South Australian Museum: Adelaide Travel Guide (4.6★)

Five floors on Adelaide’s cultural boulevard

North Terrace is Adelaide’s row of institutions. The South Australian Museum stands among them, between the State Library of South Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia. The University of Adelaide campus starts just behind them.

Inside are five floors of natural history and one of the most important collections of Aboriginal cultural material in the world. It’s one of the most-reviewed attractions in the city and consistently well rated. Expect company, especially families on weekends.

Start with the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery

This is the reason to come. The Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery is widely described as holding the largest collection of Aboriginal cultural material anywhere. It covers communities from across the continent, not a single region.

You’ll see shields, carved objects, fibre work, tools and painted pieces. The displays are arranged by the country and people they come from, so read the labels. They name the communities and places, and that is where the depth is.

Give this gallery at least an hour. Most visitors who rush it say later that they wish they hadn’t.

Fossils, opals and Antarctica

The science floors cover deep time. Look out for these:

• Ediacaran fossils: impressions of some of Earth’s earliest complex life, from the Flinders Ranges. The Ediacaran period takes its name from the Ediacara Hills in that range.
• Opal Fossils gallery: shells and bones where the original material was replaced by opal, a South Australian speciality.
• Megafauna: skeletons of Australia’s giant extinct animals, including the wombat-like Diprotodon.
• The Mawson collection: gear and stories from Sir Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic expeditions. Mawson was an Adelaide geologist.
• Pacific Cultures Gallery: timber-and-glass cases in a Victorian-era display hall, one of the few of its kind still in use.

The mammal and bird galleries are packed with taxidermy. Children tend to stall in front of these for a long time.

Moving through the galleries respectfully

Treat the Aboriginal galleries with care. Some displays carry notices warning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors that they may contain names or images of people who have died. Read them, and follow any signs that restrict photography of particular objects.

Keep your voice down in these rooms. Teachers often bring school groups to them during term, so give guides space when they’re talking.

Entry to the permanent collection has traditionally been free and doesn’t need booking. Special exhibitions are sometimes ticketed. The official museum website lists current exhibitions and ticket prices, so check it before you set aside time for one.

Beating the crowds

Crowds build at predictable times. On weekdays it’s quietest between 3pm and 5pm, when school groups have left. You’ll then have two uninterrupted hours before the 5pm close.

On weekends, try not to arrive between 12pm and 4pm. That’s the busiest window, and the family-friendly galleries get crowded. If a weekend is your only option, come right at 10am opening and do the Aboriginal Cultures Gallery first.

Opening hours are the same all week, 10am to 5pm, Monday included. You don’t need to plan around a closing day.

Getting to North Terrace and making a day of it

The museum is easy to reach on foot from the city centre. Adelaide Railway Station is on North Terrace, about a ten-minute walk west. The tram runs along North Terrace, and the Art Gallery stop is almost at the door. From Rundle Mall, walk north up any of the connecting streets and you’re there in minutes.

Its location on North Terrace makes it easy to build a full cultural day:

• Art Gallery of South Australia: next door, with a strong collection of Australian and Aboriginal art.
• State Library of South Australia: on the other side. Its Mortlock Wing is a galleried Victorian reading room worth ten minutes.
• Adelaide Botanic Garden: a short walk east along the same terrace, for fresh air after the galleries.
• Rundle Mall: a few blocks south for food and shops.

A realistic plan is the museum from 10am, lunch nearby, then the Art Gallery in the afternoon. On a weekday, flip it: gallery first, museum from 3pm, when the museum’s crowds thin out.