Australia’s Best

Australia stuns with its riches: its sunny climate and outdoor lifestyle, its vibrant multiculturalism, its fabulous food and wine, sandy beaches by the mile, well-known icons – the Sydney Opera House and Uluru (Ayers Rock) – and unique wildlife, to name just a few. And in a country that rivals continental USA in size, there is much to see. From the red dirt, brilliant blue skies and extraordinary geological features of the Outback, to the rugged mountain country of the Great Dividing Range; from the pristine wilderness of Tasmania’s World Heritage areas, to the coral reefs of the tropical north, Australia offers huge variety in its landscapes and experiences. But visitors to the land “Down Under” will find one constant: few Australians can agree on what constitutes the best of their country.

Best Place to Eat and Drink

The best place to buy a drink, an Australian drover once said, is any place that sells it. And that statement holds true if you find yourself in the Outback, sweltering in 40°C (105°F) and higher temperatures, with your only recourse a basic hotel selling home-brewed beer and riesling from a box. But as it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself in such a predicament during a tour of the country’s best, it’s a safe bet to say that the Blu Horizon Bar, on the 36th floor of Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel is one of the better watering-holes, offering spectacular views of the harbour along with an impressive drinks menu.

Best Beach

If reputation is anything to go by, Bondi may well be considered the country’s best beach. However, while it is undoubtedly Australia’s best-known beach, it’s far from the best. Palm Beach and Manly to the north of the CBD are top beaches, while Tamarama and Cronulla, south of the city, are both popular with surfers. But keen surfers, and beach goers who like subtropical ambience, should head to alternative Byron Bay on the New South Wales north coast, or trendy Noosa Heads in south-eastern Queensland. Both main beaches have north-facing points that allow for a long board ride, and on-shore amenities include hip shopping and al fresco dining.

Romantic locations can be found almost anywhere in Australia – Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia is one such place, and is the perfect place to sit relax and watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean. But the most romantic experience of all is a stay on one of the luxurious resort islands that dot the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The most outstanding of these is Lizard Island, in the far north, offering informality laced with exclusivity, superb food, one of the reef’s most beautiful bays – the Blue Lagoon – and the best fringing coral. AOh, and the nearby Cod Hole is one of the world’s great dive sites.

If celebrity is any guide, then the best place in Australia to chill out is the fishing village-turned-tourist resort of Port Douglas, in Tropical North Queensland. You never know who you’ll run into while strolling along the golden sands of the village’s magical Four Mile Beach.

Best Culture

Aussies have a growing passion for cultural pursuits such as literature, art, theatre and music. Nationwide, the Australian states each year host an abundance of art, literary and music festivals each year, where both established performers and fresh, upcoming talents showcase their work for an adoring domestic and international audience.

Each year Sydney hosts the Sydney Writers Festival, where the best of Australia’s budding writers hope to be discovered and established authors are appreciated even more. There are similar festivals in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, and smaller literary events are held throughout the country, encouraging and giving voice to the best of its new writers and poets.

For art lovers, the Biennale of Sydney is a “must attend” event. Held in a mix of venues throughout the city, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art, this is an exciting celebration of innovative and contemporary Australian visual arts. And The Adelaide Festival of Arts, held biennially in the South Australian capital of Adelaide, is one of the world’s top arts’ events.

The film industry, is flourishing in Australia and its blossoming filmmakers are taking the global film industry by storm. Melbourne and Sydney have annual film festivals that attract world premieres. Contemporary cinema is what this country does best and festivals such as the Short Film Festival and Flickerfest give low-budget attempts the chance to be screened.

Each major state capital has its symphony orchestra, with and the Sydney and Melbourne ones orchestras giving regular performances at home in their respective iconic performance halls, and abroad at some of the world’s best venues. Likewise with opera, state and national companies have seasons of new and classic works that play to packed houses.

Also reaching audiences far and wide, as well as locally, is Australia’s burgeoning music industry. Not content with giving the world it’s pint-sized princess, Kylie Minogue and country singer Keith Urben, there are rock, pop and opera stars appearing in music festivals all over Australia. Taking its place now among the world music festivals is Australia’s Big Day Out, which rivals Britain’s Glastonbury for devotees – and always has fantastic weather. Slowly but surely Australia’s music scene and stage performances are adding to its portfolio of creative successes and they are rightfully being recognised around the world.

Best Wild Place

The best place to experience the Outback, and the place where you will come closest to understanding the Indigenous Australians’ profound relationship with the land, is the Red Centre. A pilgrimage to awe-inspiring Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) is near essential. Afterwards enjoy the Sounds of Silence dinner offered by the nearby Ayers Rock Resort. It’s the ultimate in alfresco dining, serving up gourmet bush tucker under a canopy of stars in the middle of the desert, followed by the haunting music of a lone didgeridoo player and the pervasive stillness of the desert.

For raw landscape, and an insight into the immense age of this remarkable country, hop from one end of the continent to the other – from the Top End’s Kakadu National Park, which contains the finest and most extensive collection of rock art in the world, to Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain, where nature’s restorative power expresses itself in spectacular alpine scenery, invigorating air and pure water.

Best Views

From futuristic city towers to rugged peaks, Australia offers some wonderful viewpoints. In Sydney, take a BridgeClimb tour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, from where there are amazing city and harbour views. In Melbourne, check out the panorama from the top of Eureka Skydeck 88 at Southbank, while the Gold Coast’s Q1 tower offers superb views from 230m (755ft) up.

Canberra is best seen from a hot-air balloon at dawn, and scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef, and Uluru in the Northern Territory, are unforgettable experiences. In South Australia, admire the raw beauty of the Outback from a lookout in the Flinders Ranges; see Hobart from the summit of 1270m-high (4167ft) Mount Wellington; and the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway provides great views of the tropical north Queensland coastline and dense canopy of the rainforest.

Any list of experiences, attractions and places that attempts to specify the best a destination has to offer can only be called complete if it includes a measure of that most defining of all holiday experiences: mixing with the locals. And no matter which state, city, beach, bar, luxury resort or bush retreat you choose to spend time in, you’ll find Aussies everywhere are immensely proud of their country and welcome visitors to share its delights.