South Australia

Adelaide

Known as Australia’s Festival City, Adelaide lives up to its legacy.  The awesome Adelaide Festival of the Arts, one of the city’s 400 events, is a 17-day buffet of ballads and bands, drama and dance and features exclusive Australian and international performances.  Coinciding with the Festival of Arts, Adelaide welcomes the weird and wonderful at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, the second-largest independent arts festival in the world.

Considering Adelaide’s festive atmosphere, the city’s civility might come as a surprise.  Cottages and guest houses sprinkle the surrounding Adelaide Hills, while grassy parks with ornate fountains cozy up to stunning cathedrals and swanky cafes.

Barossa Valley

Perhaps the most Germanic region in Australia, the Barossa Valley, combines old world charm with world-class wine.  Luxury Australian wine labels, including Penfolds, Henschke, and Rockfords, are proudly displayed next to smoked meats, pastries and freshly baked breads.

Producing nearly one-fourth of the nation’s wine is hard work and locals wind down with day trips to the historic hamlet of Bethany, cycling through the valleys of grapevines or hosting the boisterous Barossa Vintage Festival.

Kangaroo Island

Located only 70 miles southwest of Adelaide (a 30 minute flight or less than 2.5 hours by car and ferry), it is hard to believe that Kangaroo Island remains so pure, unspoiled and untouched and is really one of the only places in Australia where you can see an abundance of native wildlife in its natural habitat. One-third of the island is protected as conservation and national parks, and half the island has never been cleared of native vegetation.

You can walk among huge weather-sculptured granite boulders at Remarkable Rocks and roll down the snowy-white sand dunes of Little Sahara. Besides these phenomenal natural attractions, visitors are reminded why they flew half way across the globe when they experience a charter or small group tour with Exceptional Kangaroo Island.

Since its inception in 1986, this company is all about providing great food, great wine and wildlife in the wild — this is one Australian experience that should not be missed. Choose from 1, 2 or 3 day touring options. Australia’s third largest island, Kangaroo Island is crawling with native wildlife. See koalas daydream in gum trees, black cockatoos skim the skies and leafy sea dragons dance the waves. In a single day you can stroll along a beach blanketed with sea lions and picnic with a pack of kangaroos and wallabies. Nowhere else can you see this much nature in such a serene setting.