Family Travel
Wildlife parks, theme parks and safe swimming
Australia is an easy family destination: English-speaking, well set up, and full of animals children actually recognise. The Gold Coast has the theme parks, Phillip Island the penguin parade, Rottnest the quokkas, Cairns the reef in a glass-bottom boat, and almost every capital has a patrolled beach and a free museum. Distances are the main planning challenge — pick two or three bases, not six.
Mirrors Tourism Australia's own theme Family travel.
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
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Noosa A national park headland with surf breaks around it, and Hastings Street's restaurants behind. -
Sunshine Coast Surf beaches, the Glass House Mountains and the Eumundi markets, an hour north of Brisbane. - Gold Coast Beaches 57 km of surf beach from Surfers Paradise to Coolangatta, with theme parks and rainforest behind.
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Magnetic Island A 20-minute ferry from Townsville to koalas, granite boulders and 23 bays. -
Kuranda A rainforest village reached by heritage railway up and Skyrail gondola back. -
Moreton Island Sand dunes, the Tangalooma wrecks and wild dolphin feeding, 75 minutes from Brisbane.
New South Wales
Sydney Harbour, surf coast, vineyards and the Blue Mountains
Victoria
Melbourne laneways, the Great Ocean Road and cool-climate wine
Western Australia
Ningaloo, the Kimberley and a third of a continent
South Australia
Wine regions, wildlife islands and the Flinders Ranges
Northern Territory
Uluṟu, Kakadu and the world's oldest living culture
Australian Capital Territory
The national capital — museums, galleries and cool-climate wine
Best bases for this
Gateway hubs that put the most of this theme within reach.
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Gold Coast and surrounds 57 km of surf beach and theme parks, with Gondwana rainforest in the Scenic Rim hinterland. - Cairns and surrounds The reef-and-rainforest base — Great Barrier Reef boats out the front, the Daintree and Kuranda behind.
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Coming soon Canberra and surrounds The national capital — free museums and galleries, a lake to cycle and cool-climate wine outside town.
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 -
Arts & Culture Galleries, laneways, festivals and convict history -
Luxury Wilderness lodges, private islands and long-distance trains -
Health & Wellness Hot springs, retreats and slow coastal days -
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:
- Noosa — Chris Olszewski / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Sunshine Coast — texaus1 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source
- Magnetic Island — Hagai Agmon-Snir حچاي اچمون-سنير חגי אגמון-שניר / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Kuranda — Kgbo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Moreton Island — Lenny K Photography from Sydney, Australia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source
- Port Stephens — Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · source
- Jervis Bay — Maksym Kozlenko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Phillip Island — Shuicai / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · source
- Rottnest Island (Wadjemup) — RaucusG / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Monkey Mia — W. Bulach / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Adelaide Hills — RegionVisitor90 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · source
- Litchfield National Park — Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Lake Burley Griffin — Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · source
- Gold Coast — Bob T / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source
- Canberra — Thennicke / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source