How to see Australia’s 21 World Heritage sites (including the new one)

Of all global honours, few, if any, are greater for a destination than a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Across the planet, just 1248 properties have been recognised for their extraordinary cultural and/or natural significance. Australia, only last month, scored one of these rare accolades when Western Australia’s Murujuga Cultural Landscape, in the Pilbara, became our 21st World Heritage site.

The last time Australia celebrated such an honour was 2019, when Victoria’s Budj Bim landscape was recognised. In 2011, Western Australia’s Ningaloo Coast was inscribed.

Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation deputy chair Belinda Churnside was at UNESCO headquarters in Paris for the July announcement, at which she gave a speech in her traditional language. “It was such a moving moment,” she says, admitting her main feeling was sadness for Elders past and present who couldn’t be there.

“This is the legacy of our Elders,” she says. “I still have to hold back the tears now – it’s one of the biggest moments in our history as people from the Pilbara region.”

Anneke Brown, Tourism Western Australia’s managing director, says the listing means there are now more global eyes on what the Murujuga Cultural Landscape represents, opening up engagement with the site which is packed with up to two million petroglyphs (images created by removing part of a rock surface through carving, pecking or abrading).

Peter Valentine, adjunct professor at Queensland’s James Cook University, natural heritage expert and author of World Heritage Sites of Australia, was astonished when he first saw Murujuga’s long lines of brilliant-red boulders. “I’d never envisaged such a thing, outside of a raw, geological force,” he says.

Yet Australia is still a long way behind Italy, which boasts the most World Heritage sites with 61, followed by China with 60, though we’re now one listing ahead of Greece and have 18 more than New Zealand.

There’s also potential for the number of our sites to grow. UNESCO’s “tentative list”, the first step in the years-long World Heritage nomination process, includes eight Australian properties, including extensions to the existing Gondwana Rainforests and K’gari World Heritage sites.

Still, Valentine wishes more Australians “were able to, and had the time, to engage in the depth of significance of each of our World Heritage sites”. “One reason I’d like that deeper appreciation of each World Heritage site is that then you can understand both the threats and the solutions for their future,” he says.

Two Australian sites, the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo, are in the headlines because of coral bleaching.

We trust this special Traveller guide to visiting Australia’s World Heritage sites, coinciding with the latest listing, offers the necessary inspiration to visit one or more of these international treasures.

ROCKS OF AGES

Murujuga Cultural Landscape, WA

Credentials Australia’s newest World Heritage site is home to the world’s densest collection of petroglyphs, or rock engravings. Up to two million images feature in this rocky landscape of loose boulders, telling the story of people and their changing environment over more than 50,000 years. UNESCO notes the site, encompassing the Burrup Peninsula and Murujuga National Park, the Dampier Archipelago’s 42 islands and marine areas, is shaped by the “enduring presence of the Ngarda-Ngarli, Traditional Owners and Custodians of the site”.

See + do Traditional custodian rangers lead 90-minute rock art tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. World Expeditions offers experienced sea kayakers a six-day Dampier Archipelago and Murujuga expedition (departing August 24 and in the same month next year). Coral Expeditions’ west coast itineraries include Murujuga.

Don’t miss Swim at one of Murujuga’s striking beaches.

Essentials Karratha, a two-hour flight from Perth, is 34 kilometres from Murujuga National Park. In the Pilbara, it’s either the cold time (April-October) or the hot time (when temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius). See experiencemurujuga.com; australianwalkingholidays.com.au; coralexpeditions.com

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Vic

Credentials This is one of the world’s oldest aquaculture systems. Gunditjmara people repurposed lava flows into ingenious channels, dams and weirs to trap, store and harvest kooyang (short-finned eels).

See + do A two-hour guided tour includes Tae Rak wetlands and insight into the eels’ life cycle.

Don’t miss Dive deeper via a half-day Stone Country tour or full-day Kooyang Walk incorporating nearby Budj Bim National Park.

Essentials Tours from Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre, 96 kilometres north-west of Warrnambool. See budjbim.com.au

Willandra Lakes region, NSW

Credentials Likened to Mars, this semi-arid site documents human evolution. Mungo National Park contains evidence of the world’s oldest-known cremation (Mungo Lady) and the 42,000-year-old remains of Mungo Man.

See + do From the park’s visitor centre, take a two-hour tour (own vehicle required) of the Walls of China formation – the park’s most spectacular geological feature.

Don’t miss Spot Mallee ringneck parrots at the Rosewood and Round Tank picnic areas.

Essentials Mungo National Park is 116 kilometres north-east of the Victorian regional city of Mildura and 356 kilometres south-east of Broken Hill in NSW. See visitmungo.com.au; nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites, Qld/SA

Credentials Among “the world’s 10 greatest fossil sites”, these spots illustrate Australian fauna’s evolutionary stages. Riversleigh’s prehistoric fossils are up to 30 million years old; Naracoorte’s caves trapped unfortunate megafauna and other animals over 500,000 years.

See + do At Riversleigh, which Sir David Attenborough described as “one of the great wonders of the paleontological world”, follow the fossil trail to spot “Big Bird’s” gizzard stones and the remains of Baru, the largest known freshwater croc. At South Australia’s only World Heritage site, fossil nerds can explore Victoria Fossil Cave; families can do Stick-Tomato Cave and Alexandra Cave.

Don’t miss Learn more about Riversleigh at Mount Isa’s Riversleigh Fossil Discovery Centre.

Essentials Riversleigh is 270 kilometres north-west of Mount Isa; Naracoorte Caves National Park is 450 kilometres west of Melbourne and 346 kilometres from Adelaide. See boodjamullanationalpark.com.au; naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au; outbackatisa.com.au

PARK LIFE

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, NT

Credentials That mesmerising monolith, Uluru, sits at the spiritual and geographic heart of Australia in Anangu country. It’s a “living cultural landscape” where “the rich red tones of Uluru and Kata Tjuta epitomise the isolation, starkness and beauty of Australia’s desert environment”.

See + do Uluru and Kata Tjuta’s 36 domes glow at sunrise and sunset. Tours (book via Ayers Rock Resort) include cruising around Uluru on a Segway and a picnic breakfast at Kata Tjuta.

Don’t miss Modern technology and ancient landscapes combine in the Wintjuri Wiru drone show and Field of Light installation that use the park as a stunning backdrop.

Essentials Ayers Rock Airport is three hours and 35 minutes’ flight from Sydney and three hours and 15 minutes from Melbourne. Ayers Rock Resort is eight kilometres from the airport. See uluru.gov.au; ayersrockresort.com.au

Kakadu National Park, NT

Credentials This “living cultural landscape” dotted with rock-art sites provides “a window into human civilisation in the days before the last ice age”. Australia’s second-largest national park, Kakadu, contains mangroves and mudflats, soaring escarpments and savanna woodlands.
See + do See Nourlangie’s rock art with Bininj man James Morgan; explore Gindjala wetland with an Indigenous guide (bird numbers peak July to September); hike the Twin Falls plateau walk or stargaze from Yellow Water billabong.
Don’t miss Stay in Indigenous-owned Mercure Crocodile Hotel, which is shaped like a saltwater croc. Gunlom, with stunning upper pools, recently reopened with new interpretive signage.
Essentials The park is 150 kilometres south-east of Darwin. Be croc-aware: don’t wade or swim in Kakadu. See yibekka.com.au; animaltracks.com.au; kakadu.gov.au; kakadutourism.com

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, Qld/NSW

Credentials This collection of rugged reserves incorporates the world’s best-preserved erosion caldera and showcases “exceptional biological diversity”, with many plants and animals that can trace their lineage from ancient times.

See + do With 41 locations stretching from Queensland’s Southern Downs to Barrington Tops, there are countless hikes to tackle. Limber up with Wollumbin National Park’s short Lyrebird track that winds through palm forest to a lookout.

Don’t miss Gidjuum Gulganyi is a new four-day walk linking Mount Jerusalem and Nightcap national parks in the Tweed hinterland.

Essentials Pack insect repellent and watch for super-friendly leeches in rainforest environments. See nationalparks.nsw.gov.au

Purnululu National Park, WA

Credentials The beehive-shaped, black-and-orange striped domes of the East Kimberley’s Bungle Bungle Range are listed thanks to their “great beauty and exceptional geological interest”.
See + do Choose how to see the park, from guided or self-guided walks, to an aerial view from a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. The park’s northern end is home to Echidna Chasm while the beehive domes and Cathedral Gorge are at the southern end.
Don’t miss The park’s southern trails include a difficult six-kilometre hike to a stunning natural feature called The Window.
Essentials Fly to Kununurra, a three-hour flight from Perth, to reach the park, generally open from April/May to late November. See exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au

OFF THE GRID

Tasmanian wilderness

Credentials Covering almost a quarter of the state, this site includes spectacular national parks (Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Walls of Jerusalem, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers, Southwest). One of the world’s largest temperate wilderness areas, it’s also a precious cultural landscape for palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal people).
See + do The Overland Track, from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, is one of the great alpine bush walks but is challenging (as is securing a spot – it’s already booked out from mid-November until mid-April). Explore the moss-clad south-west on a multi-day expedition cruise or by foot.
Don’t miss From Hobart, drive to the end of Australia’s most southerly road and strike out for South Cape Bay (four hours’ return walk) for that wind-lashed, end-of-the-world feeling.

Essentials Pack layers, fly to Launceston or Hobart, and start exploring. See parks.tas.gov.au; discovertasmania.com.au; onboardexpeditions.com.au

Lord Howe Island group, NSW

Credentials Lord Howe Island calls itself “just paradise” – and its beauty is extraordinary. The island group, home to the world’s most southerly coral reef and endemic species such as the world’s largest stick insect, provides breeding grounds for seabirds including Providence petrels and red-tailed tropicbirds.

See + do Climb the 875-metre-high Mount Gower with a guide to reach its gnarled mossy cloud forest (the challenging hike takes eight hours); wade into the water at Ned’s Beach and swim among fish.

Don’t miss Beach barbecues, complete with stacked firewood, overlook the island’s scenic spots. Source fresh kingfish, fire up the barbie and relax into “island time”.

Essentials Fly QantasLink from Sydney or Eastern Air Services from Port Macquarie, Gold Coast and Newcastle. See lordhoweisland.info

Macquarie Island, Tas

Credentials This wind and sea-scoured sub-Antarctic island, halfway between Australia and Antarctica, is the only place where rocks from the Earth’s mantle poke above sea level. Besides being a geologically fascinating study in plate boundary dynamics and “an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty”, Macca (as it’s known) attracts so many penguins, fur and elephant seals and birds that it’s called the Galapagos of the Southern Ocean.

See + do Tour the research station at the island’s northern tip. Learn about Sir Douglas Mawson’s work, which included establishing the first radio link between Australia and Antarctica, and his efforts to protect wildlife hunted almost to extinction.

Don’t miss Those buoyant fronds of bull and giant kelp are signs of kelp forests that support diverse marine life.

Essentials Macquarie Island is often included on East Antarctic cruises from Tasmania and New Zealand. See heritage-expeditions.com; aurora-expeditions.com; macquarieisland.org

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Credentials Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) are halfway between Australia and South Africa in the southern Indian Ocean.

See + do The sheer remoteness of these islands mean they’re “essentially undisturbed by humans”, with anyone wishing to visit the islands requiring a permit from the Australian Antarctic Division. The islands are home to the sub-Antarctic’s only active volcanoes. Big Ben – a continuously active 2745-metre-high volcano – dominates Heard’s silhouette. McDonald’s volcano is active after 75,000 years of dormancy.

Don’t miss These pristine World Heritage landscapes are populated with colonies of seals, penguins and birds.

Essentials Sadly, or perhaps not, HIMI is the Australian UNESCO site you’re least likely to ever be able to visit. See antarctica.gov.au

WATER WORLDS

Great Barrier Reef, Qld

Credentials Sprawling some 2000 kilometres along the Queensland coast from Gladstone to the tip of Cape York, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem. This vast mosaic of reefs, islands and coral cays, renowned for its beauty, is the place to see hard and soft corals, thousands of reef fish species, nesting green turtles and migrating whales.

See + do Meet friendly potato cod at Cod Hole – a world-famous dive site at Ribbon Reefs near Lizard Island; day-trip from the Gold Coast, Redcliffe, Hervey Bay or Bundaberg to Lady Elliot Island for turtles, rays and, from May to November, migrating whales.

Don’t miss In June and July, swim with dwarf minke whales via live aboard expeditions from Cairns; a multi-day 32-kilometre hike, the Ngaro Track, offering views over the Whitsundays’ Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet, will open next year.

Essentials Summer visits are challenging, given the region’s high humidity and rainfall, and that it’s peak stinger season. See tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au; queensland.com; ladyelliot.com.au; worldexpeditions.com

K’gari (Fraser Island), QLD

Credentials K’gari is the world’s largest sand island and home to half the world’s perched freshwater dune lakes. These lakes, combined with the island’s majestic tropical rainforests and shifting dunes, make it an “exceptional site”.

See + do Visit island highlights via Kingfisher Bay Resort’s Beauty Spots 4WD bus tour. Wade into Lake McKenzie’s sapphire waters and squeak along its dazzling sand; grab an inflatable ring to float down Eli Creek. Heed signposted warnings about how to behave around dingoes.

Don’t miss Discover why this is Australia’s Whale Watch Capital aboard a boat tour. Air Fraser Island uses 75 Mile Beach as a runway for 15-minute scenic flights.

Essentials Fly Jetstar from Melbourne and Sydney or Qantas from Brisbane to Hervey Bay, a bus connects to the K’gari ferry; whale-watching runs from July until October/November. See visitfrasercoast.com

Wet Tropics of Queensland

Credentials With “exceptional natural beauty” that includes wild rivers and waterfalls, rugged gorges and sweeping forest vistas, the Wet Tropics include remnants of ancient Gondwana rainforest. This “living museum” between Townsville and Cooktown is renowned for astonishing biodiversity that includes primitive flowering plants and fauna such as tree kangaroos and cassowaries.

See + do Learn about Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples at Mossman Gorge, where a guided Dreamtime Walk includes a smoking ceremony. Don a wetsuit to float along the Mossman River on a li-lo.

Don’t miss Deep-dive into the Daintree and the Dreamtime via Walkabout Adventures’ half or full-day tours.

Essentials Some of the 150-plus Wet Tropics walks close during the wet season. See wettropics.gov.au; mossmangorge.com.au; backcountrybliss.com.au; walkaboutadventures.com.au

Ningaloo Coast, WA

Credentials The “aesthetically striking” landscape and seascape is renowned for its near-shore reef – one of the world’s longest – and whale sharks that visit annually to feast on plankton and krill.

See + do This is the place to swim with whale sharks, humpback whales and manta rays (in late winter, it’s possible to meet all three). Non-swimmers can admire underwater delights via a glass-bottom boat tour or slide into the water straight from the beach and drift-snorkel over the aquatic delights.

Don’t miss Soar over the reef like a bird – and perhaps surf the clouds – in a microlight from Birds Eye View.

Essentials Gateway town Exmouth is a two-hour flight from Perth. See australiacoralcoast.com; glassbottomboat.com; birdseyeview.net.au

Shark Bay, WA

Credentials Shark Bay is home to one of the world’s largest and most diverse seagrass meadows, which attracts a remarkable number of dugongs and other marine animals, and stromatolites – living fossils among the oldest forms of life on Earth.

See + do Monkey Mia is famous for wild bottlenose dolphins that cruise into the shallows. They’re fed only in the mornings under strict supervision. As a new Hamelin Pool boardwalk awaits construction, the best view of the stromatolites is at low tide.

Don’t miss Test your buoyancy in Shark Bay, parts of which have hypersaline waters.

Essentials Fly two hours from Perth to Monkey Mia/Shark Bay airport. See sharkbay.org

CITY SLICKERS

Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, Vic

Credentials Architect Joseph Reed’s dome-topped Exhibition Building (Royal was added to its title in 1980) and gardens hosted Melbourne’s 1880 and 1888 international exhibitions. Fun fact: Dame Nellie Melba’s father David Mitchell built the structure.

See + do The gardens include parterre (tiered raised garden beds), tree-lined avenues and ornamental lakes. Picnic in the grounds and look for the fountain adorned with carved kangaroos.

Don’t miss Since 2022, visitors can survey Melbourne’s skyline from the reinstated dome promenade via a one-hour guided tour. The 21-metre-high deck was off-limits for about a century.

Essentials The site borders Melbourne’s CBD. See museumsvictoria.com.au

Sydney Opera House, NSW

Credentials The Opera House’s silhouette is so distinctive that it’s shorthand for Australia. Jorn Utzon’s “masterpiece of 20th-century architecture”, inaugurated in 1973, earned its spot as a “great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape”.

See + do Enjoy the building from every angle and at every price point – from lounging on the Monumental Steps for free to gliding past on a ferry or seeing an opera or other performance. The newest “tour and dine” option incorporates First Nations flavours (Midden by Mark Olive).

Don’t miss Peek at those 1,056,006 roof tiles comprising glossy “ice” tiles bordered by matte “snow” tiles.

Essentials The Opera House offers a selection of guided tours, including architectural and backstage visits (dates and timings vary). See sydneyoperahouse.com

Australian Convict Sites Australia-wide

Credentials Of thousands of penal sites across Australia, 11 of the best examples, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur’s Vale on Norfolk Island, comprise this listing.

See + do At Sydney’s Hyde Park Barracks, kick off your shoes and chill in a hammock in the hammock room that originally housed convicts for the Sonic Spaces music series.

Don’t miss Take your (leashed) dog to Tassie’s Coal Mines Historic Site – this picturesque spot is frequented by wallabies and wombats.

Essentials Coal Mines Historic Site is 30 kilometres from Port Arthur and free to visit. See australianconvictsites.org.au

Greater Blue Mountains Area, NSW

Credentials Bordering Sydney, the Blue Mountains and its 26 villages are a welcome respite from city life. The eucalypt-dominated landscape that gives the mountains their blue hue is all-important, with UNESCO noting the eucalypts’ “evolutionary adaptation and diversification”.

See + do The Three Sisters are the big drawcard but try tackling the 19-kilometre Grand Cliff Top Walk that opened last year, after missing links between Wentworth Falls and Katoomba were completed; listen for black cockatoos and lyrebirds.

Don’t miss Take afternoon tea at a grand hotel such as the Hydro Majestic in Medlow Bath. In spring, see the juxtaposition of bushland and exotic blooms at Blackheath’s Campbell Rhododendron Gardens.

Essentials From Sydney, drive (one hour and 21 minutes) or take the train (one hour and 45 kilometres); a hop-on/hop-off bus links Katoomba and Leura highlights. Cool-climate plantings peak in autumn and spring; occasionally, thick fog descends. See visitbluemountains.com.au

To view the full UNESCO World Heritage list, visit whc.unesco.org

Australian sites on UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage List

• Victorian goldfields
• Australian Cornish mining sites, Burra and Moonta, SA
• Cultural landscapes of Cape York Peninsula, Qld
• Workers’ assembly halls, NSW/VIC
• Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct, NSW
• Flinders Ranges, SA
• Gondwana Rainforests, NSW and Qld
• Great Sandy region, Qld