563 Best Sights in Australia

Centuries-old relics from the HMS Pandora (the ship sent by the British Admiralty to capture the mutinous Bounty crew), which sank in 1791 carrying 14 crew members of Captain Bligh's infamous ship, are among the exhibits at this repository of the region's maritime, natural, and Indigenous history. There's a fun introduction to North Queensland's culture and lifestyle, a shipwreck exhibit, and the ecology-focused Enchanted Rainforest. Displays of tropical wildlife, dinosaur fossils, local corals, and deep-sea creatures round out a diverse public collection.

The town has a lively and attractive harbor in the shelter of Muttonbird Island, and a stroll out to this nature reserve is delightful in the evening. To get here, follow the signs to the Coffs Harbour Jetty, then park near the marina. A wide path leads out along the breakwater and up the slope of the island. The trail is steep, but the views from the top are worth the effort. The island is named after the muttonbirds (also known as shearwaters) that nest here between September and April. Between June and September Muttonbird Island is also a good spot for viewing migrating humpback whales.

More than 3,000 ancient Aboriginal rock engravings (petroglyphs) are etched into sandstone outcrops in Napwerte/Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve, 35 km (22 miles) south of Alice on the road to Chamber's Pillar. Early morning and late-afternoon light are best for photographing the lines, circles, and animal tracks. A 2-km (1-mile) trail leads to several art sites. The reserve is open all day year-round and is accessible by regular (rather than four-wheel-drive) cars; technically, however, the road is unsealed, so check with your rental car company to make sure it's not against their rules to drive on it.

Exhibits in this gracious old Georgian town house, surrounded by a lovely rose-filled garden, depict the life of Tasmania's upper-class pioneers. Of particular interest are the collections of colonial furniture, clothes, paintings, and photos.

Photographs, plans, audiovisual displays, and a laser model inside this lakeside pavilion illustrate the past, present, and future development of Canberra. Exhibits cover the time of the early settlers, Walter Burley Griffin's winning design for the city, and plans for the coming decades. From the pavilion's terrace there are sweeping views of the Parliamentary Triangle across the lake.

Housed in one of Canberra's most beautiful art deco buildings, this museum displays Australia's audio-visual cultural history. Among the many exhibits are costumes from films including Muriel's Wedding,The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Ned Kelly, along with vintage film, sound equipment, and a film still collection of more than 300,000 images. You can relax in the small theatrette (designed along early 20th-century theater lines) and watch some of the country's early news reels and short films (some are very funny). Watch arthouse movies (at an extra cost of around A$5–A$25) in the beautiful Arc cinema, which regularly screens classic movies and other nonmainstream cinematic gems.

This massive, moat-encircled, bluestone-and-concrete edifice houses works from renowned international painters including Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Its Winter Masterpieces series of international blockbuster exhibitions require tickets. In the Great Hall, it's considered perfectly reasonable to stretch out on the floor in order to properly appreciate the world's largest stained-glass ceiling, by Leonard French. A second campus of the NGV, in nearby Federation Square, exhibits Australian art only.

Constructed loosely on the design of the Parthenon in Athens, this library houses more than 5 million books and 500,000 photographs, maps, drawings, and recordings of oral history. Don't miss the state-of-the-art Treasures Gallery, which displays 80 of the library's prized pieces, such as Captain James Cook's journal of the Endeavour and Australia's only complete original convict uniform. A free Treasures Gallery tour takes place daily at 11:30 am, and a behind-the-scenes tour takes place on Thursday at 2 pm. The café has a wonderful view, and the bookshop is a browser's and buyer's delight.

This terrific space is dedicated to portraits of people who have shaped Australia and who in some way reflect the national identity. Look out for famous faces like pop star Kylie Minogue and Olympic champion Cathy Freeman, as well as priceless portraits of Captain James Cook. The building on the south shore of Lake Burley Griffin caused some controversy, but most architecture fans like its simple, clean design. The gallery also has a good arts program, with talks and film screenings, and the café's outdoor terrace has lovely views.

Steam-train buffs will love this collection of locomotives and rolling stock in the former Port Adelaide railway yard. The largest of its kind in Australia, the collection includes enormous "mountain"-class engines and the "Tea and Sugar" train, once the lifeline for camps scattered across the deserts of South and Western Australia. For an additional cost take a ride on the historic Semaphore to Fort Glanville Tourist Railway; it runs every Sunday and public holiday from October to end of April and more frequently during school holidays. There are covered outdoor eating areas with tables and chairs at the museum, where visitors may bring their own food and drink.

Timber, steel, and glass evoke the ribs of a huge wine barrel, and a soaring, open-plan concourse make this a spectacular showcase for Australian wines set on the edge of the Botanic Gardens. The A$15 Wine Discovery Journey, offered daily at 11 am, takes you from Neolithic pottery jars to a stainless-steel tank; you can even make your own virtual wine on a touch-screen computer. The center's guided tastings start at A$25 per person. In the Wined Bar, 120 wines drawn from all over Australia can be tasted in flights from state-of-the-art enomatic servers with iconic drops including Penfold's Grange and Henschke's Hill of Grace making regular appearances. The Wined Bar has a good all-day menu, including a great selection of local cheeses and smoked meats.

This interpretive center and museum at the entrance to Cooktown's Heritage-listed Botanic Gardens is home to a valuable collection of local botanical illustrations by internationally recognized artist Vera Scarth-Johnson, and impressive displays of Cape York Peninsula wildlife, bequeathed by local fauna expert Charlie Tanner. Take extra time to wander through the gardens, which, with its stone-pitched waterways and shady paths, include 154 acres of colorful native and exotic plants. A popular attraction in the gardens is a 7-meter python carved locally from ironwood. You can enjoy afternoon tea or a light lunch at the Vera Café; browse the shop of botanically themed gifts and souvenirs, including beautiful scarves, prints and postcards, wooden bowls, and authentic Indigenous art; and get regional travel tips from the on-site Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula Visitor Information Centre.

In the former headquarters of the Great Northern Railway, right on Newcastle Harbour, this museum tells the story of the city's coal mining and steel production. Visitors can don a hard hat to witness the Fire and Earth exhibition, which re-creates life in a steel mill complete with furnaces, theatrical drama, and interactive displays that shed light on the workers' challenging lives. Newcastle's other faces are captured with exhibits on Aboriginal history, the gorgeous beaches, and the earthquake that struck the city in 1989. A popular draw for kids, the Supernova Hands-on Science Centre explains how a heavy car is lifted, a tornado occurs, and magnetic fields work.

By Sydney standards, this beach at the end of the Vaucluse Peninsula is small, but behind the sand is a large, shady park that's ideal for picnics. The headlands at either end of the beach are especially popular for their magnificent views across the harbor. The beach is protected by a semicircular net, so don't be deterred by the beach's correct name, Shark Beach. The casual café is open daily and sells drinks, snacks, and meals; there is also a more upscale restaurant open for lunch daily. Parking is often difficult on weekends. Historic Greycliffe House—built in 1840 and now used as National Park offices—is in the park, while the more elaborate and stately Vaucluse House is a 10-minute walk away. Take Bus 325 from Circular Quay. Amenities: food and drink; showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

A stone's throw from the historic town of Swansea, this long, sweeping beach is a favorite for swimming, fishing, and simply soaking up the views and peaceful surroundings—visitors enjoy uninterrupted views across Great Oyster Bay to Schouten Island, The Hazards, and the Freycinet Peninsula. Dangerous rips can be a concern here—take care, especially near the sand bar. The western end of the beach has a variety of lodgings and holiday rentals. Great Swanport lagoon and wetlands form the back side of the beach. There's parking for about 100 cars in the lot. Amenities: parking (free). Best for: solitude; surfing; swimming; walking.

A Newcastle landmark, Nobby's Lighthouse (on Nobby's Headland) was the third to be built in New South Wales when it opened in 1854. It's at the end of a long narrow spit (a longshore drift) and is accessed by a nearly 1-km (½-mile) path. Before it was converted to electricity in 1935, the original 20,000-candle light was tended by three keepers. The grounds of the lighthouse, and one of the lightkeeper's cottages, are open Sunday 10–4. It's a terrific vantage point for avid photographers.

With gentle waves and year-round lifeguard patrol, Noosa's Main Beach is a perfect swimming spot, ideal for families or those who aren't confident in the bigger swells. The beach backs onto leafy Hastings Street with its bustle of upmarket cafés, bars, restaurants, and shopping spots. For a quieter scene, head to Noosa Spit, a popular picnic spot and off-leash dog beach. Or for wild beauty and great surf, Tea Tree Bay in the national park is a 20-minute walk away. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets. Best for: sunrise; sunset; swimming; surfing; walking.

If driving from Sydney, be sure to stop at the National Trust–listed Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum, dedicated to the Australian artist and writer. Considered one of the cultural highlights of the Blue Mountains, Lindsay lived in this house during the latter part of his life until he died in 1969. Lindsay is best known for his paintings, etchings, and drawings (many of voluptuous nudes), but he also built model boats, sculpted, and wrote poetry and children's books, among which The Magic Pudding has become an Australian classic. The delightful landscaped gardens contain several of Lindsay's sculptures, and you can also take a short but scenic bushwalk beyond the garden or take refreshments in the café. Daily tours of Lindsay's studios run from 10 am to 4 pm and are included in the price, while dedicated art fans can stay in the cottage on the grounds for A$175 a night midweek or A$220 a night Friday and weekends.

This is the quieter end of Cottesloe, where local residents go to walk their dogs (a section by Grant Street is a designated dog beach), dive in for an early morning dip, or share a sunset wine on the sand. The concrete walking path looks over the sandy beach and affords impressive views of the coastal mansions that look out to sea. Coastal reef fans out to the right of Grant Street and makes for good snorkeling in summer, but take caution in high waves as stronger currents form near the reef. Beware invisible jellyfish, known as stingers, which cause pain but pose little other threat. Amenities: lifeguards; showers. Best for: snorkeling; solitude; sunset; swimming; walking.

Cutting across the site of the colony's first hospital, Nurses Walk acquired its name at a time when "Sydney" and "sickness" were synonymous. Many of the 736 convicts who survived the voyage from Portsmouth, England, aboard the First Fleet's 11 ships arrived suffering from dysentery, smallpox, scurvy, and typhoid. A few days after he landed at Sydney Cove, Governor Phillip established a tent hospital to care for the worst cases.

This sheer volcanic plug that's some 12½ million years old rears up right behind the village—it's almost totally surrounded by the sea. You can ride a chairlift to the top of the 500-foot-high headland, where the views are breathtaking; or, you can make the 20-minute trek on a footpath leading to the summit, where walking trails lead in all directions. It's a stunning place to view birdlife and the whole northwest coastline.

The city's highest point, at 145 feet, was known originally as Windmill Hill, since the colony's first windmill occupied this breezy spot. Its purpose was to grind grain for flour, but soon after it was built the canvas sails were stolen, the machinery was damaged in a storm, and the foundations cracked. The signal station at the top of the hill was built in 1848. This later became an astronomical observatory. This is a great place for a picnic with a view.

On the bank of the Parramatta River, Old Government House (which was the country residence of Sydney's 10 early governors) is Australia's oldest surviving public building, and the World Heritage--listed building is a notable work from the Georgian period. Built by governors John Hunter and Lachlan Macquarie, the building has been faithfully restored in keeping with its origins, and contains the nation's most significant collection of early Australian furniture. In the 260-acre parkland surrounding the house are Governor Brisbane's bathhouse and observatory and the Government House Dairy. The house is often home to special exhibitions.

This bluestone building, the city's first jail, is now a museum that has three tiers of cells with catwalks around the upper levels and is rumored to be haunted. Its most famous inmate was the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly, who was hanged here in 1880. The Hangman's night tours (reservations essential) are a popular, if macabre, facet of Melbourne nightlife.

This is a genuine opal mine turned into a museum. Two fully furnished underground houses give some idea of what an opal miner’s life must have been like, while mining memorabilia is exhibited in an extensive network of hand-dug tunnels and shafts. Self-guided tours include the chance to noodle in nearby pits and see a selection of valuable opals under natural and UV light.

Goolwa is the home port of paddle-steamer Oscar W. Built in 1908, it's one of the few remaining wood-fired boiler ships and after plying the river as a trading boat was converted into a tourist attraction in the 1960s. When not participating in commemorative cruises and paddleboat races, the boat is open for inspection and, in warmer weather, one-hour cruises and longer trips that include a lunch stop—check the website for upcoming dates.

A spectacular 1,969-foot-long elevated treetop walk allows you to stroll a steel walkway above the rain-forest canopy. One section is springboard-cantilevered, and gently bounces as you pass over Young's Creek. For a faster thrill, take its 30-meter (99-foot) zipline. The entrance is about an hour's drive and 70 km (43 miles) from Lorne. To get there, follow the Great Ocean Road until it joins Skenes Creek Road, then take Forrest-Apollo Bay Road to Beech Forest Road, then Colac-Lavers Hill Road until you reach the signed turnoff to Phillips Track. From the Fly, you'll see the tops of giant myrtle beech, blackwood, and mountain ash trees, as well as spectacular views of the surrounding region.

Busy Circular Quay West is dominated by this multilevel steel-and-glass port terminal, which is often used by visiting cruise ships. There are several excellent waterfront restaurants in the terminal, all with magnificent harbor views. Even if you're not dining in the terminal, it's worth taking the escalator to the upper deck for a good view of the harbor and Opera House.

Most of this suburb's elegant two-story terrace houses were built during the 1880s, when the colony experienced a long period of economic growth following the gold rushes that began in the 1860s. The balconies are trimmed with decorative wrought iron, sometimes known as Paddington lace, which initially came from England and later from Australian foundries. Rebuilt and repainted, the now-stylish Paddington terrace houses give the area its characteristic villagelike charm. The Oxford Street shopping strip is full of upscale and funky boutiques, cafés, and several good pubs.

Billed as "an authentic Australian farm experience," the park appeals to families with wildlife tours, animal feedings, koala cuddling, sheep shearing, boomerang throwing, and displays of horsemanship. Meanwhile, adults can book a private wine tasting session. You can also stay overnight in an on-site tent, including eco tents, or your own motor home. The park is directly behind the Australian Outback Spectacular. Car parking spaces are limited.