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
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
18 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge spanning Sydney Harbour, connecting the Sydney central business district with the North Shore. Opened in 1932, it carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
The Perth Mint is a heritage precious metals refining facility and tourist attraction in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1899 as a branch of Britain's Royal Mint, it originally struck gold sovereigns from Western Australian gold rush output.
Fremantle Prison stands as a former Australian convict establishment in Fremantle, the port city of Perth.
Arts Centre Melbourne is a performing arts centre located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria. It serves as a major hub for theatre, music, dance, and cultural events in Australia's second-largest city.
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.
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.
MOD. at UniSA is a futuristic museum and gallery operated by the University of South Australia on its North Terrace campus in Adelaide.
The Round House is the oldest surviving public building in Western Australia, constructed in 1830-1831 shortly after the Swan River Colony was established.
Western Australian Museum Shipwrecks
The WA Shipwrecks Museum is a maritime heritage institution operated by the Western Australian Museum. It is located in Fremantle, the port city of the Perth metropolitan area.
HMAS Diamantina, named after the Diamantina River in Queensland, is a River-class frigate built by Walkers Limited in Maryborough, launched on 6 April 1944 and commissioned on 27 April 1945.
Fire Services Museum
Eastern Hill Fire Station is Melbourne's central fire station, on the corner of Victoria Parade and Gisborne Street at one of the highest points in the city, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
The Ascot Brick Works, officially the Old Bristile Kilns, is a heritage-listed former brickworks at 197 Grandstand Road, Ascot, opposite Ascot Racecourse.
The Garrison Church, also known as Holy Trinity Anglican Church, is a heritage-listed active Anglican church on Argyle Street at the edge of Millers Point in inner Sydney.
Shrine of Saint Anne Catholic Church
St Anne's Church, also known as St Anne's Shrine, is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic church in North Bondi, in Sydney's Waverley Municipality.
Yiu Ming Temple is a heritage-listed Chinese temple at 16–22 Retreat Street, Alexandria, an inner suburb of Sydney.
St Maroun's Cathedral
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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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