What are the best towns in South Australia for visitors?

The best towns in South Australia include German-themed Hahndorf, Coorong gateway Goolwa, touristy Victor Harbor, underground Coober Pedy and shark diving hotspot Port Lincoln.

South Australia is a huge state, but the population is overwhelmingly concentrated in Adelaide. The state capital also tends to hog the lion’s share of visitors to South Australia. Some make short detours to the nearby McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley wine regions, or maybe take the Kangaroo Island ferry from the Fleurieu Peninsula. But say you’ve climbed the Adelaide Oval, gone swimming with dolphins in Glenelg and explored the restaurants of Peel Street. Where else is there to go? Well, there are some other towns in South Australia that are worth a look.

Best towns in South Australia near Adelaide

Hahndorf: This German-themed town in the Adelaide Hills is heavy on the kitsch, but also has a strong arty streak. Expect great galleries and rather good wineries with welcoming cellar doors.

Goolwa: The gateway to the Coorong lagoon system, Goolwa is the base for one of the best kayaking tours in Australia. There are a few moderately interesting heritage sites, but you really visit Goolwa to get on a cruise across the Coorong to the Mouth of the Murray River. Affordable accommodation is available at the Goolwa Caravan Park.

Normanville: Perhaps the finest of the Fleurieu Peninsula beach towns, Normanville offers a 7.3km beach and horse riding tours around it. Normanville accommodation is cheap, too – there are two caravan parks.

Nuriootpa: The commercial hub of the Barossa Valley wine region is where you’ll find the Penfold’s cellar door. You can also go on a Barossa Valley hot air balloon tour from Nuriootpa.

Port Elliot: A classic seaside town on Encounter Bay, Port Elliot’s highlights include snorkelling at Horseshoe Bay and spotting whales at Boomer Beach.

Mount Gambier: Mount Gambier is the second largest city in South Australia, yet fewer than 30,000 people live there. It’s on the driving route from Melbourne to Adelaide, and most noted for its photogenic Blue Lake. The Tantanoola Caves are nearby.

Strathalbyn: Crammed full of heritage buildings next to the Angas river, Strathalbyn is easy on the eye. But it’s even better when used as a gateway to the Langhorne Creek wine region.

Victor Harbor: At the eastern edge of the Fleurieu Peninsula, Victor Harbor happily plays its role as a tourist town. The horse-drawn tram to Granite Island and whale-watching cruises are the major attractions.

Best towns in Australia: Yorke Peninsula

Moonta: Moonta offers fabulous beaches at Moonta Bay and Port Hughes, but there’s also plenty of copper mining heritage. Take the tourist railway from the Moonta Mines Museum.

Best towns in South Australia: Eyre Peninsula

Ceduna: On the north-western corner of the Eyre Peninsula, Ceduna has some fabulous beaches and nature reserves nearby. Take a direct flight from Adelaide to Ceduna, and you can use it as a base for exploring the highlights further east on the Nullarbor Plain. These include the Penong Windmill Museum, the Nullarbor Links golf course, Lake MacDonnell, surfer haven Cactus Beach and whale-watching hotspot Head of Bight near the Nullarbor Roadhouse. Alternatively, head south to swim with Australian sea lions at Baird Bay – one of Australia’s best wildlife encounters.

Cowell: A handy break in the drive from Whyalla to Port Lincoln, Cowell offers jade shopping, Spencer Gulf beaches and large scale silo art. Nearby Lucky Bay is where the Wallaroo ferry arrives from Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula.

Kimba: Kimba is a town you drive through on the Eyre Highway towards Western Australia. But it has a few excellent gimmicks. First up is the giant Halfway Across Australia sign, then comes the Big Galah – one of Australia’s gloriously tacky roadside Big Things. There’s also some enormous, and impressive, silo art.

Port Lincoln: The most appealing base on the Eyre Peninsula, Port Lincoln is home to Australia’s only shark cage diving tours. You can also hire a car in Port Lincoln to explore the Coffin Bay oyster farms, visit the Glen-Forest Tourist Park and spot koalas at Mikkira Station. It’s also the gateway to the Coffin Bay National Park‘s beaches – camp at Yangie Bay.

Whyalla: OK, Whyalla is for the most part grimly industrial and the Whyalla weather can be furiously hot in summer. But the tours of the giant Whyalla steelworks are strangely fascinating.

Best towns in the South Australian outback

Coober Pedy: Breaking up the monotony of Stuart Highway roadhouses, Coober Pedy is an incredibly strange opal mining town. It’s so hot here that most people live underground – visit a show home for an idea of subterranean outback life. You can also visit the mines and try your luck finding opals in discarded rubble piles.

Port Augusta: This crossroads town at the tip of the Spencer Gulf is realistically somewhere to drive through. But the Wadlata Outback Centre and the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden are worth a look.

William Creek: A tiny outback settlement on the Oodnadatta Track, William Creek is best known for its scenic flights over Australia’s biggest salt lake. Once you’ve seen Lake Eyre, kick back with a beer in the William Creek Hotel – one of THE classic outback pubs.

Woomera: This once secret military town is worth a detour off the Stuart Highway on the drive from Adelaide to Alice Springs, just before you reach Lake Hart. Come for the weird collection of missiles in a park, stay for the history of nuclear testing.

The best towns in other Australian states

Best towns in Western Australia.

Top towns in Queensland.

Best towns in Victoria.