The Best Places to Go in Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific in 2025

When it comes to deciding the best places to go in Oceania, a vast region that encompasses Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, it’s easy to get lost in the superlative landscape of rugged peaks, lost valleys, neon reefs, and red-rock desert. For this year’s 2025 list, we cast the net wide and asked our team of experts and contributors to dig deep beyond just the obvious charms.

What we have is a list that reflects our changing relationship to tourism and reasons to travel. We’re highlighting Sydney’s ‘second city,’ a multicultural hub away from the Harbor Bridge and Opera House. In Australia’s Top End, we’re shining a spotlight on locally owned tours and Indigenous storytellers offering travelers authentic perspectives on the place they have roots in. Taupō on New Zealand’s North Island may be famous for its lake and waterfalls, but it’s also a food destination on the rise. For island lovers, there’s good news, too—Palau, with new infrastructure, has never been so ready for your visit.

Here, then, are the best places to go in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific in 2025. Some might be old favorites with new reasons to visit, and others complete surprises off-the-beaten track—a variety that makes travel to Oceania in 2025 more exciting than ever. —Chloe Sachdev

This is part of our global guide to the Best Places to Go in 2025—find more travel inspiration here.

Western Australia’s Coral Coast—and its UNESCO World Heritage–listed Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) Reef—will sparkle like a jewel in 2025. Eco-friendly road trips to the Ningaloo Reef, which stretches along the coastline for a whopping 162 miles, are now easier thanks to the new Queensland Electric Super Highway. It’s one of the longest EV-designed highways in the world, and by the end of 2024 it will have 79 charging stations along the route. In this remote landscape, where rust red dirt meets white-sand beaches and Indian Ocean blues, the caravan park town of Coral Bay—population 245—is shaking off its outback dust with a top-to-toe $46 million renovation of its Ningaloo Reef Resort. The major glow-up, to be revealed in 2027, will cement this as the ideal base camp for families wishing to be a shell’s toss from Australia’s “other reef.” A huge step forward for regional tourism and this barefoot town, the revitalized resort will leverage Western Australia’s endless sunshine to power 90 hotel rooms with solar energy (there will also be plenty of EV charging stations compatible with the new highway). The resort’s location right on the edge of Ningaloo Marine Park allows guests to paddle directly to the reef and experience an underwater universe of endangered turtles, flourishing coral, and a carnival of more than 500 species of fish. In the meantime, the lo-fi Ningaloo Coral Bay resort, situated beside powder-white beaches and turquoise waters, has opened 4 new three-bedroom family units, with 16 new two-bedroom villas expected by early 2025. Take a bucket list plunge with award-winning Coral Bay Eco Tours and swim in groups of 10 or fewer with a marine biologist and photographer guides alongside whale sharks, migratory humpback whales, and manta rays. —Katrina Lodge

Unlike Sydney, Melbourne has never been able to rely on superficial traits like good weather and beaches to pull in praise. Instead, its enduring appeal has always been its effervescent scene found in winding laneways, blockbuster art galleries, and innovative kitchens. Melbourne really starts percolating in December, with the exclusive opening of Australia’s largest Yayoi Kusama retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria; queues for the infinity-mirror room are expected to wind their way well outside the door until April. Come March 2025, the engines will rev as the Australian Grand Prix returns to Melbourne’s Albert Park, reinstating its position as the first race of the season. Adding more connectivity to this thrumming city, Qantas will begin new direct flights between Melbourne and Honolulu in May.

Later in the year the University of Melbourne’s flagship art museum, the Potter Museum of Art, will reopen after a redevelopment by Wood Marsh (the design studio behind the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) with an exhibition titled “65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art,” featuring more than 400 artworks, including works by leading First Nations artists Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Naomi Hobson, and Segar Passi. Meanwhile, Melbourne’s hotel scene continues to boom. With the city having gained the Ritz-Carlton, the StandardX, and Melbourne Place in the last couple of years, the coming year continues the trend with the highly anticipated 1 Hotel Melbourne on the banks of the Yarra River, followed by the boutique Hannah St. Hotel set to open in Southbank. —Danielle Norton

Slow travel doesn’t get more mesmerizing than a paddle steamer trip down the Murray River. Black swans and pelicans glide just above boats’ wakes on Australia’s longest river, which flows 1,558 miles through three states, past sandy beaches studded with mighty river red gum trees. Setting sail in June 2025, the river’s first five-star paddle steamer, the wood-fired PS Australian Star, will raise the standard for river cruising in Australia.

The stylish vessel, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, is set to feature 19 light-drenched cabins (including two suites with private decks), plenty of inviting spaces to relax, and a fine-dining restaurant with a changing daily menu. The onboard elevator means mobility-challenged travelers can also navigate in comfort. Guests will spend three, four, or seven days exploring this area, which was the heart of the 19th-century river trade and is still home to the world’s largest fleet of operating riverboats. Cruise highlights include a waterside barbecue under the stars, lunch at a classic country pub, and a chance to explore the largest outdoor gallery in Australia, the Silo Art Trail, where wheat silos have been transformed into giant works of art by acclaimed street artists. Also on the itinerary: local wineries including Restdown Wines and St Anne’s Winery. —Ute Junker

Fewer than a dozen liveaboard vessels are permitted to cruise paradisiacal Palau, a string of green jewels set in the crystalline waters of the western Pacific. The Four Seasons Explorer, a luxurious 11-room “floating resort,” became one of them in 2023. From November 2024, the Explorer will expand its itinerary beyond Palau's iconic Rock Islands to include the northern reaches of Babeldaob, the country’s largest island, opening up new dive sites and adding cultural excursions for guests. Construction is also underway on a 50-room Four Seasons resort in Koror, Palau’s main tourism hub—and the jumping-off point for the Rock Islands—and is expected to open within two years. Until then, travelers can opt to bed down in Koror’s first luxury boutique hotel, the Hotel Indigo Palau, opening in 2025 with lagoon and ocean-front views.

It will also become easier to reach this remote corner of Micronesia in 2025, with charter flights from Tokyo set to take off in March. This follows the doubling of China Airways’ weekly flights from Taipei to Koror to four, and the launch of Nauru Airlines’ first direct route from Brisbane to Koror, both in 2024.

After signing the Palau Pledge upon entry to the roughly 340-island archipelago, which requires all visitors to commit to act responsibly and respect the environment during their stay, travelers can also help protect Palau’s environmental and cultural heritage by supporting local businesses who have signed the Palau Business Pledge, the second phase of the nation’s world-first sustainable tourism initiative. Introduced in 2022, the business pledge involves a suite of newly launched community-based tours, such as locally guided trips to farms, archeological sites, and workshops, to give visitors a memorable and authentic taste of Palauan culture. —Sarah Reid

It’s no secret that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef faces unprecedented challenges as a result of climate change and severe weather events. But experiencing this World Heritage Center–listed wonder is just one reason—and a very good one—to visit the balmy northern coast of Queensland, where ancient rainforests fringe aquamarine seas. Proving Cairns is more than just a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, its thriving art scene, which already boasts the Cairns Art Gallery, Tanks Art Centre, and Bulmba-ja Arts Center, is set for a bumper year with the completion of the Cairns Gallery Precinct. Connecting three heritage-listed buildings, the precinct’s new Mulgrave Gallery opened in August 2024 with the first of many Indigenous-focused exhibitions to come.

A flurry of new flights from Bali (with AirAsia) and Hong Kong (with Cathay Pacific) are making it easier to get to the tropics; when the Cairns Airport, which is currently undergoing a major upgrade, is completed, travelers can expect even greater connectivity with the rest of Oceania. Connecting Cairns to the resort town of Port Douglas along a sublime stretch of coastline, the 58-mile mixed-use Wangetti Trail is edging closer to completion, with the 4.9-mile section between Palm Cove Jetty and Ellis Beach already open (Palm Cove is just 20 minutes north of Cairns). When fully unveiled, the trail will feature five accommodation nodes offering a choice of camping and low-impact lodging.

Further south, Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays is welcoming The Sundays, the first luxury resort since the opening of Qualia in 2007. Designed with families top of mind, it will feature 59 contemporary rooms with trundle beds and cot space, a solid kids menu, and an ice-cream happy hour. Bold artworks by Indigenous Kuku Yalanji artist Tiarna Herczeg will add playful pops of color throughout the sand-and-sea-toned property. Also underway in the Whitsundays is the transformation of the cyclone-damaged Lindeman Island resort into another five-star escape, with fingers crossed for a late 2025 reopening. —Sarah Reid

Perth may be sprawling, with a seemingly never-ending coastline of sugar-white beaches, but it’s this tiny island just 12 miles off the coast of Fremantle that has long been an easy-to-reach holiday destination for mainlanders. Wadjemup/Rottnest Island, or Rotto, as the locals call it, is only 7 miles long and 2.8 miles wide but home to 12 lakes, 20 bays, and 63 white-sand beaches, with snorkel trails and frothy surf breaks that are also the playground for migrating whales and bottlenose dolphins. It’s a mostly car-free zone, so bikes are the main mode of transport here, with plenty of sealed bike paths and safe hiking trails that traverse the island’s headlands; vistas include Cathedral Rocks and Cape Vlamingh, where you can watch native seals bob about and get up close to the native quokkas, the pint-size marsupials that call this island home.

The opening of boutique accommodation Samphire Rottnest back in 2020 added a bit of sizzle to this laidback island, which has mostly lo-fi accommodation like eco-tents, self-equipped cabins, and cottages. The reopening of the former Karma Lodge, now to be known as Lodge Wadjemup, though, is the biggest hospitality project to date. Courtyard and Lake Rooms will open over the austral summer of 2024/2025, followed by Poolhouse rooms in mid-2025, for a total 109 rooms that range from affordable and family-friendly to smarter lakeside digs. There a range of food and beverage offerings focusing on locally-sourced produce, and a pool.

Long before it earned its reputation as Perth’s summer playground, the island was used as a prison for almost 4,000 Indigenous men and boys from across Western Australia between 1838 and 1931. At the heart of the resort, the Gathering Ground will host events including ceremonies and culture sharing with the Whadjuk Noongar community as part of the island’s reconciliation process. —Monique Kawecki

Australia and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, a string of wind-caressed, ship-access-only islands scattered among the “albatross latitudes” of the Southern Ocean, see astonishingly few visitors each year, with numbers kept low to nurture breeding wildlife, and expedition vessels granted a brief window of just three months to take guests ashore—plus, all passengers must adhere to a strict minimum-impact code to help protect the integrity of the natural environment. Modes of reaching the destination are expanding as Aurora Expeditions joins small-ship pioneers Heritage Expeditions in voyaging to these under-the-radar islands, on its new, state-of-the-art small expedition ship, the Douglas Mawson, from late 2025. Until then, Heritage Expeditions—family-owned and the region’s oldest expedition company—is kicking off the 2025 season by celebrating 50 years of founder Rodney Russ’s conservation work with a special Birding Down Under tour, designed to continue his efforts to save the critically endangered Antipodes albatross (tōroa in Māori) from extinction. See 10 of the world’s majestic albatrosses (including the tōroa) on island-hopping itineraries stopping at all six of the island groups within the archipelago. Get close to breeding penguins, seals, and seabirds on guided hiking and zodiac tours with world-renowned scientists. When cruising between the islands, look out for breaching whales and watch for the aurora australis (southern lights) as the night sky transforms into a particle-charged canvas of purple, yellow, and green. Here, on the the fringes of Antarctica, prepare to lose all sight of human habitation and turn your attention (and your camera) to the misty, gale-buffeted island homes of adorable penguin chicks, snoozing seal pups, and colorful “megaherbs,” the giant wildflowers that grow only on subantarctic islands. —Jacqui Gibson

Taupō, first home to the Ngāti Hotu people who settled on the shores of its eponymous lake in the 14th century, sits at the geographical heart of Aotearoa, New Zealand’s North Island. Today many come to view Taupō’s mighty Huka Falls, over which nearly 58,000 gallons of crystalline water are funneled into a 36-foot-high drop. In 2025 there are even more reasons to see this site, thanks to the reopening of an iconic luxury stay, Huka Lodge. Founded as a fisherman’s camp in 1924, Huka Lodge marked its centenary by undertaking a major renovation of its 20 suites, two multibedroom cottages, and communal spaces. In March 2025 it will finally welcome back guests as the newest member of the exclusive Baillie Lodges portfolio: Returning lodgers will notice enhancements that include the new “spa huts” inspired by Kiwi baches (a vacation shack) and the reimagining of suites with French doors that open onto the Waikato River and double-sided fireplaces in some.

The waterworks aren’t the only reason to visit Taupō. Long famous for its trout fishing, the town is now an emerging culinary destination. Among the 17 Waikato region restaurants to receive accolades at the Cuisine Good Food Awards 2024/2025, Taupō’s Embra was named Regional Restaurant of the Year for its take on seasonal dishes such as paua (abalone), barbajuans (filled pastries), and prosciutto-wrapped blue cod with gnocchi and chicken consommé. Also helping to elevate local chefs, restaurants, and producers is the new annual Treats of Taupō food and drink festival, launched in September 2024 and coming back for 2025. Its spotlight on local producers such as Tui Street Gin, flavored with botanicals including native harakeke (flax), and the sustainable and award-winning Taupō Beef, underscore that the region’s offerings go well beyond watersports. —Sarah Reid

From subtropical wetlands to vast red-rock desert, the northernmost region of the Northern Territory—or as Aussies call it, the Top End—is a wonder to witness. Unspooling across Darwin, UNESCO World Heritage Site Kakadu National Park (Australia’s largest national park), remote Arnhem Land (northeast), and Katherine, it’s a place to understand the First Nations culture that has been etched into this vast region.

The last few years have been marked by a fresh new chapter that recognizes the importance of deeply rooted Indigenous-owned tours, during which guides tell their own stories to visitors. Kakadu Tourism, the same team behind Yellow Water Villas safari-style bush lodgings, is one example, with new bush tucker walking tours offered by day and stargazing cruises (Algohgarrng) by night. Meanwhile, Northern Territory Indigenous Tours continue its intimate Muku Women’s Morning Tour, led by Tess Atie, from April to September. Soft-launched in 2024, the popular tour takes place in the lush beauty of Berry Springs or Tumbling Waters and is a safe, women-and-girls-only environment that allows for discussion about the past, present, and future. Plus, Ethical Adventures tour company will extend its offerings in 2025 to include the homeland country of Marrithiyal nation in the Western Daly Region, while still offering culturally immersive journeys (arranged activities with Indigenous Australian painting, storytelling, bush foods, or language experiences) through the ancient lands of Kakadu and untouched Arnhemland.

Finally, new in 2025, Davidsons Arnhemland Safari Lodge will join forces with Kakadu Air for an all-inclusive fishing day safari, during which guests have the chance to fish in untouched billabongs and visit the world-famous Arnhem Land rock art galleries. —Monique Kawecki

Looking for more inspiration? Read last year's list of the Best Places to Go in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific in 2024.