My recent trip to Adelaide was devastatingly short, but thankfully sweet.
Due to an inconvenient virus that managed to hit me the afternoon that our flight from Sydney touched down in South Australia, I was forced to forego my planned sightseeing for a few days and squeeze all of my Adelaide tourist activities into just one morning.
It was not ideal, but I didn’t have much of a choice. Viruses can annoyingly ruin a few days of travel without any notice. There was nothing much that could be done. I laid on the couch in our hotel room and waited out the worst of it until I was finally able to venture outside and see what Adelaide had to offer.
Despite having a diminished amount of time, I was pleased to find that Adelaide’s downtown area is easy to explore, both on foot and by public transport. The city provides free bus routes which are available for anyone to use within the city centre. This convenient hop-on hop-off service runs seven days a week, enabling visitors to see downtown Adelaide’s major sights without spending a cent on transport.
If you’re planning a visit to Adelaide and want to explore the heart of the city, I would highly recommend using the city connector. Here’s how to make the most of the free Adelaide hop-on hop-off bus to discover the best of downtown Adelaide.
Quick summary:
Short on time but still want to see the best of Adelaide? This post shares how I managed to explore downtown Adelaide in just one morning using the free City Connector hop-on hop-off bus, including practical transport tips and top attractions along the route.
Recommended tours:
🍩 Adelaide Central Market Tour – Includes tastings, coffee, and guided insights into this foodie haven.
🏟️ Adelaide Oval RoofClimb Experience – For epic city views and a bit of adventure above the stadium.
Where to stay:
🏡 Majestic Old Lion Apartments – Family-friendly, comfy apartments in leafy North Adelaide with a City Connector stop right out front.
Where to stay in Adelaide:
We stayed at the Majestic Old Lion Apartments in the leafy suburb of North Adelaide, which conveniently had a stop for the free hop-on hop-off bus directly outside the front door (Route 98A/98C: Stop 4).
This hotel was absolutely lovely and surprisingly not too expensive. As my husband and I were travelling with a toddler, we appreciated the separate bedroom, living space, and small kitchen within the apartment as it just made our stay in Adelaide so much more comfortable. I highly recommend this place!
How to use Adelaide’s free city connector bus:
The free hop-on hop-off bus (which is called the city connector) has two loops: one that goes around the downtown/city centre area, and one that does the same downtown area but also extends into North Adelaide.
Both loops have buses that travel in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, so in total there are four bus routes to choose from.
- 98A: Downtown + North Adelaide (anti-clockwise)
- 98C: Downtown + North Adelaide (clockwise)
- 99A: Downtown (anti-clockwise)
- 99C: Downtown (clockwise)
- Adelaide Central Market
- Rundle Mall
- Adelaide Arcade
- North Terrace
- Adelaide Oval
- Adelaide Botanic Garden
The city connector bus stops are separate to regular bus stops. They have distinctive yellow signs that display the stop number and street name. The above photo shows the stop outside our accommodation at Majestic Old Lion Apartments in North Adelaide.
You do not need to get a ticket to ride the bus – just hail the driver and hop on, ride for as long as you like, then hop off when you reach your destination. Buses are modern, air conditioned, and easy for most people to use – we managed to board with our toddler and pram with no issues.
It’s a good idea to check the bus timetable (which can be viewed or downloaded on the Adelaide metro website) in advance. The downtown loop will have a bus passing by approximately every 15 minutes travelling in each direction, and the North Adelaide part of the loop will get a bus approximately every half hour. Bus services begin at around 7AM on weekdays and 8AM on weekends, running until around 7PM.
Things to see in downtown Adelaide:
The free hop-on hop-off bus stops at all of downtown Adelaide’s best attractions. Here are some must-visit stops along the route:
1. Adelaide Central Market
Route 98C/99C (clockwise): Stop D2
Route 98A/99A (anti-clockwise): Stop W2
Adelaide Central Market was the first place that we stopped on the city connector bus. I was really excited by this place – as one of the southern hemisphere’s largest food markets, it had similar vibes to the best undercover markets in major US cities (think Grand Central Market in Los Angeles or Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia).
Stallholders sell a variety of items including fresh produce, baked goods, and street food. We spent about 45 minutes wandering the aisles and grabbed a couple of soy lattes and some delightful pastries for breakfast, plus some locally grown produce to use for our dinner that evening.
🍩 If you’re a foodie and would like a more in-depth tour of the best stalls, book an Adelaide Central Market Discovery Tour which includes coffee, food tastings, and a guided commentary.
2. Rundle Mall
Route 98C (clockwise): Stop Y2
Route 99C (clockwise): Stop A3
Route 98A (anti-clockwise): Stop B1
Route 99A (anti-clockwise): Stop Z1
Rundle Mall is the main shopping strip in downtown Adelaide. I’m not usually interested in browsing through shops, but I did enjoy wandering along the pedestrianised thoroughfare and admiring the historic buildings.
There are some interesting public sculptures along the way, including the famous “Malls Balls” and a handful of bronze pigs (with one cheekily eating trash out of a bin). My toddler loved climbing all over them. The life-sized sculptures, which were installed in 1999, were created by artist Marguerite Derricourt and are apparently named Horatio, Truffles, Augusta, and Oliver. Cuuuute.
3. Adelaide Arcade
Route 98C/99C (clockwise): Stop G1
Route 98A/99A (anti-clockwise): Stop T1
Adjacent to Rundle Mall is Adelaide Arcade – a stunning and historic shopping arcade that opened in 1885 and apparently has a resident ghost (assumed to be Francis Cluney, a caretaker who tragically died in 1887 when he was found at the bottom of an electric generator shaft).
The arcade spans two levels and has beautiful design features including a glass ceiling, patterned floor tiles, ornate cast iron balustrades, and vintage gas lamps. I particularly liked heading upstairs to the mezzanine level to look down upon the shoppers below, watching as they browsed rows of books outside Orchard Bookshop.
4. North Terrace
Route 98C/99C (clockwise): Stop G1
Route 98A/99A (anti-clockwise): Stop T1
North Terrace has a row of museums and galleries including the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library, and South Australian Museum all side-by-side. We went over in the late morning to look at the library for its famed beauty, but were disappointed to find out that it doesn’t open until 12PM on a Saturday (midday!? seriously!).
Despite the fact that we couldn’t enter the library, it was nice to check out the historic buildings that line North Terrace. This is a good spot to do some cultural activities so it’s worth hopping off the bus for an afternoon of museum-ing if you have the time.
5. Adelaide Oval
Route 98A/98C (both directions): Stop 2
We didn’t have time to explore Adelaide Oval, but sports fans (especially cricketers) might like to see this impressive stadium located between Adelaide downtown and North Adelaide.
🏟️ If you’re keen to see more of the stadium, visitors can explore this iconic landmark through an Adelaide Oval Stadium Tour, or if you’re feeling brave, book a RoofClimb Experience to see the amazing views of the city and stadium from the top!
6. Adelaide Botanic Garden
Route 98C/99C (clockwise): Stop I1
Route 98A/99A (anti-clockwise): Stop R1
I was lucky enough to be visiting Adelaide during the Chihuly exhibition of glass scupltures, which is running until April 2025. The exhibition was really awesome with pops of vibrant colour contrasting against the endless green backdrop.
The gardens without the art exhibition were okay and the Bicentennial Conservatory was fairly cool, though I’ve seen many more amazing gardens in my travels so as a whole, I found it to be a little underwhelming. It’s probably worth spending time there if you’re really into plants, but if not, just take a quick walk through.
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