The Adelaide Hills is best understood village by village. Each leafy town has its own personality, from antique-shop Aldgate to foodie Uraidla.
The Adelaide Hills isn't really one place — it's a constellation of villages, each with its own character, strung through the gullies and ridgelines a short drive from Adelaide. To know the Hills is to know its towns.
The leafy belt: Stirling, Aldgate, Crafers
Along the old freeway road sit the genteel villages of the western Hills. Stirling is all deli, bookshop and homewares, its tree-lined streets blazing in autumn. Neighbouring Aldgate is quieter and full of antique and gift shops, while Crafers guards the road up to Mount Lofty with its cosy historic pub. These are walking villages, made for slow mornings and good coffee.
The foodie high country: Uraidla, Summertown
Climb higher and the mood shifts. Tiny Uraidla has reinvented itself as one of the region's best eating strips, anchored by the cult pizzeria-and-wine-bar Lost in a Forest. The surrounding high country around Summertown and Carey Gully grows much of the produce that fills the region's kitchens.
The heritage north-east: Hahndorf, Lobethal, Birdwood
The region's German heart lies to the east. Hahndorf is Australia's oldest surviving German settlement, all timber-framed buildings and beer halls. Lobethal glows each Christmas with its famous lights, and out in the green Torrens Valley, Birdwood and Gumeracha keep the slow pace and stone main streets of the old farming Hills.
How to explore
Don't try to see them all in a day. Pick a cluster — the leafy belt, the foodie high country, or the heritage north-east — and let one village lead to the next.
