Australien

Sydney, spectacularly draped around its glorious harbor and beaches, has visual wow factor like few other cities. Scratch the surface and it only gets better.

Cairns (pronounced ‘cans’) has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a boggy swamp and rollicking goldfields port. As the number-one base for Far North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, today Cairns heaves under the weight of an ever-growing number of resorts, tour agencies, souvenir shops, backpacker bars and reef boats. This is a tourist town, and unashamedly so – luxury hotel development in 2018 and an increasingly busy cruise-ship port suggest it's only growing busier.

Just an hour from Hobart lie the staggering coastal landscapes, sandy beaches and historic sites of the Tasman Peninsula. Bushwalking, surfing, sea kayaking, diving and rock-climbing opportunities abound – all good reasons to extend your visit beyond a hurried day trip from Hobart.

From Cape Jervis, car ferries chug across the swells of the Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island (KI). Uninhabited when Brit explorer Matthew Flinders named the island in 1802 and long devoid of tourist trappings, KI is today a booming destination for wilderness and wildlife fans. It's a veritable zoo of seals, birds, dolphins, echidnas and (of course) kangaroos. Still, the island remains rurally paced and underdeveloped − the kind of place where kids ride bikes to school and farmers advertise for wives on noticeboards. Island wine and produce is a highlight.

One of the Fraser Coast's most alluring honeypots, Hervey Bay unfurls itself lazily along a seemingly endless bayside shorefront, packing plenty of apartments, restaurants, pubs and tour operators into the streets behind. Young travellers with an eye on Fraser Island rub shoulders with grey nomads passing languidly through campgrounds and serious fisherfolk recharging in pursuit of the one that got away. Throw in the chance to see majestic humpback whales frolicking here from July to October, and the town’s convenient access to the Unesco–listed Fraser Island, and it’s easy to understand how Hervey Bay has become an unflashy, yet undeniably appealing, tourist hotspot.

Reveling in isolation, naturally beautiful Tasmania is busting out with fab festivals and sensational food and drink, riding a tourism-fueled economic boom that's the envy of all Australia.

Alice Springs wouldn't win a beauty contest, but there's more going on here than first meets the eye, from the inspirational (excellent museums, a fine wildlife park and outstanding galleries of Indigenous art) to the practical (a wide range of accommodation, good dining options and travel connections).

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.

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 Limestone Coast − strung out along southeastern SA between the flat, olive span of the lower Murray River and the Victorian border − is a curiously engaging place. On the highways you can blow across these flatlands in under a day, no sweat – but around here the delight is in the detail. Detour off-road to check out the area's lagoons, surf beaches and sequestered bays. Also on offer are wine regions, photogenic fishing ports and snoozy agricultural towns. And what's below the road is even more amazing: a bizarre subterranean landscape of limestone caves, sinkholes and crater lakes – a broad, formerly volcanic area that's known as the Kanawinka Geopark.