Country guide
Australia covers 7,688,287 km², sixth largest in the world, and close to 4,000 km separate its east coast from its west. Nearly 28 million people live here, abo...
Photograph · Corey Leopold · CC BY 2.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Australia covers 7,688,287 km², sixth largest in the world, and close to 4,000 km separate its east coast from its west. Nearly 28 million people live here, about 80 per cent of them within 25 km of a mainland coastline 35,821 km long — which is the fact that governs any trip taken across it. The cities form a rim around an interior that stays largely empty; Sydney and Melbourne pass five million each, and Canberra, the capital, is neither of them. Six states and ten territories, and a sensible visit chooses two of them rather than the map.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Shkuru Afshar · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Chris Olszewski · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Samuel Wiki · CC BY 4.0
Photograph · Photograph by Doug Barber · CC BY-SA 3.0
Seasonal closures come from recorded opening hours.
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
90 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
The Army Museum of Western Australia is a military heritage institution located in the Perth metropolitan area. It preserves and presents the history of the Australian Army in Western Australia, covering conflicts from colonial times through to contemporary operations.
Waite Arboretum is a botanical collection situated in Adelaide's southern suburbs, within the grounds of the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus at Urrbrae. The arboretum occupies land bequeathed through the Waite Agricultural Research Institute legacy.
Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour, positioned where the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers meet. It forms part of the Australian Convict Sites UNESCO World Heritage property.
The Australian Museum is Sydney’s natural-history and cultural museum on William Street, opposite Hyde Park and St Mary’s Cathedral. Its collections and exhibitions connect Australian wildlife, geology and biodiversity with First Nations cultural material.
Hyde Park Barracks is a historic Georgian building on Macquarie Street beside Hyde Park in central Sydney. Built in the early nineteenth century, it first housed transported convicts and later served as an immigration depot and government offices.
The Mint
The Mint is a heritage building in Sydney associated with Australia’s colonial period and the early development of the city. Its sandstone construction reflects the architectural character of historic Sydney.
Sydney Observatory is a heritage astronomical observatory and museum located in The Rocks area of Sydney. Established in 1858, it occupies a prominent position on Observatory Hill near the harbour.
Melbourne Museum is a large museum in Carlton where natural history, social history and cultural material share one visitor complex.
The Australian National Maritime Museum is a major cultural institution located in Sydney's Darling Harbour. It preserves and presents Australia's maritime heritage through exhibitions, vessels, and programs.
The South Australian Museum is a major natural history and cultural institution in Adelaide. It occupies a prominent position on North Terrace in the cultural precinct.
Melbourne Zoological Gardens
Melbourne Zoo is a zoological park situated in the city of Melbourne, Victoria. Established in 1862, it holds distinction as Australia's oldest zoo and one of the world's oldest.
Elizabeth Bay House is an 1830s colonial residence built for Alexander Macleay, the colony’s colonial secretary, in Sydney’s inner east.
Elizabeth Farm is a historic house museum in Sydney's Parramatta area and one of Australia's oldest surviving European buildings. John and Elizabeth Macarthur's house was constructed in 1793 and is closely connected with the beginnings of Australia's wool industry.
The Immigration Museum is a museum in Melbourne dedicated to the history of immigration to Australia. It explores the stories of people who have migrated to Victoria and Australia, examining the causes, processes, and impacts of immigration.
The Museum of Sydney is a history museum near Circular Quay on the site of Australia’s first Government House, built in 1788. It explores Sydney’s colonial foundations, Indigenous history and continuing urban development through archaeology, objects, art and multimedia.
Queensland Museum Kurilpa is Queensland's state museum at the Queensland Cultural Centre in Brisbane's South Bank precinct. Its public galleries connect natural history, palaeontology, biodiversity, technology, cultural history and First Nations stories with the museum's active collections and research.
Susannah Place Museum preserves a terrace of four houses built in 1844 in Sydney’s The Rocks. The site presents working-class domestic life across more than 150 years, showing how successive families lived within a compact urban terrace.
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is a Melbourne art gallery devoted to Australian art and located within the Federation Square precinct.
Migration Museum South Australia
The Migration Museum in Adelaide is a cultural institution dedicated to documenting and sharing the stories of people who have migrated to South Australia. It explores themes of displacement, settlement, identity, and belonging through personal narratives and historical records.
Carrick Hill is a historic house and garden estate located in Adelaide, South Australia.
Experiment Farm Cottage is a heritage property in Parramatta, western Sydney, connected with Australia’s early colonial agricultural history. The cottage represents the period when European settlers experimented with farming and food production around the developing colony.
Scienceworks is a science museum and technology centre in Spotswood, Melbourne, operated as part of Museums Victoria. It is designed for active learning, with exhibitions that turn scientific principles, technology and industrial history into experiences visitors can explore.
Western Australian Museum Boola Bardip
WA Museum Boola Bardip is the state museum of Western Australia, located within the Perth Cultural Centre. Its name, from the Noongar language, means many stories.
Taronga Zoo Sydney is a major zoological garden located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. Established in 1916, it occupies a prominent harbourside position offering views toward the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The Hellenic Museum is a cultural institution in Melbourne dedicated to preserving and showcasing Greek history, art, and culture. Located in the city, it serves as a bridge between Australia's Greek community heritage and broader public engagement.
Ten to fourteen days should cover one coast, one city pair or one city plus a nearby landscape, not the continent. Sydney and Melbourne can share a southeastern route; Perth, the tropical north and the Red Centre each demand separate flights and more time.
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs is the authority for Visitor visas and electronic travel permissions. Select the product for the passport and purpose, complete required declarations, and remember that visa approval does not remove Australia’s strict biosecurity obligations.
Flights are usually the efficient link between distant states. Rail and coaches serve selected corridors, cars become important outside cities, and urban fare cards are local rather than national; remote drives require fuel, water, communications and realistic distance planning.
Australia’s seasons and hazards vary dramatically by latitude. Southern-city summers, tropical dry seasons and Red Centre heat create different windows, so choose dates for the selected region and check official fire, cyclone or flood advice before road travel.
The Australian dollar is the sole recorded currency. Contactless payment is common, but remote roadhouses and small services justify a backup card or cash; check surcharges at the point of sale and budget fuel around long gaps rather than metropolitan prices.
Use 000 for urgent police, fire or ambulance assistance; Australia uses Type I power at 230 V. Treated public tap supplies are recorded as safe, but remote-site notices take precedence, and travellers should save the state emergency service relevant to their route.
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