Adelaide has three botanic gardens, all free to walk into, and they’re some of our favourite places to slow down for a morning. This is our guide to two of the Adelaide botanic gardens: the big one in the city and the quiet one in Blackwood. The third, Mount Lofty, is in our easy Adelaide walks, because its Lakeside Loop is one of the nicest short walks in the Hills.
Adelaide Botanic Garden, city
- Area: North Terrace, east end of the city
- Cost: Free entry; parking free on Sundays and public holidays
- Time needed: 1–2 hours, or a whole morning
- Best time: Weekend morning (opens 9am, closes 6:30pm Oct–Mar)
- Official link: Botanic Gardens – plan your visit
Fifty hectares right next to the city, open every day of the year. Most of it is flat, with paved and bitumen paths, and it’s wheelchair accessible from every gate except Hackney Road. We like to come in the Main Gate on North Terrace, wander through to the Rose Garden and the glass Bicentennial Conservatory, then sit by the water for a while. Free guided walks run daily, and the What’s On page has the times.
From October to March it’s open 7:15am–6:30pm on weekdays and 9am–6:30pm on weekends and public holidays. The Botanic Gardens tram stop is about 100 metres from the Main Gate, and trams are free in the city. If you drive, the car parks are off Hackney Road and Plane Tree Drive. They’re ticketed (card only) Monday to Saturday and free on Sundays. Evergreen Deli and Botanic Lodge are there for coffee or lunch. Leave the dog, the bike, the ball and the bottle of wine at home, because none of them are allowed in the Garden.
Wittunga Botanic Garden, Blackwood
- Area: Shepherds Hill Road, Blackwood
- Cost: Free entry and free parking
- Time needed: 1–1.5 hours
- Best time: Morning (8:30am–6pm daily, Oct–Mar)
- Official link: Botanic Gardens – Wittunga
The quiet one. Wittunga is a 13-hectare garden of water-wise plants from Australia and South Africa, laid out around a lake that pulls in plenty of birdlife. Spring is its moment, when the Ericas and Proteas are flowering. Paths are flat bitumen, there are plenty of picnic tables and rotundas for shade, and a nature playspace keeps kids happy (it even has a wheelchair-accessible in-ground trampoline).
There’s no café inside, so bring a picnic or walk 5–10 minutes into Blackwood for coffee. Park for free in the car park off Shepherds Hill Road. Coromandel train station is also a short walk away. The same rules as the city garden apply: no dogs, bikes, alcohol or barbecues. It closes on catastrophic fire danger days, so check the rating in summer.
Pairs with: more gardens. Adelaide Himeji Garden, Waite Arboretum and Carrick Hill are all in our picnic spots around Adelaide. Or start the day at the Adelaide farmers markets and bring breakfast to the lawns.
Top photo: Bahudhara, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Opening hours, prices and closures were checked against each official page on 10 October 2026; please check again before you go.