Country guide · AU

Australia

22 destinos y fiestas · 4 normas y tabúes

Foto: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0

Before you go

Lectura obligada antes de ir

Línea rojaSeguridad

Australian beaches: swim between the red and yellow flags

  • Swim only between the red and yellow flags where lifeguards are on duty
  • If you don't know the conditions, ask a lifeguard
  • Swimming at unpatrolled beaches or outside the flags

Outside the flags there may be rip currents, and lifeguards cannot reach you in time.

Sin verificarFuente: Surf Life Saving Australia: beach safety signs

Línea rojaModales cotidianos

Uluru: climbing is not allowed

  • Walk the base track around Uluru and learn about Anangu culture
  • Climbing Uluru

The climb closed permanently on 26 October 2019; climbing breaks the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and is punished.

Verificado el 19 oct 2026Fuente: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park: climb closure

Línea rojaEntrada al país

Entering Australia: food, plant and animal products must be declared

  • Truthfully declare all food (even small, packaged snacks), plants and animal products on your arrival card
  • If in doubt, declare it
  • Bringing fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, seeds or wooden souvenirs without declaring them

You can be issued an infringement notice; your visa may be cancelled, you may be refused entry and barred from returning for up to 3 years.

Sin verificarFuente: Australian Department of Agriculture: travelling to Australia

Buenos modalesPropinas

Australia: tipping is not required

  • When service is especially good, round up or leave a small tip
  • Feeling bad about not leaving a tip

There is no penalty; Australian wages do not depend on tips.

Sin verificarFuente: Mozo: tipping in Australia

Places & local life

Lugares emblemáticos, rincones ocultos y vida local

Sydney Opera House · photo 1

ClásicoSydney, New South Wales

Sydney Opera House

A World Heritage Site of shells and sails: an architectural poem on Sydney Harbour

Melbourne laneways · photo 1

ClásicoMelbourne, Victoria

Melbourne's street-art laneways

A whole laneway as a canvas: the soul of Melbourne's street art

Phillip Island Penguin Parade (photo 1)

ClásicoPhillip Island, Victoria

Phillip Island Penguin Parade

At sunset, little penguins waddle home — the homecoming ritual of the world's smallest penguin

Wineglass Bay · photo 1

ClásicoFreycinet National Park, Tasmania

Wineglass Bay

A crescent of white sand, a regular on 'world's most beautiful beaches' lists

Rottnest Island · photo 1

ClásicoOff Perth, Western Australia

Rottnest Island

Happy home of the quokka, selfie mecca of 'the world's happiest animal'

The Pinnacles · photo 1

ClásicoNambung National Park, Western Australia

The Pinnacles

Thousands of limestone spires in the desert, like the surface of the moon

South Bank Parklands, Brisbane (photo 1)

ClásicoBrisbane, Queensland

South Bank Parklands, Brisbane

A man-made beach in the city centre: the relaxed living room of the Sunshine State's capital

Sydney Harbour Bridge · photo 1

ClásicoSydney, New South Wales

Sydney Harbour Bridge

A 134-m climb on the 'Coathanger': the world's most spectacular city climb

Bondi Beach · photo 1

ClásicoSydney, New South Wales

Bondi Beach

A 1-km crescent of sand, the spiritual totem of Australian beach culture

Blue Mountains · photo 1

ClásicoKatoomba, New South Wales

Blue Mountains National Park

In the blue haze of eucalyptus oil: a canyon epic watched over by the Three Sisters

Great Barrier Reef · photo 1

ClásicoCairns, Queensland

Great Barrier Reef

A 2,300-km coral kingdom, the largest living structure on Earth

Kuranda · photo 1

ClásicoCairns, Queensland

Kuranda Rainforest

180 million years of ancient rainforest: a green time machine crossed by cable car and scenic railway

Gold Coast · photo 1

ClásicoGold Coast, Queensland

Gold Coast

57 km of golden coastline: Surfers Paradise and the theme-park capital

Uluru · photo 1

ClásicoNorthern Territory · Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Uluru

A 348-m red heart: the spiritual origin of Australia

The Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road (photo 1)

ClásicoPort Campbell, Victoria

Twelve Apostles, Great Ocean Road

Limestone apostles carved by the Southern Ocean: a temple of light at sunrise and sunset

A meat pie from a bakery in South Australia

GastronomíaAustralia (nationwide)

Australian meat pie

The hand-held meat pie that's a must at Aussie rules football, once called 'Australia's national dish' by a state premier.

Pavlova

GastronomíaAustralia / New Zealand

Pavlova

A meringue cake named after a Russian ballerina, fought over for a hundred years by Australia and New Zealand.

The gatehouse of Fremantle Prison

ClásicoFremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle Prison

A limestone prison built by the convicts themselves, in use until 1991.

Ruins of the Port Arthur penitentiary

ClásicoTasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia

Port Arthur Historic Site

The prison for 'incorrigible' convicts, the best known of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage properties.

An old street in The Rocks

ClásicoSydney, New South Wales, Australia (west of Circular Quay)

The Rocks

Where the First Fleet landed in 1788: Australia's oldest European neighbourhood, with sandstone houses, narrow lanes and a weekend market.

A public barbecue in an Australian park

GastronomíaSydney, New South Wales (Bondi, Bronte)

Public barbecues in beach parks

Australians' most everyday weekend: bring sausages and bread and gather by the free electric barbecues in a seaside park.

Cafés on Degraves Street

CaféMelbourne, Victoria (Degraves Street)

Melbourne coffee culture

Australia's coffee capital: independent cafés in the laneways, baristas happy to talk beans, and a proper flat white.