Frommers ShortCuts - Adelaide and South Australia (Including the Barossa Valley)

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978/750-8400, fax 978/646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201/748-6011, fax 201/748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Frommers is a trademark or registered trademark of Arthur Frommer. Used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ISBN 9781118188188699 (ebk); ISBN 9781118188705 (ebk); ISBN 9781118188712 (ebk)

For information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877/762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317/572-3993 or fax 317/572-4002.

About the Authors

Lee Atkinson (chapters 1, 11, and 14) is a freelance travel writer and guide book author based in Australia. Her travel stories regularly appear in the travel sections of various newspapers and glossy travel magazines in both Australia and internationally. She is the author of eight travel books, including Frommers Sydney Day by Day, Frommers Sydney Free & Dirt Cheap, Frommers Tasmania Day by Day, and Frommers Bali Day by Day .

Ron Crittall (chapters 1, 3, and 12) was on a long slow loop around the world when he arrived in Perth for a possible 2-year stay. Forty years on, he knows theres no place better to live. A travel writer for 20 years, he loves traveling round, and writing about, the vast expanse of Western Australia. He is the author of Walking Perth .

Sydney resident Marc Llewellyn (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) is one of Australias premier travel writers and the winner of several writing awards. He is a past president of the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Hes written two travelogues, Riders to the Midnight Sun , which tells of his journey from the Ukrainian Black Sea to the Russian Arctic on a cheap bicycle, and Finding Nino , which recounts his year working as a peasant farmer and shrimp fisherman on an island off Sicily. He is also the coauthor of Australia For Dummies .

Lee Mylne (chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, and 16) is Melbourne-based but writes for a range of consumer and travel trade publications around Australia. Born and raised in New Zealand, she has worked in newspapers, magazines, and radio and traveled widely before she started to make a living out of it. She has lived in Australia since 1986 and is a life member and past president of the Australian Society of Travel Writers. Her other books include Frommers Melbourne Day by Day , Frommers Portable Australias Great Barrier Reef , and Australia For Dummies .

Frommers Star Ratings, Icons & Abbreviations

Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listing in this guide has been ranked for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating system. In country, state, and regional guides, we also rate towns and regions to help you narrow down your choices and budget your time accordingly. Hotels and restaurants are rated on a scale of zero (recommended) to three stars (exceptional). Attractions, shopping, nightlife, towns, and regions are rated according to the following scale: zero stars (recommended), one star (highly recommended), two stars (very highly recommended), and three stars (must-see).

In addition to the star-rating system, we also use seven feature icons that point you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate travelers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:

special finds those places only insiders know about

fun facts details that make travelers more informed and their trips more fun

kids best bets for kids and advice for the whole family

special moments those experiences that memories are made of

overrated places or experiences not worth your time or money

insider tips great ways to save time and money

great values where to get the best deals

The following abbreviations are used for credit cards:

AE American Express DISC Discover V Visa

DC Diners Club MC MasterCard

The Best of Australia

Maybe were biased because we live here, but Australia has a lot of bestsworld bests, that is. It has some of the best natural scenery, the weirdest wildlife, the most brilliant scuba diving and snorkeling, the best beaches, the oldest rainforest (110 million years and counting), the oldest human civilization (some archaeologists say 40,000 years, some say 120,000; whateverits old), the best wines, the best weather (give or take the odd Wet season in the north), the most innovative East-meets-West-meets-someplace-else cuisineall bathed in sunlight that brings everything up in Technicolor.

Best means different things to different people, but scarcely a visitor lands on these shores without having the Great Barrier Reef at the top of the Things to See list. So they should, because it really is a glorious natural masterpiece. Also high on most folks lists is Uluru. This monolith must have some kind of magnet inside it designed to attract planeloads of tourists. Were not saying the Rock isnt special, but we think the vast Australian desert all around it is even more so. The third attraction on most visitors lists is Sydney, the Emerald City that glitters in the antipodean sunshine onhere we go with the bests againthe best harbor, spanned by the best bridge in the world.

But as planes zoom overhead delivering visitors to the big three attractions, Aussies in charming country towns, on far-flung beaches, on rustic sheep stations, in rainforest villages, and in mountain lodges shake their heads and say sadly, They dont know what theyre missin. Well, thats the aim of this chapterto show you what youre missin. Read on, and consider taking the road less traveled.

The top Travel Experiences

Hitting the Rails on the Indian Pacific Train: This 3-day journey across the Outback regularly makes it onto travel magazines Top Rail Journeys in the World lists. The desert scenery aint all that magnificentits the unspoiled, empty vastness that passengers appreciate. It includes the longest straight stretch of track in the world, 478km (296 miles) across the treeless Nullarbor Plain. Start in Sydney and end in Perth, or vice versa, or just do a section.