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Australia just landed 5 spots on TIME’s World’s Greatest Places 2026 list

Emily Murphy Emily Murphy
These Aussie destinations, experiences and operators just got the world’s attention.

Every year, TIME puts out its World’s Greatest Places list and the whole travel industry holds its breath. 100 destinations. Global nominations. The full weight of one of the world’s most recognised mastheads behind each pick.

This year, Australia didn’t just make the cut – it made a statement. Four spots landed on the official list, up from the three inclusions last year. A fifth, from an Australian-owned expedition operator, snuck in under a different category. Together, they’re a pretty convincing argument that this country is doing something right.

Sea Sea Hotel, Crescent Head, NSW

Bedroom at Sea Sea Hotel
Head back in time at Sea Sea Hotel. (Credit: Tommaso Riva)

Sea Sea Hotel is a love letter to Crescent Head’s 1970s surf culture – retro in the best possible way, considered in every detail and sitting on Dunghutti Country near one of the coast’s most uncrowded breaks. TIME’s judges were taken by the whole package, but the kitchen deserves its own mention: former Icebergs chef Daniel Medcalf has built a modern-casual dining room around the native produce of the Macleay Valley.

On Board, Southwest Tasmania

Odalisque III in Bathurst Harbour
Board Odalisque III and sail into Bathurst Harbour.

No roads. No towns. No hotels. The southwest corner of Tasmania is one of the most genuinely remote places in the country and On Board – a family-run operation that has known these waters since 1998 and is also now part of Luxury Lodges of Australia – is one of the only ways in. Its new Port Davey Highlights cruise starts the way all great adventures should: a 40-minute seaplane flight from Hobart over wilderness that looks like it was designed by someone who’d never heard the word ‘development’. From there, guests board the 12-passenger Odalisque III into Bathurst Harbour for three days of sea caves, Indigenous rock art, coastal hikes and possible sightings of the endangered, orange-bellied parrot.

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Murujuga Cultural Landscape, Burrup Peninsula, WA

Murujuga Cultural Landscape
Murujuga holds hundreds of thousands of ancient petroglyphs.

There are places in the world that make you feel small in the best possible way. Murujuga is one of them. Spread across the Burrup Peninsula in the Pilbara, this extraordinary landscape holds hundreds of thousands of ancient petroglyphs – rock engravings that represent one of the most significant concentrations of ancient rock art anywhere on Earth, and the continuous cultural practice of Aboriginal people across tens of thousands of years. The Ngarda-Ngarli people have cared for Country for more than 50,000 years; etched into its rusted boulders are prehistoric megafauna and early human life. UNESCO recognised it with World Heritage status in 2025 – only the second Australian site recognised solely for its First Nations cultural heritage.

Our print editor, Imogen Eveson, visited Murujuga shortly after the UNESCO inscription and came back changed. “It was one of those experiences that recentres you, offering a new appreciation not only for Australia – its natural and cultural history and the living heritage that continues today – but for the planet more broadly," she says.

“The more people who are able to experience Murujuga responsibly, as I did on an expedition cruise, the more people will come to understand and want to protect this extraordinary place."

Sydney Fish Market, NSW

Sydney Fish Market exterior
Visit Sydney Fish Market. (Credit: Tom Roe)

The old fish market had charm, seagulls and limited parking. The new Sydney Fish Market has an $836 million price tag, a wave-shaped roof and 40 restaurants under one address. The redesigned Blackwattle Bay precinct isn’t really a market anymore – it’s a waterfront destination that happens to sell excellent seafood, alongside Malaysian, Aegean and everything in between. TIME’s panel noted the ambition of what’s been built here: a place that genuinely integrates harbour life with serious dining. Sydney already had the Opera House. Now it has this.

Aurora Expeditions’ Douglas Mawson

It’s not officially in the Australia category – but Aurora Expeditions is an Australian-owned company, and its newest ship is too good to leave off this list. The Douglas Mawson launched in November 2025, named after the Antarctic explorer who would absolutely have approved of what’s been built in his honour. Small by design (just 130 expeditioners in polar regions), it’s equipped with a wave-piercing hull that tames the Drake Passage, a forward observation lounge, a citizen science centre and Zodiac platforms for getting off the ship and into the thick of it fast.

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Emily Murphy
Emily Murphy is Australian Traveller's Email & Social Editor, and in her 4+ years at the company she has been instrumental in shaping its social media and email presence, and crafting compelling narratives that inspire others to explore Australia's vast landscapes. Her previous role was a journalist at Prime Creative Media and before that she was freelancing in publishing, content creation and digital marketing. When she's not creating scroll-stopping travel content, Em is a devoted 'bun mum' and enjoys spending her spare time by the sea, reading, binge-watching a good TV show and exploring Sydney's vibrant dining scene. Next on her Aussie travel wish list? South Australia and The Kimberley.
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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe Cann Chloe Cann
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    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington, like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours. While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.