Arts & Culture
Galleries, laneways, festivals and convict history
The Opera House and MONA anchor the two ends of Australia's cultural spectrum — one a global icon, the other a museum dug into a Hobart cliff. In between: Melbourne's street art and live-music venues, Canberra's free national institutions, Adelaide's festival season, Aboriginal art centres from Arnhem Land to the Western Desert, and eleven convict sites on the World Heritage list.
Mirrors Tourism Australia's own theme Arts and culture.
The states and territories this theme is strongest in — tap through to the full state guide.
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef, rainforest and endless beaches
New South Wales
Sydney Harbour, surf coast, vineyards and the Blue Mountains
Western Australia
Ningaloo, the Kimberley and a third of a continent
Tasmania
Wilderness, wild food and the cleanest air in the world
Northern Territory
Uluṟu, Kakadu and the world's oldest living culture
Australian Capital Territory
The national capital — museums, galleries and cool-climate wine
External Territories
Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) and Norfolk Island
Best bases for this
Gateway hubs that put the most of this theme within reach.
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Coming soon Melbourne and surrounds Laneway coffee, street art and sport, with the Great Ocean Road and the Yarra Valley on the doorstep. -
Coming soon Canberra and surrounds The national capital — free museums and galleries, a lake to cycle and cool-climate wine outside town. - Coming soon Hobart and surrounds Mount Wellington above, Salamanca and MONA below, and Bruny Island a ferry ride away.
Other ways to travel
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Aboriginal Australia The world's oldest continuing culture, shared on Country -
Beaches & Islands More than 10,000 beaches and 8,000 islands -
Nature & National Parks Reef, rainforest, gorge country and the Outback -
Wildlife Animals you will not see anywhere else -
Food & Drink 65 wine regions, world-class coffee and native ingredients -
Road Trips & Drives The Great Ocean Road, the Gibb River Road and everything between -
Walks & Hikes Great Walks, coastal tracks and city-edge escapes -
Adventure & Sports Dive, surf, sail, climb and sandboard -
Luxury Wilderness lodges, private islands and long-distance trains -
Health & Wellness Hot springs, retreats and slow coastal days -
Family Travel Wildlife parks, theme parks and safe swimming -
Eco-friendly Travel Low-impact islands, eco-lodges and travel that gives back
Photography
Images on this page are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under free licences (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA) and are photographs of the places named. Author, licence and source for each:
- Outback Queensland — Josselin Berger / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source
- Sydney Harbour — Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · source
- Newcastle — Hugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · source
- Fremantle — Fred Oostryck (Wiki Takes Fremantle participant) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · source
- Tasman Peninsula — JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · source
- Launceston & the Tamar Valley — Nick-D / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Arnhem Land — Winston Storer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Lake Burley Griffin — Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source
- Norfolk Island — Inas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Melbourne — Arnaud Mesureur tbzr / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · source
- Canberra — Thennicke / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source