Adelaide Squares and Monuments Tour (Self Guided), Adelaide

Adelaide is a modern metropolis with spacious squares, both functional and beautiful, providing flexible spaces for the community and accommodating a variety of activities. There is also a multitude of historical monuments and statues found in the central quarters of the city. Wandering along the cultural North Terrace boulevard, you will pass by some of the most striking of them.

Most of these silent sentinels are of significance to South Australia's development, whether being a noteworthy person who has contributed to the social advancement and fabric of the society (such as Colonel Light, for instance), or a symbol to war (like the Boer War Memorial or the National War Memorial commemorating WW1 heroes) or a sports figure (like the cricket legend Don Bradman).

Most Australian cities have at least one statue of Queen Victoria. Adelaide is no exception and has quite a good one, donated by a brewer, Sir Edwin Thomas Smith, which stands in bronze in a square called, of course, Victoria.

Another notable piece close-by is the Captain Charles Sturt Statue – unlike the staid monuments of other prominent individuals in the Square, this one shows the subject in his working attire – of an outback explorer that he was.

Adelaide's Rundle Mall is a highlight of the South Australian capital. Alongside the historic shopfronts, it has rather quirky, post-Modern Two Balls sculpture (ideal for an unusual selfie), and a cute and novel attraction – Rundle Mall Four Pigs Statues. Apart from the fact they are bronze, these pigs look quite real. You can start a trend and rub their noses for luck!

To appreciate the elegance of Adelaide's squares and memorials, much loved by the locals and tourists alike, and to explore some of the city's outstanding sculptures in more detail, take this self-guided tour.