Australia Travel Guide

Off the Great Ocean Road in Port Campbell National Park, the Twelve Apostles are limestone sea stacks the Southern Ocean has spent millennia carving from the cliffs. Despite the name, fewer than ten stacks remain — the last collapse came in 2005, and the slow erosion continues, which is part of the wonder: you are watching a vanishing sculpture. Timber boardwalks trace the cliff tops, looking down on orange-orange towers standing against blue water and white surf, glorious at sunrise and sunset — Australia's definitive postcard. Nearby, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and Gibson Steps stack up more coastal drama along the road.

The Gold Coast, in southeast Queensland, strings 57 km of golden sand beneath a skyline of towers — Surfers Paradise and the 322-metre Q1 observation deck are the icons. This is southern-hemisphere surf culture's capital, with breaks for every level and warm winter water. To the south, Burleigh Head National Park keeps the east coast's only rainfringed beach, and humpback whales pass offshore May to November. The green hinterland of Tamborine Mountain and Springbrook National Park hides waterfalls, glow-worm caves and rainforest walks. Theme parks — Movie World, Sea World, Dreamworld — cluster denser than anywhere in Australia, and the G:link light rail stitches the beaches together.

The Sydney Opera House is Australia's most iconic building, completed in 1973 and designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon. Its clusters of white shell sail roofs stand by the sea and it was listed as a World Heritage site in 2007. More than a symbol of Sydney, it is a world-class performing arts centre with an opera theatre, concert hall and more, staging opera, concerts, drama and ballet year-round. Visitors can join an interior tour of the architecture and backstage, or enjoy a drink at the harbourside restaurants and bars, looking across the water to the Harbour Bridge, taking in the classic Sydney Harbour scene.

Taronga Zoo sits on a hillside on the north shore of Sydney Harbour, facing the Opera House and city skyline across the water, and is praised as the zoo with the most beautiful view in the world. Built into the hillside, it houses Australian natives such as koalas, kangaroos and platypus alongside rare species from around the world. Take the ferry across from Circular Quay and ride the cable car up to the hilltop entrance, then walk down through the exhibits with harbour views along the way. Close encounters with Australian wildlife plus harbour scenery make it a favourite stop for families and visitors in Sydney.

Blue Mountains National Park, some 100 km west of Sydney, takes its name from the blue haze of eucalyptus oil refracting the sunlight; UNESCO listed it in 2000. Its classic view is the Three Sisters rock trio from Echo Point, steeped in Aboriginal legend. At Scenic World you can ride the glass-floored Skyway across the Jamison Valley or descend on the world's steepest funicular railway. Walking trails wind through sandstone canyons, waterfalls and temperate rainforest, and the three-tiered Wentworth Falls plus the Jenolan Caves deserve time of their own. Come at dawn, when blue mist climbs the valleys, and the name explains itself.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, stretching about 2,300 km, made of thousands of coral reefs and islands, the only living structure visible to the naked eye from space, listed as a World Natural Heritage site in 1981. Cairns is the main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef; from here a cruise takes about one to two hours to reach the outer reef, where you snorkel or dive among colorful coral gardens, swimming with tropical fish, turtles and manta rays, or view the underwater world from a semi-submarine or glass-bottom boat. Protecting this fragile, magnificent underwater wonder is the responsibility of every visitor.