The Best Places To Stay On Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island boasts heavenly appeal and the accommodation is just as dreamy.

This gem of the South Pacific features a dazzling utopia of turquoise lagoons, luscious trails, culinary delights and a gentler pace of life. It’s a combination that will leave you rejuvenated beyond compare, and more than willing to spend a few nights exploring it all. The accommodation options on Norfolk Island span an array of self-contained units, apartments, independent hotels and holiday homes.

Here, we narrow down our favourites.

1. Heritage Hill

For those in search of affordable stay, Heritage Hill offers basic but clean, spacious self-contained cottages with spectacular views out to Phillip Island. The accommodation is situated a 10 minute walk from the shops, and has a restaurant next door. If your idea of a holiday equals zero inclination to venture out and explore, the adjoining verandahs are the perfect place to sip on a freshly brewed coffee or duty-free drink.

Take a seat and watch the ever changing shades of the Norfolk Ocean. Inside, an open plan design features an all-in-one kitchen, dining and living area, with separate bedrooms bathroom and laundry.

Heritage Hill Norfolk Island — Views of everything from Heritage Hill

2. The Tin Sheds

Norfolk’s newest five-star property, The Tin Sheds , ups the ante with three beautifully appointed apartments. The contemporary homes are surrounded by beautifully landscaped private gardens, and located mere minutes from Burnt Pine Shopping District. Hop in the car and you’re a short drive from the island’s most beautiful national parks, tranquil beaches and the World Heritage listed Kingston & Arthur’s Vale Historic Area (KAVHA).

Inside, each shed is packed with every mod-con, large outdoor entertaining areas, Fiat convertibles and thoughtful extras like a ‘toy box’ with snorkelling gear, tennis rackets and other fun items for use.

The Tin Sheds Norfolk Island — The Tin Sheds up the ante

3. Coast

Coast is a self-catered option that provides the perfect combination of location and style. Located within the World Heritage KAVHA site, wake to palm tree surrounds, alongside lush gardens and sounds of the ocean. Lift your spirits (and heart rate) on the accommodation’s signature walk, traversing the 32-acre Coast property, winding through vistas and valleys, ending at the famous convict ruins and beach.

Coast offers eight one- and two-bedroom apartments to book. Choose from Niau Cottage, a one-bedroom cottage, or opt for a stay in one of the beach houses, Routi House and Rahooloo House, which each feature two bedrooms.

Cook with fresh, local produce in the fully-equipped kitchens or make use of the outdoor barbecue facilities. Fill up the picnic basket for an alfresco lunch, make use of the fishing rods, snorkelling gear, golf clubs or the complimentary pushbikes. Or better yet, relax by the saltwater swimming pool.

Norfolk Island Coast — Coast provides the perfect combination of location and style

4. Tintoela

Tintoela is an island homestead that can’t be beat for luxury. Meaning ‘sweetheart’ in Norf’k, Tintoela was built by Hunky Evans, a descendant of the original Bounty mutineers, for his Canadian sweetheart. It now serves as an upscale accommodation offering. The property features an impressive homestead and two cottages, each providing world-class design, craftsmanship and story-book ocean views.

The signature Hunku’s property blends the best of Norfolk architecture with the subtle elegance of sophisticated living. Ideally suited to large families and groups of friends, the six-bedroom homestead is the most spacious accommodation on the island. The neighbouring Kushi and Hilli cottages are idyllic private paradises for couples or small groups.

Tintoela Norfolk Island — Tintoela is an island homestead that can’t be beat for luxury

5. Endeavour Lodge

If it’s privacy in spades you seek, escape to the world of Endeavour Lodge . The luxurious, self-catered one, two-and three-bedroom apartments are perched on a clifftop with million dollar views. Unwind from your private, spacious verandah and enjoy a spectacular sunset. Native pine timber furnishings feature throughout, closer resembling a ski lodge than a coastal villa – but with views like this, who could complain?

Endeavour Lodge Norfolk Island — Escape to the world of Endeavour Lodge

6. Cumberland Resort and Spa

Owners Angela and Rael have done well to provide the trendiest resort accommodation on Norfolk Island. This boutique, self-contained resort is set among a tropical paradise and located three minutes’ walk to shops, cafes and restaurants. To overdose on Zen, relax in the heated swim spa pool (36 degrees Celsius), sweat it out in a sauna or indulge in a spa treatment at the onsite day spa.

Retreat to one of 10 modern, ground-floor spa apartments and villas (choose from one, two, three, four or five bedroom). Each feature en-suite bathrooms complete with massage showers.

7. Hideaway Retreat Norfolk Island

Eating goes hand and hand with “being" in Norfolk Island. Nearly all the produce is grown in the island’s rich volcanic soil, much of which occurs on the grounds at Hideaway Retreat. An orchard lies within the property grounds. Take your pick of oranges, mandarins, tangerines, avocados, guavas and bananas in season. The wide open spaces and tranquil environment make it the perfect escape for those looking to take things slow.

There are a total of nine, comfortable and spacious one-and two-bedroom apartments. All are equipped with the standard self-contained fitouts. Timber floors, basic furniture and hotel-style beds. Safe swimming beaches, World Heritage Listed Sites, museums, golf, tennis, bowling and squash clubs are all, at the most, five minutes by car. For your recreational pleasure, you are also granted exclusive use of the hard tennis court (and gear), plunge pool and barbecue facilities.

8. Castaway Retreat

If being a hideaway doesn’t tickle your fancy, how about being a castaway? Live out your Tom Hanks fantasy (sans Wilson) at this plush island paradise . Choose between hotel-style rooms or self-contained apartments, run and owned by Sarah and Tony Watts. The spot was originally built in the 1970s by Sarah’s grandfather, Ken Prentice, and has had a long and illustrious life as one of Norfolk’s most cherished accommodation houses ever since.

While the owners may have changed, the reputation has remained. Castaway has been rejuvenated over the years and serves as one of the most special places to stay on the island. Each of the 20 rooms are stylish and contemporary and offer garden views. There is an onsite restaurant and bar, and a covered deck overlooking the Burnt Pine valley.

Castaway fantasy Norfolk Island — Live out your Castaway fantasy at this plush island paradise

The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.

Australia offers sublime opportunities to disappear into the ancient, untouched wilderness, worlds away from modern stress. Wild Bush Luxury offers a collection of experiences that are a portal into the continent’s wildest, most undiscovered landscapes, from wide floodplains to vast savannas, where the only distractions are birdsong, frog calls, curious wallabies and the daily drama of sunset. With a focus on conservation and Indigenous knowledge, these all-inclusive experiences allow guests to slow down and quiet their minds for intimate encounters with the natural world.

1. Bamurru Plains

safari tent at Bamurru Plains wild bush luxury — Let nature take front row.

In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains , a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).

Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.

It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish, largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row. Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.

Bamurru Plains airboat tour — Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)

It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.

In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.

2. Maria Island Walk

woman on a headland of Maria Island Walk — Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.

Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.

These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.

Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.

At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.

3. Arkaba

two people standing next to a 4wd in Arkaba — Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.

For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.

Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.

Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.

It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.

Disconnect from the grind and reconnect with nature when you book with at wildbushluxury.com

The best places to stay on Norfolk Island