Visiting Adelaide: Where Tours Start, What They Cost and When to Go
Adelaide has no gate and no ticket. You pay for a seat on a walk, a boat or a day trip, and the fare decides what else you get. Weighing up Adelaide sightseeing tours? Settle what your fare covers and where your day starts, and the rest follows.
A city, not a single sight
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. It was founded in 1836, and Colonel William Light laid out its centre on a grid of wide streets, ringed by Park Lands, beside the River Torrens. The city stands on Kaurna land, and the City of Adelaide acknowledges the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains as its Traditional Custodians.
The centre is free to walk. North Terrace, the riverbank and the market cost nothing to see. So when you look for “Adelaide Australia tickets”, what you are really buying is one of two things: a guide who shows you the city, or a seat on a day that takes you out of it to the Hills, the wine regions, the coast or Kangaroo Island.
What you pay, and what the fare covers
The table sets the kinds of day side by side. Read the second column first: it is where two fares that look alike come apart. A wine day from Adelaide usually includes your tastings, but the hop-on hop-off buses leave them to be paid at each cellar door. One island day includes the national park fees, and one Hills day includes Cleland Wildlife Park.
| Kind of day | What the fare covers | Length | Fares from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk through the city | A local guide, with tastings, a snack or lunch on most walks | 50 minutes to 3 hours | $42 per person |
| Popeye on the Torrens | Your seat and live commentary | 40 to 50 minutes | $21 per person |
| Port River cruise or kayak | Commentary on the cruise; kayak, gear and a guide on the paddles | 1.5 to 3 hours | $56 per person |
| Hills and coast day | Pickup and transport; Cleland entry on one, a lunch cruise on the River Murray days | 6.5 to 8.5 hours | $84 per person |
| Wine day from Adelaide | Transport and tastings, except on the hop-on hop-off buses; lunch on most Barossa days | 7 to 8 hours | $72 per person |
| Wine day from your Barossa stay | Tastings and lunch | 6 hours | $177 per person |
| Private Barossa day | A BMW for up to four; tastings and lunch paid as you go | A half day to a full day | $462 per group, up to 4 |
| Kangaroo Island | Coach, ferry and lunch; national park fees on one day tour and on the 2-day tour | About 16 hours, or 2 days | $285 per person |
Know your dates? Compare the days by what the fare covers.
Each card says what is in the fare, where the day starts and how long it runs.
Where your day starts
This is the second choice, and it shapes the whole day. Walks and cruises meet at a fixed point in the city, so you make your own way there. Most day trips collect you from your hotel or from Stamford Plaza on North Terrace. The Kangaroo Island days start earliest of all, at the Adelaide Central Bus Station before 7:00.
| Where the day starts | When | Which tours |
|---|---|---|
| Stamford Plaza, 150 North Terrace | 8:45 to 10:00, by tour | Several Barossa days, the Gems in a Day tour and the hop-on hop-off buses |
| Your hotel in the city or Glenelg | Set when you book | Most other day trips |
| Adelaide Visitor Information Centre, 25 Pirie Street | 10:00 on the walk-and-cruise | The history walks |
| Adelaide Central Market, Gouger Street and Grote Street | 9:30 on the discovery walk | The market food walks |
| Adelaide Arcade, Grenfell Street side | Set when you book | The F Factor food walk |
| Popeye landing, Elder Park, King William Road | First come, first served | The Popeye cruise |
| Port Adelaide wharf, 1 McLaren Parade | Set when you book | The dolphin and ships' graveyard cruise |
| Lot 204 Garden Island Road | Arrive 15 minutes early on one | The kayak tours |
| Adelaide Central Bus Station, 83–85 Franklin Street | By 6:30 | The Kangaroo Island days |
| Adina Apartments, 2 Flinders Street | 10:00 | The private Barossa day |
| Barossa Visitor Centre, Tanunda, or Hahndorf Academy | 10:50 | The hop-on buses, boarding outside the city |
| Your accommodation in the Barossa | 10:00, Tanunda | The small-group day from the Barossa |
| Penneshaw ferry terminal, Kangaroo Island | From 10:00 | The 2-day tour, if you join on the island |
Every start point, set out on one page, is on the Adelaide tour map.
When to go
The Bureau of Meteorology's West Terrace station records an average high of 28.7 °C in January and 15.0 °C in July. Rain falls on about 12 days in July and on fewer than three in February, and the city gets 524.5 mm in a year. Spring and autumn give mild coach days: the average high is 18.5 °C in September and 22.2 °C in April.
For Kangaroo Island, the operator of the day tour by ferry says it runs all year and names May to October as the best time to see more wildlife. It does not run on Christmas Day. The water tours can cancel for weather; when they do, you are offered another date or a full refund.
Adelaide Central Market and its trading days
Adelaide Central Market stands at 44–60 Gouger Street, and it has traded since 1869, with more than 70 traders under one roof. It opens 7:00 to 17:30 on Tuesday, 9:00 to 17:30 on Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 to 21:00 on Friday and 7:00 to 15:00 on Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday, so the market food walks run from Tuesday to Saturday only.
Visitor information in the city
The City of Adelaide runs two visitor centres: one at 25 Pirie Street and one in the Central Market Arcade. Staff and volunteers answer questions there, and the centres also offer free guided tours of the city centre and an Adelaide Greeters service. The Pirie Street centre is where the history walks meet.
What makes a day go well
- Eat before the long days. The Kangaroo Island days leave before 7:00 and run about 16 hours. Lunch is in the fare; snacks and drinks are not.
- Know the age limits. The kayak tours take children from 8 or 10, the walk-and-Popeye combination from 13, and several wine days and the 2-day island tour are for adults 18 and over.
- Check the rule on bottles. The premium Barossa day allows no alcohol on the coach, so read your own tour's rules before you buy wine to take home.
- Wheelchairs: the market walks, the F Factor food walk, the Ultimate walking tour and one kayak tour state wheelchair access. Most coach days and the boats do not, so ask the operator first.
- Holding a koala is not in any tour fare. Cleland Wildlife Park sells its koala experiences separately.
What there is to see in the centre is on things to do in Adelaide, and the village and the lookout most day trips stop at are on the Adelaide Hills.
Frequently asked before you go
Do you need a ticket to visit Adelaide?
Do day tours pick up from my hotel?
How early does the Kangaroo Island tour leave?
How long does a Barossa day from Adelaide take?
Do the water tours run in bad weather?
Do I need a car in Adelaide?
Next: compare every fare on Adelaide Australia Tours, check the FAQs, or read what travellers said in the reviews.