South Australian holidays - tours - travel

Adelaide | Kangaroo Island | Barossa Valley
Hahndorf | Flinders Ranges | Murray River
Fleurieu Pen. | Coonawarra | Coober Pedy

South Australia

Barossa Valley & the vineyards
Kangaroo Island wildlife
Flinders Ranges
Murray River & Paddlewheel Steamers
Far North & The Outback
Adelaide & Festival
Adelaide hotels - places to stay
Opal Mining
Eyre Peninsula  - rugged coastlines
South Australia Holiday Maps

South Australia At A Glance

The state capital is Adelaide... current population 1.2 million. Look at a map of South Australia and the word "desert" is very easy to find. Great Victoria Desert, Simpson Desert, Sturt Stony Desert and Nullabor Plain (ie desert) dominate the geography of this state.

South Australia has the largest proportion of dry desert regions of all the Australian states. The state is also synonymous with dry salt lakes throughout the inland areas and ragged coastlines plunging to the sea.

South Australia is also home to the Barossa Valley, the origin of some of Australia's best known wines. The state hosts a world renowned Art Festival and has fleets of paddlewheel steamers that cruise the lower reaches of the Murray River.

The naturalist haven at Kangaroo Island is a popular attraction and there is excellent hiking and bush walking in the Flinders Ranges to the north of Adelaide. The ocean off the southern coast provides excellent seafood and many of the coastal villages are home to an assortment of fishing fleets.

The majority of the population and business activity is located in the south east corner of the state on the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas which sit on either side of Spencer Gulf. There are several small mining centres in the more remote inland areas. South Australia boasts one of the few remaining classic train trips.

"The Ghan" runs north-south between Adelaide and Darwin in the Northern Territory. The name was taken from the word "Afghan" in recognition of the early camel train drivers who established many of the inland routes in Australia.

While not the biggest of the states, South Australia is nevertheless still very big and a journey of a couple of hundred kilometres is considered a short trip. In terms of distance, the state is approximately 1350 kilometres (845 miles) north-south and 1200 kilometres (750 miles) east-west. Those are straight line map distances, actual road distances are considerably further.

Oztourism's South Australia Visitors Guide
South Australian Holidays
South Australian Travel & Tourism
South Australian Hotel Guide
Hotels In Adelaide
Car Rentals In Adelaide
Australian 4WD rentals

Adelaide - Kangaroo Island - Barossa Valley - Flinders Ranges