Adelaide: The best Australian city you've (probably) never visited

Adelaide is proving to be Australia's most exciting city. Festivals keep the city pumping, with 11 major events throughout the year. It's even been designated Australia's only UnescoCity of Music.

But beyond the festivities and a beautiful city – fringed by beaches and wineries – Adelaide has a fair few secrets to reveal. Here are seven of our favourites.

The city's latest festival will be new to most tourists – it's the most mesmerising light show I've ever seen.

It's called Illuminate Adelaide, and despite being only two years old, it attracted more than 1.2 million people during its showing in July 2022.

The event saw more than 40 free light sculptures around the city, which you can explore from 6pm each night. Some highlights included a giant snow globe, 15 glowing seesaws for the kids and "Submergence", which invited people to walk through a maze of thousands of lights.

The standout highlight, however, was the paid light shows. The first was "Wisdom of AI Light", created by famed digital pioneers Ouchhh Studio.

The show goes through different chapters of art and science, by using out-of-this-world light displays in a large pavilion that everyone stands in. The first featured data from 20,000 Renaissance artists, fed into an artificial intelligence system, which brought Baroque-style painting to life.

Other chapters brought 20,000 million lines of text from history's greatest thinkers alive, while another processed data from 2662 planets, 61 supernovae, and 530,506 stars and transformed that all into a mesmerising light show.

The other standout hit was "Light Cycles." It's an immersive light show, experienced as you wander around the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

The walk took us on a two kilometre digital art trail, which involved passing through smoke and light-filled tunnels, down a tree-lined path with thousands of lasers, and through a whimsical garden of lights that became a sea of different colours, all timed to enchanting music.

The dates and lineup of next year's festival are yet to be confirmed, but it gets better each year, so you’re in for a treat if you head there for 2023’s show.

The Adelaide Central Market is one of the largest undercover fresh produce markets in the southern hemisphere. You'll find a wide variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables alongside meat, cheeses and baked goodies from all over the region.

While the market is far from a secret – it's one of the top-rated things to do – one particular shop is a hidden gem and must-visit for all pizza lovers.

Lucia's Pizza Bar is potentially Australia's oldest pizzeria – the title is hotly contested. But what is certain is that you'll be in for one of the best dining experiences in the city.

The shop was opened by Lucia Rosella in 1957 and is today run by her two daughters, Nicky and Maria – some of the friendliest people you will meet.

The pizzas quickly sell out, so don't miss trying one. But if you do, there is no shortage of other dishes to try, like giant bowls of pasta – made the traditional way with some of the finest local ingredients.

Adelaide has a secret slice of Japan within the city, built to celebrate a close bond with the Land of the Rising Sun.

Himeji Garden, named in honour of Adelaide's ancient sister city in Japan, was designed to bring about mindfulness for whoever stepped inside.

Walk through the ornate gates to discover a large pond with long-necked tortoises, goldfish and the small Japanese rice fish known as medaka.

At the back of the garden is a karesansui, sometimes known as a zen garden - people head to Japan from all over the world to see them, but you can tick it off your list in Adelaide.

Adelaide's Museum of Discovery (MOD.) is like a miniature version of Te Papa, except this one is all about futuristic digital art.

The exhibits are constantly changing, but our visit included a biometric mirror that makes judgements about your face compared with 33,000 other faces in its database. It'll give you lots of ratings, including a guess at how happy you are.

The museum is free, and always worth a stop - especially if you have kids with you.

Adelaide is famed for the verdant vineyards of Barossa Valley, which is home to 150 wineries just an hour's drive from the city. But few realise Adelaide is also home to one of the world's few urban vineyards. Established in 1844, Penfolds is one of the country’s oldest wineries and an iconic brand.

The Ultimate Penfolds Experience takes you on a tour of a winery steeped in history, including its dramatic underground cellars, which ends with a tasting of its best wines.

If you're after some exceptional food, upgrade your experience to the 'iconic' tour, which also includes a three-course meal at the adjoining restaurant - it's certain to be some of the best food you'll try in Australia.

Adelaide is home to more than 900 restaurants and eateries, with a thriving café culture supporting local producers. The Peter Rabbit café is one of those rare instances where the social media hype lives up to reality. Thanks to its Instagrammable outdoor dining area, flush with plants, the café is always full – but what you can't get across in a photo is how great the food tastes - so you'll have to visit to find out.

If you love cheese and beer, Grünthal Microbrewery celebrates some of the region's best beer, gin and cheese all in one place. Owners Saul and Sheree Sullivan have spent 35 years making cheese and now have added a microbrewery to the mix. The result is a place where you can enjoy fondue and beer on one table - you can even add a cheese pizza to the mix.

One of the region's most spectacular escapes is a series of off-grid cabins known as 'Lost Retreats'.

There are three to choose from, including the skyline cabin 'Lost in Mt Osmond', which we tried.

The cabin has one of the city's most spectacular views, which you can enjoy from bed. Despite overlooking a metropolis, here it's about the simple things – like enjoying a sunset or reading a book. After a busy few days exploring the city, this is the perfect way to unwind.

Air New Zealand has several direct flights a week from Auckland to Adelaide, with connections across the domestic network. See:

offers rooms in central Adelaide from NZ$487 per night. See:

skyline retreat from AU$309 per night (NZ$348).

The next Illuminate Adelaide will be held in July 2023, for latest on dates head to and subscribe for updates.

The from AU$150 (NZ$169) per person. See: