Adelaide Arcade

Connecting Rundle Mall to Grenfell Street, Adelaide Arcade is an elegant, historic shopping venue with dozens of specialty shops and boutiques. Marble, tile, cast iron and European design are a highlight of this space, making it a great spot to stop and enjoy a coffee while you watch the crowds stroll by.

For shoppers, clothes, jewellery, sweets and salons are just some of the stock on offer. These specialty shops are on the ground floor and balcony level, rewarding a curious buyer with unique gift ideas, and service expertise from shopkeepers who stock things that may be hard to find elsewhere.

Shopping isn't the only feature of this historic structure. It features a museum, celebrating over 120 years of operation for this elegant retail space. Located upstairs on the balcony level of Gay's Arcade, the museum includes photos, newspaper clippings, period trinkets and an accordion that plays the official opening ceremony music used back in 1800s - the Adelaide Arcade Polka.

Opened in December of 1885, the Arcade was unique in having been planned to house shops on the street level, with a workroom for each shop on the balcony level (connected by a staircase). It was also one the first buildings in Adelaide to use electric lighting, and featured extensive use of cast iron and plate glass. Legend has it a ghost wanders the Arcade, a caretaker from the early 1900s.