Lonely Planet picks our best beaches
The travel guide company has released a new edition of their Australia Travel Guide featuring lists of the best beaches, islands and luxury accommodation our country has to offer. The best part? You get all the beauty and luxury without the pain of an international flight.
Best beaches
Wineglass Bay in Tasmania Photo: Shutterstock
Bondi Beach: “An essential Sydney experience: carve up the surf or simply laze around and people-watch.”
Wineglass Bay: “It’s worth the scramble up and over the saddle to visit this gorgeous goblet of Tasmanian sand.”
Whitehaven Beach: “The jewel of the Whitsundays in Queensland, with powdery white sand and crystal-clear waters.”
Bells Beach: “Australia’s best-known surf beach is near Torquay on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.”
Hellfire Bay: “Sand like talcum powder in the middle of Western Australia’s Cape Le Grand National Park, which is precisely in the middle of nowhere.”
Carrickalinga Beach: “Southeast of Adelaide near the McLaren Vale wine region: good fishing, shallow aquamarine swimming and very few people.”
Avalon: “The most photogenic of Sydney’s gorgeous Northern Beaches.”
Crowdy Head: “Untrammelled gold-sand New South Wales (NSW) beaches set against a backdrop of rugged rock formations.”
Best islands
Sharks circle Fraser Island.
Kangaroo Island: “A great spot in South Australia for wildlife-watching and some of Australia’s freshest seafood.”
Bruny Island: “A windswept, sparsely populated retreat south of Hobart, with magical coastal scenery.”
Fraser Island: “The world’s largest sand island has giant sand dunes, freshwater lakes and abundant wildlife.”
Whitsundays: “Check yourself into a top resort or go sailing around this Queensland archipelago.”
Chilling out on Whitehaven Beach
North Stradbroke Island: “Brisbane’s holiday playground, with surf beaches and passing whales.”
Rottnest Island: “A ferry ride from Fremantle in Western Australia is this atmospheric atoll with a chequered history.”
Lizard Island: “A real get-away-from-it-all isle in far north Queensland: splash out on resort perks or rough it with some camping.”
Lady Elliott Island: “Ringed by the Great Barrier Reef, this remote Queensland island is the place to play castaway.”
Best luxury stays
Paperbark Camp Photo: Paperbark Camp
Park Hyatt Sydney: “Sing about the Sydney Opera House views at this swanky harbourside hotel.”
Hayman Island: “Still the swishest of Queensland’s many resort islands.”
Southern Ocean Lodge: “A remote architectural delight on SA’s Kangaroo Island, attracting the fiscally elite.”
The Islington Hotel in Tasmania Photo: Islington Hotel
Islington Hotel: “Hobart’s best boutique bolt-hole is a reinvented 1847 manor.”
Paperbark Camp: “Luxury tent-style accommodation in Jervis Bay: like a plush African safari in the NSW bush.”
Acacia Chalets: “Spend your days in the wineries around Margaret River in WA, and your nights here.”
Sails in the Desert: “Outback opulence at Yulara next to Uluru in the Northern Territory.”
Lonely Planet Australia is available now.
