563 Best Sights in Australia

Even on the roughest day it's safe to swim at the end of this long, keyhole-shape inlet, which makes it a popular family beach. There are toilet facilities, a kiosk, and a café. This is also a popular snorkeling spot that usually teems with tropical fish, including a huge blue groper, which has called this enclave home for more than a decade. Take Bus 339 from Argyle Street, Millers Point (The Rocks), Wynyard, or Central Station; or a train from the city to Bondi Junction, then board Bus 360. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: snorkeling; sunrise; swimming.

You'll feel like Gulliver walking through this miniature village and gardens 15 km (9 miles) northwest of the center of Canberra. Named after a small town in England, this site is a big hit with children who love wandering past the football stadium and hearing the roar of the crowd, and seeing classic structures such as Stonehenge, a miniature turf maze, windmills, and a cricket match on the village green. They'll also love taking a ride on the miniature train through the gardens. Cockington Green began as a miniature museum for all things English (country cottages, village church, etc.) more than 30 years ago; however, many international miniature buildings—such as theTenochtitlan Temple in Mexico, the Chateau Bojnice in Slovakia, and India's Red Fort—have been added over the years. It is near Gold Creek Village shopping center; take the Barton Highway and head toward Yass.

Fueling Sydney's addiction to fine food, most of this sprawling waterfront complex, on the city side of Darling Harbour, is dedicated to gastronomy, as well as a few bars and nightclubs. If you have a boat you can dock at the marina—and avoid the hassle of parking a car in one of the city's most congested centers.

Cockle Creek is the southernmost "town" in Australia. It consists of a a ranger station and a campground, but also a series of stunning beaches. The neighboring hamlet of Catamaran is similarly dotted with picturesque bays and beaches, surrounded by forests and mountains. French explorers landed here before English settlement and aspects of that history can be explored also. There are walking tracks including the awe-inspiring Lion Rock at South Cape Bay. Amenities: toilets. Best for: walking; swimming.

Traveling the route of South Australia's first railway line—originally laid between Goolwa and Port Elliot, and extended to Victor Harbor in 1864—the Cockle Train traces the lovely Southern Ocean beaches on its 16-km (10-mile), half-hour journey. The train runs by steam power, subject to availability and weather conditions, daily during summer school holidays (late December to late January), on Easter weekend, and on Wednesday and Sunday in the winter months. A diesel locomotive pulls the heritage passenger cars on days of Total Fire Ban.

Convict-built in 1829 on the site of the city's original timber wharf, this was Brisbane's first stone building. It has served as a customs house, storehouse, and immigrants' shelter, and is currently the headquarters of The Royal Historical Society of Queensland. The RHSQ library and Commissariat Store museum is open to visitors Tuesday to Friday, and holds exhibitions, historical documents, manuscripts, and artifacts dating back to Brisbane's early colonial days. Group tours of the museum are welcome.

Perched on a hillside overlooking Daylesford, this gallery occupies a former 19th-century nunnery that has been restored to its lovely Victorian-era state. It houses three levels of fine art and a nun-related museum, and occasionally stages live arts performances. At the front of the gallery is Bad Habits, a sunny café that serves light lunches and snacks, while Altar Bar is a hip place for a drink. The second-story penthouse suite is the ultimate in decadence, with its own hydrotherapy bath and a boudoir-style bedroom. For groups, the 1920s Monastiraki guesthouse lets you sleep among yet more art from the Convent's owner, Tina Banitska, which displays a wicked sense of humor, or the two-bedroom art house, "Love and Madness," opposite the Convent Gallery.

Ten minutes' drive southeast of Airlie, Conway National Park is a 54,000-acre expanse of mangroves, woodlands, rocky cliffs, and tropical lowland rain forest that shelters the endangered Proserpine rock wallaby and other rare species, as well as sulfur-crested cockatoos, emerald doves, Australian bush-turkeys, and orange-footed scrubfowl. Most walking trails start at the park's picnic area at the end of Forestry Road, about 10 km (6 miles) from Airlie. Mount Rooper Walking Track, a 5.4-km (3-mile) circuit, meanders uphill through bushland to a lookout with breathtaking Whitsundays views. If time permits, and you're sufficiently fit, you can cycle, run, or walk the 27-km (17-mile) Conway circuit, starting at Forestry Road carpark and ending in Airlie Beach. Swamp Bay track follows the creek to a coral-strewn beach with a bush camping area.

A reef protects this lively beach (pronounced kuh-jee), creating slightly calmer swimming conditions than those found at its neighbors. For smaller children, the southern end offers a small enclosed pool, or keep following the coastal path, and there's a small women's-only natural pool that costs just 20 cents entry. The grassy headland overlooking the beach has an excellent children's playground. Cafés in the shopping precinct at the back of the beach sell ice cream, pizza, and the ingredients for picnics. Take Bus 373 or 374 from Circular Quay or Bus 372 from Central Station. Or, take the CBD and South East Light Rail to Randwick and walk down to Coogee Beach, taking 25 minutes. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: sunrise; swimming; walking.

Once the on-leave residence of the Pacific navigator Captain James Cook, this modest two-story home, built in 1755 by Cook senior, was transported stone by stone from Great Ayton in Yorkshire, England, and rebuilt in the lush Fitzroy Gardens in 1934. It's believed that Cook lived in the cottage between his many voyages. The interior is simple, a suitable domestic realm for a man who spent much of his life in cramped quarters aboard sailing ships.

Cooktown's historical museum, aptly housed in a former postal and telegraph office built in 1875, is staffed by affable volunteers and houses an extensive collection of photographs dating from 1873. The building also holds Cooktown's archives and is a research center for local history. It also houses semipermanent displays.

Locally made works (including Indigenous art) in various media line the walls of this terrific gallery, where you'll often find artists working on-site. Proceeds benefit the Cooktown School of Art Society, which also offers art classes.

A sliver of land stretching southeast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, this park hugs the coast for more than 150 km (94 miles). Many Australians became aware of the Coorong's beauty from the 1970s film Storm Boy, which told the story of a boy's friendship with a pelican. These curious birds are one reason why the Coorong is a wetland area of world standing.

Just five minutes' drive from Hobart's city center, this safe and quiet beach lies immediately north of the Queen's Domain urban parkland. Assorted sailing boats sit offshore in Cornelian Bay, while a popular trail, the Queen's Walk, runs directly behind the beach. The Cornelian Bay trail is popular among the locals. Charming Heritage-listed boathouses, picnic sites, a children's playground, and barbecues line the shore. The waterfront-facing Cornelian Bay Boathouse Restaurant is known for creative locally caught seafood and fresh Tasmanian produce. Amenities: food and drink; parking (free). Best for: solitude; walking.

The seaside town of Cowes is the hub of Phillip Island; the pier is where you can board sightseeing cruises and the passenger ferry that travels across Western Port to French Island and Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula. It has a lively café scene and several quality gift shops interspersed with the traditionally cheaper tourist fare. Restaurant and hotel bookings are essential in the busy summer months.

This research facility has an excellent air-conditioned crocodile museum and education center. There are more than 1,200 crocodiles here, from babies to giants up to 16 feet long. The saurian section of the zoo includes the croc-infested Bellairs Lagoon and pens for breeding and raising. The park also has enclosures with lions, tigers, American alligators, cassowaries, primates, turtles, an emu, and a dingo, among other animals, and holds one of the biggest snakes in Australia: a Burmese python weighing 308 pounds. Tours and feedings are at 10 am, noon, and 2 pm, while a croc boat cruise gets you a little closer to these magnificent creatures twice a day at 11 am and 1 pm.

Right in the heart of Darwin City, this is the place to go swimming with saltwater crocodiles and live to tell the tale. Feeding times for the big crocs (daily at 11:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 4:30 pm) and the Cage of Death, a not-for-the-faint-of-heart attraction where visitors are lowered into croc-infested pools in a clear perspex container (A$175), are not to be missed. Bring your swimsuit along and take a photo of you swimming alongside these impressive creatures (again, you're in a completely separate pool). Feedings and presentations happen at different times throughout the day in the four main sections—fish, big crocs, turtles, and nocturnal reptiles—during which you can take your turn feeding young crocs and holding a variety of reptiles.

Biodynamic? Tick. Homegrown produce? Tick. Gorgeous vineyard setting? Tick. Stellar wines. Tick, tick, tick. Cullen isn’t the flashiest winery in Margaret River, but its rustic, cottage feel is a strong part of the allure. Family owned since it began in 1971 it has long followed an ethos to care for the planet and exist sustainably, and it seems Mother Nature is returning the favor. The Cullen Biodynamic Wine Room serves crisp, clean wines, along with fresh, flavorsome meals using seasonal ingredients from the on-site biodynamic spiral garden (visit for free independently). Seated wine tastings offer a personal service and in-depth experience from A$30 per person. General tastings at the bar start at A$15. 

Traveling in a group of six or more? Make a booking for wine tastings.

This expanding distillery got its start by making and supplying hand sanitizer to the masses! Now they are Bunbury's favorite producer of gin, vodka, and rum. This adult activity includes spirit tastings, make-your-own-gin classes, yin-and-gin yoga sessions, and, of course, shopping for your favorite spirits and Cuprum merchandise in their giant shed. Visit their website to see what's on offer during your visit and feel free to contact them with expressions of interest.  Try the raspberry gin.

The last surviving example of the elegant sandstone buildings that once ringed Circular Quay, this former customs house now features an amazing model of Sydney under a glass floor. You can walk over the city's skyscrapers, all of which are illuminated by fiber-optic lights. The Customs House has an excellent two-level library, art galleries, and ground-floor bar. The rooftop Café Sydney, the standout in the clutch of restaurants and cafés in this late-19th-century structure, overlooks Sydney Cove. The building stands close to the site where the British flag was first raised on the shores of Sydney Cove in 1788.

Winemaker Chester Osborn is known for powerful reds and fortified wines as well as quality whites with eye-catching names (the Cenosilicaphobic Cat, anyone?). The winery, family run since 1912, is dominated by the stunning architecture of the d'Arenburg Cube, which is an attraction in itself and overlooks the vineyards, the valley, and the sea, as well as d'Arry's Verandah Restaurant. The tempting seasonal lunch-only menu uses local produce for its Modern Australian dishes.

This World Heritage–accredited Wet Tropics Visitor Centre's elevated boardwalks and a high viewing tower enable you to overlook an astoundingly diverse tract of ancient rain forest. You can acquire information en route from handheld audio guides, expert talks, and the on-site interpretative center. Four audio-guided trails include a Bush Tucker Trail and a Cassowary Circuit, on which you might spot one of these large but well-camouflaged birds. Take the Aerial Walkway across part of the bush, then the stairs to the top of the 76-foot-high Canopy Tower. Keen students of botany and ecology might want to prebook a guided group tour. The shop sells books, cards, souvenirs, and clothing. There's also an on-site café.

Geologists believe the mighty Fitzroy River cut and shaped the limestone walls you see today at Danggu Geikie Gorge, and during the wet season, the normally placid waters roar through the region. The walls of the gorge are stained red from iron oxide, except where they have been leached of the mineral and turned white by the floods, which have washed as high as 52 feet from the bottom of the gorge.

The gorge is one of the few places in the world where freshwater barramundi, mussels, stingrays, and prawns swim. The park is also home to the freshwater archerfish, which can spit water as far as a yard to knock insects out of the air. Aboriginal people call this place Danggu, meaning "big fishing hole."

Due to its isolation and sparse population, the Northern Territory played an important role in the expansion of aviation in Australia, and this impressive museum traces the history of flight Down Under. Planes on display include a massive B-52 bomber on permanent loan from the United States and a recently retired RAAF F-111 fighter jet, as well as a Japanese Zero shot down on the first day of bombing raids in 1942. There's also a great exhibition on female aviators, including Amy Johnson, the first to fly solo from the U.K. to Australia in 1930.

The best views of Darwin Harbour are from Stokes Hill Wharf, a working pier that receives cargo ships, trawlers, defense vessels, and, occasionally, huge cruise liners. It's also a favorite spot for Darwinites to fish, and when the mackerel are running, you can join scores of locals over a few beers. The cluster of cafés becomes crowded on weekends and when cruise ships arrive. On the city side, in the Waterfront Precinct, is the Wave Lagoon (entry is $7; open daily 10 am to 6 pm) and a free, stinger-free (safe from jellyfish) swimming lagoon. Both are popular on hot days. The Waterfront is also home to some of the city's best restaurants and cafés, and is where free festivals and movie nights are held during the dry season.

Located in the town of Burleigh Heads—7 km (4½ miles) south of Broadbeach—and named for an Australian wildlife naturalist, the park features a daily program of ranger-led walks and presentations, a boardwalk trail, and picnic facilities. See koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, platypuses, and crocodiles, grouped together in separate zones according to their natural habitat, or discover threatened species and the elusive platypus in the state-of-the-art nocturnal house. There's also a café and a gift shop.

Daily presentations are included in the ticket price; the platypus feeding at 10:30 am is a must-see.

The wonderful views of the harbor (and since the 1930s, the Harbour Bridge) have made this park and its location noteworthy for centuries. Named for William Dawes, a First Fleet marine officer and astronomer who established the colony's first basic observatory nearby in 1788, this park was also once the site of a fortification known as Dawes Battery. The cannons on the hillside pointing toward the Opera House came from the ships of the First Fleet.

A family-owned winery for four generations, De Bortoli was established (in New South Wales) in 1928, four years after the founder, Vittorio De Bortoli, and his wife, Giuseppina, migrated to Australia from northern Italy. Today, this Yarra Valley winery specializes in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz, along with a changing array of less famous wines including Gamay, Pinot Blanc, and Nebbiolo. Wine tastings start from A$10 and can include the famous Noble One Botrytis Semillon, De Bortoli’s most awarded wine since its release in 1982. Choose from Trophy Room premium wine tastings or cheese and wine tastings (for a minimum of two people) with prices on application. The restaurant, which has stunning views of the surrounding vines, landscaped gardens, and mountains, serves Italian dishes using Yarra Valley produce; the fixed-price two-course lunch is A$70 a head and the three-course option is A$85.

Separated from Dee Why by a narrow channel, Long Reef Beach is remoter and much quieter than its southern neighbor. However, Dee Why has better surfing conditions, a big sea pool, and several good restaurants. To get here, take Bus 136 from Manly. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguard; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

WWII came to Australia when 188 Japanese planes bombed Darwin on February 19, 1942, killing 235 people and injuring an additional 400. This high-tech, newer section of the museum at East Point—opened in 2012 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the attack—tells the story of the people who were there that day, the events that led up to and followed it, and Darwin's role in the war. The Defence of Darwin Experience is the highlight—when you hear the air raid siren, head to the back of the museum and enter the theater to view an intense, multisensory telling of what happened that day, complete with loud explosive sounds, strobe lights, and flash effects. It's part of the Darwin Military Museum, which has lots of guns and other military equipment on display, as well as some original buildings that were there during World War II.