Don't waste your time when you're on holiday in Adelaide. Find out the over-hyped spots to avoid and where to go instead.

Any of the beach suburbs when it's wet. Wet sucks at the best of times, but south-westerlies make the coast especially miserable. Turn wet on its head by heading for North Adelaide pubs and restaurants, or all sorts of pubs, wineries and restaurants in the Hills where cold-dwellers know how to stoke the hearths and batten down the hatches.

Be wary of Mondays. Having done their dash on Sundays, many attractions outside the CBD will be shut. If you're not sure, ring.

This will probably bring down the wrath of the Gods, but here we go: the Barossa is rightly famous for its wines and its history, but McLaren Vale is closer to Adelaide, less busy in summer, less "high-production" and especially scenic. It's also close to the coast so you can enjoy a little sea air with your shiraz.

Aussie rules football is huge in South Australia with the city split into those who barrack for the Adelaide Crows and those who barrack for Port Adelaide. The passion is undeniable, but the big games aren't pretty for the simple reason the city's main stadium, AAMI, is a charmless concrete toilet bowl. If footy is your thing, you'll get just as much grass-roots atmosphere at an SANFL game being played at grounds in Norwood and Unley. The big news is that the historic Adelaide Oval will become a 50,000 seat stadium capable of hosting cricket and AFL within five years.

Cleland is a fine wildlife sanctuary that doesn't go heavy on the cyclone fencing. Alas however, "koala cuddling" and proximity to Adelaide make it a favourite with tour buses. Instead, follow the signs to Stirling and turn off for a 5km drive to Warrawong Sanctuary: this smaller, more peaceful reserve is free to enter during the day and feels more wild; it even has pools where you can sit 'n' spot platypus. The cafe is a delight.

Opal shops. Dagsville! Try the mineral display at SA Museum instead. Or fuel up a LandCruiser and head eight hours to the outback town of Andamooka. Buy 'em a beer and half the diggers will take you to their patch and let you fossick for your own.

A double-negative here: some people will cheerfully tell you that the German village of Hahndorf is tourist hell. And it's true, in January and February, the thrum of buses can drown out the oom-pah music. But historic H-town — already blessed with original wattle and daub cottages built by the Silesian settlers — is starting to find a funkier rhythm. So avoid the dunny sign souvenir shops and the Bavarian kitsch (which has precisely nothing to do with Hahndorf's history) and indulge instead in the likes of Udder Delights Cheeses, Chocolate @ No 5, Harris Smokehouse, Beads & Leadlight and the Hans Heysen studio at The Cedars.

Got any more places to avoid? Have your say using the comments form below.

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