Welcome back to Oz.
Australia just deal some great news : After more than two years of closed borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic — during which clock time Melbourne became the world - disk holder as the urban center with the long amount of time pass in lockdown — theLand Down Underis finally open to international touristry . rent the Men at Work play !
As of February 21 , 2022 , immunized travelers can once again search out whatever OTC Master of Education will ping them out for 24 time of day and embark on that legendary sidereal day - long , layover - great journeying with possibly the best payoff ever : adventures in the earth of unrivaled sunshine and breakers , exceptionally unique wildlife , famously friendly denizen , and expanses of recondite red , sacred desert unlike anything else on the planet — all packed into an tremendous island / commonwealth / continent ( who knows ! ) beyond definition .
Here ’s what to know before your next trip to Australia , including the country ’s entry requirements and the practiced stead to visit , from Sydney ’s iconic seaboard to the wild and wonderful Outback .
Oz, how we missed you.|Kieran Stone/Moment/Getty Images
The Coolest Things To Do In The Coolest Cities In Australia
Covid-19 entry requirements for Australia
Except in extenuate circumstances , all international travelers to Australiamust be full vaccinated for COVID-19.(Sorry , Djokovic . ) You ’ll require to provide prescribed substantiation of vaccination , as well asapply for a travel visa , arrant aDigital Passenger Declaration , and supply proof of arecent negative COVID-19 test .
Before you record book , also be trusted tocheck state and dominion arrival requirements ; depend on your concluding destination , you may be require to complete border entry registration pattern , undergo COVID-19 tests , or quarantine . For full selective information , click here .
Explore the Berlin of the Southern Hemisphere
Reserve the top spot on your travel guidebook for the State Department of Victoria ’s laid - back capital , Melbourne , ranked amongstthe world ’s most liveable citiesyear after year after year . This is fundamentally Berlin by the Port Phillip Bay : Melbourne come unadulterated with the unique local fashion , focalize on the arts , and notoriously excellent night life ( see : Workshop , Cookie , Black Cat Fitzroy , Yah Yah’s , Revolver ) gas by its German twin — but this prison term , with lofty breakers spots and weather that ’ll get you frantically searching for a way of life to last out forever .
HitQueen VictoriaorSouth Melbourne Market . Indulge in the city ’s rearing ( to say the least ) coffee culture on Lygon Street , wander the sound of its quintessential laneways on Degraves Street , andgrab some black sim(yes — that ’s dimsim , not dimsum ) . Also crucial is a stroll ( or tramcar drive ! ) down to decoration - linedSt . Kilda Beachto lounge by the down - dark-green ocean and go for a spin on the rides at the century - onetime , hard - to - missLuna Park .
Of of course , if this is your first visit , you ’re probably frantic to tell apart some of Australia ’s iconic animals : your kangaroo , your emus , your koalas . If that sounds like you , make a beeline for theWerribee Open Range Zoo , where you cancatch them at once . ( Bonus round : For an extra - telling show , head to Yarra Bend Park around dusk whenthousands of fruit bat take flightall at once . )
Road trip on the Great Ocean Road
The gorgeous , 151 - mile - longGreat Ocean Roadcan technicallybe complete in about ten hours . But then , it ’s unlikely you came all the way to Australia to induce through one of the earth ’s most beautiful scenic thrust . Kicking things off in Torquay , just 1.5 hours from Melbourne — a town that ’s rightfully garner its reputation as a surf majuscule , home to world - renowned Bells Beach and theAustralian National Surfing Museum — you’ll go curve along the glide of Victoria , reach points like Split Point Lighthouse , Lorne , and Apollo Bay .
On the final stretchability , you ’ll findPort Campbell National Parkand the celebrated Twelve Apostles , a collection of ( seven , despite the name ) limestone sea stacks that jut out from the Southern Ocean and radiate orange at sunset . Rent a railroad car as far in feeler as possibleso that you’re able to drive tiresome and thus advantageously soak up the views .
Add ‘Road Trip Down Australia’s East Coast’ to Your List of Life Goals
Journey from one world-famous beach to the next.
Hit the sun-kissed shores of Sydney
At long last , your clip to get a selfie by that damn consortium at Bondi Beach has go far . joke aside , all of Sydney ’s most essential itinerary items take spot by the water . Stop to ogle the Opera House , then keep it push ontoThe Rocksand its cobbled , historic laneways . One of the oldest parts of Sydney , it ’s there you ’ll feel some of the best bars ( Hotel Palisadeforphenomenalviews andMaybe Sammy , vote the better measure in Australia ) and taphouse ( Lord NelsonandFortune of War , two of Australia ’s Old ) around .
You ’re also gon na desire to spend plenty of meter drinking at theTheatre Bar at the last of the Wharf — or at any waterfront watering fix , for that subject — and dining out onMoreton Bay bugs , which look creepy to the naive but in reality taste well as Hades . And when the time add up to really get out onto or into the water , take a scenic ferrying from Circular Quay to Manly Beach ( andwalk to North Headif you ’re down to stretch those legs ) , or lounge on the long reaching of George Sand that is Cronulla Beach .
Also worth ascertain out , particularly for our arts - and - culture types out there : eclectic Newtown for great medicine venue , trendy bars , and solid nightlife , as well as theAustralian Museumin the CBD ( the country ’s very first ! ) and theWhite Rabbit Galleryin Chippendale .
A stroll down to St. Kilda Beach is essential.|Peter Harrison/Stone/Getty Images
Day trip to the Great Barrier Reef
An attractive force that require no introduction , diving the 1,400 - mile Great Barrier Reef is one of those iconicbucket tilt tripsthat sits on the same level as ensure the Pyramids and visiting the Galapagos Islands . nous to the coast of Queensland — aka quite a far mode from P. 42 Wallaby Way , Sydney — and drop anchor yourself in Port Douglas or Cairns . Thoughhigh - velocity sail from Port Douglascan get you to the Outer Reef in under an minute , originate in Cairns is incredibly popular , call asweet scenic road trip , and will net you afun full - day adventure at the Reef .
From either place , you’re able to enter on world - class scuba diving event go that ’ll take you beneath the ocean and into one of the mankind ’s most diverse , vibrant ecosystem , home to more than 2,900 single reefs , 400 types of coral , 1,500 species of Pisces , giant sea turtles ( pull up stakes them be ! ) , and more aquatic delights . If you have time , journey to the Whitsunday Islands , a collection of 74 removed islet ; although most are uninhabited , you ’ll feel everything fromremote campsites to mid - tier up getaways to luxury resortsscattered throughout , all with turquoise vistas straight out of your dream .
Of course , we ’d be remiss to mention the reef without cite its preservation needs . Unless you ’ve been endure under a rock Patrick Star - dash , you ’re likely aware that the Great Barrier Reef has faced a serious threat of bleaching — a phenomenon because of warming oceans — over the grade of the last several ten . Luckily , there are way to get up nigh and personal with this natural treasureandhelp keep up it for future generations .
The Twelve Apostles are just one (or rather, seven) of Australia’s many natural wonders.|Westend61/Getty Images
Get a taste of the Outback in Alice Springs
It ’s easy to say that you ’re “ choke to see the Outback . ” But venture into Australia ’s immense , mostly uninhabited , remote midland unprepared , and you ’ll find that it ’s often not a antic . Every class , ill - equipped tourists royally and tragically fuck themselvesby heading inland without a program , convinced a driveway through the Outback is a everyday , tally - of - the - pulverisation road trip when the realness could n’t be more different . The state is huge than you expect , more dangerous than you know , and much hotter than you could ever ideate . ( Pray separate : If the characters fromMad Maxbarely survive out here , why would you think you could ? )
If you care trips from which you ’re sure to repay , result thing to the professional person andbook a run tour of the Outback from Alice Springs — a citadel of Aboriginal acculturation and the gateway to the country ’s crimson center . ( you may get there easily with a flight from Sydney , Melbourne , or any other major Australian city . )
palisade by vast swaths of vermillion desert , Alice Springs is also the nearest large town toUluru - Kata Tjuta National Park , home to the monolithic Uluru Rock , one of the satellite ’s most recognizable natural wonders . think to have forge over 550 million year ago , this land site is sacred to Indigenous Australians . That said , the telephone number one thing to do here ? Be venerating of the soil and its original inhabitants .
Ferry out to Tasmania for art and animals
If you ’re die to see more exciting critter — including , of course of instruction , substantial - living Taz from Looney Tunes — book yourself a slip toTasmania , home to some of the most divers , vivacious plant life and fauna you ’ll see in your life . Strap on your sturdiest tramp shoes and set the saloon richly from the get - go with a challenging trek up Kunanyi / Mount Wellington . There aredozens of trails that ’ll take you to the summit , all of which will drive home wholesale opinion out across the deep blue water , winding coastlines , and rolling mountains of Australia ’s island state of matter .
That ’s just the beginning of your visit into nature : Book a tourto northwestern Tasmania to search the ancienttakayna / Tarkine Rainforest , or locomote just northward of Hobart to the shores ofFreycinet National Park , whose green peaks , livid sands , and crystalline waters might convince you that you ’ve stepped into some sort ofEndless Summer / Lord of the Ringscrossover flick .
And when you ’re done marvel at nature ’s majesty , speculation to Hobart . There , you’re able to check out some valet - made creations at theSalamanca Market , whose dozens of vendors derive out to deal everything from craft goods to street food for thought each Saturday , andTasmania ’s Museum of Old and New Art , arguably one of the near artistic production museums in the world .
Sydney is all about being by the ocean.|Walter Bibikow/DigitalVision/Getty Images
Go ahead, call him Nemo.|LuffyKun/E+/Getty Images
Above all else, remember that the Outback is sacred land.|Martin Klima/EyeEm/Getty Images
Enjoy sunset at the Hazards in Freycinet National Park.|Andrew Peacock/E+/Getty Images
