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Few places have been blessed with as much intrinsic beauty as Australia. From the icons of the Red Centre to the wildlife-rich bays of the west, our global team of writers has handpicked the natural wonders that define the Australia experience.
This feature is part of Traveller’s overall “100 all-time greatest Australian destinations” list featuring our favourite homegrown cities and towns, natural attractions, regions, and art and heritage sites.
Top choice: Uluru-Kata Tjuta, NT
Indelibly Australia, the new Uluṟu-Kaṯa Tjuṯa Signature Walk is a four-day walk between the two icons, staying in luxury camps with full immersion in Country. The visitor experiences in the Red Centre now include Segway and bike rides around the Uluru base walk and the exceptional Sunrise Journeys. The light and music display, designed by three Anangu women, starts pre-dawn with a soundtrack by Anangu man Jeremy Whiskey as the sun rises over the monolith. See uluru.gov.au; ayersrockresort.com.au
Australian Alps, NSW/Vic/ACT
Sprawling across 1.6 million hectares and 11 national parks, the Australian Alps contain our only mainland peaks topping 2000 metres – including the highest, Mount Kosciuszko – and beautiful environments including snowgum woodlands and alpine meadows. They’re home to snowsports in winter, via ski resorts such as Perisher, Thredbo, Mount Buller, Falls Creek and Mount Hotham. In warmer months, trails such as the 650-kilometre Australian Alps Walking Track from Canberra to Walhalla make hiking a delight. See visitnsw.com; visitvictoria.com; visitcanberra.com.au
Murray River, SA/NSW/Vic
Rising in the mountains and flowing for more than 2500 kilometres to its mouth, the Murray River is a waterway threaded with human stories and natural beauty. The historic paddle steamer port of Echuca is rich with heritage appeal, and First Nations peoples’ connection with the river is revealed along the Yamyabuc Discovery Trail in Barmah National Park. For the ultimate Murray experience, hire a houseboat and cruise slowly along, stopping at the occasional winery for sustenance. See visitthemurray.com.au
Blue Mountains, NSW
Its string of lofty towns and villages, perhaps with the exception of Leura, can feel a little drab and disappointing in comparison to their spectacular eucalypt-forested and craggy cliff-face surrounds, and these peaks still lack a world-class hotel or resort. But there’s no doubt that the attractions-rich, UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains is a world-beater since few genuine wildernesses are perched on the edge of a major world city, or within relatively easy reach of it. See visitbluemountains.com.au
Grampians/Gariwerd, Vic
This impressive national park – known as Gariwerd to First Nations people – is a combination of natural grandeur and age-old human culture. Its jagged mountains and scenic valleys are popular for cycling and hiking, with the star attraction being the 160-kilometre Grampians Peaks Trail which takes two weeks to walk. On top of that, the region contains many ancient rock art sites, several of which can be visited. See visitgrampians.com.au
Great Ocean Road, Vic
Built by soldiers returning from World War I along a 240-kilometre stretch of Victoria’s south-west coast, the Great Ocean Road is the world’s largest war memorial. It’s also a scenic delight, with its rugged coastline’s twists and turns giving impressive views of the ocean and spectacular rock formations such as the Twelve Apostles. There’s a coastal trail to hike, rainforest and waterfalls to visit, and great dining in seaside towns along the way. See visitgreatoceanroad.org.au
Lord Howe Island, NSW
“Pure. Wild. Timeless” is the tourism-marketing slogan of this World Heritage-listed island, 600 kilometres off the NSW coast, and that about sums it up. Lord Howe is tiny but humped with mighty outcrops, draped in verdant forest and fields, and ringed by a fish-flitted lagoon. The bird life is astonishing, the hiking lovely, the environment near pristine, and visitor numbers capped at 400 – about the same number as residents. Heaven. See lordhoweisland.info
Ikara-Flinders Ranges, SA
Though relatively accessible, you could hardly get more quintessentially outback than this: ragged red mountains, huge white gum trees, hopping kangaroos, flocks of galahs, melancholy abandoned homesteads and quirky pubs. Razorback and Brachina lookouts are stunning without leaving your car, but hiking in this crackled landscape is even better, and the natural amphitheatre of Wilpena Pound, a giant circle of quartzite cliffs, deserves a listing here all on its own. See southaustralia.com
Port Phillip Bay, Vic
We go to all corners of the world to spot dolphins and seals, yet they’re right here, in Melbourne’s bay. While the dolphins can be nonchalant about swimming with ungainly humans, the Australian fur seals of Chinaman’s Hat shipping marker are always up for cavorting with swimmers, zipping as playfully as a pack of flippered golden retrievers with the boat tours that come to visit. See visitvictoria.com
Lake St Clair, Tas
Leeawuleena Lake St Clair translates as “sleeping water” and the serene lake is the end point for the six-day Overland Track and the trailhead of several spectacular hour-long walks, some wheelchair-friendly. Spy wombats trotting through snow even in November, and warm up at Lake St Clair lodge with a shot of locally distilled Trapper & Miggins Overland gin or spend the night on the lake at one of Australia’s most iconic stays, Pumphouse Point. See discovertasmania.com.au
Tjoritja/West MacDonnell Ranges, NT
A string of cool waterholes and sacred gorges shelter shy rock wallabies and raucous birdlife come in spring for Tjoritja’s waves of wildflowers. Sections of unsealed road and campsite-only accommodation keep the number of overnight visitors in check, but even just an hour from Alice Springs, the day-tripper is richly rewarded. Otherwise, throw the tent in the car and get lost for a week in the West Macs’ sublime landscapes. See northernterritory.com
Gold Coast Hinterland, Qld
Barely 45 minutes’ drive from the beaches, the Gold Coast Hinterland has managed to remain a secret, outside the region. Home to two World Heritage-listed national parks containing 100,000 hectares of the world’s oldest Gondwana rainforest, there’s now even more reason to visit. Some of Australia’s best new boutique hotels have opened, complementing what was already here, like Queensland’s oldest eco-retreats and some of Australia’s best hiking trails. See queensland.com
Gidjuum Gulganyi Great Walk, NSW
While Byron Bay attracts the headlines, its hinterland should be the star. High above Byron and The Tweed, the national parks among the Tweed Volcano (its centre point – Mount Warning, or Wollumbin – is the highest mountain in the region) are home to the oldest rainforest on Earth. Previously (largely) inaccessible, a new four-day, 42-kilometre-long route takes you along the rim of this 20-million-year-old volcano, deep into Bundjalung Nation country. See nationalparks.nsw.gov.au
Hervey Bay, Qld
Thanks to that sheltered water between Hervey Bay and K’gari (formerly Fraser Island), this spot 300 kilometres north of Brisbane is the world’s unofficial whale-watching capital. Whales cruising Australia’s east coast Humpback Highway detour into the Great Sandy Strait to rest, play and show their calves the ways of the whale world. Those ways include spy-hopping – poking their heads out of the water – for a close-up view of whale-watch boats. Just who is watching who? See visitfrasercoast.com.au
K’gari, Qld
Don’t let rogue dingo headlines deter you from visiting the world’s largest sand island. The World Heritage-listed site’s level of natural beauty – think squelching over dazzling white sand into the sapphire depths of perched lakes, floating along gin-clear creeks, learning stories of sacred Indigenous places tucked within dense rainforest and taking off from the beach for a scenic flight – exerts a pull that shouldn’t be resisted. See visitfrasercoast.com.au
Carnarvon Gorge, Qld
This lush chasm is like a party trick tunnelled into Queensland’s semi-arid Central Highlands, a 720-kilometre drive north-west of Brisbane. Secondary pathways diverge from the gorge, each leading to some beguiling endpoint: Indigenous rock engravings, stencils and paintings preserved for millennia; platypus-inhabited pools; ancient cycads, lichens and mosses dripping from sandstone walls and harking back to more temperate climes. See parks.qld.gov.au
Haggerstone Island, Qld
When Roy and Anna Turner arrived on Haggerstone Island in 1985, it was uninhabited and unkempt. Over the proceeding years, the castaways constructed the organic dwellings that now comprise Haggerstone Island Resort – a shoes-off, cozzies-on retreat off Cape York’s coast in the northern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. Saltwater crocs are occasional visitors, but out near the Sir Charles Hardy Islands you can snorkel, catch crayfish and turn it into sashimi right there on the boat. The coral trout and Cape York oysters will be brought back for dinner and supplemented with fruit and veg from the island’s orchard. See haggerstoneisland.com.au
Gibb River Road, WA
“We live in such a beautiful country, yet so few of us get to see it,” says the woman walking the Emma Gorge track near the Gibb River Road’s terminus. Unspooling in slow motion between Derby and Kununurra in the Kimberley, this former drovers’ route taps into a quintessentially Australian sensibility: golden scrub grass, striated rockscapes, cooling waterholes, boundless space, eternal stillness. A 4WD is essential for the dry-season-only journey, and accommodation at campsites or the route’s handful of homesteads and lodges should be booked well ahead. See visitkununurra.com
Nullarbor Plain, WA/SA
The journey is the destination on this 1200-kilometre road trip from Ceduna in South Australia to Norseman in Western Australia. Overnight at a roadhouse motel or, better still, camp in a designated rest area and awake to bedside views of this vast, haunted, inscrutable place. The Antarctic-wind-battered landscape is a distracting companion along Australia’s longest straight stretch of road – an unswerving, 146.6-kilometre tract of Eyre Highway linking Caiguna and Balladonia. The route lengthens exponentially if you’re driving coast to coast; for a car-free alternative, take the Indian Pacific train. See journeybeyondrail.com.au
Flinders Island, Tas
Wrapped in white beaches, dipped in orange lichen and with bare granite peaks rising to 756 metres directly out of Bass Strait, Flinders Island might well be the most naturally beautiful piece of Tasmania. Scale the Strzelecki Peaks, beach-hop to hulking Castle Rock and hike a circuit through the colours – blue seas, vibrant orange lichens – of Trousers Point, one of Tasmania’s finest beaches. See visitflindersisland.com.au
Hinchinbrook Island National Park, Qld
While other tropical islands work on their tans and their cocktail recipes, Hinchinbrook Island is resolutely committed to hiking. Midway between Townsville and Cairns, Hinchinbrook has the highest mountains on any Australian island, but its sole piece of infrastructure is the coastal Thorsborne Trail. It’s only 32 kilometres long, but this is the tropics, so do what most hikers do and stretch it out over four days. See parks.qld.gov.au
Franklin River, Tas
Is there an Australian river more emotive than the Franklin? Once targeted to be dammed, it’s now one of the world’s best rafting rivers and the epitome of wilderness travel. You’re in the full presence of nature as you bump down this river – there’s no phone reception anywhere along the nine-day journey, nor a single building, just deep gorges, rumbling rapids and a blanket of World Heritage-listed forest. See tasmanianexpeditions.com.au
Wilsons Promontory National Park, Vic
So many Australians cut their hiking teeth in Wilsons Promontory National Park, home to the three- to four-day Southern Prom Circuit, a trail that hops its way from beach to beach – Tidal River, Sealers Cove, Refuge Cove, Waterloo Bay, Oberon Bay – on the hook-shaped Prom. Build in an extra day and go further, spending a hiking night in a lighthouse keeper’s cottage near the southernmost point of the Australian mainland. See parks.vic.gov.au
Karijini National Park, WA
Australia’s greatest collection of gorges is found scratched deep into the red earth of the Pilbara. This web of seven gorges runs like fractures through the earth and provides walks that range from strolls to borderline canyoning, with ice-cold swims in cliff-bound pools such as Jubura (Fern Pool) and Handrail Pool. See exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au
Cape Le Grand National Park, WA
Share the explorer Matthew Flinders’ joy at finding the white-sand beach he named Lucky Bay (crowned the world’s best beach in 2023) and watch its kangaroos famously hanging out on the sands, but be sure to range beyond. Hellfire Bay and Thistle Cove rival Lucky Bay for beauty, and they’re all connected on foot by the 15-kilometre Cape Le Grand Coastal Trail if you want to earn your beach time. See exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au
Ningaloo, WA
In the swimming-with-big-things category, it doesn’t get better than snorkelling alongside whale sharks (March to August). Unless you’d rather take the plunge with humpback whales during their annual migration (June to November). If you prefer to stay within a few strokes of shore, Turquoise Bay’s drift snorkel delivers big rewards for minimal effort. Other highlights include exploring Cape Range National Park, staying in an eco-luxe safari camp, and marine fly-fishing. See westernaustralia.com
Central Australia, NT
By day Uluru’s worn red hide is astounding and its presence neck tingling, but don’t miss the chance to gaze at the Australian outback sky by night. With no light interference or pollution, the Southern Hemisphere’s stars are staggering. You’ll see the vast smear of the Milky Way, multiple constellations, and can learn about how Indigenous people have interpreted the skies. It’s a sight to astound the soul and there’s no better place on the planet to experience it than in Central Australia. See northernterritory.com
Coral Coast reefs, WA
These are remote and take more effort to access than the Great Barrier Reef, but the reward is adventure, and the only crowd shoals of fish dressed like drag queens in flamboyant orange and green, trailing feathered fins. You can just wade in and enjoy some of the world’s best fringing reefs. You can swim with whale sharks and humpbacks and manta rays. Marvellous creatures, dreamlike underwater scenery: brilliant. See australiascoralcoast.com
Kalbarri wildflowers, WA
The West Australia wildflower season in late winter and spring is sumptuous and, while in Kalbarri National Park you don’t get vast carpets of colour, the wildflowers are magnificently offset by blood-red gorges and cliffs pummelled by sapphire seas. Orange and gold banksias and kangaroo paws – some green or even black – erupt in August, and eucalypts are in full bloom. Kalbarri Visitor Centre has an interpretive 1.8-kilometre trail on the wildflowers. See westernaustralia.com
Karijini National Park, WA
It’s distant, dusty, and you’ll have to camp, but rejoice that the remoteness of this national park in the Hamersley Ranges keeps tourist hordes away. It’s just you and ancient rock, crumpled into twisting bands of red and purple, and cleaved into fiery gorges whose valley floors offer pools, waterfalls and unexpected splatters of greenery. Sunsets in these rusting gorges are hallelujah moments. This might be Australia’s best middle-of-nowhere. See exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au
King George River, WA
The only way to get to this Kimberley river is by expedition cruise ship and Zodiac excursion for an exclusive experience in what would otherwise be one of Australia’s most famous sights if more conveniently located. You putter 12 kilometres up a gorge of cracked and convulsed red rock that looks like the setting of a science-fiction planet before arriving at twin falls that teeter off a worn escarpment. See australiasnorthwest.com
Valley of the Giants, WA
Stunning eucalyptus trees that grow up to 90 metres are an icon of Western Australia’s south-west, and while jarrah and karri trees might be better known, the tingle trees in Walpole-Nornalup National Park are magnificent too. Many are 400 years old, with enormous buttresses and sometimes hollowed-out bases. A tree-top walk takes you 40 metres up into the tree canopy for a different perspective on tingle-tree forest. See westernaustralia.com
Gondwana rainforests, NSW/Qld
Step into one of the Gondwana Rainforests, lush emerald landscapes glowing with leaf-filtered light, and you are travelling deep into pre-history, to the days of the Gondwana supercontinent. Spread across northern NSW and southern Queensland, these ancient forests contain giant ferns and ancient Antarctic beech trees (some up to 3000 years old), ancient volcanoes and caves lit by glow warms. From Springbrook National Park to Wollumbin National Park and beyond, this is time travel at its best. See nationalparks.nsw.gov.au; environment.qld.gov.au
Litchfield National Park, NT
On a hot day in the Northern Territory, nothing beats the bliss of cooling off in a croc-free waterhole. At Litchfield National Park, a 90-minute drive out of Darwin, you have plenty to choose from. When you’re done splashing about in the family-friendly Buley Rockhole or the pool at Florence Falls, fed by twin cascades, take a walk through the monsoon forest, gaze in awe at the mighty termite mounds, or be entranced by some of the park’s dramatic waterfalls. See nt.gov.au
Rottnest Island, WA
Known to the Noongar people as Wadjemup, this island off the coast of Fremantle is a special place. For a start, private cars are banned and visitors get around on bicycles or on foot. Secondly, it’s ringed with gorgeous beaches, making it easy to find a quiet spot all your own. Finally, it’s home to the quokka, a marsupial with a loveable grin which is bound to end up in your selfies. Awww, cute. See rottnestisland.com
Warrumbungles, NSW
Few places in the country feel as otherworldly as the Warrumbungles, where volcanic spires rise sharply from a vast inland skyline. By day, hike through Australia’s own “Grand Canyon”, weaving past jagged peaks and ancient formations. By night, Australia’s only Dark Sky Park becomes a stargazer’s dream and a perfect camping spot. Don’t miss a session at Milroy Observatory with comet-discoverer Donna Burton. See milroyobservatory.com.au
Noosa Everglades, Qld
One of only two everglade systems on Earth, the Noosa Everglades is a serene maze of mirror-still waterways, tea-tree forests and abundant birdlife, from black swans to egrets. Kayaking here is the classic way to experience the magic, gliding across reflections that look painted onto the water. A spectacular corner of Queensland that feels worlds away from Noosa’s bustle. See evergladesecosafaris.com.au
Kangaroo Island, SA
It’s not just KI’s landscapes and wildlife that have bounced back since the devastating bushfires of 2019 and 2020, the island’s tourism offering has also returned with impressive vigour. Where else can you stay in a glass-fronted eco-pod overlooking a dramatic swathe of coastline (Wander), sip on gin infused with local mulberries (Kangaroo Island Spirits) and enjoy an alfresco Mediterranean feast within the branches of a sprawling 120-year-old fig tree. See southaustralia.com
Wukalina Walk, Tas
The Wukalina Walk leads you across the ochre cliffs, coastal heathlands and luminous bays of Tasmania’s north-east, guided by palawa community members who share stories that have shaped this land for millennia. Staying in beautifully crafted cultural huts and walking country at a gentle pace, you’ll gain a rare, immersive insight into palawa history, resilience and deep connection to place. It’s one of Australia’s most meaningful multi-day walks. See wukalinawalk.com.au
Yuraygir, NSW
This 65-kilometre trail from Angourie to Red Rock, which threads through heathland, wild beaches, lagoons and rocky headlands, is one of the wildest and most beautiful sections of coastline in NSW. Hike day to day or opt for guided multi-day treks with overnight camping or village stays. Look out for migrating whales, dolphins and abundant birdlife, while traversing the traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl peoples. See connectadventures.com.au
Killen Falls, NSW
Hidden in the Byron hinterland, Killen Falls is a cave-backed cascade that spills into a cool, dreamy swimming hole, and a quieter, moodier alternative to the big-ticket Minyon Falls. A short, shady walk leads to the lookout and the water’s edge, where sunlight filters through the trees and you can (almost) pretend you’ve stumbled on a secret. Come early for peak tranquillity. See visitnsw.com
Kakadu National Park, NT
World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is home to croc-filled wetlands, rugged gorges and waterfalls, and the Bininj/Mungguy people, who trace their custodianship of this tropical wilderness back 20,000 years. Join Yellow Water Cruise on a new celestial billabong tour that blends Indigenous and European stargazing traditions, learn about traditional bushfoods at a campfire cook up with Animal Tracks Safari, or meet the artists at Marrawuddi Arts and Culture. See kakadutourism.com
Lady Elliot Island, Qld
Picture the Great Barrier Reef and people tend to think of its northern reaches, off the likes of Cairns and Port Douglas, or Heron Island in the south. But don’t forget Lady Elliot Island, an underrated beauty accessible by light plane from Hervey Bay. This small coral cay has some of the world’s best scuba-diving and snorkelling, with plenty of manta rays and other big-ticket species, coupled with charming, laid-back accommodation. See ladyelliot.com.au
Contributors: Andrew Bain, Anthony Dennis, Ben Groundwater, Kerry van der Jagt, Brian Johnston, Ute Junker, Nina Karnikowski, Katrina Lobley, Catherine Marshall, Rob McFarland, Justin Meneguzzi, Tim Richards, Craig Tansley and Sue Williams.
Traveller has 10 copies of Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Australia Travel List coffee table book, all about the best Australian travel experiences and valued at $39.99, to give away to our readers. Send us your picks of the greatest Australian destinations not included on Traveller’s “100 all-time greatest Australian destinations” list. We’ll publish the most interesting and inspiring responses at a future date.
