Australia is a country and a continent in the region of Oceania. It’s known for great beaches, the rugged outback, astonishing wildlife and, of course, The Great Barrier Reef. If you’re planning to travel to Australia, this list of the top ten things to see and do in Australia is based on our personal experiences of travelling in, and living in, Australia. We also took a look at the most popular tours and places to visit in Australia, to see if our opinions aligned with our typical tourists and the stats.
Top 10 Best Things To See and Do in Australia
The best things to see and do in Australia will depend on you, your interests, your location in Australia, and your budget. We’ve tried to give you options so that you can choose the activities that are best for you.
I did some digging into who was visiting Australia, where, and when. Here is the approximate data, with a link to the source.
In the 2024-25 financial year, over 8 million visitors arrived in Australia. Most come from New Zealand (17%), with Chinese visitors in second place. 48% were here on holiday. Most arrive in December and February, Australia’s hottest months.
Visitors from the USA and UK were represented in good numbers, with a lot of Asian countries making it to the top 10.
New South Wales has the most arrivals, followed by Victoria. Queensland and Western Australia come next, with visitor numbers dropping to South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and ACT.
If you’d like to look at this very interesting data for yourself, it’s here, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
So, we need to focus more on Sydney, I already knew that the most popular tour in Australia is in Sydney. Of course, some of these arrivals in New South Wales will travel internally, but the distances involved are vast, and internal flights aren’t cheap in Australia.
So let’s get into our Top 10 things to do and places to see in Australia.
The Best Beach To Visit in Australia
The most famous beach in Australia is, of course, Bondi Beach, near Sydney. We’ve all seen it on our TV screens in the Bondi Rescue TV series. For this reason, I’m going to say it’s the number 1 must-see beach in Australia.
It’s probably not the best beach. How do you measure that? But it has the lifeguards from Bondi rescue, and we bumped into one the last time we were there, so you might too.
Bondi has surfers, sharks, and the famous Bondi Icebergs Pool.
Bondi is easy to get to by bus and train from Sydney, and to be fair, more tourists visit Sydney than anywhere else in Australia, so it’s going to be a popular beach to see.
Coogee is another beautiful beach near Sydney.
For white sand beaches with crystal clear waters, consider the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland or Lucky Bay in WA.
The Gold Coast (South Queensland) has been famous for its holiday scene since the 1950s, and Surfers Paradise is good for learning to surf. Coolangatta has great waves for the pro surfers and hosts surf lifesaving events.
Remember, surf and rips can be dangerous, take care.
Australia has roughly 12,000 beaches. Wherever you are on the coast, there will be a beach nearby. Just be aware of the crocodiles (be Crocwise) and deadly jellyfish that can be present on some. You cannot swim at every beach in Australia.
Best and Most Popular Places in Australia, Sydney Harbour and Opera House
The number one top-selling tour (according to our data from tour companies) is the Sydney Opera House tour. Which I find very interesting, as it’s a tour that doesn’t interest me personally. I’ve never been inside and probably never will.
I’d imagine that this is because of cruise ship passengers looking for shore excursions. The ships pull in almost opposite the Opera House.
Whale watching tours are also popular from Sydney, but these are seasonal, the humpbacks are around Sydney between May and November, with the best time to see whales being June and July. Again, this is probably a popular cruise ship excursion. You can book a whale watching tour here.
My favourite way to enjoy Sydney is to wander around Circular Quay, through The Rocks to Darling Harbour, and maybe take a ferry ride or cruise. There is something about Sydney Harbour that is very fresh and sparkling, it’s a lovely area.
We wrote a guide to the best things to do in Sydney, here. However you visit Sydney, and whatever you do, Sydney is a must-visit. In that post, we mention a few lesser-known places to see and things to do for tourists.
For most people travelling internationally, it will be convenient to fly into Sydney, spend a while there, and then take an internal flight to whatever parts of Australia they want to see.
We strongly recommend you fly to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. It’s an experience like no other, and no, it’s not dead. How do I know? I’m out there regularly, and my husband is out there working several days per week. There is so much misinformation online about this.
The Great Barrier Reef
You cannot come to Australia and not see the Great Barrier Reef. This natural wonder will blow you away. We have scuba dived and snorkelled all over the world, The Great Barrier Reef is a stand out place to see.
If you’re travelling to Sydney, we’d suggest you book an internal flight to Cairns and allow yourself a few days in the tropical north. Cairns and Port Douglas (an hour north) are great places to take a snorkelling or scuba diving cruise to see the reef.
This is the reef cruise/glass bottom boat tour that most people book, it’s from Cairns to Green Island.
Scenic flights over the reef are also popular, this one is from Airlie Beach, The Witsundays. They are also available from Cairns and Fremantle in Western Australia.
The corals of the Great Barrier Reef are not all dead or dying, that’s nonsense. Come see for yourself! I’m out there regularly; my husband works out there. The Great Barrier Reef is a must-see!
The Best Places To See Wildlife in Australia
Of course, you will want to see Australia’s animals. Many are unique to Australia, with a few also being found in Papua New Guinea.
You are very likely to see kangaroos and wallabies in the wild if you get out of the cities. As an alternative, there are dozens of Australian wildlife parks, everywhere!
My choice would be to visit Australia Zoo in Queensland, you can get there from Brisbane or The Gold Coast.
Taronga Zoo in Sydney is also very good, but if you don’t have the time, there is Sydney Aquarium and other wildlife attractions of Darling Harbour.
Giant whale sharks can be seen at Ningaloo Reef in Exmouth, very rarely one is sighted on the Great Barrier Reef. We already mentioned whale watching, seasonally, in multiple coastal locations around Australia.
For tiny penguins, go to Phillip Island, in Victoria, not far from Melbourne. Cassowaries can be spotted in the wild in north Queensland and notably inside Daintree Rainforest, the oldest rainforest on Earth.
If you’d like to get in the water with saltwater crocodiles you can do that in Port Douglas (my son did this, read about it here) and Darwin in the Northern Territory (we have visited but didn’t swim). For swimming with great white sharks, head south. They are a cold water fish.
The Best Places To Experience Aboriginal Australia
Australia’s Indigenous people still have a strong presence today, and you can experience their culture in many respectful ways. It’s very good to learn about their culture and sacred sites, it’s something we encouraged in our kids, and when I first moved here I read every book in the library on Indigenous culture.
You can learn more from an indigenous local guide.
If you step off a cruise ship at Sydney Harbour, you are very likely to find didgeridoo players, but go deeper if you can.
My choice would be to go to Uluru, it’s a very spiritual place. That said, it’s difficult and expensive to get there. I’ve been, but we still haven’t taken our kids because of this. This Uluru Sacred Sites tour is very popular.
You can learn about the Aboriginal culture at the Mungo National Park in New South Wales. This is the area of the earliest known presence of Aboriginal people.
Best Places To Experience Outback Australia
The Outback seems to go on for miles and miles. It can be a dangerous yet beautiful place to visit and explore. You can cross it in style by train. Consider taking The Ghan or The Indian Pacific rail routes.
Long road trips are the best way to get deep into the country. Expect dirt roads, corrugations, and miles of emptiness.
After living in Australia for a very long time, I’ve seen a fair bit of red dirt and quirky outback towns by both methods. Both take a lot of time.
My best recommendation here, for seeing the vastness of Australia and the landscapes away from the cities, is to take a hot air baloon ride as we did recently. These trips depart from multiple locations near most major cities, and it’s a beautiful experience.
Mining towns are interesting places to go. Mines are scattered all over Australia. Coober Pedy in Central Australia is probably the most well-known. I’ve wanted to go for years, but it’s hard to get to and remote.
Best Place For Scenery in Australia
The most popular place for taking in the views, after Sydney Harbour, is The Great Ocean Road, near Melbourne Australia.
While we have visited Melbourne, we’ve never taken this trip. According to the numbers we have currently, it’s the 3rd most commonly sold tour in Australia, way above The Blue Mountains, NSW.
So no photo, no commentary, I’ll tell you if it’s any good if we ever do it. Have you done it? Maybe tell us about it in the comments.
Best Place in Australia For History Enthusiasts
I love The Rocks. It’s where the first settlements in Sydney began, and it has plenty of historic buildings tucked in amongst the hotels, right under Sydney Harbour Bridge.
You can wander around and explore on foot or take a guided tour.
The old Melbourne Gaol is also popular; we have been there.
If you have more time, another favourite place of ours is Herberton Historic Village in Far North Queensland. It’s not far from Irvinebank, in the photo above. We cover local attractions like this on our other site, portdouglasaustralia.com.au.
Best Places in Australia for Railway Enthusiasts
We already mentioned a couple of classic train journeys in Australia, The Ghan and the India Pacific, but there is much more to see if you love trains.
We have taken both of these trains, a long time ago, when they weren’t marketed as luxury experiences. Today they are very expensive. These journeys take several days.
Puffing Billy, near Melbourne, is the most popular steam train and heritage railway, according to the numbers. I’m working on a post about local trains and heritage railways, there are a lot . For exclusive Australia content, please visit our other site and sign up to follow, portdouglasau.com. We will continue to cover the whole world, plus other topics relating to family travel, education, and blogging on World Travel Family.
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