Central Market
Satisfy both obvious and obscure culinary cravings at the 250-odd stalls in Adelaide's superb Central Market. A gluten-free snag from the Gourmet Sausage Shop, a sliver of English stilton from the Smelly Cheese Shop, a tub of blueberry yoghurt from the Yoghurt Shop − you name it, it's all here. Good luck making it out without eating anything.
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Maritime Museum
This salty cache is the oldest of its kind in Australia. Highlights include the iconic Port Adelaide Lighthouse, busty figureheads made everywhere from Londonderry to Quebec, shipwreck and explorer displays, and a computer register of early migrants.
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Adelaide Botanic Garden
Stroll, jog or find yourself a grassy patch to read a book in the
splendid, city-fringe Adelaide Botanic Garden. Highlights here include a unique
prefabricated palm house (1877), the Museum of Economic Botany (check out its stencilled
ceiling), and the 1988 Bicentennial Conservatory, which recreates a tropical rainforest
environment. Free 1½-hour guided walks depart from the kiosk at 10:30.
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Adelaide Zoo
Around 1800 exotic and native mammals, birds and reptiles roar, growl and screech at Adelaide's wonderful zoo, which opened in 1883. There are free walking tours half-hourly (plus a slew of longer and overnight tours focussing on specific environments and species), feeding sessions and a children's zoo. Until Wang Wang and Funi – Australia's only Giant Pandas – arrived in 2009 (pandemonium!), the major drawcard was the Southeast Asian rainforest exhibit.You can take a river cruise to the zoo from the Festival Centre on Pop-eye. Weekends only in winter.
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Art Gallery of South Australia
Spend a few hushed hours in the vaulted, parquetry-floored gallery that represents the big names in Australian art. Permanent exhibitionsinclude Australian, modern Australian, contemporary Aboriginal, Asian, Islamic and European art (with 20 bronze Rodins!). Temporary exhibitions occupy the basement. Free audio tours of the Australian collection are insightful, as are the free guided tours (11am and 2pm daily).
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Maritime Museum
You could easily spend a day wandering around the gentrified
warehouses and sprawling museums of Port Adelaide. The Maritime Museum features several
vintage ships including the Nelcebee, the third-oldest
ship on Lloyd's shipping register. There's also a computer register of early
migrants.
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South Australian Museum
Digs into Australia's natural history with special exhibits on whales and Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, and an Aboriginal Cultures Gallery displaying artefacts of the Ngarrindjeri people of the Coorong and lower Murray. The giant squid is the undisputed highlight of the free tours. There's a cool cafe here too.
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