Australien

En roadtrip på Australiens västkust bjuder på avskilda stränder, vingårdar och surfing. Här listar vi platserna du inte får missa.

Tasmania’s second city has forever been locked in rivalry with big-smoke Hobart to the south. Launcestonians argue that their architecture is more elegant, their parks more beautiful, their surrounding hills more verdant and their food scene zestier. It is indeed a city where art and design are highly valued, the locals embrace the outdoors, and food and coffee culture thrives. A striking new hotel inside the city's tallest building – repurposing grain silos, of all things – has opened, while Cataract Gorge remains the sort of natural adornment you rarely find inside cities, and it's an easy and endearing base for those exploring the Tamar Valley or other parts of the north. There's a lot to like about 'Lonnie'.

The Daintree represents many things: Unesco World Heritage–listed rainforest, a river, a reef, laid-back villages and the home of its traditional custodians, the Kuku Yalanji people. It encompasses the coastal lowland area between the Daintree and Bloomfield Rivers, where the rainforest tumbles right down to the coast. It’s a fragile, ancient ecosystem, once threatened by logging but now protected as a national park.

Tasmanska djävulen, Australiens bästa viner, vildmarken och en fantastisk östkust är orsaker nog att besöka Tasmanien i Australien – men ett besök på Mona är ett absolut måste!

Escape the frenzy of Australia's east coast with a few days in gracious, relaxed South Australia (SA). The driest state in the planet's driest inhabited continent, SA beats the heat by celebrating life's finer things: fine landscapes, fine festivals, fine food, and (…OK, forget the other three) fine wine.

Sandstränder, surfvågor och vin. Australiens västkust är som gjord för en roadtrip för dig som är både naturälskare och finsmakare.

With mountains, rivers, lakes and bushland all within its compact boundaries, it's easy to see how the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) came to be known as Australia's 'Bush Capital'. At the territory's heart sits the cosmopolitan city of Canberra, a well-planned, leafy city with enough cultural cachet to match Australia's larger metropolises, alongside the laid-back feel of a regional centre. Sightseeing opportunities abound within the city limits – including several world-class museums – but there's also plenty to see and do in the wider ACT as well. Whether it's bushwalking and kangaroo-spotting in the nearby wildernesses of Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, sipping superb shiraz at one of the many local wineries, or window-shopping in the quaint towns of Hall or Bungendore, you'll find plenty to occupy yourself among the hills and plains of this quintessential Australian region.

The massive mullock heap (of mine residue) that forms a backdrop for Broken Hill's town centre accentuates the unique character of this desert frontier town. For all its remoteness, the fine facilities and high-quality attractions can feel like an oasis somewhere close to the end of the earth. Some of the state's most impressive national parks are nearby, as is an intriguing near-ghost town, and everywhere there is an impressive spirit of community and creativity.

Spread between the tourist darlings of Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands, this lesser-known, rainforested stretch of quiet, palm-edged beaches is where giant endangered cassowary graze for seeds, and koalas nap in gum trees on islands encircled by turquoise seas. Oft-overlooked Townsville is the urban centre and offers pleasant, wide, modern streets, a landscaped seaside promenade, gracious 19th-century architecture, and a host of cultural venues and sporting events. It's also the jumping-off point for Magnetic Island, a great budget alternative to the Whitsundays and with far more wildlife – hand-feed wild wallabies, spot an incredible range of bird life on fantastic bushwalking trails and look for koalas.

The traditional land of the Wurundjeri people, scenic Yarra Valley is now Victoria’s premier wine region and weekend getaway – partly for its close proximity to Melbourne, but mainly for its wineries, superb restaurants, national parks and wildlife-viewing opportunities. This is the place to rise at dawn in a hot-air balloon and to kick back at world-class wineries in the afternoon.