← Adelaide Marathon·Day trip

Glenelg: The Tram to the Beach

A tram line older than most of the city, a flat seafront and a long jetty, which is about as much as legs can handle the day after two laps of the Torrens.

DurationDay trip
TransitAdelaide Metro tram, about 30 minutes from the city centre to Moseley Square
DepartsAdelaide city centre (King William Street tram stops)

After the Adelaide Marathon: Glenelg

The Route: Adelaide city centre → Glenelg → Adelaide city centre Logistics: Adelaide Metro tram from King William Street to Moseley Square, about 30 minutes each way. A straight line from the city to the sea. Marathon Month: May Duration: Day trip

King William St ──(approx. 30 mins Glenelg tram)──> Moseley Square, Glenelg
        ▲                                                   │
        └──────────────(approx. 30 mins tram)───────────────┘

The Adelaide Marathon finishes on Pinky Flat in early May, and by Monday the stairs of any city hotel feel like a personal insult. Glenelg asks for none. The tram does the work, the seafront is flat, and the walking can be measured in hundreds of metres.

May in Glenelg is late autumn. The water is cold, the lifeguards have gone, and the beach belongs to dog walkers and a few determined swimmers. Days usually reach the high teens, and the wind off Holdfast Bay can make it feel cooler than the number suggests, so take a layer. The empty sand is the point.

The tram leaves from the stops along King William Street and runs south-west through the suburbs to Moseley Square, a journey of about 30 minutes. The line opened as the Adelaide and Glenelg Railway in 1873 and is the only survivor of the city's old tram network. Travel is free within the city centre and along Jetty Road at the Glenelg end; the stretch between needs a standard Adelaide Metro ticket or Metrocard, which you can buy on board or from a machine. Check current fares at adelaidemetro.com.au.

Moseley Square and the Jetty

The tram stops in Moseley Square, a few steps from the sand. Straight ahead is the jetty, flat timber and concrete running out over the water, with benches along its length. It is the obvious first walk: out to the end, a sit-down, and back, without a single step up.

South Australia began here. The colony was proclaimed at Glenelg on 28 December 1836, under a gum tree that still stands, propped and fenced, a short walk inland in Glenelg North. The Bay Discovery Centre in the old Town Hall on Moseley Square tells the story of the settlement and the beach resort that followed, and it is indoors and level, which matters. Check opening hours before visiting.

The Esplanade

From the square, the seafront path runs south along the Esplanade past Holdfast Bay's old villas and newer apartments. It is sealed, flat and wide, shared with cyclists, and has benches every few hundred metres. Walk as far as the legs agree, then turn round. A kilometre out and a kilometre back is a respectable post-marathon effort.

Jetty Road, running inland from the square, is Glenelg's main street, lined with cafés, bakeries and ice-cream shops, most of them open on a Monday. Fish and chips eaten on the sea wall is the traditional order. It is also the correct one.

Getting Back

Trams back to the city leave Moseley Square every 10 to 20 minutes through the day, and the journey takes about 30 minutes to King William Street. Check the last services at adelaidemetro.com.au if staying for sunset, which in May falls around half past five.