Insight Guides: Australia

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Australia, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Australia. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Australia are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Australia. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

2016 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Australias Top 10 Attractions

Discover Australias unique attractions exciting adventure activities, absorbing museums, vast empty landscapes, and indigenous culture... here, at a glance, are our top recommendations.

Top Attraction 1

Sydney Harbour . The Opera House is deservedly on everyones list as a must-see attraction in Australia its on the Unesco World Heritage list, after all and when you combine it with the iron bulk of Sydney Harbour Bridge, you have one of the great vistas of the world. For more information, .

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 2

The Great Barrier Reef . More than 2,000km (1,240 miles) of mostly pristine coral gardens and rich aquatic life, the Reef rewards divers, snorkellers or those who simply gaze through glass-bottomed boats. For more information, .

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Top Attraction 3

Canberras Museums and Galleries . Gathered around Lake Burley Griffin is what collectively amounts to the most impressive collection of educational and cultural showpieces in Australia. For more information, .

Jerry Dennis/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 4

Uluru . Rising out of the parched red centre of the country, Uluru (Ayers Rock) is the dramatic touchstone of this ancient continent. Its a sacred site to its Aboriginal custodians, and worth travelling thousands of kilometres to see. For more information, .

Dreamstime

Top Attraction 5

Melbournes Music Scene . A host of brilliant venues large and small helps to make this the finest music city in Australia. For more information, .

Virginia Star/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 6

Port Arthur . Tasmanias grim penal settlement provides something of a crash course in Australias colonial history. The setting, ironically, is stunning. For more information, .

Getty Images

Top Attraction 7

Wildflowers in Western Australia . Springtime, beginning in September, is when the countryside around Perth and southern Western Australia is awash with technicolour blooms. For more information, .

Niamh Sheehy/Apa publications

Top Attraction 8

Australias Wineries . In a nation rich in high-class, picturesque wineries, the Barossa, Clare and Coonawarra regions stand out as some of the finest. For more information, .

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 9

Kakadu National Park . Of the numerous National Parks, this one is unmissable with its mixture of indigenous flora and fauna along with ancient Aboriginal culture. For more information, .

Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 10

Boxing Day at the MCG . Up to 100,000 spectators and fans turn out to this world-famous Melbourne stadium for the beginning of a five-day test match, an epic even in the cricket world. Even if you dont follow the sport, go to the stadium for the party atmosphere. For more information, .