Adelaide loves a rooftop view – you can see both the coastline and the Adelaide Hills from the CBD if you get high enough. Take it all in at 2K.W. Bar – the sights up here are further enhanced by chef Trent Lymn’s stylish bar-food menu.

Think Melburnians are mad about AFL? You probably haven’t met an Adelaide Crows fan. Actually, Adelaidians are mad for just about any match. Witness them at their wildest at a Showdown at the Adelaide Oval; that’s when bitter rivals Adelaide and Port Adelaide go head to head. To see it in panorama, book a RoofClimb experience and watch the game from on high.

Stepping out of the city hustle and into the elegant black-and-cream foyer of the Mayfair Hotel feels like arriving in the 1930s, thanks to the Art Deco-esque renovation of the original Colonial Mutual building it occupies. Take the elevator to Level 13 for the Hennessy Rooftop Bar; the cocktail pick is the signature Honey Trap, with the titular ingredient hailing from the hotel’s own beehive.

Penfolds Grange needs no introduction but the story behind it might. And that’s exactly what guests get on the Magill Estate Iconic Penfolds Experience, a short drive from the CBD. The tour includes a visit to the estate’s 177-year-old underground cellars (where winemakers once created Grange in secret) and a three-course lunch. And yes, you’ll taste the real deal: the famed Grange red itself.

Every capital city has a botanical garden but Adelaide Botanic Garden is packed with surprises, like trees full of slumbering flying foxes and lovely walkways beside the River Torrens/Karrawirra Parri. Botanic Park sits at its centre and is the place for your picnic. Fill up your basket beforehand with freshly made panini from Lucia’s in the Adelaide Central Market.

What makes a visit to JamFactory unique is that you can stand back and watch the glass-blowing artists create glassware and shop for other high-end crafts by established and emerging artists. For a less interactive but just as spectacular art experience, the Art Gallery of South Australia’s 38,000 permanent works are one of the most robust collections in the country.

Stalls piled with meats, vegetables, baked goods, jams, chutneys, sauces and wines. Vans and holes-in-the-wall selling porchetta, doughnuts, soup and curries. Adelaide Central Market is food heaven and fresh produce is brought in five days a week from the Barossa, Fleurieu Peninsula and beyond. Go for lunch, ingredients for accommodation cook-ups or delicious souvenirs.

The Adelaide Hills are so close you could almost walk there. Head to Prancing Pony Brewery in Totness for the Freak Show IPA, which they say is like “nanna’s entire spice cabinet in a barrel of hot rum”.