ALBANY – THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER GUIDE

Nestled into a hillside overlooking Middleton Beach, this quaint little cottage is shabby chic at its finest – think crisp white walls, sparkling chandeliers, wingback chairs and patchwork quilts. But contrasting these old-world touches are some serious creature comforts, like the huge plasma TV and iPod docking station. There are two queen-sized bedrooms to choose from – one of which has a twin sleep out attached, and a cute children’s bedroom making it a perfect summer stay for young families. A 10-minute walk down the hill will land you at Middleton Beach, popular for surfing, fishing, snorkelling, even kite surfing....

 AT's guide to the best cheap accommodation for summer and Christmas holidays Albany Why do we rate it? Rugged coastline and a dramatic convict past gives this town a point of difference. Where is it? 417km south-east of Perth, it’s a 5hr 30min drive on the Albany Highway. Where to stay Middleton Beach Holiday Park has deluxe spa villas for couples wanting something a bit spesh, or two-bedroom ensuite cabins, chalets or camping sites. Chalets and B&Bs back from the beach are plentiful. Try B&B by the Sea for balcony seaviews or heritage-styled Vancouver House. How much is it? Middleton...

Australian Traveller Magazine’s 100 Great Australian Holiday Homes As Great Australian Holiday Homes go, Maitraya, about 25 minutes east of Albany in southwest WA, is far more “mansion” than perhaps anything else on our list. Entirely self-contained, it’s designed to house several Brady Bunch-sized families, as well as corporate groups and functions. Set on 500 acres of ocean-fronted bushland surrounded by national parks, the house itself encompasses 6000m2 and has eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a two-level wine cellar, gym, 13m indoor pool, glass-covered conservatory, 20-seat theatre – and that’s before you even get to the private airstrip, cricket pitch, tennis...

An interesting mix of busy industrial town and old seaside port, Albany attracts people with its dramatic coastline, calm harbour and annual whale watching. One of the first towns settled by Europeans, a ship full of convicts and soldiers sailed into King George Sound in 1826. A replica of the brig now stands in the Princess Royal Harbour to acknowledge the town as being one of the oldest in WA. There are many hstoric walks going past buildings and museums that tell of life in Albany in the 1800s. There’s the trail to Possession Point, where WA was claimed by...

Once Australia's last-operating whaling station, Whale World in Albany has now closed and is a whaling museum that is especially popular among tourists. Long before European settlement, opportunist whaling ships used the southwest coast of Australia as an untapped source of wealth, and this continued in Albany until 1978, when a combination of strict anti-whaling regulations and the fact that no-one wanted whale oil any more forced the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company at Frenchman’s Bay to shut down. The site is now Whale World, and with a bit of imagination you can return to a time when the area would...