~ Top 10 Best Towns to Visit in Australia ~

[MysteRy]

Top 10 Best Towns to Visit in Australia

Will you be visiting Australia anytime soon? Maybe you are not sure where to go in the country and you dont want to go to the well-known places like Sydney. These top ten towns in Australia will help you out. Almost anywhere in the Australia is nice to visit but there are some that will invoke that true Aussie feeling that makes the country so great. Some places are great for surfing and some are better to dive into the aboriginal culture. This list will help you find out where you want to go while you are in the country of Australia. Who knows this list might even convince you to move out to one of the quaint or mighty towns to set up permanently.


1. Byron Bay, New South Wales   



Theres a lot that makes Byron Bay attractive for visitors from all around the globe its not just the sub-tropical rainforests or the massive amount of history (mainly in the whaling industry of the 1800s). The booming tourist hotspot didnt actually become a place for tourism until the 1970s when longboard surfers started to come to the area to take advantage of it waves. It wasnt even until 1963 that the whaling industry died out along with the dairy farms and meat processing plants. The town then took on a new feel and development took place to change the once not so great image into a more hip, cool and relaxed destination to catch some waves and explore the surrounding forests. The town is a great place to get in touch with nature as many tour operators bring visitors on fascinating eco-tours that can last for days or even longer.

[MysteRy]

2. Airlie Beach, Queensland   



One of the best towns in Queensland Australia is Airlie Beach part of the Whitsunday Region of Queensland. The town is commonly used as a launching point for those who are looking to head out to The Great Barrier Reef, many visitors come to the town just for its many businesses that schedule regular trips to the reef and most are more than superbly outfitted with all the equipment needed to have the perfect trip to the reef. Airlie Beach is not really a great place for beach fun it does have a sand beach but it is small and the waters are not good for swimming, they are clear and clean but the problem doesnt lie in the clarity or cleanliness of the water. The problem is that box jelly fish a found in masses in the waters near the shore of Airlie Beach. This does not make it a bad place for tourism though in fact the area attracts backpackers looking to hike the tropical forests, where hidden waterfalls and lagoons are found throughout the backwoods.

[MysteRy]

3. Daylesford, Victoria   



The town of Daylesford, in Victoria, Australia was once a gold mining town and thats actually where the quaint little towns history springs from, at least the majority. The town is located in the foot hills of Australias Great Dividing Range, the largest mountain range in the country and the third longest mountain range on earth. As the saying goes for many things "location is key” and this rings true for Daylesford, most of the quaint little towns tourist traffic is due to its proximity to Melbourne and Hepburn Springs. The neighboring town that is just to the north of Daylesford is full of natural mineral springs and mineral spas; actually that is the towns main source of income. Visitors like to stay in Daylesford to escape the hustle of Melbourne and be within reach of Hepburn Springs, many come to the town to join in on some awesome backpacking in the mountain range as well.

[MysteRy]

4. Apollo Bay, Victoria   



Resting its cultural heritage on the eastern side of Victoria, Australias Cape Otway is the town Apollo Bay. The small town has a population that is just shy of 2,000 residents but it swells higher than that during the summer season as many travelers go to the town to relax and get away from their fast paced lives. Apollo Bay has a slow pace style of living; the locals common pastime is casting out a line to see if they can real in some worthwhile catches, which is not uncommon in the towns bountiful coastal waters. Apollo Bay is the site where the Great Ocean Sports Festival takes place attracting sportsman from all over the country to partake in the annual games. Even though Apollo Bay is a quiet small town it holds its own loud and inviting namesake music festival every year as well. The town is a poster child of the perfect small town where people have picnics on the green grass next to the bay.

[MysteRy]

5. Esperance, Western Australia   



Esperance is located in Western Australia and is one of the biggest cities in this list with a population of 10,000 residents. The main industries in the town are fishing, tourism and agricultural products. The town actually got its name from a French ship that carried the first explorers of the land, with a semi close translation "Esperance” means "Hope”. The soils werent actually good for producing crops until a team of Americans found that adding a fertilizer compound to the soil made them suitable for farming, the project had difficulties but by the end of the 1960s it took off and now agriculture is one of the main industries of the town. In the town there are many things to do, much of the activities being sea bound such as scuba diving, and surfing. Beaches are part of the towns lands too and it has numerous sand beaches on its coast.

[MysteRy]

6. Port Douglas, Queensland   



Port Douglas in the far north end of Queensland, Australia is a jewel of the Queensland area with a population of only 948 permanent citizens. The town is more than spectacular and is home to many really great places to see and explore such as the Daintree Rainforest. The rainforest is actually the largest ongoing piece of tropical rainforest in the country of Australia taking up around 1000 square miles; it grows all the way to the coast, which is a unique feature of the magnificent lands. During the height of the tourist season the population only doubles if that. In the 1800s the town was booming and had a population of 12,000 people, it had 27 hotels and several landmarks of the time but in the year 1911 a huge cyclone wiped out the city leaving only two buildings standing. Later, all that sprung back up was a small fishing village. Tourism picked back up in the 1980s with the opening of a major hotel.

[MysteRy]

7. Robe, South Australia   



Making it home on the limestone coast of South Australia is the town of Robe, which is one of the first towns established by the colonial government originally as a seaport for South Australia. Even though measures were taken to help ship in the 1800s to navigate safely into the bay there were still a number of shipwrecks off the coast, in todays times some of these sites have become artificial reefs for a vast amount of marine life. It wasnt until 1973 that a lighthouse was built on the high grounds to lead ships safely to the port. During the years of the Victoria area gold rush over 16,000 Chinese workers landed at the port and made their way to the goldmines by foot. The government then implemented a tax for every person making landfall at the town a charge that was more than the trip itself to reduce the number of Chinese immigrants to the area. Robe in present times is a place for vacationers to relax and enjoy temperatures that only get as high as 21 degrees and as low as 18 degrees Celsius. 

[MysteRy]

8. Yamba, New South Wales   



Sitting right at the end of the Clarence River is the town of Yamba in the New South Wales area. It is one of the best small town destinations in Australia for families. The way of life is slow and relaxed in Yamba but it is home to many modern day activities like movie theaters, shopping and internet cafes. The development of the town has led to many openings of fine restaurants and eateries as well as some world class hotels. The population of the town is around 8,000 people since 2010 but has been growing phenomenally at a 5% rate per year. There is always something to do in the town of Yamba so there is no reason to sit around wondering about what to do for the day. Anytime of the year is a good time to visit the town of Yamba. It really has no up or down in its tourist season.

[MysteRy]

9. Cooktown, Queensland   



Cooktown takes its name from James Cook who beached his ship on the coast of the town, a mountain that overlooks the town was also named after the great captain too, Mount Cook. Cooktown is the first place that European eyes beheld the magnificent Kangaroo and it is also where they first had interactions with Australias indigenous peoples. The gold rush actually first sprung up at the nearby river 50 years later after captain Cooks landing and the area quickly developed and the population climbed. By 1880 the population had reached 8,000 people. As the settlers and diggers spread out across the land conflict broke out with local aboriginal tribes on a regular basis, the Europeans with the power of firearms easily wiped out many tribes but the aborigines fought ferociously. The history of the town goes way deeper and is one of the best aspects to visiting the city.

[MysteRy]

10. Bellingen, New South Wales   



Bellingen in New South Wales sits smack dab in between Brisbane and Sydney, the small town is nothing like its two big neighbors though. The town is made up of valleys, plateaus and coastal lands, which was originally inhabited by the Gumbaynggir people. The last full blood aboriginal died in 1922, the rest were wiped out through the years by diseases and some were killed trying to scare off European settlers. Bellingen is a rural town and its rural residents make their living mainly from home with arts, crafts and writings. There are a few intentional communities in the town that were built as well as many owner built homes. The artistic town is home to many festivals and events every year some even drawing crowds from the international community such as "The Global”. The Global features sights, tastes and sounds from all around the world but due to extreme weather it will not take place in the year 2012.


If you are not intimately familiar with Australia then you have probably never heard of many of these small towns of the country. These ten towns can satisfy about anyones idea of the perfect vacation getaway. History enthusiasts can find their place right alongside water sports enthusiasts. Outdoorsman and nature lovers will love places like Port Douglas, where there can trek in the Rainforest and swim off the un-crowded coastal waters. If you love Scuba diving hey set off from Airlie Beach or just spend some time letting all your worries go out with the tide in Apollo Bay. You are sure to love these cities; all you have to do is visit and feel that genuine Aussie hospitality.