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Whether it’s an underground art lair or a sacred rock gallery, these unique destinations capture our heritage and creative spirit, adding multiple dimensions to journeys within Australia.
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 pick: MONA, Tas
It is the museum that turned Tasmania into a global destination and 15 years on, David Walsh’s subterranean Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) continues to bedazzle, bewilder and bewitch visitors with its often-controversial exhibits (the fully functioning digestive system continues to disgust and mesmerise in equal measure). A $100 million upgrade is underway and we can’t wait to see what Walsh reveals next. See mona.net.au
Norfolk Island
While it may not match Lord Howe’s wow factor – or its price tag – Norfolk offers boundless appeal. The island’s World Heritage-listing is not derived from its abundant natural assets, including its endemic araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk pine), but from the outstanding preservation of its extensive convict sites. Add to that the story of its HMS Bounty mutineer descendants, and it’s a wonder more folk don’t make it to Norfolk. See norfolkisland.com.au; spacificatravel.com
Carnarvon Gorge, Qld
Carnarvon Gorge is a place you’d hike through for its natural beauty alone, but it goes from good to great when you get high up the gorge to find two Indigenous rock-art sites. The simply titled Art Gallery contains more than 2000 paintings, ochre stencils and engravings along a 60-metre stretch of cliffs, while it’s another three kilometres on to Cathedral Cave, an eroded overhang covered in art and engravings. See parks.qld.gov.au
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Vic
When it comes to engineering marvels, it’s easy to think of the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme. But in south-west Victoria on Gunditjmara Country, a series of 6600-year-old stone channels blows these out of the water. Designed to catch and farm kooyang (short-finned eels), Budj Bim is one of the oldest-known examples of aquaculture in the world. A UNESCO-listed site that celebrates Indigenous ingenuity and land management. See budjbim.com.au
Tiwi Islands, NT
The “Tiwis” consist of two main islands, Bathurst and Melville, which are 80 kilometres north of Darwin. A 20-minute flight or 2.5-hour ferry transports you into 7000 years of Aboriginal culture and it’s unlike anything you’ll experience on the mainland. Head to an art centre, join a guided fishing trip or time your visit for the annual footy grand final and art sale (March). In December 2025, the Tiwi Islands became Australia’s newest Indigenous Protected Area. See northernterritory.com
Silverton, NSW
It’s home to a few dozen mortal residents and free-roaming donkeys but the almost-ghost town of Silverton, near Broken Hill, feels very much alive. Each August, it buzzes thanks to the nearby Mundi Mundi Bash, a very Australian music festival. Rest of the time? Visitors flock like galahs to poke around the Mad Max 2 Museum, traverse the red-dirt streets aboard a camel, laugh at the quirky John Dynon Art Gallery, gasp at the view from Mundi Mundi Lookout and blow the froth off a cold one at the picturesque Silverton Hotel. See visitnsw.com
Naala Badu, Sydney, NSW
The striking contemporary wing of Sydney’s Art Gallery of NSW is a cavernous space of polished concrete floors and airy limestone-clad exhibition spaces that showcases Sydney’s natural beauty via glass walls and spacious terraces. Collection highlights include Francis Upritchard’s towering mythological bronze figures in the entry plaza, Yayoi Kusama’s eye-popping floral sculpture on the viewing terrace and a repurposed underground World War II oil reservoir that’s now an atmospheric seven-metre-high exhibition space called the Nelson Packer Tank. See artgallery.nsw.gov.au
Boola Bardip, Perth, WA
Not only did this $400 million complex win a swag of architecture awards when it debuted in 2020, but it also set a new curatorial benchmark, presenting the state’s history for the first time through both Western and Indigenous eyes, thanks to a five-year consultation process with more than 54,000 people. Permanent exhibitions cover everything from Western Australia’s spectacular landscapes to its changing social attitudes using a compelling assortment of immersive exhibits and personal stories. See museum.wa.gov.au
Mount Barker, SA
The Adelaide Hills is filled with pretty towns but only Mount Barker offers a world-class musical experience. The exquisite Ukaria Cultural Centre may be Australia’s most underrated concert venue, thanks not just to its elegant design, its intimate size and its extraordinary acoustics, but also to its connection with nature. Guests can look out into the beautiful gardens as they watch performers who travel from around the world for the pleasure of performing here. See southaustralia.com
Lake Ballard, WA
This salt lake, 180 kilometres from Kalgoorlie, sets a thrilling contrast against the bluest sky you’ve ever seen, the reddest dirt all around, and 51 alloy nude stick statues standing on the surface. These were cast by famed British artist Antony Gormley based on the bodies of actual Menzies locals, then reduced in size, for an arts festival in 2003. It’s a stunning sight – and see if you can spot the real-life models in town. See westernaustralia.com
Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic
This grand building in Melbourne’s Carlton Gardens is extraordinary in so many ways, as the first building in Australia to gain UNESCO World Heritage cultural listing. This is one of the few remaining structures built for the great international exhibitions of the 19th century. After that, it hosted the first meeting of federal parliament in 1901, the year Australia became a nation. Today, the building can be toured, taking in expansive views of the city from its lofty Dome Promenade. See museumsvictoria.com.au
State Library, Melbourne, Vic
One of the busiest public libraries in the world, this cultural landmark of Melbourne (a UNESCO City of Literature) is a product of the gold rush era, expanded over the decades into a vast and beautiful building capped by a famous reading room under a stunning dome. As well as books and study space, it houses art displays and literary exhibitions as well as the Wheeler Centre with its events calendar devoted to books, writing and ideas. See slv.vic.gov.au
Sydney Opera House, NSW
It is one of the world’s most spectacular buildings in one of the world’s most spectacular locations, but the Sydney Opera House’s superpower is its versatility. You can grab a bite to eat or chug on a beer while watching the sun set behind the Harbour Bridge. You can catch a stand-up comedy show, a contemporary concert – even an opera. No matter why you come, familiarity never dulls the allure of those gleaming, graceful shells. See sydneyoperahouse.com
Bigge Island, WA
Also known as Wuuyuru, this large sandstone island off the coast of the Kimberley is best known for its incredible outdoor galleries of beautifully preserved Indigenous art. It has depictions of the Wandjina, symbols of fertility and rain, and images from the first contact with visiting Europeans. The three sites are all hidden high in the hillsides but the scrambling to see them is infinitely worthwhile. See westernaustralia.com
Queenstown, Tas
It’s unfashionable to like workaday Queenstown, the west-coast town with a landscape tortured by its mining past. But those balding hills might also be seen as a blank canvas, with a growing number of artists drawn to the town. Leading the charge have been prominent Tassie artists Raymond Arnold and Helena Demczuk, while quality galleries have proliferated, from Soggy Brolly in the main street to a gallery tucked into Queenie’s grandest pub. See westcoasttas.com.au
Port Douglas, Qld
Port Douglas itself is nice enough, with its mix of big resorts and boutique accommodation, plus access to the Daintree and the reef. But the real attraction is Indigenous guide Juan Walker’s Walkabout Cultural Adventures, which provide a unique chance to tap into Kuku Yalanji culture. Walker’s tours replicate the days he used to spend with his grandfather on Country, with everything from spear-fishing mud crabs to storytelling in the Daintree. See walkaboutadventures.com.au
Groote Eylandt, NT
Ocean fishing and gallery hopping appear to be incompatible holiday activities, but they both exemplify Anindilyakwa culture on this Gulf of Carpentaria island, a 90-minute flight from Darwin. Indigenous cave art sites have been sequestrated from the island’s mining operations and are accessible on guided tours; works by artists from across the Groote Archipelago are exhibited in the Anindilyakwa Arts and Cultural Centre. See gelnt.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.
