BUG - Backpackers Guide to Adelaide Hills, South Australia

Only around half an hour from central Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills is a pleasant area full of quaint towns with antique and craft shops, country pubs and day-trippers from Adelaide. It is a nice spot to visit particularly as a detour if you're coming to or from the city, and also as an extension to a day-trip in the Barossa Valley.

Practical Information

Adelaide Hills Visitor Information Centre

41 Main Street, Hahndorf

Tel (08) 8388 1185

Website www.visitadelaidehills.com.au

Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-4pm

Birdwood

This small town is best known for its excellent car museum. If you're not into cars, it's still a nice spot to stop for a drink or two.

Sights

National Motor Museum

This museum provides a good overview of Australian motoring history with over 300 cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. The National Motor Museum also features relics from South Australia's colonial past and interpretive exhibits in the recently opened Holden Pavillion of Australian Motoring.

Shannon Street, Birdwood

Tel (08) 8568 5006

Website www.history.sa.gov.au/motor/motor.htm

Admission $9 ($7 students)

Open 9am-5pm daily

Hahndorf

Probably the most popular destination in the Adelaide Hills, Hahndorf is an easy exit off the South Eastern Freeway if you're driving between Adelaide and Melbourne. The town was settled by German immigrants in 1839 and retains a strong German heritage with German themed pubs and Mettwurst shops.

Sights

The Cedars

The home of Hahndorf painter, Hans Heysen has been restored featuring the artist's studio. You can only visit by taking a guided tour of the house.

Heysen Road, Hahndorf

Bus 164, 164F, 165, 166, 840,F, 843F

Tel (08) 8388 7277

Admission $8

Open Tue-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat-Sun 10am-4pm

Hahndorf Academy

The largest regional art gallery in South Australia is noted for its exhibits of work by former Hahndorf resident Hans Heysen and also includes a museum that reveals the contribution that German migrants have made to South Australia while explaining what life was like for the region's first German settlers.

Main Street, Hahndorf

Bus 164, 164F, 165, 166, 840,F, 843F

Tel (08) 8388 7250

Admission free

Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm