Birdwood is a charming Adelaide Hills village which hosts the National Motor Museum. The museum tells the history of motoring in Australia and has a fascinating collection of vintage cars. Located on the site of the old Birdwood flourmill, the museum is open daily, and is the end point for South Australia's annual Bay to Birdwood car run.
Birdwood also has a motorcycle museum, traditional Australian pub, an art gallery displaying work by local artists, and charming main street with welcoming cafes and bakeries. You can enjoy the hills on good bushwalking and cycling trails in the area, including the Mawson Trail. Further afield, the Gorge Wildlife Park has Australia's largest privately owned collection of wildlife, and at the Akhira Alpaca Farm you can meet the animals and buy alpaca products.
Initially named Blumberg by German settlers who farmed the area in the late 1840s, Birdwood is the major town in the eastern Adelaide Hills. It was initially a wheat-farming district, but gold was discovered in the 1870s and heralded the arrival of thousands of settlers keen to make their fortune.