What to do and see in Adelaide, South Australia: The Best Historic Walking Areas

Reviewed By CarolDM1900 - Montpelier, United States

If ever there was an antidote to the long plane or train ride needed to get here "from away," it is this beautiful boulevard. Walk a single block from King William Road to Kintore Avenue, along the brick wall protecting the grounds of South Australia's Government House, and you will be treated to a cool, shady, park-like stroll past impressive statuary, historic architecture, and cultural quirks that add human interest to the "story" of this city. Continue another 3 blocks and you'll reach the Botanic Gardens, maybe stopping along the way to visit the South Australia Art Gallery. If that's too much, just turn left at Kintore, and you'll find many points of interest there, to include very impressive war memorials, both old (1931) and new (2016), the lovely Institute Building of the State Library, and the fascinating Migration Museum. Any combination works, especially if you are lucky enough to be visiting on one of those days graced by Adelaide's remarkably blue skies, as we were. We had arrived via the Indian Pacific from Perth, more than 1500 miles away. After 3 nights on a train, we felt ready to stretch our legs. We were immediately impressed by the historic architecture. The Adelaide Club (1864) was a social venue for the city's prominent male politicians and their cronies (Parliament and Government House are immediately nearby). It's built of stone from nearby Dry Creek, with rust-colored brick trimmings to give it a dash of color. We loved the natural stone on so many of Adelaide's old buildings, and the durable materials helped them to survive. This gives the city a more interesting look, both old and new, in very appealing combination. The Institute at the corner of North Terrace and Kintore is another gem, more for its interiors than its exterior. Local people told us that some of the Hogwarts library scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed there. I don't know if that's true, but the Mortlock Chamber certainly looks like it COULD have been in those magical films. Of the figures memorialized on North Terrace, we particularly admired Canova's Venus, the city's first public street statue (1892), which put a classical stamp on the terrace's cultural transformation. The relaxed, very approachable pose of Dame Roma Mitchell, a pioneer of women's rights, with a sheaf of Parliamentary correspondence dropping down the pedestal from her lap, was warmly charming. The life story of geographer-explorer Matthew Flinders, who proved Australia was one continent by circumnavigating it, was fascinating in its ups-and-downs, including a 7-year imprisonment on Mauritius during the Napoleonic Wars, which broke his health but did not prevent him from finishing his masterwork "Voyage to Terra Australis" and its accompanying atlas. By far the most impressive thing we saw was Adelaide's 1931 War Memorial, just around the corner on Kintor Avenue. In a beautiful art nouveau style, it conveys the experience of World War I and of all subsequent conflicts by presenting both Prologue and Aftermath. Be sure to walk around the memorial to see the back, and not just the front. And, if you have the time, do continue the detour down Kintor to the brilliant new ANZAC centenary wall, with its 100 characters etched on local black granite to represent both those who served in and those who were affected by war. It is stunning. There is much more that I could write, but the point is to explore this beautiful boulevard on your own, at a leisurely pace, spontaneously to take in what matters to you and to pass by what does not. It's pleasant and refreshing walk in a great urban environment.