Ready to roam Australia but not sure where to start? We hear you. This enormous country offers so much to see and do, from exciting cities to serene natural landscapes to the world’s oldest living culture. Our advice? Take it a piece at a time, and if it’s your first trip to Australia, consider building your trip around four key destinations that showcase the big city, nature, and beyond.
Welcome to Sydney: Gateway to Australia.
Australia’s biggest city welcomes you with open arms. OK, they’re pylons supporting one of the world’s most famous bridges, but spying this from a plane descending into Sydney Airport is a magical hint of the urban adventure waiting once you land. Sydney embodies the perfect combination of indoor and outdoor lifestyles, from distinctive architecture that overlooks its glistening harbour, to the mountains, hinterland, and wine regions found an easy day trip away.
With one day in Sydney, we recommend hitting the icons around Sydney Harbour and Circular Quay. Start your day at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, including the cutting-edge galleries of Naala Badu. Meander through the Royal Botanic Garden, making your way to either Mrs Macquarie’s Chair for awesome harbour views, or the Museum of Sydney for a journey through the area’s history. After lunch, take a tour of Sydney Opera House, then embark on a tour of the historic Rocks district, focusing either on its colonial history, or the ancient history of the Eora Nation on which Sydney now stands. Cap the day off with a Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb at dusk, or for a budget-friendly alternative, zip to the top of the southeast pylon before watching the city and harbour lights come alive over dinner at Opera Bar. If you’d like to see more of the city, a hop-on, hop-off bus ticket can be a great way to reach attractions like Bondi Beach, the Vaucluse bluffs, Paddington’s boutique art galleries, Chinatown, Darling Harbour and more.
Desert tranquility in the Red Centre.
Uluru is in many ways the sacred heart of Australia and plays a central role in the land’s creation story according to the Anangu, the traditional custodians of the land. The best way to get to know Uluru is by taking a walking tour around its base with an Indigenous guide. They’ll give you valuable perspective on the cultural significance of different sites around Uluru, a greater appreciation of its ecosystem, and maybe offer some theories on peculiar phenomenon such as the rains that fall on Uluru while avoiding the surrounding desert. Kata Tjuta, the other formation of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, offers its own cultural treasures and mysteries. These giant domes, said to be the eggs of the all-creating Rainbow Serpent, were geologically once an even larger monolith than Uluru, one that has been eroded by time to leave the awesome formation we see today. Overnight visitors can enjoy Mala, a high-tech drone show exploring the cultural heritage and creation stories of the region, the evocative Field of Light installation, and a Sounds of Silence dinner while enjoying the serene desert landscape.
Remote as it is, Uluru is the centrepiece of a thriving natural and social ecosystem. Close enough to warrant an extra stop, you’ll find Kings Canyon, a spectacular gorge harbouring a garden oasis in the desert. Various circuits and trails cater to a wide variety of fitness levels, but all are worth doing. Don’t forget Alice Springs either. This modest town has mastered its own brand of self-sufficiency, providing a vital centre of support, health care, education and more for a vast area of Central Australia. This includes The School of the Air (the world’s largest “classroom”) and the Royal Flying Doctors Service. A trip to The Alice invites you to glimpse a whole different side of Australian life.
Exploring twin natural treasures in North Queensland.
The Great Barrier Reef remains the world’s largest underwater reef system with a whopping half a million different species including corals, fish, sponges, mollusks, sharks, and more. Tour companies often have designated areas for diving and snorkelling on the reef, carefully chosen to minimize human impact while still offering a thrilling snapshot of this natural wonder. You can also opt for aerial tours over the reef to admire its vast reach or even splash out for a picnic on one of the remote islands. Be sure to choose a reputable provider for your Great Barrier Reef tour and obey all the instructions provided by your tour leader or guide to keep this treasure around and accessible for generations to come.
The most popular bases for visiting the reef are Cairns and Port Douglas, or one of the resorts that dot the coast nearby. These are also ideal for exploring hinterland towns like Kuranda, which offer a glimpse of Queensland’s tropical ecosystem and ancient Indigenous cultures. Consider taking an extra day to visit another great natural treasure of North Queensland, the Daintree Rainforest. This is the world’s oldest living rainforest, containing over 3,000 different plant species, alongside more than 660 vertebrate animal species.
Grit and glamour? Must be Melbourne!
Melbourne is Australia’s cultural capital, known for its theatres, museums, and galleries. A perfect day in Melbourne proper begins at a laneway cafe. After people-watching and breakfast, embark on an arcades, laneways and street art tour that showcases Melbourne’s creative urban energy. Alternatively, explore the galleries of Federation Square, exploring Australian art at the Ian Potter Centre, or the Australian Centre of the Moving Image. Across the Yarra River, steel your nerves for 88th floor views from Eureka Skydeck, then see what’s on offer at the beloved National Gallery of Victoria. You can then catch a tram to Saint Kilda or Brighton for some beach time, but if you’d rather stay nearby, take a moment to reflect on Australia’s war history at the Shrine of Remembrance before exploring Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens. Then, the evening in Melbourne awaits, with bars, restaurants and shows to suit every interest. The hardest part will be choosing which one, but for something truly unique that incorporates all three, you can always book a slot on the Colonial Tramcar Dinner Tour.
Melbourne also offers a wide variety of day trips showcasing the best of Victoria. History buffs will want to track the follow the gold rush to Sovereign Hill. Waddle down to Phillip Island for close encounters with Australian wildlife including the Little Penguin Parade, in which hundreds of the adorable birds return each night to their island burrows. Heading west, follow one of Australia’s great road trips to the Twelve Apostles, a series of limestone stacks whose ever-changing shape is testament to the power of the Southern Ocean.
Where to extend your Australia adventure.
For all there is to see and do in these four incredible destinations, there’s still a lot of Australia left to discover.
Just a few hours’ drive from Sydney, Canberra is Australia’s capital city and so offers a terrific collection of museums, galleries, memorials, and Australia’s instantly recognizable Parliament House.
South Australia proudly delivers the WOW factor (Wine, Outback, and Wildlife) to visitors via the Barossa Valley and other wine regions, remote natural treasures like Wilpena Pound or the fascinating opal town of Coober Pedy, and Kangaroo Island, an ecological wonder unlike anywhere else in the country.
Tasmania offers unique wildlife (we defy anyone not to fall in love with the Tasmanian Devil), blockbuster museums like the Museum of Old and New Art, jaw-dropping national parks like Cradle Mountain/Lake St. Clair and Freycinet, and a food, wine and craft beer scene that punches well above its weight across the state.
Western Australia invites you to really get out there, offering incredible road-trips both north and south of Perth. Visit Wave Rock, the Margaret River wine region, the Pinnacles Desert, Ningaloo Reef, or for the ultimate outback cruise, the gorges of the Kimberley.
Christian’s first globetrotting adventure saw him get lost exploring the streets of Saigon. Following his nose to Asia’s best coffee, two lifelong addictions were born. A freelance writer and novelist, Christian’s travels have since taken him around his native Australia, Asia, Europe, and much of North America. His favourite trips have been through Japan, Spain, and Brazil, though with a love of off-beat, artsy cities, he’ll seize any opportunity to return to Paris, New York, or Berlin.
Get Inspired
Travel Stories to Inspire You.
Newsletter
Unlock Even More
Sign up to our newsletter to unlock travel Specials, Inspiration, and Expert Guides right to your inbox.
