Exploring Panorama and Pasadena | Review
From rooftop drinks at the Hotel Panorama to gourmet food shopping, bushland walks and family-friendly playgrounds, discover the best of Adelaide’s southern suburbs of Panorama and Pasadena.
Review by Carla Caruso
Just a short drive from the city, the neighbouring suburbs of Panorama and Pasadena offer a surprising mix of attractions.
Highlights include the impressive Pasadena Foodland, the gardens of Centennial Park, scenic foothills trails and welcoming community spaces.
Whether you’re planning a family outing, searching for somewhere new to eat or keen to discover more of your own backyard, there’s plenty to explore.
Hotel Panorama
Welcome to the Hotel … Panorama! The Hurley Hotel Group opened this $60 million, five-storey hospitality destination on Goodwood Road in May 2026, marking the largest investment in the South Australian family business’s history.
The development follows the closure of the group’s former Tonsley Hotel in 2023, after its site was acquired for the North–South Corridor road upgrade. Hotel Panorama now occupies the old Panorama TAFE site.
The venue brings accommodation, dining and entertainment together, with a café bar and restaurant, sports bar Sideline with a beer garden and giant screen, and (18+) rooftop bar Wonderland, boasting sweeping views across the coastline, Adelaide skyline and Hills. Look out for the gold disco ball pizza oven!
Hotel Panorama offers 77 accommodation rooms across three levels, including 26 serviced apartments and two premium suites, plus a gym and flexible function spaces. Its location near Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre and Tonsley Innovation Precinct makes it a convenient destination for locals and visitors!
Nature hikes galore
The City of Mitcham has four trail zones to explore, with Zone 3 covering Ashby, Saddle Hill and O’Deas reserves in the foothills around Panorama, Pasadena and Belair.
Together, these reserves span about 76 hectares of bushland, with trails linking to Lynton Reserve and Shepherds Hill Recreation Park.
We recently explored O’Deas Reserve, parking at the top of Hillrise Road in Panorama. Hot tip: Look out for wildflowers and views of the train line along the way, and keep an eye out for cyclists.
Download the Zone 3 trail map here.
Pasadena Shopping Centre and Foodland
We’ve previously featured Pasadena Foodland in our gourmet supermarket review, and it deserves another mention.
Far more than your average supermarket, it features a range of eateries, an Asian grocery section alongside everyday staples, a bakery and patisserie, butcher, cheese bar, seafood counter, fresh produce, deli, spice bar, ready-made meals, platters and plenty more.
The shopping centre also features TK Maxx, Ned’s, Dulwich Bakery, Balthazar Café, Soonta and a bounty of other retailers.
Playgrounds and community activities
Good playgrounds are like gold, and this area has several. In Panorama, CC Hood Playground and Reserve (above) offers nature play, a flying fox, bike track, dog parks, a basketball court, picnic shelters and city views.
Near Pasadena Shopping Centre, Sierra Nevada Reserve features nature play, climbing obstacles, a basketball area and the Pasadena Biodiversity Corridor creek line.
The redeveloped Pasadena Community Centre is another local highlight, with activities for all ages, including shared-plate gatherings, DJ workshops and a monthly book club.
Centennial Park Cemetery and Wildflowers Café
It might seem an unusual addition to this list, but Centennial Park Cemetery is much more than a cemetery!
Established in 1936, it features more than 30 gardens and memorial spaces, along with sculptures and community events.
Visitors can also stop for coffee or a bite to eat at Wildflowers Café, or browse Centennial Florist and Gift Baskets across the road. I’ve always thought both would be fascinating places to work – imagine the stories you’d hear and the perspective you’d gain on life!
And that wraps up our guide to Panorama and Pasadena. Now it’s time to get out there and explore!
PS. Fun fact: Did you know Panorama was originally known as Spring Hill or Springbank, after a natural spring in the hills behind the suburb? The name was later changed to Panorama after residents of nearby Springfield complained that the similar names were causing confusion.
See our Top Parks & Playgrounds Around Adelaide
For more information and all enquiries, please visit the City of Mitcham website.
All photos by James Elsby and Carla Caruso for Play & Go Adelaide, and Centennial Park Cemetery.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently.
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