AUSTRALIA

With its iconic Opera House and Harbor Bridge, Sydney holds its own among the world’s great, iconic cities. Stately Melbourne, with its historic architecture and progressive, electric tramlines, is less iconic but no less delightful. Each represents a different side of Australia’s good-natured, friendly and sophisticated urban culture.

Australia’s art scene is not restricted to Sydney—in fact the remote regional capitals of Perth, Western Australia and Hobart, Tasmania harbor some of the continent’s most vibrant artists’ studios, galleries and museums. In Perth, learn about traditional Aboriginal art, filled with spiritual significance, and in Hobart, don’t miss the contemporary MONA museum—a physical manifestation of Tasmania’s quirky culture.

Through a combination of Australia’s favorable climate and the adoption of the finest European vintner’s traditions, Australia’s wine is some of the world’s finest. In the Hunter Valley, cycle between wineries on eucalyptus shaded lanes. Or, in the celebrated Barossa Valley, join a respected sommelier in his vintage Daimler for a guided tasting tour.

No trip to Australia is complete without visiting the famed Great Barrier Reef. Whether viewed from a snorkeler’s perspective or from a bird’s eye-view via private plane, the Reef is truly extraordinary. Smaller and less-often-visited Ningaloo Reef, on the opposite coast, offers the opportunity to swim alongside curious, vegetarian whale sharks—a unique and awe inspiring experience.

The Daintree Rainforest’s stunning natural beauty is inarguable, but to appreciate the landscape even more deeply, explore in the company of an Aboriginal elder with a lifelong connection to the land. Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain wilderness area is some of the most untouched on the continent—soaring peaks frame the ancient rainforest, interspersed with crystal-clear lakes and streams.

The landscape of Aboriginal-managed Arnhem Land is rich with diverse wildlife, thundering waterfalls and sweeping plains—true to its Aboriginal roots, each landscape is imbued with unique, spiritual significance. Join a local, Aboriginal guide in viewing millennias-old rock art and learning about the continuity of this ancient culture into the contemporary age. A local, Aboriginal guide also adds immeasurably to the experience of seeing Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)—an ancient, sacred site.

Victoria’s Great Ocean Road is perhaps the most spectacular coastal drive in the world— waves crash into sheer cliffs, while strange and beautiful rock formations carved by the sea over the ages jut from the shore. The rock formations of the Pinnacles Desert in remote Western Australia are perhaps even more strange—limestone pillars rise seemingly out of nowhere from a vast, sandy plain.