On the surface, Sydney is Australia’s glitzy showgirl, priding herself on her cosmopolitan flair, epic oceanfront walks, bustling harbor, warm climes and tourist-baiting icons. Visitors can wander World Heritage sites, climb the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge, spy surfers at renowned Bondi Beach, stroll through the stately Royal Botanic Garden or sift through treasures at myriad outdoor markets.

The city’s postcard views line its main waterfront along Sydney Harbour, namely at Sydney Cove, where didgeridoo players, jugglers and other buskers compete for tourist dollars, taking advantage of the endless stream of visitors embarking on ferries and harbor cruises from the Circular Quay.

Jutting toward the harbor, the Sydney Opera House stands in all its elegance, luring camera-wielding travelers to its steps. Inside, it offers tours of its theaters, though its exterior, described as everything from broken eggshells to boat sails, is its main draw.

At dusk, the nearby Opera Bar fills with gawkers waiting for the sun to set on the Opera House and behind the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The top of the bridge offers even more dramatic views of the harbor, but only for those daring enough to sign up with BridgeClimb for heart-stopping tours over the arch as traffic whizzes by underfoot.

A walk behind the Opera House connects to the back entrance of The Royal Botanic Garden, bordered by open space called The Domain. A true link to Sydney’s past, it originally served as the buffer between the governor’s residence and the penal colony.

On the opposite end of Sydney Cove, paths lead to Sydney’s oldest English settlement, The Rocks. Cobbled laneways wind around sandstone buildings housing a variety of souvenir and craft shops, upmarket restaurants and historic pubs like the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, still sporting chisel marks convicts made on the quarried stone.

Sydney’s Central Business District plays host to its own historic buildings amid modern skyscrapers, such as the Romanesque 19th-century Queen Victoria Building. It continues to charm with stained glass windows and wrought iron balustrades, as well as upscale boutiques. Perched 1,000 feet above Sydney’s CBD, Sky Venue, located at the top of Sydney Tower, touts itself as the highest event space in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney’s cultural allures reach equal heights, including an abundance of A-list museums. Situated near The Rocks, the Museum of Contemporary Art exhibits mixed-media works from Australian and international artists. Set on the western side of Circular Quay, the location marks the landing point of the First Fleet, a flotilla of 11 ships that carried convicts and soldiers from Britain to Australia in 1788.

Also look for hidden gems like the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Originally built in 1819 to house convict men and boys, the barracks later took in female immigrants and in the 1860s became Hyde Park Asylum. Other art outlets, like the Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, focus on Aboriginal arts and history.

In Sydney locals flock to weekend markets in Glebe, Paddington and Surry Hills, while Newtown draws a bohemian crowd for its pubs, bookshops, festivals, creative culture and street life. The bayside suburb of Manly, home to an array of restaurants and bars along Manly Wharf, also ties in Sydney’s natural highlights, namely on its Spit Bridge-to-Manly walk.

Officially a suburb of Sydney redeveloped for the 2000 Olympics, Sydney Olympic Park is a sprawling sporting, cultural and leisure complex, including the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre and The Stables at Sydney Showground.

Heading north from Sydney, Queensland encompasses everything from the cosmopolitan city of Brisbane to the underwater fantasyland of the Great Barrier Reef.

Noosa National Park, Queensland © NIGEL SPIERS | DREAMSTIME.COM

Brisbane, Queensland’s capital, serves as both a business hub and an arts center. Boutiques and restaurants line Adelaide Street in the CBD, close to the stately Central Station and City Hall as well as King George Square, offering dining options, concerts and other entertainment. Another CBD historic attraction, the ANZAC Square War Memorial and Parkland, dedicated to Australia’s military heritage, features the Shrine of Remembrance with Eternal Flame.

The heart of Brisbane’s arts and culture scene lies on South Bank, over Victoria Bridge from the CBD. The sprawling Cultural Precinct, South Bank includes the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, or QAGOMA. A single institution located in two adjacent buildings, it houses items from the 1840s to modern works in a variety of media such as photography, painting, sculpture and film. Also part of the Precinct, the Queensland Museum South Bank features the history of the region with exhibits ranging from dinosaur skeletons to the region’s endangered species. The museum includes the Sciencentre, with more than 100 interactive exhibits.

Other art options in Brisbane include ART101, a boutique art gallery displaying original artworks by emerging Australian artists. The Aboriginal Fine Arts Gallery in Albert Street Mall specializes in art from the Central Western Desert region, the Kimberley and Arnhem Land.

Nature remains a big draw in Brisbane at the City Botanic Gardens with its many ponds and designated gardens, such as Bamboo Grove. Brisbane offers more than 17 miles of bicycle pathways and also makes good use of its river, as CityCat ferries and other local boat services provide easy access to the museums, botanical gardens, wildlife parks and historic neighborhoods, as well as riverfront plazas with their variety of restaurants and cafés.

Just outside the city, D’Aguilar National Park entices with hiking trails and the South East Queensland Wildlife Centre, home to platypus, turtles, lizards, pythons and gliders. Another draw is Noosa National Park, known for its coastal scenery and local wildlife. The base is in Noosa, where restaurants and upscale boutiques line the city’s Hastings Street.

For a more beach-filled getaway, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast lie within easy reach of Brisbane. Along the Gold Coast, high-rises climb among renowned surf beaches such as Surfers Paradise. Meanwhile, the Sunshine Coast, just more than an hour from Brisbane, offers pristine stretches of beachfront, drawing families for its safe swimming beaches as well as surfers to its variety of surf spots, including Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach, Marcus Beach, Peregian Beach and Coolum Beach.

The far northern city of Cairns provides the main jumping-off point for the diving and snorkeling mecca, the Great Barrier Reef. An hour north of Cairns, the resort town of Port Douglas also lends easy access to the reef and the remote Daintree Rainforest, the oldest living rainforest on Earth. Arrange hikes and safaris or indulge in massages and other wellness options at the spas in town.

Other Queensland attractions include riding on the old Kuranda Scenic Railway or taking a break from civilization at Cape Tribulation, where the beach and rainforest meet. This part of Daintree National Park allows access by boat to the Great Barrier Reef or to nearby islands by kayak.

Info to Go

Sydney Airport lies less than 15 minutes by train from the city; train stations are located at the international and domestic terminals and operate as part of the Airport Link train. The airport rail stations link directly to the City Circle line, making most city destinations easily accessible. Sydney buses operate a timetabled service, Route 400, between Bondi Junction and Burwood, which stops at the international and domestic terminals.

Most Queensland travelers fly into Brisbane Airport, where Airtrain offers services to Brisbane City and the Gold Coast as well as transfers between the domestic and international terminals. Airtrain departs every 15 minutes during peak hours. TransLink offers public transport in South East Queensland and provides bus services to the airport precinct. Con-x-ion Airport Transfers meet every flight arriving into Brisbane Airport seven days a week, offering one-way or return door-to-door coach services to Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

Airport Connect bus service offered by Sun Palm Transport links Cairns Airport with the TransLink public transport network at northbound and southbound Sheridan Street bus stops.