Adelaide by Luxury Train

Laid out in 1837 with a meticulous grid of wide streets encircled by parklands, Adelaide is Australia's most refined state capital — a city of colonial sandstone architecture, leafy squares and a laid-back, food-and-wine-loving culture. It sits between the Adelaide Hills and the Gulf St Vincent coastline, within easy reach of some of the country's most celebrated wine regions, making it as much a base for exploration as a destination in its own right.

Adelaide's real distinction for rail travellers is its position as the great crossroads of Australian long-distance train travel. It is the southern terminus of The Ghan, which runs the length of the continent from Darwin through the Red Centre to Adelaide, and a key stop on the transcontinental Indian Pacific, which links Sydney to Perth via Adelaide and the vast Nullarbor Plain. Arriving in or departing from Adelaide by luxury train is a fitting way to bookend a journey through the heart of the outback or across the width of the continent.

Travellers who extend their stay find a compact, walkable city where world-class galleries, a thriving Central Market and some of Australia's finest cool-climate wineries are all within a short drive, making Adelaide an ideal place to pause before or after a Ghan or Indian Pacific rail adventure.

Adelaide Botanic Garden

A 51-hectare Victorian-era garden in the city's northeast corner, home to the beautiful glass Bicentennial Conservatory, a restored Palm House, and Australia's oldest botanic garden museum.

Art Gallery of South Australia

One of Australia's leading art museums, with an outstanding collection of Australian colonial, Aboriginal and contemporary art housed in a grand North Terrace building, entry free.

South Australian Museum

Home to the world's largest collection of Aboriginal cultural artefacts, plus natural history, Egyptian and Pacific galleries, next door to the Art Gallery on North Terrace.

Adelaide Central Market

A bustling, block-long covered market dating to 1869, packed with fresh produce stalls, delis, butchers and cafés — the beating heart of Adelaide's food culture.

Adelaide Oval

The historic cricket and Australian Rules football ground on the banks of the River Torrens, famed for its heritage scoreboard and views back to the city skyline; stadium tours are available.

North Terrace Cultural Boulevard

A stately avenue of 19th-century sandstone buildings, statues and institutions including Government House, Parliament House, the State Library and the University of Adelaide's original campus.

Rundle Mall

Adelaide's main pedestrian shopping strip, known for its bronze pig sculptures ('Oliver', 'Truffles', 'Horatio' and 'Augusta') and Victorian-era arcades leading off it.

Adelaide Hills

A short drive from the city centre, this cool, green escarpment is home to the German-heritage village of Hahndorf, Mount Lofty Summit lookout, and the Cleland Wildlife Park where visitors can hand-feed kangaroos.

Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale

Two of Australia's most storied wine regions lie within an hour of the city — the Barossa renowned for Shiraz, McLaren Vale for Grenache and Mediterranean-style reds — both dotted with cellar doors and acclaimed restaurants.

Adelaide is widely regarded as Australia's food and wine capital, with South Australia producing more than half the nation's wine and a dining scene shaped by generations of Italian, Greek and German migration alongside a strong paddock-to-plate ethos.

No visit is complete without a pie floater — a meat pie served afloat in a bowl of thick pea soup, a beloved (and divisive) Adelaide institution traditionally sold from late-night pie carts. At the Adelaide Central Market, stallholders serve everything from fresh South Australian blue swimmer crab and King George whiting — the state's signature fish, prized for its delicate flavour — to European-style smallgoods reflecting the city's migrant history.

South Australia's wine regions are inseparable from any Adelaide food experience: the Barossa Valley's robust Shiraz, the Clare Valley's crisp Riesling, and Adelaide Hills cool-climate Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are poured in wine bars across the city. Coopers Pale Ale, brewed in Adelaide since 1862, remains the local beer of choice.

• Pie floater — a meat pie submerged in pea soup, an only-in-Adelaide classic
• King George whiting — delicately flavoured local fish, often simply grilled or crumbed
• Adelaide Central Market produce — cheese, smallgoods, seafood and seasonal fruit from the Riverland
• Barossa Valley Shiraz — full-bodied red wine from one of the world's great old-vine regions
• Haigh's chocolate — Australia's oldest family-owned chocolate maker, founded in Adelaide in 1915
• FruChocs — a South Australian confection of dried apricot coated in milk chocolate