Ten Must-See Sights for a First Trip to Australia!

A trip to Australia is a big commitment (especially if you’re starting from Europe) so you’ll want to make the most of it. Here are ten amazing, iconic, must-see sights in Australia that can easily be squeezed into a two week first-time trip if that’s all the time you have available. I know, because it’s what I did!

Great Barrier Reef

You can’t fly all the way down under and not see this world wonder. Located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland, the GBR is the world’s largest coral reef system and is made up of thousands of individual reefs. There are lots of different ways to experience the GBR, such as diving, snorkelling, sailing, or taking a helicopter ride for a great bird’s eye view of the reef. I took a fantastic helicopter ride with GBR helicopters out to the Quicksilver pontoon at Agincourt reef. It was a popular choice (and there are quieter options available if you prefer) but I loved it.

Sydney Opera House

The iconic feature of Sydney harbour can’t be missed on a first trip to Australia. Opened in 1973, it was designed by a Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, who won a competition to design it. Its construction was plagued by controversy but today it is a much loved feature of Sydney. Great views of it can be seen from all around Circular Quay, as well as from the Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, and there’s a really informative tour of its distinctive interior, but there’s nothing better than actually seeing a show or concert there.

Uluru

Uluru is another iconic symbol of Australia. Previously known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is a large sandstone rock found in the Red Centre of Australia. It is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. Also in the area, and worth a visit, is Kata Tjuta, previously known as the Olgas. Visiting the Red Centre takes a bit of effort. It’s a long flight from the coastal regions and accommodation isn’t cheap but a couple of days will be enough to watch a sunset over the rock, drive out to Kata Tjuta and take a walk. The Uluru base walk, which will take you all the way around the rock, is well worth a few hours. It’s a 9km walk and it’s fun to be so close to Uluru and to see how, far from the monolith it appears in photos, it’s actually very rough, ragged and eroded. The whole walk, including lots of stops for photos, can easily be done in under three hours.

Sydney’s Beaches

Any visit to Sydney, however brief, must include a trip out to one of its many golden beaches. You can catch a ferry to Manly beach and enjoy a short walk along the promenade to Shelly beach, but a great way to see a few famous beaches, as well as great coastal views, is to walk the Coogee-Bondi cliff walk. Catch a local bus to Coogee and then take the scenic two hour walk along the cliff tops to Bondi beach, past Gordon’s Bay, Clovelly Beach with its sea pool, past a clifftop graveyard (where the dead must have the best views of any resting place), Bronte Beach (a great place for rest at one of the pleasant cafes), then onto Tamarama Beach and finally down into Bondi, stopping at its iconic sea pool on the way.

Australian wildlife

There’s something so endearing about Australia wildlife, perhaps because it’s so unique – kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, crocodiles, cassowaries etc. Of course the best thing would be to see them in the wild (and if you pick the right time and place, that should be reasonably easy for kangaroos at least) but in a quick visit, with lots of other sightseeing priorities, you might have to do what I did and settle for a visit to one of the country’s brilliant zoos or wildlife parks. Taronga Zoo in Sydney is a good choice as you can catch a ferry to get there and enjoy great views of Sydney harbour during the cruise over there. I also really enjoyed the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas where you can stroll amongst native wildlife in the tropical sunshine.

Crocodile at Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat

Daintree Rainforest

The Daintree rainforest, located north of Mossman in Far North Queensland is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland Rainforest which is the oldest continually surviving tropical rainforest in the world. You can explore it easily from Port Douglas by taking a short trip to nearby Mossman Gorge or a longer day trip north to Cape Tribulation where the tropical forest grows right to the edge of the Coral sea.

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and is a great place to stay for a few days. There’s lots to see in the city itself, including great museums, art galleries, beautiful gardens, street art and the city’s iconic laneways and arcades, but it’s also a good place to use as a base for day trips to the surrounding area, including the Great Ocean Road, the penguin colony on Philip Island and (my choice) the Yarra wine valley. On my first trip to Australia, I was most looking forward to seeing Sydney but it was Melbourne where I really felt at home and it’s this city to which I would love to return for a longer stay.

Tropical Beaches

Sydney’s beaches are great but for a tropical beach setting you will have to travel further north. If you’re seeing the GBR (and you really should), then you will have a choice of beautiful beaches in Far north Queensland to enjoy. Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas is ideal for a lazy afternoon while you’re in town, and a short drive north will take you to the even more stunning Myall Beach and Cape Tribulation Beach. You can even combine them into one day trip with the Daintree Rainforest and see where the rainforest meets the beach.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

It’s been around much longer than its Circular Quay companion of the opera house and can’t be missed on a visit to Sydney. There is a famous ‘climb’ over the bridge which sounds like an awesome experience but if you prefer a more sedate option where you can retain your camera and take loads of amazing once-in-a-lifetime photos yourself (like me) than the Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout is a great alternative.

Amazing view of bridge from the balcony of my hotel

Wine Region

I love Australia wine (especially shiraz) and so for me a first visit down under would not have been complete without a visit to a wine region and some wine-tasting. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the Barossa Valley in South Australia (from where many of my favourite wines originate) but there are other options. It’s possible to do a day trip from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, or from Melbourne to the Yarra Valley. I did the latter and it was great, although it is surprising how much the landscape looks like home. It’s so weird to fly literally half way around the world and find everything looks like home!

So that’s my list of must-see sights in Australia for a first trip. I did them all (and many others) in a 15 day trip that didn’t feel rushed at all. (My own trip was 6 nights in Sydney, 2 in the Red Centre, 4 in Port Douglas and 3 in Melbourne but you could easily drop a night or two from Sydney and still fit everything in.) So, don’t delay – start dreaming about, and planning, your first trip to Australia now!