The best museums and galleries in Adelaide

Behind the neoclassical sandstone facade of South Australia's largest art gallery lies more than 47,000 incredible works. You can take a tour or plot your own course, exploring the gallery’s newest works, international shows and permanent installations, such as Donald Judd's minimalist, brutalist topographical sculpture on the north lawn and Lindy Lee's six-metre metal ovoid sculpture, 'The Life of Stars'. The AGSA also hosts the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art every two years, the Ramsay Art Prize for artists under 40 and Tarnanthi, a festival of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

Time Out tip: The AGSW opens until 9pm on the first Friday of every month. 

Address: 490 North Terrace, Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free (excl. some limited-time exhibitions)

This futuristic museum at the University of South Australia sits at the intersection of art and science. MOD’s exhibitions are designed with 15 to 25-year-olds in mind, with a mission to interest young people in science and technology, showcasing how research shapes both our understanding of the world and our futures. There are seven gallery spaces that host a new exhibition every six months. Plus, you'll find Australia’s first Science on a Sphere: a glowing six-foot, 3D video globe that morphs into different planets – one day it’s the Earth, the next, the moon or even Mars.’ 

Time Out tip: MOD was named one of the world’s most underrated museums to visit in 2025. You can check out which two other Aussie museums made the list here.

Address: Bradley Building, University of South Australia, North Tce adjacent to Morphett St Bridge, Adelaide
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free (excl. some special exhibitions and events)

Housed in Adelaide's West End Creative Precinct, JamFactory is a beloved, non-profit contemporary craft and design hub. It's galleries, touring exhibitions and gift shop showcase the talents of Australia's greatest glassblowers – and you can often watch them live in action from 10am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm daily. The space isn’t just reserved for glass art, though, with the gallery showcasing ceramics, Aboriginal art and rotating exhibitions. Save time to explore the gift shop, where you can take home a carefully bubble-wrapped memento from your visit. 

Time Out tip: JamFactory also has a regional outpost at Seppeltsfield winery in the Barossa Valley.

Address: 19 Morphett St, Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free 

While the walls of this prison could do more than enough talking on their own, the transformation of Adelaide Gaol to museum-cross-escape-room-cross-archaeological-dig site will help you along with understanding the site’s rich history. Whether it’s seeing if you can escape a prison cell, trying on handcuffs and leg irons or marvelling at never-before-seen mugshots of hanged inmates, Adelaide Gaol will be your crime and adventure fix.

Time Out tip: Test your skills in the Escape Cells, which is pretty much like an escape room, but in a gaol setting. 

Address: 18 Gaol Rd, Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-4pm (last entry 3pm)
Entry fee: $17 for adults, $10.50 for children

This natural history museum is one of the state's leading cultural institutions, with more than four million specimens of flora, fauna, geology and indigenous culture. The Aboriginal Cultures Gallery is a highlight, boasting the world's largest collection of Australian Aboriginal cultural material. Explore some 3,000 artifacts spread over two levels, including some of the last remaining bark canoes in existence, and the culturally significant Yuendumu school doors on which indigenous artists painted ancient Dreaming designs in 1980.

Time Out tip: Time your visit around the prestigious biennial Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize from April to June, which celebrates the best of science and art in the natural world. 

Address: North Tce, Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free 

It’s all about quality over quantity at the Samstag Museum of Art. This sleek, modern space may be modest in size, but it punches above its weight with carefully curated exhibitions featuring artists from all walks of life. A subsidiary of the University of South Australia, it’s the state’s largest contemporary art museum – typically showcasing two or three thought-provoking exhibitions at a time that explore the intersection of art, design and architecture.

Time Out tip: If you’re not a local and can’t quite make it to Adelaide yet, Samstag has a podcast series where they host talks with a range of creatives from filmmakers to academics to curators that you can listen to here.

Address: Hawke Building, University of South Australia, City West Campus, 55 North Tce, Adelaide 
Opening hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free

It’s always NASA this and NASA that, but Australia’s got it going on in the whole space race too, you know? The Australian Space Discovery Centre not only educates visitors of all ages on all things celestial, but also goes into detail about Australia’s specific role in space innovations and technologies. General entry to explore the centre is free, and you can also book in tickets for their upcoming events like space workshops, robotics competitions, Q&As with astronomy experts and more.

Time Out tip: The Discovery Centre extends its opening hours during the SA school holidays.

Address: Ground floor, McEwin Building, 364-370 North Tce, Adelaide
Opening hours: Wed-Fri 1pm-5pm; Sat-Sun 10am-5pm
Entry fee: Free 

Don’t expect to rock up to the National Railway Museum for some boring old abandoned trains. Oh no. This museum has carefully thought out everything from the train driving simulator to interactive audio and visual displays. Tickets include unlimited rides on the train that circles the venue, but if you’re a real train enthusiast (or not – everyone enjoys this one), you can grab additional tickets to the Semaphore steam train that will chug on right by the beach.

Time Out tip: There's plenty more to check out in Port Adelaide, including the South Australian Maritime Museum and the South Australian Aviation Museum – both just a five-minute stroll away.

Address: 76 Lipson St, Port Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-4.30pm
Entry fee: $19 for adults, $7 for children aged five to 15

What do you get when you put the old Contemporary Art Centre of Australia and the Australian Experimental Art Foundation together? A pretty ACE art gallery. This love child born in 2017 is constantly exploring experimental art practices, showcasing works from local and international artists, students and creatives of all kinds. It’s so committed to its craft that the gallery even hosts residencies for South Australian artists. Expect a whole host of workshops, public programs and boundary-pushing exhibitions in its annual lineup.

Time Out tip: ACE's opening night parties are generally open to the public – keep an eye on their What's On page to find out when the next one's happening.

Address: Lions Art Centre, North Tce, Adelaide
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 11am-4pm
Entry fee: Free

Australia's oldest continuously running art society is all about encouraging artists to showcase their work through the RSASA membership program. If anyone knows a thing or two about building up artists, it’s these guys, considering they were established way back in 1856. The actual gallery space to showcase the society’s work was built in 1906, and today, it has a whole heap of contemporary exhibitions on throughout the year.

Time Out tip: Budding artists or seasoned professionals can apply to become a member and have their works exhibited here.

Address: Institute Building, Level One, cnr Kintore Ave, North Tce, Adelaide
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10.30am-3.30pm; Sat-Sun 1pm-4pm
Entry fee: Free 

The city of Adelaide is pretty much built as one massive garden, so it would be a crime not to hit up the heart of the Adelaide Botanic Garden and its adjoining museum. The historical building surrounded by the garden greenery might just make you feel like you stepped onto the set of a Jane Austen movie adaptation. Head inside and find hundreds of plant specimens and flora models. If you’re not a budding botanist, the displays might sound a bit drab, but the museum has so many super interesting explanations of how plants have been used for hundreds of years.

Time Out tip: Save time for a stroll in the botanic garden, followed by a mushroom toastie at Evergreen Deli.

Address: Adelaide Botanic Garden, North Tce, Adelaide
Opening hours: Daily 10am-4pm
Entry fee: Free