A World-Famous Market, an Archibald Winner at AGSA and a Nightcap at a 1920s-Style Cocktail Bar: How To Spend a Weekend in Adelaide

Adelaide has long been known as the City of Churches, but these days the City of Excellent Food, Wine and Culture is more fitting. It has some of the best eating and drinking in Australia and a nationally recognised art gallery. The best part is you don’t have to travel far to have a great time. Here’s how we’d spend a weekend in the CBD.

Locations don’t get more central than Hilton Adelaide, which overlooks Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga and is within walking distance of the city’s main entertainment and shopping district. The Central Market and Chinatown are a five-minute walk, or you can climb on a scooter – or board a tram – towards the leafy and lush Botanic Gardens. In between exploring the city, the hotel is a great place to stay a while, with its outdoor heated pool, modern grill restaurant and glass-encased wine cellar (with over 500 labels), plus its 1920s-inspired cocktail bar (more on that below).

Once you’ve dropped your bags off at the hotel - which is easy when you can check in and unlock a digital key all on the Hilton Honors app - walk around the corner to the world-famous Adelaide Central Market. It’s one of the largest, and oldest markets, in Australia. You’ll find stalls selling fruit and vegetables, meats and smallgoods (pop by The Mettwurst Shop), cheeses from around the world (our picks are Say Cheese and The Smelly Cheese Shop), and more. Head to market icon Lucia’s Fine Foods for one of the best paninis you’ll ever eat. Grab a coffee from The Grind @ Central and you’re set.

Adelaide is filled with outstanding places to wine and dine, but one of our top picks for lunch is Valentino’s. It’s inspired by Italy’s tavola calda (literally “hot table”) eateries, which serve pre-made food cafeteria-style (we promise this isn’t your average food court). Load your plate with roasted eggplant stuffed with pork and veal, ricotta and spinach gnudi, and chicken cotoletta. There’s wine (Italian and local), cocktails, aperitivo, beers and mocktails.

From there, you’re a five-minute walk from the Art Gallery of South Australia. It has an extensive Australian collection, contemporary art, and European and Asian collections. Tarnanthi, which features the first survey exhibition of acclaimed portraitist Vincent Namatjira, is currently showing and absolutely worth making time for.

For dinner, head to recently opened Thai-inspired restaurant Kiin on Angas Street. It’s helmed by chef Ben Bertei (previously of Melbourne’s Longrain, the Sunshine Coast’s Spirit House and Brisbane’s Same Same) and sommelier David Wickwar (ex-Vaporetto). Dishes include a red curry cheeseburger with provolone, spicy ketchup, crispy shallots and pickled cucumber; burrata served with green nam jim and roti; and prawn and lychee pop sticks with chili sugar-salt. The wine list features mostly South Australian wines, and there are two wines and a limoncello-based spritz on tap.

Pre- or post-dinner, The Collins Bar is the place to be – and you don’t even have to leave your hotel to get there. Sitting in the 1920s-inspired bar, you’ll forget you’re in the middle of a hustling, bustling city. The menu ranges from cocktail classics to mixes you likely haven’t seen before, like the Quince & Plum Old Fashioned or White Sand Sour; the bar also has one of Adelaide’s largest ranges of fine whiskeys. On the wine front, work your way through South Australia’s world-renowned wine regions including McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Coonawarra and Clare Valley. Bar snacks are also available, including a choose-your-own-adventure Central Market Plate (don’t look past the Onkaparinga Creamery Reserve Blue cheese). If you’re there Wednesday to Saturday, you’ll get 15 per cent off drinks from 4–6pm.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Hilton. When a great location is a must for your weekend getaway, it matters where you stay.