It’s hard to pick 15 choices when deciding on Australian Landmarks you must see. What comes to mind, are probably the Sydney Opera House, Uluru, and maybe the Great Barrier Reef? But Australia has so much more, ranging from man-made landmarks to natural Landmarks, cultural or historic. 

 

There are more than 7 million square kilometres to explore, which means lots of Australian landmarks that make the land down-under, special. Consequently, there are only six states and 3 territories, and about 90 % of the population lives within 100 kilometres of the coast. It’s the largest island, the smallest continent, and the nation’s capital is Canberra, located in the ACT. 

 

The climate can vary between the states, especially from north to south. The winter season from June to August has the southern states cooling down, while the northern states with tropical and warmer temperatures. This makes Australia a great country to explore all year round. 

 

Fraser Island

Fraser Island is a huge tourist attraction and included as an Australian Landmark, being the largest sand island in the world. It’s 1655 kilometres square in size, has the only living rainforest growing in sand, and is visited by over 300 thousand tourists each year. Locals will tour the island for some brilliant beach camping and four-wheel driving options. While others will stay in one of the major resorts or beach holiday rentals. 

 

It lies off the coast of Queensland and is an easy day trip from Rainbow Beach or Hervey Bay. Your choices of sites to see range from swimming in the Champagne Pools, Lake Wabby, Eli Creek, or the white sandy shores of the stunning Lake McKenzie. Apart from that, you can take a short climb to Indian Head for views down 90-mile beach, explore the history of the SS Maheno Shipwreck or be amazed at the Pinnacle Rock Formations. 

 

This is all a part of the Great Sandy National Park, including Rainbow Beach, while also entered into UNESCO Heritage listing in 1992. Accessing the area is by four-wheel drive only, but organised day tours are conveniently available. 

 

Q1 Building 

Welcome to the Gold Coast, located in the southeastern corner of Queensland, and an easy day out from Brisbane. Visited by 10 million tourists each year, it’s is the biggest non-capital city and one of the largest tourist hubs in Australia. If you’re chasing action-adventure rides or endless water activities along the 50 kilometres of beach, then the Gold Coast is your place to be. 

 

The Q1 Building is our Australian Landmark here, the tallest building in Australia and the 13th tallest residential tower in the world. The unique building holds an observation deck on level 77, which is 230 metres above the ground. From here, you have 360-degree views up and down the Gold Coast skyline and through the hinterlands and National Parks. Enjoy a drink from the café, or find more details in the binoculars. Either way, this is where you’re going to get the best and highest views.

Go that extra step and venture outside on the Skypoint climb. This walk is around a purpose-built railing system, outside the building and an extra 30 metres up to the top. A definite highlight for those adrenaline junkies or people after unrestricted views of the coastline. 

 

Great Barrier Reef

The highlight of any Australian trip would be to visit the Great Barrier Reef. This stretches 2300 kilometres from Bundaberg to Port Douglas and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It contains 150 mangrove islands, 300 coral cays, 600 continental islands, and 3000 individual reef systems, making it the largest in the world. 

 

Accessing the Great Barrier Reef is easily done from day trips from Airlie Beach, Cairns, or Port Douglas. Otherwise, staying anywhere in the Whitsunday island network, like Hamilton Island. In the southern regions, Lady Elliot and Lady Musgrave Island are very popular and can be visited from places like Bundaberg. 

 

Many will enjoy snorkelling or scuba diving with Manta Rays, reef sharks, whales, and lots of other large fish. Smaller ones like the Anemone or Clown Fish (Nemo) can be found near rocks and protected areas with anemones. 

 

Sydney Opera House

The city of Sydney is often thought to be the capital of Australia, but that title belongs to Canberra. It’s the largest city in Australia, with close to 5.3 million people. One of the biggest highlights or popular tourist areas would be visiting Sydney Harbour, which can be done from many different vantage points. 

 

Consequently, this is where the Sydney Opera house is and one of the most well-known Australian Landmarks. It stands tall alongside the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney Harbour and is one of the most photographed buildings in the world. The roof was designed with white sail-shaped shells, took 14 years to build, and cost 102 million dollars. It was UNESCO Heritage-listed in 2007 and can be viewed from many different vantage points around the Harbour. 

 

Visit during the Vivid Light festival and see the Opera House displayed in an ever-changing interactive light display. The festival runs for a month, around June each year, and is very popular with tourists. 

 

The Pinnacles

When you see the Pinnacles for the first time, you might think you’re part of an alien movie. These amazing limestone structures are located in Western Australia, along the coral coast and 2 hours north of Perth. It receives about 250 thousand tourists each year and is part of the Nambung National Park. 

 

The unusual pointed structures were said to have been formed about 25 to 30 thousand years ago. After the sea receded and left deposits of shells behind, coastal wind erosion exposed these unique pillars. There are hundreds of them and range in various heights. Visit the area at night to walk around and witness some amazing starry skies. 

 

Uluru

 

When you think of Australian landmarks, 95% of people will know about Uluru or Ayers Rock. This National Park is located in the Northern Territory and is very much the centre of Australia. Most people will fly into Alice Springs and tour around all the different sites or fly direct into the Yulara Township and visit just the big red rock.  

 

Uluru stands at 348 metres (1142 Feet) above the ground and takes 3 to 4 hours to walk around the base. It’s often explored with Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and is a UNESCO Heritage-listed site available in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. 

 

It’s recommended to spend 2 to 3 days site-seeing around the National Park with hikes, viewpoints, photography platforms, and cultural history. You can base yourself at Yulara, which is a purpose-built town providing facilities for Uluru visitors. This is 30 mins away and the closest area for camping and hotel accommodations. 

 

Big Red Sand Dune

Just outside the small town of Birdsville and remote outback Queensland is what’s called the Big Red Sand Dune. This sand dune is the first and largest of 1100 sand dunes that venture through the Munga-Thurri National Park, in the Northern Territory. This is not something you will see anywhere else in Australia and is known as a bucket list item to see.

 

Consequently, the Big Red Sand Dune only stands 40 metres high, and you can choose to drive up, walk up or take an organised tour. It does require a four-wheel drive to access it and is popular to visit when the sun breaches the horizon (sunrise and sunset). The beauty is in the wind-formed sand ripples, the vast desolate country, and unrestrictive views of the valley. This is what dreams are made of, and you can just imagine the history surrounding the area. 

 

Bungle Bungles

The Bunge Bungle range may not be as popular as Uluru, but the natural bee-hive rock formations stretch over 450 kilometres and are an amazing sight to see up close. They are in the Purnululu National Park, part of Aboriginal History for thousands of years, but only discovered in the early 1980s. It’s located in Northern Western Australia, included in the Kimberley region, and is also UNESCO Heritage listed.

 

The range was formed over 300 million years ago from active faults and erosion depositing materials in the area. You can hike in and around the domes, but restricted from March to October each year due to record-breaking temperatures. Conveniently, a very small community has been built to serve tourists with basic accommodation, camping, and basic supplies. 

 

Great Ocean Road

 

The Great Ocean Road stretches 244 kilometres from Torquay to Allansford in Victoria, Australia. This is one of the more famous road trips and highlights another stunning landmark, the 12 Apostles. Apart from this, you are introduced to other sites like The London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, and the Grotto. Consequently, the limestone rock coastline has been formed into these many different sites, by wind erosion and rough seas.

 

Hire cars can be accessed from Melbourne, and you can spend a week exploring the small towns, swimming, and relaxing around this coastline area. The roads wind through the hills and make for a very picturesque journey. There are many different lookout points and small walks to access them, along with a couple of staircases going down onto the beach for a closer view.

 

Byron Bay Lighthouse

The small tourist town of Byron Bay lies along the coast in Northern New South Wales. It’s known as a backpacking haven with a population of 10,000 people. Furthermore, tourists will visit the beautiful beaches, surfing lifestyle, and some unique diving opportunities. Even Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, has a house here in Byron Bay. 

 

Our next addition to Australia Landmarks would be the Byron Bay Lighthouse perched on top of the rocky headland. Nothing special about the lighthouse itself, but is located on the most easterly point in Australia. The parking at the top is limited, but you can take the 4 kilometre return walk up there, and marvel at the stunning views. 

 

The town itself thrives on tourism, and you can expect to find local art and crafts, cafes, restaurants, yoga retreats, rainforest hiking, and waterfall swimming. 

 

The Remarkables on Kangaroo Island

The beautiful Kangaroo Island is located just off the coast of Adelaide in South Australia and is the third-largest island in the land down-under. Over a third of the island is a protected reserve, and you can expect to see wildlife like koalas, sea lions, penguins, kangaroos, and any different species of Birds. Apart from that, there is various local produce imported around the country from sheep’s cheese, yogurt, award-winning wines, and organic honey. 

 

Australian Landmarks known on Kangaroo Island would be the very unique, Remarkable Rocks, located in the Flinders Chase National Park. The shapes and formations created in the granite are what draw over 100 thousand tourists each year, along with the other sites. These include places like the Admirals Arch and the stalactites and stalagmites in the caves. 

 

The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains

The Three Sisters are one of the Australian landmarks located around Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, just outside of Sydney. It stands 900 metres above sea level and is visited by millions of tourists each year. The rocks represent the sisters, Meehni, Winlah, and Gunnedoo, known throughout Aboriginal History in the area and members of the Katoomba tribe.

 

There is an easy access 24-hour lookout point for The Three Sisters, and different weather changes the environment and what you will see. Additionally, there is a stairway hike you can complete, which takes no more than an hour. Consequently, it descends 998 stairs from Echo Point to Honeymoon Bridge, which connects to the first sister. 

 

Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain is located in Tasmania and is part of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. It’s over 1500 metres above sea level and visited by over 1 million tourists each year. Since there is no town or supplies at Cradle Mountain, the only way to access is from the site seeing flights from Launceston, or hiking. 

 

One of the bucket list hiking opportunities here is the Overland Track. It’s a popular 65 kilometres/7 day trek that has you exploring the National Park and Cradle Mountain. If you are after something a little less drastic and shorter distance, then you can hike in and out for the day and still get to see the mountain up close. 

 

Either way, you are exploring another UNESCO World Heritage Area, surrounded by a diverse landscape, grasslands and rainforests. Depending on the weather, you might even see some snow!

 

 

Kuranda Railway Journey

The Kuranda Rail journey has been open for passenger travel since 1891 and takes over 1 million tourists each year from Cairns to the Kuranda National Park. It takes approximately 2 hours to travel up the mountain, stopping for 10 minutes at Barron Falls. North Queensland is known for its rainfall, rainforest, and abundance of waterfalls. Along with the open-air carriages on the train and venturing through tunnels, you’re in for one exciting ride. 

 

Once you’re at Kuranda, you can spend the day shopping for local food, arts and crafts, or visiting the bird or butterfly sanctuary. Alternatively, you can hike through the rainforest and along boardwalks, take a river cruise or watch a cultural dance. 

 

 

Story Bridge

Just like the Sydney harbour Bridge in Sydney, the Queensland Capital of Brisbane has its own version, called the Story Bridge. Its 74 metres high, 1072 metres long, and runs six lanes from the north and south side of Brisbane city. It opened in July 1940, the longest cantilever bridge and the last to be included in our Australian Landmarks list. 

 

The Story Bridge can be enjoyed in many different ways, like driving over it, walking on the footpath, climbing the arches, or viewing from the lookout points. Photographers will come from far and wide for the best vantage points and extra special at the Riverfire festival when it’s a base for a fireworks display. 

 

BIO

Chris Fry is the writer and photographer behind Aquarius Traveller, where she shares her journeys, provides valuable information and inspiration for your land and underwater travels. She lives in Australia, and has travelled to 36 countries and across Australia

 

 

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