Known as Australia’s Festival City, Adelaide lives up to its legacy.  The awesome Adelaide Festival of the Arts, one of the city’s 400 events, is a 17-day buffet of ballads and bands, drama and dance and features exclusive Australian and international performances.  Coinciding with the Festival of Arts, Adelaide welcomes the weird and wonderful at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, the second-largest independent arts festival in the world.

Considering Adelaide’s festive atmosphere, the city’s civility might come as a surprise.  Cottages and guest houses sprinkle the surrounding Adelaide Hills, while grassy parks with ornate fountains cozy up to stunning cathedrals and swanky cafes.

Visitors are reminded of why they flew half way across the globe when they step onto Kangaroo Island.  Australia’s third largest island, Kangaroo Island is crawling with native wildlife.  Koalas daydream in gum trees, black cockatoos skim the skies and leafy sea dragons dance the waves. In a single day you can stroll along a beach blanketed with sea lions, or picnic with a pack of kangaroos and wallabies. Nowhere else can you see this much nature in such a serene setting.

Perhaps the most Germanic region in Australia, the Barossa Valley, combines old world charm with world-class wine.  Luxury Australian wine labels, including Penfolds, Henschke, and Rockfords, are proudly displayed next to smoked meats, pastries and freshly baked breads.

Producing nearly one-fourth of the nation’s wine is hard work and locals wind down with day trips to the historic hamlet of Bethany, cycling through the valleys of grapevines or hosting the boisterous Barossa Vintage Festival.