With its extraordinary landscapes, big open skies and sunny disposition, it’s not hard to understand why so many visitors are seduced by Australia and the Australian way of life.
We’ve gathered together the top reasons we think Australia wins the hearts of so many visitors and ranked them. Click through the gallery to see if you agree…
Returned Services League clubs, or RSLs, were originally set up to provide somewhere for current and ex-serve personnel and their families to have a meal and enjoy a drink or two. Soon everyone was welcome and the heavily-subsidised RSLs became THE place for good value tucker (food), cheap schooners (beer) and a quick flutter on the one-armed bandits (poker machines). That holds true to this day and you’ll find one in most cities, towns and suburbs across the country. Just make sure to show respect when the Ode of Remembrance is read out every evening at 6pm.
Centring on the lives of families living on a cul-de-sac in suburban Melbourne, this sunny Australian soap opera gave many international viewers their first impression of life Down Under, especially in Britain where 19.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the famous wedding of cast favourites Scott and Charlene. Today visitors still make the pilgrimage out to Pin Oak Court in Vermont South which doubled as Ramsay Street in the soap. Hoping, perhaps, to catch a glimpse of the ghost of dog Bouncer bounding down Mrs Mangel’s driveway.
The first thing you’ll ask when you arrive in the outback opal mining town of Coober Pedy is ‘Where is everybody?’. More than 60% of the population of this bleak South Australia settlement live underground in a warren of homes, churches, pubs and even ‘campsites’. This subterranean lifestyle makes this desolate landscape ‘liveable’ when temperatures regularly hit 52°C (126°F) in the summer. Apparently Coober Pedy means ‘white man in a hole’ in the local Aboriginal language, the perfect name for one of the most surreal places in Australia.
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No visitor actually wants to come face-to-face with a venomous snake or a deadly spider or even a hungry saltwater crocodile when they visit Australia. But we would argue that in a perverse way visitors kind of like the fact that it might happen. It makes them feel adventurous, perhaps even a little hardcore. The chances of an actual encounter are infinitesimally small. On average only two people die from snake bites each year. But imagine the stories you’ll be able to tell if you do come across a redback spider on the toilet seat one night, just like the classic Australian song by Slim Newtown.
The West Australian capital Perth is a buzzing exciting town, flush with mining money and Mediterranean climate that has seen it dubbed the sunniest city in Australia. There’s a thriving foodie scene, cool café culture and some of Australia’s most beautiful beaches like Scarborough, on its ocean fringes. But its real charm lay in Kings Park, a 990-acre bushland retreat less than a mile from the Central Business District. Overlooking the languid Swan River, it is an oasis of calm and an eminently convenient way to reconnect with nature.
It seems like everything is bigger in Australia so it should come as no surprise that their roadside attractions are too. Drive any sort of distance and you’ll come across one of the country’s infamous Big Things – a cult phenomenon in which Australians have built and sculpted enormous objects usually with a tentative link to the area they stand in. Think giant prawns, enormous mangoes and huge cows. This very large concrete lobster is called Larry and is a very famous landmark in the South Australia town of Kingston, beckoning visitors to sample the local seafood.
Known around the world by just her first name, diminutive singer Kylie Minogue started her career as Charlene the mechanic on the Australian soap, Neighbours. After recording The Loco-motion for 1980s hitmakers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, she went on to conquer the music world with hits like Spinning Around, Can’t Get You Out of My Head and more recently, Padam Padam. Kylie’s position as a national treasure was cemented when she was brought into Sydney’s Olympic stadium on a giant thong (flip-flop to those who aren’t Australian) as part of the 2000 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Finally completed in 1988, Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra is a deeply symbolic building, based on the shape of two boomerangs (when viewed from above) and featuring a stunning forecourt mosaic by Warlpiri artist Michael Nelson Jagamara. Visitors are free to watch Australian democracy in action, although you’ll need to book a ticket to witness the drama of Question Time. While you’re in the national capital, make sure to visit the National Art Gallery and Australian War Museum too. And save time to sample the delicious food and drink to be found in the buzzing suburbs of Braddon, Barton and Fyshwick.
Rugby League is the sport of choice in NSW and Queensland and the local NRL competition is considered the best in the world. The pinnacle of the sport however, is the annual State of Origin series between NSW (The Blues) and Queensland (The Maroons). Played across the three games, players represent the state where they were born, in one of the most gladiatorial contests you’ll ever witness. State against state, mate against mate, this is easily the most intense and brutal sporting contest in Australia, where fans show their pride in their banana bender (QLD) or cockroach (NSW) roots.
Being in the southern hemisphere, Christmas hits differently in Australia. For one thing it’s often the hottest day of the year with temperatures pushing 40°C (104°F). And being the middle of summer, Aussies celebrate by doing summer things like go to the beach and have a Chrissy barbie (Christmas BBQ). Some European traditions are still observed, like a full Christmas roast, with the paper crowns from crackers sticking to sweaty foreheads. For visitors though, making a snowman from sand on an Aussie beach (pictured) remains an unforgettable experience.
Australians like to consider themselves as ‘larrikins’, cheeky rule-breakers who don’t take themselves too seriously. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the country’s love affair with the mullet hairstyle. Business at the front, party at the back, it has come to represent the Aussie laid back approach to life. Charity ‘Mulletfests’ across the country see contestants vie for the title of the 'Best Mullet of them All' while bands like Amyl and the Sniffers take the look to the rest of the world.
The most popular winter sport in Australia – apart from in NSW and Queensland – is Australian Rules football. This seemingly chaotic game is roughly based on an Aboriginal game known as marngrook and Gaelic football and is fast, furious and brutal. Every player is supremely athletic and when they rise above the pack to take a mark (catch) it is truly breathtaking. Most of the big clubs are based in Melbourne, but for a truly thrilling spectacle try to catch a game in one of the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The raw skills on show here are mind boggling.
Formerly known as Fraser Island, K’Gari is the world’s largest sand island and a place of incredible beauty. Half the island is covered with the remnants of ancient rainforest. The rest is home to half of the world’s perched freshwater dune lakes. 75 Mile Beach on the east coast of the island doubles as a unique ‘sand highway’ and is where you’ll find the famous Maheno shipwreck (pictured) washed ashore in 1935. You’ll also see dingoes (Australian native dogs) roaming freely. They are wild and unpredictable and should never be approached or fed.
It’s hard to imagine now but in the 1980s this magical cool-temperate rainforest tucked away in the deep gorges of western Tasmania was earmarked to be flooded as part of a hydroelectricity project. Protests across the nation saw the project halted and the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park created. Now this primal, wild, misty landscape remains largely untouched, with hiking trails, rafting trips and mountain paths revealing just a fraction of the wonders protected within.
If you’ve ever seen Crocodile Dundee, the pub in the movie, the Walkabout Creek Hotel, gives you a pretty accurate impression of what to expect from Australia’s outback hostelries. Pubs like the Birdsville Hotel in Queensland and the Daly Waters Pub in the Northern Territory are full of character – and characters. Enjoy a cold beer. Pin your bra to the ceiling. But take the tall tales you hear with a very big grain of salt.
This former pearling town in Western Australia’s far northwest is famous for its sunsets. You can either watch from the back of a camel on one of the town’s famous sunset camel trains along Cable Beach or from the beach itself, where the said camel trains form a striking silhouette. Hang around on certain evenings of the month and you’ll also witness Broome’s famous ‘Staircase to the Moon’ where the light from a full moon reflects on the water to create a dazzling ladder effect.
Australia has had a long love affair with cinema, both as entertainment and as a way to tell its unique stories. The Story of the Kelly Gang, a movie about the notorious Australian Bushranger, Ned Kelly, was first shown in 1906 and is generally regarded as the world’s first full length feature film. Since then Australia has produced extraordinary directors like Peter Weir, George Miller, Gillian Armstrong and Baz Luhrmann, who entertained the world with quirky, powerful movies full of humour, pathos and a very Australian way of looking at the world. The influence of such classics as Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee and Strictly Ballroom on world cinema is undeniable.
Covering nearly 7,722 square miles (20,000sqkm), the Northern Territory’s World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is the largest in Australia. It is a land of rugged escarpments, vast wetlands and rock art galleries more than 20,000 years old. Here you’ll find thundering waterfalls, millions of migratory birds and the odd salty (saltwater crocodile) lurking amongst the native water lilies at Yellow Water. According to UNESCO, Kakadu preserves the greatest variety of ecosystems on the Australian continent. You’ll be simply blown away by the epic landscapes.
No other place encapsulates Australia’s wide open spaces than the Nullarbor Plain, a vast limestone plateau that stretches across the southern parts of South Australia and Western Australia for roughly 400 miles (650km). Covered by little more than saltbush and blue bush (hence the name meaning no trees), driving across the Nullarbor has never-the-less become a bucket list adventure for visitors. The 90 Mile Straight between Balladonia and Caiguna is the longest and straightest stretch of road in Australia and a photo beside its road sign (pictured) has almost become mandatory.
Sausage sizzles are community events held across Australia, usually to raise money for charity. Snags (sausages) are grilled on a barbeque, served in a single slice of white bread slathered in margarine and garnished with grilled onions and your choice of condiment. You’ll find one going outside a Bunnings hardware store most Sundays and always out the front of polling booths on election day, where they are known as ‘Democracy sausages.’ Here you’ll find politicians clamouring to have their photo taken, snag in hand, to prove their credentials as ‘one of the people’ (pictured).
The battle for the title of the best city in Australia has long been a battle between the sunny hedonism of Sydney and the more urbane style of Melbourne. Recently a new contender has emerged – the riverside Queensland capital, Brisbane. Once considered something of a backwater, Brissy has become an affordable, more down to earth and increasingly sophisticated alternative to its east coast sisters. With the Olympics coming to Brisbane in 2032, soon the whole world will be aware of the river city’s undeniable charms.
Australian English is colourful and informal and one of the joys of visiting the country. Words are either shortened – brekky for breakfast, arvo for afternoon – or run together like the sign on this gate. Seemingly common words have an entirely different meaning – if an Aussie asks if you have seen their thongs, they’re talking about their flip-flops. And colourful metaphors are par for the course. (A dog’s breakfast, for example, is something that looks an absolute mess.) Master the difference between a ‘yeah, nah’ (no) and a ‘nah, yeah’ (yes) and you’re talking like a local.
Whale sharks are calm, slow-moving and very, very big and one of the best places in the world to see them is on Ningaloo Reef, a magical aquatic wonderland just off the barren Western Australia coast. The whale sharks come here for the abundant food sources, particularly in March when the coral spawns. Sharing the water with these gentle giants is simultaneously awe-inspiring and humbling and definitely a bucket list experience. Just make sure you follow your tour operator’s instructions to ensure your encounter is as ethical and unintrusive as possible.
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most scenic road trips, a stunning 151-mile (243km) drive along the golden sandstone coastal cliffs between Torquay and Allansford in Victoria. The Twelve Apostles (pictured) are the obvious highlight, a series of epic sandstone sentinels, carved by the relentless Southern Ocean. But the drive also offers up empty beaches, soaring bluffs, brilliant green countryside, epic surf spots and abundant native wildlife. It can be done as a (very long) day trip from Melbourne but it deserves much more of your time than that.
In 2024 the South Australian capital of Adelaide was named the most beautiful city in the world by Architectural Digest. It cited the Art Deco architecture, picturesque coastline and lush greenery as the factors that influenced its decision, but we suspect the world class wine areas that surround the city may have had something to do with it as well. McLaren Vale (pictured), Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Coonawarra are all within easy reach of the city, while the wineries in the Adelaide Hills are on the city’s doorstep.
Amazing Australian tourist attractions most tourists never see
Coffee is king in Australia with three-quarters of the nation enjoying a cup or two every day. The unique coffee culture here can be traced back to the waves of Western European immigrants who moved to the country after World War II, coffee machines in tow. Starbucks famously failed to thrive in Australia with Aussies deciding they didn’t need a pale imitation of the top-quality brews they were already enjoying. Melbourne is known as the coffee capital of the world, but any independent café, even in the smallest country town, will serve you the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.
Like in most fields, Australia also punches above its weight in the world of music. The country has brought the world the likes of AC/DC, INXS, the Bee Gees, The Chats and Nick Cave, each act honed in front of the demanding audiences in clubs and pubs across Australia. Despite the vagaries of licensing laws, these pubs and clubs and other makeshift venues are still a great place to catch uniquely Aussie bands like Bad//Dreems (pictured) putting on intense, pulsating shows that you’ll never forget. From the smallest pub to the biggest stadium, the quality of musicianship in Australia is extraordinary.
The Daintree has been growing for over 180,000 million years, the oldest rainforest on the planet by 10 million years and a place where the emerald green canopy tumbles directly onto golden sand beaches. This corner of far north Queensland is home to prehistoric-looking creatures too, from massive saltwater crocodiles to helmet-headed cassowaries – large flightless birds that look like they’ve just stepped off the set of Jurassic Park. Monumental and humbling, it’s easy to see why Sir David Attenborough called it “the most extraordinary place on Earth.”
This absorbing bat and ball game is Australia’s national sport and played all across the country during the summer. Australia are by far the most successful Test cricket nation in the world, having won the highest percentage of the matches they’ve played. They’re pretty good in the other formats of the game too, having won the last World Cup against India largely thanks to a blazing 137 runs off 120 balls by this man, Travis Head. Catch a game at one of Australia’s iconic grounds, maybe the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where more than 90,000 partisan fans pack in for the annual Boxing Day test match.
For a long time Australian cuisine consisted of little more than meat and two veg. But an influx of European immigrants after World War II, and Asian immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s, saw Australian palates become more and more adventurous. These days, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours are found in restaurants all over the country. Coupled with an abundance of ‘clean and green’ produce, Australia food is now considered one of the foodie capitals of the world, with city suburbs across the nation serving up international specialities, lovingly served by the immigrants that settled there.
Ostensibly, Tim Tams are two malted biscuits separated by a hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. But they are so much more than that. They are a national treasure, with their own national day (16 February) and new flavours introduced each year to much fanfare. Before she was famous, Cate Blanchett appeared in a TV commercial where she asked a wish-granting genie for a packet of Tim Tams that never ran out. It’s a wish that most Aussies would happily make in the same circumstance.
If life in Sydney revolves around its harbour, in Melbourne, it’s the city’s laneways that are buzzing with life. Melbourne considers itself more cerebral than its flashy sister to the north, and that is reflected in the cafés, bars and restaurants tucked away in a warren of alleys here. The animated conversations and classically tailored clothes Melbournians prefer to wear may lead you to believe that life’s deepest ideas are being debated. Chances are it is just the weekend’s Aussie Rules matches that are being intellectually dissected.
With their fluffy ears and thick leathery nose, Koalas are arguably Australia’s cutest animal. They are certainly among its laziest, spend much of their time nestled in the crook of a eucalyptus tree, chewing on leaves or simply napping. Vulnerable to habitat loss and sexual diseases, a colony was introduced to Kangaroo Island in South Australia where they have thrived. Despite recent devastating bushfires, it remains one of the best places to see them in the wild.
This vast stone monolith rises 1,142 feet (348m) above the surrounding desert plain, a brooding presence that changes colour throughout the day. For the local Anangu people, it is a sacred place, a resting spot for ancient spirits. To the rest of the world, the iconic heart of Australia’s forbidding Red Centre. Watching its colours shift from fiery oranges to deep reds and purples and literally glowing as the sun sets or rises is a truly mystical experience and one that visitors never forget.
Short-legged, heavy set and a little bit grumpy, wombats are the cute Australian animal that you didn’t know you loved. They range across much of southeastern Australia but the best place to encounter them is on Maria Island, a tiny island that sits just off Tasmania’s east coast. Take the Maria Island Walk on this former penal colony, now nature reserve, and you’ll meet more of these adorable chubsters than you can poke a stick at. Particularly around dusk when they are at their most active.
The sweeping crescent of Bondi Beach is arguably the most famous of Australia’s beaches. Sydneysiders will tell you that it’s not even the best beach in their city but that’s just missing the point. For visitors it’s one of the reasons they flew halfway across the world – to sit on the white sands and roast in the unforgiving sun, get pummelled by the breakers and maybe even get rescued from a rip by one of the beach’s iconic yellow and red clad lifesavers. Just like they saw on Bondi Rescue on the television back home.
Ask any person in the world what they know about Australia and chances are they’ll answer ‘kangaroos.’ These spring-coiled marsupials have become an enduring symbol of the country – gracing Australian passports and the tail fins of the national carrier, Qantas – and they are absolutely everywhere. Sure, it’s rare to find them hopping down the main streets of Australia’s cities. But with a nationwide population of 35.3 million, you’re guaranteed to see one bounding across the outback, grazing on farmland or kicking back on one of the country’s white sand beaches.
On New Year’s Eve every year up to a million people descend on Sydney harbour to watch one of the most spectacular firework displays on the planet unfold in the skies above them. Using the city’s iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge as props, the midnight sky is transformed into a breathtakingly kaleidoscopic canvas, with an estimated audience of 425 million people watching around the world. This is a bucket list event that spares no expense and employs the greatest minds in fireworks in the world to ensure each year is bigger, better and bang-ier than the last.
Located off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and a UNESCO-listed natural wonder. Covering an incredible 135,000 square miles (350,000sqkm) and composed of more than 2,900 individual reefs, it is so enormous it can be seen from space. Most visitors will only get to see a small fraction of this breathtaking wonder, but with around 10% of the world's total fish species just the other side of their snorkelling masks, it remains one of the most incredible underwater experiences on Earth.
The art of Australia’s Indigenous people is colourful and captivating and pregnant with meaning. Every form of Aboriginal art is centred on storytelling, with each dot, line and colour sharing knowledge of the land, important events and beliefs and passing that on for future generations. There are countless souvenir shops selling pale imitations, many of them culturally insensitive. Visitors should instead buy pieces from the communities they visit, directly from the artist themselves who can share the story behind it and make your purchase truly meaningful.
Ever since Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to Australia in 1915, the ‘sport’ has become a cornerstone of Australian life. Following the sun, chasing the waves is the Aussie idea of Nirvana, and one that quickly seduces visitors too. There are any number of surf schools up and down the east coast (and parts of the west coast too) that can teach you how to master the waves. And countless surf shops stocking the latest surf wear from iconic Aussie brands like Billabong, Rip Curl and Quiksilver, so you’ll at least look the part.
The mythical heart of Australia, the Outback is a vast empty space 22 times bigger than the UK and with cattle stations bigger than entire European countries. It is a land of red deserts, blue skies and endless horizons. Early settlers called it the back of beyond. For the local Aboriginals it is a sacred place. The Outback intrigues and intimidates, challenging visitors to confront just how infinitesimally small they are, especially at night, under a blanket of stars that look close enough to touch. Visiting the Outback is a life changing experience and one that many visitors never forget.
It’s not just shrimps, or prawns as the locals prefer to call them, that you’ll find on the barbie (barbeque) in Australia. Aussies will toss any kind of fresh seafood on the grill, from lobsters and scallops right through to whole red snappers pulled from the ocean just hours before. Follow the lead of locals and head to the nearby fish co-op to pick up what you need. In Sydney, the fish market at Pyrmont is excellent too. Moreton Bay or Balmain Bugs (a type of slipper lobster) make an interesting change. And thick barramundi steaks, more common in the north of the country, are a real treat.
The culture of Australia’s Aboriginal people is the oldest living culture in the world and can be traced back over 60,000 years. It existed long before Stonehenge and the Pyramids and has a deep connection with the land and its guardianship. It can be seen in the stunning rock art of the Kimberley and Kakadu, but a more rewarding connection can be had on one of the many Aboriginal tourism experiences across the country where local Aborigines tell their stories and share the meaning of their cultures and way of life.
Magical Sydney Harbour is rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful harbours in the world, a glittering blue jewel which the whole city seems to gravitate towards. Crowned by the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House, both engineering marvels in their own right, the harbour boasts more than 150 miles (240km) of shoreline, with countless unspoiled beaches, gardens and natural bushland to discover and explore. But first, catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, the best and most affordable way to experience Sydney from its best vantage point.
As you can imagine in a country as vast as Australia, the weather varies from state to state, territory to territory. Generally speaking though, there are four seasons across most of the country and a wet and dry season in the tropical north. And because Australia lies in the southern hemisphere, at the opposite time of the year to countries in the north. Most of the big cities enjoy a Mediterranean style climate with plenty of sunshine. Indeed, as the tourist slogan for Queensland, Australia’s own Sunshine State, says it’s ‘Beautiful one day, perfect the next.’
Early Dutch explorers mistook these sweet little marsupials for cat-sized rats and named the island they live on Rottnest (Rat’s Nest) Island. Now people travel from every corner of the planet to this tiny island just off southwest Western Australia to get a selfie with these cute little hoppers. Their adorable smiles and cheeky disposition has seen them dubbed the ‘happiest animal in the world’. Such is their new found popularity, Tourism Western Australia has begun offering tips on how to get your snap in a safe and ethical way.
For the under-five set – and their parents, to be fair – the opening of Bluey’s World in Brisbane was the biggest news in world tourism in 2024. Based on the charming characters of arguably the planet's most popular children’s TV show, this immersive experience leads overly excited visitors through the old Queenslander house that is home to the Heeler family, comprising Bluey, her younger sister, Bingo, and their parents, Bandit and Chilli. Cheese and crackers! You won’t want to miss this. Or the Bluey’s Brisbane tour that takes in the places that inspired the show’s most beloved episodes.
With 11,761 recorded beaches in Australia, visitors can find a stretch of sand to suit whatever the mood they’re in. From secret surf beaches with bucket-list breaks to crowded city beaches where people-watching is the name of the game, it would take you 32 years to visit them all. Whitehaven Beach in Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands (pictured) is often listed as the best in the world, but the truth is you’d be hard pressed to find a bad beach in Australia. Just head towards the coast and see what you find. Chances are you’ll have it pretty much to yourself as well.
Our number one reason visitors love Australia is an attitude rather than a particular thing. Aussies are a naturally cheery and optimistic bunch and why wouldn’t they be? The weather is good. They’ve got a great work/life balance. And the worries of the rest of the world seem a million miles away. (Probably because they are.) To the locals, Australia is both the Lucky Country and God’s Own and it always ranks highly in annual ‘Happiest Country in the World’ surveys. There’s a reason ‘She’ll be right, mate’ is the national motto. It generally will be.
Read on to discover how we ranked Australia's most beautiful sites...