Must-see attractions in Australia

  • Bondi Beach, New South Wales, Australia

    Bondi Beach

    Sydney

    Definitively Sydney, Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km away), has consistently good (though…

  • Melbourne Royal Botanical Gardens on a clear summer's day in Victoria, Australia

    Royal Botanic Gardens

    Melbourne

    Considered one of the finest examples of Victorian-era landscaping in the world, Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens draw over two million visitors a year…

  • In this photo taken on March 24, 2015, waves crash into the base of natural limestone structures known as the Twelve Apostles off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean road in Victoria. The close proximity of the collection of limestone stacks to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction.  AFP PHOTO / INDRANIL MUKHERJEE        (Photo credit should read INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)

    Twelve Apostles

    Great Ocean Road

    The most iconic sight and enduring image for most visitors to the Great Ocean Road, the Twelve Apostles provide a fitting climax to the journey. Jutting…

  • Aerial view over Hill Inlet at Whitsunday Island with the world renowned Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday's, Queensland

    Whitehaven Beach

    The Whitsundays

    One of of Australia's most photogenic and hyped beaches, Whitehaven is a pristine 4.3 mile-long (7km) stretch of blinding sand (at 98% pure silica, some…

  • Melbourne, Australia - March 22, 2014: people walking past graffiti wall in Hosier Lane in Melbourne

    Hosier Lane

    Melbourne

    Melbourne's most-celebrated laneway for street art, Hosier Lane's cobbled length draws camera-wielding crowds to its colorful canvas of graffiti, stencils…

  • Boat mooring at Apple Tree Bay

    Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

    Sydney

    A spectacular mix of sandstone, Australian bushland and tranquil water vistas, this 14,928-hectare park forms Sydney’s northern boundary. It’s located 20…

  • December 25, 2017: Shrine of Remembrance, now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war.

    Shrine of Remembrance

    Melbourne

    One of Melbourne's icons, the Shrine of Remembrance is a commanding memorial to Victorians who have served in war and peacekeeping, especially those…

  • MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 30: Melbourne's famous skyline with Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium in the foreground on a cool autumn morning in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on May 30th 2018.

    Melbourne Cricket Ground

    Melbourne

    With a capacity of 100,000 people, the "G" is one of the world’s great sporting venues, hosting cricket in summer and AFL (Australian Football League,…

  • 500px Photo ID: 45657584 - hornby lighthouse@watson bay

    Watsons Bay

    Sydney

    Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the heritage cottages that pepper the…

  • Sumatran Tiger

    Taronga Zoo Sydney

    Sydney

    A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…

  • Melbourne, Australia: April 12, 2018: Customers buy pastries and other food goods from a stall in Queen Victoria Market.

    Queen Victoria Market

    Melbourne

    With more than 600 traders, 'Vic Market' is a large open-air market brimming with food, shopping and cultural experiences. Early mornings are best for…

  • Wave Rock in Western Australia.

    Wave Rock

    West Coast Australia

    The multicolored cresting swell of Wave Rock, 209 miles (336km) east of Perth, formed some 60 million years ago by weathering and water erosion. Streaked…

  • 1166499525
Aerial perspective of Hutt lagoon shoreline, Australia

    Pink Lake

    West Coast Australia

    The most arresting sight in the Horrocks/Port Gregory area is Hutt Lagoon, which is more commonly referred to as 'Pink Lake'. Yes, the saltwater here is…

  • Anzac Memorial, Rockhampton Botanic Gardens, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

    Botanic Gardens

    Rockhampton

    These Heritage-listed gardens, begun in 1873, are a beautiful escape from often-sweltering Rockhampton, with tropical and subtropical rainforest,…

  • Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia

    Freycinet National Park

    The East Coast

    Framed by some of the state's finest beaches and rising into spectacular low mountains, Freycinet incorporates the southern end of Freycinet Peninsula,…

  • Wharf at MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art.

    MONA

    Hobart

    Twelve kilometres north of Hobart's city centre, MONA is burrowed into the Triassic sandstone of a peninsula jutting into the Derwent River. Arrayed…

  • Salamanca Place, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Salamanca Place

    Hobart

    This picturesque row of three- and four-storey sandstone warehouses is a classic example of Australian colonial architecture. Dating back to the whaling…

  • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia, Australasia

    National Gallery of Australia

    Canberra

    This Australian national art collection is showcased in an impressive purpose-built gallery within the parliamentary precinct. You can justifiably bypass…

  • Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake, with deciduous beech (Fagus) in fall colors, Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tasmania, Australia, Pacific

    Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park

    Cradle Country & The West

    Part of the World Heritage–listed Tasmanian Wilderness, this 1614-sq-km national park incorporates the state's most famous mountain (the eponymous Cradle…

  • Uluru (Ayers Rock) Sunset

    Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

    Northern Territory

    Nothing can really prepare you for the immensity, grandeur, changing colour and stillness of 'the Rock'. It really is a sight that will sear itself on to…

  • Rafting on Franklin River

    Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

    Cradle Country & The West

    This World Heritage–listed national park came to prominence when the wild Franklin River was very publicly saved from hydroelectric immersion in the 1980s…

  • Camels walking on Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia during sunset

    Cable Beach

    Broome

    WA's most famous landmark offers turquoise waters and beautiful white sand curving away to the sunset. Clothing is optional north of the rocks, while…

  • Kakadu National Park

    Northern Territory

    Kakadu is one of the world's great national parks, combining an astonishing array of attractions. Its wetlands and escarpments shelter abundant wildlife,…

  • North Head

    Manly

    About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…

  • kangaroos standing at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park, near Esperance in Western Australia. Lucky Bay is one of Australia's most well-known beaches known for pristine white sand and kangaroos

    Lucky Bay

    Southern WA

    One of Australia's top beaches, Lucky Bay has sand so white and so fine that is squeaks underfoot like rubber. Good for kite- and windsurfing. Tame…

  • Ubirr

    Kakadu National Park

    It takes a lot more than the busloads of visitors to disturb Ubirr's inherent majesty and grace. Layers of rock-art paintings, in various styles and from…

  • Murujuga National Park

    West Coast Australia

    Murujuga is home to the world's largest concentration of rock art (dating back more than 30,000 years), stretched out along the rocky hills of the heavily…

  • Montague Island (Barranguba)

    South Coast NSW

    Wildlife thrives on this small, pest-free island, 9km offshore from Narooma, where fur seals frolic and 90 bird species wheel overhead. Little penguins…

  • Whitsunday Island

    The Whitsundays

    The largest of the paradisaical group to which it gives its name, Whitsunday Island is ruggedly forested, and surrounded by clear teal waters and coral…

  • Mossman Gorge

    The Daintree

    In the southeast corner of Daintree National Park, 5km west of Mossman town, Mossman Gorge forms part of the traditional lands of the Kuku Yalanji people…

  • Turquoise Bay

    West Coast Australia

    This perfect sweep of powdery-white sand, lapped at by cerulean waters, is considered one of the top beaches in Australia. If snorkelling at the reef near…

  • Taronga Western Plains Zoo

    New South Wales

    This is Dubbo's star attraction, not to mention one of the best zoos in regional Australia. You can walk the 6km circuit, ride a hire bike ($17 to $24 for…

  • Split Rock Gallery

    Cairns & Far North Queensland

    About 12km south of Laura look out for the badly signposted turn-off to the Split Rock Gallery, the only rock-art site open to the public without a guide…

  • Hamelin Pool

    West Coast Australia

    Twenty-nine kilometres along Shark Bay Rd from the Overlander Roadhouse is the turn-off for Hamelin Pool, a marine reserve with the world's best-known…

  • Walga Rock

    Western Australia

    Some 48km west of Cue via unsealed road, this granite monolith is Australia's second largest after Uluru (Ayers Rock). The shallow cave here is the…

  • Inside Australia

    Western Australia

    Imagine: the salt crust crunching underfoot as you approach one metal sentinel after another, or the white of the salt meeting the red outback dirt and…

  • East Pilbara Arts Centre

    West Coast Australia

    This state-of-the-art gallery is home to one of the state’s most successful art collectives, Martumili Artists, and is a beautiful setting in which to…

  • Hancock Gorge

    Karijini National Park

    The trail through Hancock Gorge is one of the shortest (400m, 80 minutes return) but also one of the most challenging in the park. A steep descent (partly…

  • Gallery of Aboriginal Art

    Victoria

    Celebrating its location in Taungurung country, Mitchelton's Gallery of Aboriginal Art is one of Australia's finest Indigenous art collections. Works on…

  • Gnaraloo Bay

    West Coast Australia

    Some 7km north of Gnaraloo Station, past the airstrip, this crescent of white sand is as gorgeous as beaches come. You can snorkel in the cerulean waters,…