New South Wales

Sydney, spectacularly draped around its glorious harbour and beaches, has visual wow factor like few other cities. Scratch the surface and it only gets better.

With stunning natural beauty, the World Heritage region of the Blue Mountains is an Australian highlight. The slate-coloured haze that gives the mountains their name comes from a fine mist of oil exuded by the huge eucalypts that form a dense canopy across the landscape of deep, often inaccessible valleys and chiselled sandstone outcrops.

The foothills begin 65km inland from Sydney, rising to an 1100m-high sandstone plateau riddled with valleys eroded into the stone. There are eight connected conservation areas in the region offering truly fantastic scenery, excellent bushwalks (hikes) and Aboriginal heritage: this is the country of the Darug and Gundungurra peoples.

Although it’s possible to day trip from Sydney, consider staying a night (or longer) so you can explore the towns, do at least one bushwalk and eat at some of the excellent restaurants. The hills can be surprisingly cool throughout the year, so bring warm clothes.

A filigree of picturesque roads criss-crosses this verdant valley, but a pleasant country drive isn’t the main motivator for visitors – sheer decadence is. The Hunter is one big gorge fest: fine wine, gourmet restaurants, boutique beer, chocolate, cheese, olives, you name it. Bacchus would surely approve.

The Hunter wineries – over 150 at last count – are refreshingly attitude free and welcoming to novices. They nearly all have a cellar door with cheap or free tastings.

While some deride the Disneyland aspect of the Hunter Valley, the region also offers everything from hot-air balloons and horse riding to open-air concerts. Accordingly, it is a hugely popular weekender for Sydney couples, wedding parties and groups of friends wanting to drink hard while someone else drives. Every Friday they descend and prices leap accordingly.

The Hunter Valley gets exceedingly hot during summer, so – like its shiraz – it's best enjoyed in the cooler months.

Rising from the Pacific a remote 600km from the NSW mainland, little Lord Howe's tropical, World Heritage–listed beauty is surprisingly under the radar given the jaw-dropping spectacle of this former volcano. It looks like a Bond villain's lair, with two lofty mountains overlooking an idyllic lagoon, perfect crescents of beach and a verdant interior criss-crossed with walking trails.

Lord Howe's isolation and comparatively recent appearance – it was formed by hotspot volcanic activity around seven million years ago – lends it a unique ecology, with many plant and insect species found only here. Birds rule the roost, with nesting terns noisily present and the eerie cries of muttonbirds in their burrows punctuating the night. Ongoing ecological projects are seeking to remove introduced species.

The island's restricted accommodation and flight capacity mean that a visit here doesn't come cheap, but relaxation is guaranteed: there's limited internet and no mobile-phone signal.

Stocks brochures on scenic drives, walks and an arts trail.

When it comes to Byron these days, cries of 'Paradise lost' echo in the surrounding hills, while nearby unassuming beach towns puff out their chests in pride of being dubbed 'the new Byron'. Sure, this is a place suffering under the weight of its intense popularity – traffic-choked streets, no car spaces and lengthy cafe queues – but while it might not be what it used to be, it's still pretty special.

The local Arakwal people know it as Cavanbah, which translates to 'meeting place', a fitting name when you consider its wonderful mishmash of young international backpackers, holidaying families, ageing hippies, boho-clad seachangers, property developers, models and musicians. Come here to surf epic breaks at dawn and sigh at the enchanting sunsets, refine your yoga moves and hang with beach buskers, idle at cafes, gorge on good food, then kick on at the pub. Wake up, hit repeat.

Pearl-white sand and crystalline waters have made this large, sheltered bay the darling of the South Coast. Leaping dolphins and migrating whales (May to November) add to Jervis Bay's appeal, and there's a sizeable quotient of diving, snorkelling and kayaking operators. Most development is around Huskisson and Vincentia. Beecroft Peninsula forms the northeastern side of Jervis Bay, ending in the sheer cliffs of Point Perpendicular.

Jervis Bay's snow-white sands attract deserved hype and summer crowds often dispel any illusion of earthly paradise. But you can skip headline-grabbing beaches for a choice of sweeping bays and, just south, cove-dotted Booderee National Park.

In 1995 the Wreck Bay area was returned to local Aboriginal Australians, who now jointly administer Booderee National Park at the southern end of the bay. Interestingly enough, Australian Capital Territory laws apply, a historical quirk originally devised to allow the ACT direct access to the sea.

This 6940-sq-km park is a painterly landscape of subalpine meadows, twisted snow-gum trees and moraines that resemble the surface of the moon. It contains Australia's highest peak and is the source of two of the country's most legendary rivers, the Murray and the Snowy.

In winter (June to August) it's a major ski destination, while in summer travellers come to hike, drive scenic back roads, explore caves and engage in serious mountain biking. The crowning experience is climbing Mt Kosciuszko (2228m), named after a Polish national hero by explorer Paweł Strzelecki. The route's more hypnotic than high-octane, with raised walkways meandering up to a panorama of the Snowy Mountains.

Sacred to Aboriginal Australians for 20,000 years, this was the setting for intertribal gatherings to coincide with the edible bogong moth's annual migration. As you survey the wildflowers and glacial lakes, you'll easily see why this land has long inspired ceremony and awe.

Wildlife thrives on this small, pest-free island, 9km offshore from Narooma, where fur seals frolic and 90 bird species wheel overhead. Little penguins nest here from September to February, while, offshore, whales are most numerous from September to November.

Book ahead for tours by park rangers. Boat operators can combine the island visit with snorkelling and whale watching. Snorkelling and diving are made even more exciting by the presence of fur seals, whose underwater acrobatics are enchanting to watch.

This remote, beautiful and important park covers 278.5 sq km of the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area. A site of global archaeological and anthropological significance, it is one of Australia's most accessible slices of the outback.

Within the park, Lake Mungo is a dry lake and the site of the oldest archaeological finds in Australia. It also has the longest continual record of human culture: the world's oldest-recorded cremation site – thought to be over 40,000 years old – has been found here.

The area is the traditional homeland of the Barkindji, Ngyiampaa and Mutthi Mutthi peoples, and in late 2018 the remains of 105 tribal ancestors – including those of 40,000 year-old 'Mungo Man' – were returned to the park to be reinterred according to the wishes of the three local tribes.

The best time to visit is from April to October as summer temperatures are usually scorching.