward in leaps and bounds over the last decade, but if you can’t afford a seat at the ultra-fancy restaurants you can still visit the scene’s beating heart for free. With over 70 traders the undercover Adelaide Central Market has everything from karkalla kimchi to espresso-rubbed Italian cheese. Visit on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday and you’ll find the hall filled with colour and the clamour of voices as fruit and veg vendors hawk their wares to busy shoppers, and many of them have free samples for the curious.

a colourful mural at a dining spot in the Adelaide Central Market — Adelaide Central Market is popular for its vibrant art and food scene. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

If you still have room afterwards, head to the family-owned Haigh’s Chocolates on the CBD’s southern outskirts to learn how they make their premium chocolates. They’ll take you through the entire production process from starting with ethically farmed cocoa beans to finished product, with a few tastings along the way.

Chocolate freckles being made at Haigh's Chocolates in Adelaide — Pop in for the daily tastings at Haigh’s Chocolates. (Image: Tourism Australia / South Australia Tourism Commission)

2. Visit old (and new) cultural hubs

The grand South Australian Museum houses the largest collection of Aboriginal artefacts in the world, with over 3000 items on display alongside a broad range of natural and cultural history exhibits. It sits on cultural boulevard North Terrace, flanked by the State Library (home to the stunning mid-Victorian Mortlock Wing) and Art Gallery of South Australia , which has a broad collection of historical and contemporary art and the permanent exhibitions at all three are free.

Mortlock Wing inside the South Australian State Library — The State Library is home to the stunning mid-Victorian Mortlock Wing. (Image: Jake Wundersitz)

A short walk away, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute draws its name from the Kaurna name for Adelaide (Tarndanyangga). Australia’s oldest Aboriginal-owned and managed multi-arts centre, it hosts regular exhibitions and events while the APY Gallery on Light Square provides a city home for artists from remote APY communities to work and exhibit.

Tandayaculturalcentre — Tandanya is Australia’s oldest Aboriginal-owned and managed multi-arts centre

3. Visit Adelaide’s best beaches

With more than 30 kilometres of continuous coastline, Adelaide has no shortage of great beaches. Glenelg is the most easily accessible thanks to a regular tram service and has plenty of sand for sunbathing or volleyball. But head slightly further afield and you’ll find some breathtakingly beautiful spots that are far less crowded.

Aerial shot of the Moseley Beach Club at sunset, Glenelg Beach — Sip cocktails in Glenelg at Moseley Beach Club. (Image: Hayley Hays Photography)

Watch the sun setting over the ocean with a cocktail in hand at Henley’s Seamore (granted, not free but the views are priceless) or enjoy the white sandy beach and gentle swell of Brighton, where George the sea lion is an occasional visitor. Further south, Port Noarlunga has a reef close to the jetty that’s perfect for snorkelling and you can float downstream beneath rugged sandstone cliffs at the nearby Onkaparinga river mouth.

Drink overlooking Henleys Beach at Seamores — The drinks aren’t free but the views are priceless from Seamore at Henley Beach. (Image: Duy Dash)

4. Check out Port Adelaide

Forecasting the revitalisation of Port Adelaide is something of a state sport in South Australia, but a range of new openings in the past few years means that the dockside area is finally emerging from its decades-long slumber.

Pirate Life ’s huge new brewery and taphouse provides a focal point, just as Little Creatures’ venue does in Fremantle, and within a few minutes’ walk you’ll find locally run art galleries and mural-covered walls courtesy of the annual Wonderwalls Festival . Walk along the Port River and you’ll pass through the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary , where you might spot the only wild city-dwelling dolphins in the world.

Woman admires a mural in Port Adelaide Wonderwalls Festival — Locate the mural-covered walls courtesy of the annual Wonderwalls Festival in Port Adelaide. (Image: Jimmy C)

5. Attend an iconic Adelaide festival

South Australia didn’t earn the nickname ‘the festival state’ by accident. Things reach a peak in February and ‘Mad March’ when the Fringe and Adelaide Festival bring massive outdoor pop-up venues and hundreds of shows each night. Adelaide Writers’ Week and WOMADelaide also fall in this manic period but the calendar is full of events year-round.

Views of a stage at WOMADelaide — Arrive for festival season and soak up the atmosphere and range of free and paid events. (Image: WOMADelaide)

Food and drink festivals Tasting Australia and Beer & BBQ Festival celebrate local and international culinary heroes, while sporting fans are catered to with events like the Tour Down Under . These are joined by a stacked roster of cultural festivals including OzAsia , Tarnanthi , Feast and the Adelaide Film Festival , guitar and cabaret festivals (plus Cabaret Fringe ).

6. Check out Adelaide’s music scene

Walk down Rundle Street during the Fringe festival and there’s a good chance a desperate young performer will be handing out free tickets to avoid the embarrassment of an empty house. But you can catch gigs for free year-round in the UNESCO City Of Music. Billy Bob’s BBQ Jam is a local institution, a long-running open mic night every Monday at the much-loved Grace Emily Hotel that draws local legends and touring acts alike (Marlon Williams played an unofficial set there recently). The similarly old-school Exeter Hotel on Rundle Street has live music most nights, and afternoon gigs in the beer garden on weekends.

7. Hike Adelaide’s trails

Adelaide is a city literally surrounded by parks – the CBD is completely encompassed by the heritage-listed Park Lands. With over 750 hectares, there are plenty of green spaces to explore, but venture a little further and you can get an even better view along one of Adelaide’s many hikes.

Mount Lofty Summit is a popular drive (or weekend cycle) and offers sweeping views over the Adelaide plains and the Gulf of St Vincent. It’s also accessible by bus, and the nearby cool-climate Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is full of trails worth exploring (especially in autumn when the trees begin to change colour).

Waterfall Gully in Mount Lofty — Waterfall Gully delivers a healthy dose of nature. (Image: Ben Goodes)

The steep 3.9-kilometre (one-way) trail to the aptly named Waterfall Gully is the state’s most popular walk for a reason, but for an equally beautiful (and less crowded) walk with city views, try the 5.8-kilometre Sugarloaf Circuit from Chambers Gully, where there’s a good chance koalas and kangaroos will outnumber walkers.

The Mornington Peninsula is a coastline of contrasts, where convict and military history meets shipwrecks, wild seas and adventures above and below the surface.

The Mornington Peninsula can be the kind of place where salt-tangled hair feels like a badge of honour – proof you’ve been somewhere wild, raw and real. Peel back the layers and you’ll discover stories that anchor this region to something other than its famed food and wine.

This land is the traditional Sea Country of the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung people. Long before grapevines were planted and artisanal goods were crafted, the Bunurong Traditional Owners lived in deep connection with the land and sea. Today, places such as Mushroom Reef Marine Sanctuary echo that tradition, with families exploring its rockpools in search of colourful sea stars and crabs at low tide and learning how these fragile ecosystems have been cared for across countless generations.

a group of people visiting the Port Nepean National Park — Take in the rugged coastal landscape at Port Nepean National Park. (Image: Tourism Australia)

A visit to Point Nepean National Park feels like stepping back through time. The fort, built in 1882, protected the narrow entrance to Port Phillip Bay until the end of the Second World War. It was here that the first Allied shot of the First World War was fired – at a German cargo ship trying to escape just hours after war was declared. Nearby, the old Quarantine Station, one of Australia’s first permanent quarantine facilities, established in 1852, still stands. Walking through the hospital and disinfecting complex evokes stories of those who arrived from faraway shores.

Not far from here is a story of survival that inspired the Aussie phrase ‘you’ve got Buckley’s chance’. In 1803, escaped convict William Buckley vanished into the bush near what’s now Sorrento. Everyone thought he had no hope of surviving, but he reappeared 32 years later, having lived with local Aboriginal people.

Even the waters here hold history. The infamous stretch known as The Rip, just three kilometres wide at the entrance of Port Phillip Bay, is among the most treacherous waterways. Countless ships were lost here in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and in 1967, Australia’s own Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming off the coast, never to be found.

a seal swimming in Port Phillip Bay — A seal swimming in Port Phillip Bay. (Image: Tourism Australia/Two Palms/Harry Pope)

But for all its danger, the sea here also holds extraordinary beauty. Dolphins are often seen near Sorrento’s cliffs, while below the surface, seagrass meadows and rocky reefs teem with life. Marine tours offer a viewing to this underwater wonderland, while back on terra firma, walking trails lead along beaches, through coastal scrub, and over rock pools.

And if you think you’ll forget about the Mornington Peninsula once you’ve left? You’ve got Buckley’s chance.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the suite interior at InterContinental Sorrento — Luxury interiors at the historic InterContinental Sorrento. (Image: Greg Elms)

Point Nepean Discovery Tents is immersive glamping beside the historic Quarantine Station. Or upgrade to luxury at the 1875-built InterContinental Sorrento .

Playing there

an aerial view of Cape Schanck Lighthouse — Make your way to the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. (Image: Tourism Australia/Two Palms/Harry Pope)

Bayplay Adventure Tours offer eco-adventures from snorkelling with sea dragons to kayaking with dolphins and cycling Point Nepean. Cape Schanck Lighthouse is fascinating to explore on a guided tour, which takes you into the lighthouse and keeper’s cottage.

Eating there

Portsea Hotel is a beautifully restored 1876 Tudor-style pub right on the beach, serving seasonal local fare.

7 free things to do in Adelaide