To explore further out of the city centre, you'll need to use the integrated Adelaide Metro system, which comprises mainly buses but also includes suburban trains and one tramline from the city to Glenelg. Free timetables are available from the Passenger Transport InfoCentre on the corner of King William and Currie streets (Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 10.30am-5.30pm; tel 08/8210 1000 daily 7am-8pm; www.adelaidemetro.com.au ), where staff can advise on routes and fares, as well as sell tickets, and you can pick up The Metroguide , a free information booklet including a handy map of the system. Timetable information and advice are also available via the freephone at the South Australian Travel Centre. Waits at stops - where times are not always displayed - can be long, making it all the more important to pick up the relevant timetables before setting out. However, as part of a drive to improve services and entice Adelaidians away from their preference for cars, Adelaide Metro has made nine of the more popular routes around the city into high-frequency Go Zones . These routes guarantee maximum waits of 5-15 minutes between 7.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday, and half-an-hour at night and on weekends; stops are distinguished by bright-red information boards.

Adelaide Metro buses and trains run until about 11.30pm, with reduced services at night and on Sunday. Tickets come in multi-trip, single-trip and day-trip permutations, and can be used on buses, trains and the tram. You can buy single train tickets from a ticket vending machine on board, as well as from station ticket offices and the Passenger Transport InfoCentre. Single tickets range from $1.10 to $2.90, depending on whether it's peak or off-peak time, or whether a two-hour transfer is required. The day-trip ticket ($5.60) is much easier and better value. Only multi-trip tickets cannot be bought on board buses or the tram but must be purchased, along with other tickets, from the Passenger Transport InfoCentre, train stations, post offices and some newsagents. Night buses run by MAC Nightmoves operate on Saturday only; five routes run from city nightspots (pick-up points outside Heaven and The Planet nightclubs; midnight to 4am; $6.60) to: Reynella and Noarlunga via Brighton Road and Glenelg; Adelaide Hills via Stirling and Aldgate; Semaphore and Henley Beach; north to Elizabeth; and northeast to Tea Tree Plaza. A nightbus timetable is available from the Passenger Transport InfoCentre.

Four suburban train lines run from Adelaide Train Station, a modern complex with shops and cafA©s on North Terrace. The trains run every five to thirty minutes south to Christie Downs via Brighton, east to Bel Air, north to Gawler via Salisbury and northwest to Port Adelaide via Semaphore, with a branch heading west to Grange. Security guards are present on all trains after 7pm to deter violence. The tram to seaside Glenelg (30min) leaves from Victoria Square every fifteen to twenty minutes. The O-Bahn is a fast-track bus which runs on concrete rails through scenic Torrens Linear Park, between the city (Grenfell St) and Tea Tree Plaza in Modbury, 12km northeast.

Cycling is a popular and excellent alternative: the flat city area and its wide, multilaned streets make riding a breeze, and there are several good cycling routes - including the Torrens Linear Park track , which goes from the sea at Westbeach to the hills at Athelston, weaving along the river. A map of this and other cycling routes is available from Information SA, and several other cycling route maps from the City of Adelaide Customer Centre.