Backpacking Australia: Adelaide

 A few months ago I posted some tips about planning a backpacking trip to Australia and valuable tips I learned during my own experience. Over the next few weeks I will post daily about all the wonderful places I visited in my 3 month adventure.

Adelaide

Situated in the south of Australia, it is a relatively small city with a population of 13,000. The airport is quite close to the city centre and many hostels do pick ups from the airport for a small price. I stayed at 2 different places: Sunny Backpackers and then the YHA. The YHA is a bit more expensive but I would recommend that hands down. Sunny Backpackers was good enough but if you are staying in a hostel keep your luggage and belongings near you at all times!

 The best way to see Adelaide is to hire a free bike from BikeSA. It is relatively safe to ride around the city and allows you to see parts of the city you might not have seen. I recommend cycling along the River Torrens, which is beautiful on a summers day, from where you can see the Adelaide oval. There is a beach called Glenelg about half an hour away which I recommend if you are staying there for a while.

River Torrens

 

 



Adelaide has a weird but vibrant nightlife and the main places to go are all on Hindley Street. It's very popular among young people and backpackers. It's not somewhere I would be going if I was on my own but in a crowd it's a fun place to be.

I don't want to be scathing, or put anyone off, but if my report seems tame it is because the city is just that. For tourists, there is not much to do at all. It was fine for my group as we were only staying a few days and it was our transition to Uluru. But we didn't expect to become bored in a few short days. To be brutally honest, if I was going back to Australia, Adelaide would be last on my list. It's a nice enough city and probably a nice place to live, it's just not my choice of destination. If you have been and loved it, please let me know in the comments.


Useful links for Adelaide:

http://www.bikesa.asn.au/adelaidefreebikeslocation

http://glenelgsa.com.au/

http://www.barsandnightclubs.com.au/adelaide/

https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/sa/adelaide/adelaide-backpackers-hostel/

Previous posts about Australia:

http://pourquoiviajartheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/backpacking-around-australia-before.html