Unlike other major Australian cities, Adelaide wasn’t settled by convicts. Its graceful stone churches betray its puritan roots. Large numbers of Lutherans fled here from Prussia seeking freedom to worship, leaving their mark on the architectural landscape. But Adelaide is no longer a place of sobriety and self-denial. Its post-war settlers are of a more liberal bent, and Adelaide is now renowned as the laid back ‘Festival City’ of Australia.

Adelaide is a fetching city, set on the eastern shores of Gulf St. Vincent, and ringed by green parklands and the hills of the Mt Lofty Ranges. The North Terrace is the city’s broad, tree-lined cultural boulevard, a mile long parade punctuated by the South Australian Museum, Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery of South Australia. But if it all starts to get a bit too high-brow, you can indulge in some serious retail therapy on Rundle Street, or luxuriate on the gleaming white sands of Glenelg beach.

Autumn sees Adelaide at its liveliest, when the Adelaide Arts Festival and Fringe Festival attract the theatre goers, music lovers and dance enthusiasts. The Arts Festival happens on even-numbered years, while the Womadelaide world music and dance festival happens on odd years.