Even when Adelaide is at its best, during the annual Adelaide Festival in March, it's standard for every comedian performing at a fringe event to make a wisecrack about the place. Adelaide doesn't have a reputation for being the most exciting city in Australia, so you can only be pleasantly surprised by what the "big small town" has to offer: immaculately kept parkland encircling the city centre; impressive restaurants, with local produce and wine on offer everywhere; and a vibrant scene of young creatives making the best of their home town, nicknamed Radelaide.

But what is so rad about Adelaide? We asked locals for their tips.

See a band at the Thebarton

David Sefton, director, the Adelaide Festival
For me it's a joy that I've ended up living in Adelaide. I spend a lot of time at the Thebarton, or the Thebbie as it's known locally. Pretty much every big band touring will stop here – recently it's had Portishead, Nick Cave, and the Pixies. This autumn will see Iggy and the Stooges, Birdy and The Kooks. It's a top-quality place to see bands.
• 112 Henley Beach Road, thebartontheatre.com.au

The art of Hans Heysen

Max Anderson, editor, Adelaide Hills magazine
Hans Heysen (1877-1968) is arguably Australia's most famous artist, yet very few people visit his home, The Cedars, in the Adelaide Hills. I never tire of stepping into the stone studio, and seeing his work up close always takes my breath away. The studio and the residence make for an amazing window into the pastoral idyll established by Prussian émigrés in 1836. It's a quintessentially South Australian experience – gentle, beautiful and revealing a side to the nation far from beaches and barbecues.
• Heysen Road, Hahndorf, hansheysen.com.au, open daily except Mondays 10am-4om, adults $10, students $5, under-14s free

Coffee Branch

Jane Howard, culture journalist
Coffee Branch serves the best coffee in Adelaide (on ice, if you need it in summer) and, if you get there early enough in the morning, beautiful pastries. The baristas always say hello and, on some days, it can seem like everyone there knows everyone else, the hole in the wall cafe bringing everyone that bit closer together.
• 32 Leigh Street, coffeebranch.com, open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm

Picnic in the Himeji garden

Chanelle Leslie, photographer
Hire one of the free city bikes (bikesa.asn.au/AdelaideCityBikes), pick up a picnic from our famous Central Market (adelaidecentralmarket.com.au) and cycle to the little-known Adelaide-Himeji Japanese garden on South Terrace. It is a gorgeous, fenced-in space with water features, and just far enough from the city to be a quiet escape. With freshly baked bread from the market's Dough stall, some cheese from Say Cheese and a made-to-order juice from Zedz, it's a charming way to spend a couple of hours in the city.
• Himeji garden, South Terrace (uk.southaustralia.com) open daily 8am-5.30pm, free

Local wine at Udaberri

Rob Dean, owner of food truck Burger Theory (burgertheory.com)
Udaberri is a wine and pintxos bar that opened last year in Leigh Street, in the city's west end. It's always packed and always awesome, and its success is contributing to legislation that will see more small bars open up in the city.
• 11-13 Leigh Street, udaberri.com.au, Tues-Fri 4pm till late, Sat 6pm till late

Taste wine at Eastend Cellars

Michael Hoffman, project manager
If you go to a winery they will obviously just try to sell you their wines. At Eastend Cellars they sample everything they sell, which is over 2,000 varieties, and choose their stock on taste alone. They have bottles from all over the world but are particularly passionate about the local vineyards.
• 22-26 Vardon Avenue, eastendcellars.com.au, open daily (hours vary)

East Terrace for brunch

Professor Suzanne Miller, director of the South Australian Museum
My daughter and I have a tradition whereby each weekend we go out for eggs benedict and freshly squeezed orange juice. There are some lovely cafes on East Terrace, particularly the Continental at number 6 (open daily 7am-4pm, etccafe.com.au), a New York-style deli, and the more upmarket Jolleys Boathouse (1 Jolleys Lane, open Mon-Sun from noon, jolleysboathouse.com) by the river. And Rundle Street is fantastic for alfresco dining.

Dine at press*

Debbie Duong, food blogger (dbites.com)
One of my favourite places for a fantastic and casual dinner is press*. Book to guarantee a spot upstairs. The menu changes frequently but I recommend the steaks, notably ribeye to share, and the chilli crab pasta.
• 40 Waymouth St, +61 8 8211 8048, pressfoodandwine.com.au, open Mon-Sat noon till late

Catch a film at The Trak

Michael David Johns, restaurant manager
The Trak is an Adelaide institution, on the edge of Toorak Gardens, an affluent suburb, and shows out-there films to a diverse crowd: you'll see a guy with a ponytail and thongs (flip-flops) queuing next to a woman in a suit.
• 375 Greenhill Road, theregaltheatre.com.au

Flights were provided by Emirates (emirates.com), which flies from six UK airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow) to Adelaide via Dubai from £736 return. For information see adelaidefestival.com.au, adelaidefringe.com.au and southaustralia.com