Heading to Australia with kids? Here are some incredible, don’t-miss destinations you need to add to your Australia bucket list.
Australia has so much to offer families, with so many incredible bucket list destinations.
Whether your crew dreams of snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, spotting kangaroos in the wild, or road-tripping through landscapes that look like they belong in a movie, Australia has something for every kind of traveller.
From world-famous icons to lesser-known destinations kids will love, we’ve pulled together the must-visit destinations and experiences that belong on every family’s Australian adventure list.
Here we highlight our ten favourite Australian destinations for your bucket list. And we’ve added on a few at the bottom that are still on our own bucket list.
Table of Contents
Uluru
Rising out of the desert in the middle of the Australian outback in the Northern Territory is the most iconic rock in the world: Uluru.
There’s no denying this is a magical place and visiting Uluru is an incredible experience to share with your kids.
There are loads of amazing things to do in Uluru with kids, from watching sunrise over the rock to taking a helicopter ride, visiting the spectacular Field of Lights and learning about the local Anagnu culture.
Click here to learn more about visiting Uluru with kids.
The Whitsundays
Another of the most famous Australian tourist attractions is the Great Barrier Reef. Snorkelling on the world’s largest reef system should definitely be on your Australia bucket list.
The Great Barrier Reef is 2,000km long, so there are plenty of destinations you can visit to explore the reef. One of our favourite places is The Whitsundays.
With 74 sun-drenched islands, glistening white beaches and easy access to the Reef, the Whitsundays are the perfect holiday spot for nature lovers and sun worshippers alike. It’s also heaven for water sports enthusiasts, with world-class sailing, snorkelling and diving.
Our favourite place to be based in The Whitsundays is Hamilton Island, which is the perfect spot for a family holiday.
Click here to read more about visiting Hamilton Island.
Kakadu National Park
Our trip to Kakadu National Park is one of the most memorable we have done in Australia.
The area is so incredibly beautiful and vast and our Darwin to Kakadu itinerary was filled with fun and diverse activities.
We swam in insanely beautiful natural swimming holes, kayaked through gorges alongside freshwater crocodiles and admired 20,000-year old rock art. We also saw an incredible amount of wildlife, including the ubiquitous saltwater crocodile.
If you’re looking for fun and adventure on your family holiday, then add Kakadu to your list.
Click here to learn more about visiting Kakadu with Kids.
Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is the most famous road trip in Australia, known for its stunning clifftop views and its amazing natural rock formations. The Twelve Apostles, with its towering limestone spires, is an iconic Australian image.
There are plenty of other fun things to do on the Great Ocean Road along the way too.
During our Great Ocean Road holidays we enjoyed rainforest walks, waterfalls, visiting lighthouses, beaches and even zip lining through the trees!
We recommend hiring a car and taking 3-4 days to get the most out of a visit to the Great Ocean Road. We extended our trip to take in the Mornington Peninsula and the Grampian Mountains. We then finished off our trip with 3 days in Melbourne at the end.
Click here to read about all the fun things to do on the Great Ocean Road.
K’gari (Fraser Island)
At 123km long, K’gari is the world’s largest sand island and one of the only places in the world where you will find rainforest growing in the sand dunes.
There are rainforests to explore, freshwater lakes to swim in, shipwrecks to explore, beautiful beaches to play on – and of course the fun of driving on sand!
The island is undoubtedly a beautiful place, with its exceptional natural features and formations earning its status as UNESCO World Heritage site.
It features a surprising variety of mangroves, rainforest, sand dunes, wetland forest and is home to a wealth of wildlife.
It’s the ideal place in Australia for kids to go on an eco-adventure.
There are loads of other fantastic attractions in Hervey Bay and nearby on the Fraser Coast, too. We highly recommend tying in a visit to eco haven Lady Elliot Island, and if you’re visiting in winter, make time to go whale watching in Hervey Bay too.
Click here to learn more about visiting K’gari (Fraser Island).
Far North Queensland
I’ll always have a soft spot for Far North Queensland, as we have enjoyed so many fantastic family holidays here.
With its amazing tropical climate, beautiful beaches, Great Barrier Reef and stunning rainforest, it has something for everyone.
We like to start our time in Palm Cove, where we can enjoy all the attractions in Cairns and visit Kuranda and then make our way up to Port Douglas to enjoy the wonders of the reef and rainforest.
Read more about visiting Port Douglas with Kids here.
Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains national park is a world heritage area just a 2-hour drive from Sydney.
Australia’s answer to the Grand Canyon offers 1 million hectares of spectacular scenery, including ancient rainforest, impressive rock formations and sandstone cliffs, canyons, waterfalls and ravines.
With 140km of walking tracks to explore, the Blue Mountains area is a popular daytrip or weekend getaway for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts from Sydney. If you’re not into hiking, an easy and family-friendly way to take in the views is with a visit to Scenic World.
This has plenty of attractions to impress the kids, including the steepest railway in the world, the steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere.
Click here to learn more about visiting the Blue Mountains with kids.
Sydney
Ok, so I’m biased as I’ve called Sydney home for the past seven years. But if you’re only going to visit one city in Australia, make it Sydney. It really is a great destination for families.
There are fantastic beaches, iconic landmarks, and everyone’s favourite zoo, Taronga Zoo. You can ride the ferry, climb the bridge and learn to surf on world famous Bondi and Manly beaches. There’s an abundance of great hotels and restaurants to choose from too.
Everyone’s a winner.
Click here to read more about visiting Sydney wtih kids.
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast is one of Australia’s most popular destinations for a family holiday, thanks to its abundance of family-friendly attractions.
It’s the theme park capital of Australia and also offers 57km of coastline, plus a hinterland promising atmospheric rainforest walks and waterfalls.
The 300 days of sunshine doesn’t hurt either.
Year on year the Gold Coast continues to boom, with new hotels, restaurants and attractions opening all the time. It’s almost impossible not to have a good time on the Gold Coast.
You might not love it, but the kids will!
Click here to find all the fun things to do on the Gold Coast.
Barossa Valley
No, you wouldn’t usually include a wine region on a family travel bucket list. But if you are interested in wine, then it would be a shame to visit Australia and not visit one of our famous wine regions.
And the Barossa is world famous for a reason. Famous for its big bold red wines, the Barossa region is renowned as one of the premier wine regions in Australia and attracts wine lovers from all over the world.
The good news is, we have always found Australian wineries very accommodating of families. Several have garden games, kids menus in the restaurants and toy boxes.
Find our favourite Barossa Valley family-friendly wineries here.
Places on our Australia bucket list we have yet to visit:
We haven’t ticked off everything yet! These are the next destinations on our to-do list. Got more recommendations? Let me know!
Kangaroo Island
There’s plenty of opportunity for adventure, with sand surfing, kayaing and swimming with wild dolphins. And apart from all that, it’s known as having some of Australia’s best local produce.
It sounds right up our street. I’m surprised we haven’t visited yet, actually.
Tasmania
I had to cancel two trips to Tasmania due to lockdown during the pandemic, and somehow we haven’t got around to re-booking yet.
Everyone I know who has been loves it. They rave about the natural beauty, the laid-back vibe and the fantastic local produce.
And have you ever seen a photo of Wineglass Bay in Freycient National Park? It has to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia.
You can also sea kayak, visit caves, take a jetboat ride and of course – it’s the best place in Australia to see the Tasmanian devil!
Ningaloo Reef
We have visited Perth and Margaret River many times, but never made it out further north in Western Australia.
But I am desperate to visit Ningaloo Reef, one of the only places in the world where you can swim with whale sharks in a completely natural way.
You can also swim with turtles, giant cuttlefish and wild dolphins – and of course spend hours playing on the beach.