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Just a 20 minute drive to the CBD, Mitcham is a well-equipped suburb located almost at the end of Unley Road. Driving to the city can take much longer than 20 minutes in peak hour, due to the busy traffic and narrow lanes.

Mitcham has a number of schools nearby, both primary and secondary. Scotch College (a private co-educational school) and Walford (a private girls school) are both nearby.

The Mitcham Shopping Centre has undergone a huge facelift (following a devasting fire) over the past 3 years. Now offering a fantastic range of supermarkets, shops, a cinema complex, hair and beauty salons, banks and other services.

The region also has some lovely restaurants and good pubs. The Edinburgh, and its leafy beergarden, is something of an Adelaide institution. Perfect for long lunches in the sun.

Not surprisingly, house prices are high in the suburb, but for good reason.

Situated at the southern end of Unley Road, Torrens Park is a leafy suburb nestled in to the foothills. The drive along Unley Road can take some time, even though the distance is short, due to the hectic traffic and narrow lanes. This can be very frustrating in peak hour!

The area is well-serviced by public transport, with both frequent buses and a train line straight to the city.

Torrens Park has some lovely family homes with large gardens. It also offers some good rental properties, excellent for students attending Flinders University which is a short drive away.

The suburb of Mitcham is just next door, which offers a fantastic selection of shops and facilities, including a gym, cinema complex and schools.

Located in the Adelaide Hills to the immediate south of Adelaide, Belair is a pretty town with stunning views. The drive to Belair, whilst only 15 kilometres or so, can take quite a while due to the often heavy traffic on Unley Road and the windy drive through the Hills.

Belair has a number of grand and stately homes, many with stunning views back across the plains of Adelaide and to the sea.

The town has a number of lovely shops and restaurants, as well as a challenging golf course. Belair Primary School is situated in the town, and Scotch College (a private co-educational school) is only a 10 minute drive away in Mitcham.

Stirling is a stunning town, situated in the Adelaide Hills just an easy 20 minute drive from the centre of Adelaide.

Tucked away in a hilly and leafy area, the town is full of stately homes and mansions built many years ago by the old and wealthy families of Adelaide who needed a summer-house to escape the heat.

The town has developed in to a charming spot, with a number of coffee shops and cafés, as well as the recently renovated Stirling Pub.

With a true sense of character and charm, Stirling is a beautiful spot to live and is so close to the city too.

Situated high on the cliffs of the Mighty River Murray just 90 kilometres from Adelaide, this road-house town is situated on the major highway heading from Adelaide to Melbourne. It is the major pit-stop for truckies and travellers alike, and is full of petrol stations and fast food joints.

The population is very small, and the town offers the most basic shops and facilities. Fortunately however Murray Bridge, the state's 5th largest town, is only a short drive away.

It is really hard to get a true feel for the town, as it has a very temporary feel due to all the traffic passing through.

It has some good recreational facilities, including a golf course and easy access to the River Murray for watersports.

Pretty Penola is a small country town located 380 kilometres to the southeast of Adelaide and just 40 kilometres to the north of Mt Gambier (South Australia’s second largest town).

Penola is on the edge of the Coonawarra wine region, renowned for its famous Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays.

Penola has a quiet rural feel, but a serious touch of class with a number of lovely cafés and restaurants built specifically to cater for the wine-tasting crowd.

The town itself is quite simple, with a population of just under 2,000 which increases in vintage time. There are a few small shops and facilities. However it is best to head to neighbouring Mt Gambier for most essential goods, services and business needs.

Picturesque Naracoorte is the gateway to the south-east. Situated 350 kilometres to the southeast of Adelaide and 100 kilometres to the north of Mt Gambier, Naracoorte is a thriving farming town.

With a population of nearly 5,000, Naracoorte offers all of the essential facilities, a range of shops and pubs, a hospital and both a primary and secondary school.

The streets are wide and leafy, the homes are spacious with homely gardens. It is a neat and tidy town with a true sense of community. Sport is alive and well, with the town competing in the regional football and netball competitions. Close to the Coonawarra wine region, Naracoorte has a strong emphasis on good food and wine, holding a number of gourmet events throughout the year.

Port Augusta is located nearly 350 kilometres from Adelaide. It is a common stopover point for those passing across Australia, as it is the on the main transport links from Adelaide to Darwin and also from Sydney to Perth.

The town is well-equipped with many shops, services and schools. The population is relatively large for a remote town, reaching over 13,000. However the town itself seems to lack soul. With reasonably high unemployment, the town does not have the best reputation.

On the edge of the desert, the climate is hot and unforgiving, often reaching over 40 degrees in summer.

Meningie is a small country town situated 150 kilometres from Adelaide. Located on Lake Albert, Meningie has a population of around 1,500 which tends to swell with an influx of tourists in the summertime.

Meningie is predominantly a farming town. The large main street has a number of shops and basic facilities.

The region is also a fishing region, situated close to the Coorong which has suffered some serious challenges in recent years due to the low water levels of the River Murray.

Only 50 kilometres from Murray Bridge, locals tend to head here for all of their essential shopping and other services.

Murray Bridge is the 4th largest city in South Australia. Situated just 80 kilometres to the east of Adelaide, it is on the Princes Highway and the main rail route to Melbourne.

The population is now over 18,000, and has undergone a huge expansion over the last ten years. The town has seen an incredible number of housing estates pop up, as the region has thrived in terms of its farming capabilities. The recent drought and low water levels in the River Murray have presented some major challenges for the area.

The town has a number of services and facilities. There are a number of primary and secondary schools, many shops and excellent recreational facilities including a golf course, tennis courts and oval.

Just an easy drive to Adelaide via the Southeastern freeway, quite a number of locals commute multiple times per week.

Port Pirie is South Australia's 6th largest town, with a population of over 13,000.

Situated just 2 hours from Adelaide, Port Pirie is readily accessible by car, bus and multiple flights per day. Port Pirie is just 4 kilometres from the sea.

Port Pirie's main industry is lead smelting, and this has caused some serious health problems for the local population, as well as many of the sealife, but substantial work has been undertaken to improve this in recent years.

The town has many essential services and facilities on offer. There are a number of schools, both public and private, a TAFE campus for tertiary education and a number of shops, pubs and restaurants.

Whyalla is South Australia’s 3rd largest city. With a population of more than 20,000, Whyalla is an industrial and farming town set on a major shipping port. The town is approximately 450 kilometres from Adelaide, and is accessible by driving, daily coaches or multiple daily plane flights.

Despite being on the edge on the sea, the town itself is dusty and dry and is surround by sweeping farming properties and desert. The temperatures soar here, often reaching well above 40 degrees in summer.

The town offers a huge number of facilities, including around 6 primary school and 4 high schools (3 of which are public and one is Catholic). The town also has a TAFE and a campus for the University of South Australia.

The major industry here is steel manufacturing, with OneSteel the key employer in the town.

Roxby Downs is a reasonably new town, built in the middle of the desert to house all of the workers in the region's burgeoning Olympic Dam mine. Roxby is situated around 600 kilometres from Adelaide.

The town maintains a population of around 5,000, but this is highly transient as many of the miners are here for work only on a 'two weeks on, two weeks off' basis.

That being said, the town has all of the facilities that you would expect of any modern town, ranging from shops, excellent recreational resources (including swimming pools and gyms), cinemas and lots of services. There is a school and medical facilities.

The temperatures in Roxby are usually scorching, reaching well over 40 degrees in the summer.

The roads to Roxby are well surfaced, and so it is a long but easy drive. Nearby towns include Woomera and Andamooka.

Coober Pedy, in the heart of the desert, is situated more than 800 kilometres from Adelaide. With a population of less than 2,000 people, it is a quiet town that forms the gateway to other desert towns like Oodnadatta and William Creek.

Once a thriving mining town, Coober Pedy is mostly a tourist destination or stopover for those on their way up to Alice Springs.

Travelling to Coober Pedy is quite smooth, with sealed roads and daily coaches. The Ghan (the train that travels from Adelaide to Darwin) also stops here.

Living in Coober Pedy is challenging due to the scorching temperatures. Many of the houses are underground to escape the blistering heat. It is hot and dry, and you need to travel quite a distance for anything more than the basics offered in the town's main street.

Coffin Bay is a quiet seaside town, with calm waters and surrounded by wild National Park. It is a small town, with a small population of around 400 which swells to over 2,000 in summer.

Situated 45 km from Port Lincoln and almost 700 km from Adelaide, Coffin Bay is very isolated. It has calm waters, perfect for oyster growing for which the town is famous for.

The town has the basics, and the bustling centre of Port Lincoln is only a half an hour drive away with all of the services, facilities and shops that you might need.

Port Lincoln also has an airport with frequent services to Adelaide, so the big city is never too far away.

Located nearly 700 kilometres from Adelaide, Port Lincoln is a thriving town with a huge and successful fishing industry which has reaped the rewards from tuna, abalone and other seafood over the years.

The population is more than 13,000, and the region has the highest number of millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Australia. This fact alone explains the general feel of this resort town, with modern apartment blocks, huge waterfront homes and fantastic shops, restaurants and cafés.

The region is very self-supporting, with good schools, a hospital and all of the other essential services and other facilities provided.

There is a lot to do in the surrounding region, with beautiful beaches and rugged surf.

Whilst a huge distance from Adelaide, there are frequent flights every day.

Cape Jervis is a quiet seaside town, situated on the south-western tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is just over 100 kilometres from Adelaide, although the drive takes closer to two hours.

The location is very picturesque, surrounded by the Deep Creek Conservation Park with sharp cliffs that drop in to the Southern Ocean.

Cape Jervis is also the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Kangaroo Island, with multiple Sealink ferries departing its shores every day.

As far as living is concerned, Cape Jervis is a very small town of 300 people. Quiet, remote and close to the sea, it is a good spot for an isolated fisherman's lifestyle with the occasional interruption from tourists.

Willunga is a charming country town, situated just 40 kilometres south of Adelaide and easily accessible in about an hour by car. Willunga is beautifully located just 5 kilometres from McLaren Vale, one of South Australia's premier wine regions, and about 10 kilometres for the sandy beach of Aldinga.

The town has a lot to offer. Russell's Pizza Place is fast becoming a South Australian institution, offering wood-fired pizzas at long tables set in the gardens of an old cottage. The town also has a handy array of shops, services and facilities.

Another highlight of the region includes the Willunga Golf Course is a beautiful course carved out of the sand dunes.

All in all, this is a lovely spot for country living but still close enough to the city and the sea.

McLaren Vale is situated just 35 kilometres to the south of Adelaide. It is an easy drive from Adelaide via the Southern Expressway in about an hour, provided that you get the Expressway at the right time when it is open in the direction you are travelling.

Nestled in amongst the hills, and just a stone’s throw from the beach, McLaren Vale is a lovely spot to live. Many locals commute to Adelaide for work from here, so that they can enjoy the relaxed ambience of the country surrounds. There are country homes, farming properties on reasonably large acreages and also a number of housing developments popping up around the countryside.

The region is famous for wine-making, and the region is decidedly pretty as a result with many vineyards around the area. The town also benefits from a number of cellar doors and restaurants which are all part of parcel of being a wine region these days.

Whilst often quiet and relaxed, McLaren Vale is occasionally full to the brim with tourists, particularly on weekends holding big events like the McLaren Vale Sea & Vines food festival.

Hallett Cove, situated about 20 kilometres to the south of Adelaide, is a popular seaside surburban town with a population of just over 12,000.

Forming part of the urban sprawl which has spread from Adelaide all the way to Noarlunga, Hallett Cove is one of a chain of neat and tidy suburbs that hug the southern beaches.

The suburb is well-serviced by public transport, with both train and bus lines, and is easy to access on main roads by car. The town has a number of shops and both a primary and secondary school.

It is a suburb full of neat brick family homes, where people may commute to the CBD or otherwise work in the southern region.

The beach itself is quite rocky, but still good for a long walk or a spot of fishing.