Adelaide ranked in world's top 10 cities to visit by Lonely Planet

Updated

Adelaide may often be overshadowed by Australia's bigger eastern capitals, but the city of churches is a heavenly place to visit, according to the world's leading travel guide.

The city has been ranked as one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit by Lonely Planet, finishing ninth in the company's Best in Travel 2014 book.

The annual publication documents the best trends and destinations for the forthcoming year, with the list headed by Paris, Trinidad and Cape Town.

Also making the cut were Vancouver, Chicago and Auckland.

"Having always lived in the shadow of its gregarious eastern-seaboard cousins," Lonely Planet says, "the 'City of Churches' has been quietly loosening its pious shackles and embracing its liberal foundations."

"Adelaide is effortlessly chic – and like a perfectly cellared red, it's ready to be uncorked and sampled."

Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities 2014: Paris, France Trinidad, Cuba Cape Town, South Africa Riga, Latvia Zürich, Switzerland Shanghai, China Vancouver, Canada Chicago, USA Adelaide, Australia Auckland, New Zealand

No other Australian city made the top 10, although the Kimberley in Western Australia was ranked second in the list of the world's top 10 regions to visit.

Lonely Planet's Chris Zeiher says the Adelaide Oval redevelopment sparked the city's nomination.

"There's going to be more people probably staying in the CBD to see events," he said.

"Then there's this really cool stuff that's going on with the transformation of some of the spaces within the city itself."

He also says the city's food culture played a part in helping Adelaide make the top 10.

"Of course, Adelaide is a foodie destination anyway and it's incredibly parochial about its local produce."

'More than mad March'

Adelaide v Paris

They may seem worlds apart but Lonely Planet ranks both in its top 10 cities to visit. They may seem worlds apart but Lonely Planet ranks both in its top 10 cities to visit. Find out about their respective assets and attractions.

Premier Jay Weatherill says while Adelaide is well-known interstate and overseas for its 'Mad March' festival season, the city has much more to offer.

"We get a bit of criticism from our interstate counterparts and it's nice to actually be ahead of them in a range of ways," he said.

"This is a very important one because tourism has been identified as one of the great growth sectors for our economy.

"This is more than just some recognition about how beautiful Adelaide is. This will actually drive visitor numbers coming in to South Australia.

"It really is about the whole of the cultural landscape, really the whole year round."

Topics: travel-and-tourism, lifestyle-and-leisure, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

First posted