Three Sisters, KatoombaCredit: Destination NSW
Scenic views across Blue Mountains National Park and the Three Sisters in Katoomba.
#lovensw #newsouthwales
Travel is about the moments that bring us closer to each other, fill us with awe and help us reclaim our calm. And whether you’re visiting New South Wales for a long weekend or taking your time on a big adventure, you’ll collect memories to carry with you forever. Here’s where to get started …
Reconnect with nature
Refresh your soul as you immerse in a landscape of waterfalls, rock formations and ancient rainforest in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed wilderness of the Blue Mountains, an hour’s drive west of Sydney. Find new vistas to stop you in your track on hiking trails for everyone from beginners (try the 800m Three Sisters walk) to seasoned trekkers (join a guided three-day hike on the Six Foot Track) and every adventurer in between. And spend the night gazing upon a billion stars from your transparent Bubble Tent in Capertee near Lithgow.
Lap up the Royal treatment
Choose your own adventure in the Royal National Park, just 50 minutes south of the city. Hire a canoe from Audley Boatshed, near the Royal National Park Visitor’s Centre, and explore rivers and secret beaches, or hike a section of the Coast Track, which runs for 26km between Bundeena and Otford. Stop in your tracks at every twist of the trail as you encounter towering waterfalls, mysterious rockpools and lush palm forests.
Free your mind on the open road
Revel in a sense of freedom and a dizzying array of possibilities on a road trip along the NSW South Coast. Follow the stunning Grand Pacific Drive south of Sydney over the Sea Cliff Bridge to the Shoalhaven and Jervis Bay, where you’ll find friendly kangaroos and white sandy beaches to call your own. Venture further south on the Oyster Trail to Pambula, where Captain Sponge’s Magical Oyster Tours will transport your taste buds.
Bubbletent Australia, Capertee Valley Credit: Destination NSW
Bubbletent Australia luxury glamping accommodation under the night sky in the Capertee Valley.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Bubbletent Australia, Capertee Valley Credit: Destination NSW
Bubbletent Australia luxury glamping accommodation under the night sky in the Capertee Valley.
Captain Sponge's Magical Oyster Tour, Pambula River Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a tour with Captain Sponge's Magical Oyster Tours on Pambula River, Pambula.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Captain Sponge's Magical Oyster Tour, Pambula River Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a tour with Captain Sponge's Magical Oyster Tours on Pambula River, Pambula.
Bond with a gentle giant
Gaze into the enormous eye of a humpback whale and you’ll feel a moment of pure joy as you realise your curiosity is reciprocated. Dive into a life-changing connection as you snorkel or swim at a respectful distance from these magnificent creatures during the humpback whale migration season from May to November, with Dive Jervis Bay in Jervis Bay south of Sydney, or JettyDive in Coffs Harbour, a 5.5-hour drive north of Sydney. Play with a pup of a different kind as you swim with seals near Montague Island off the seaside town of Narooma, on the NSW South Coast.
Make memories worth bottling
Enjoy the good life in Country NSW as you explore cellar doors with your favourite people. Go with the flow on a winery tour in Orange, sampling cool-climate varieties like pinot noir and chardonnay, and bond with your loved one at the award-winning Lakeview luxury couples retreat. Stock up on cabernet sauvignon and riesling at nearby Mudgee, and enjoy a hot air balloon flight over rolling hills and vineyards — guaranteed to leave you happily breathless.
Feel on top of the world
Stand on the roof of Australia and let the feeling of satisfaction that you’ve conquered Mount Kosciuszko sink in. You don’t need to be a mountaineer to reach the peak of Australia’s highest mountain – the intermediate 13km Mount Kosciuszko Summit Walk starts near Thredbo and takes about five hours. Indulge your adventurous side by exploring the expanding Snowies Alpine Walk trail network, including the recently opened Guthega to Charlotte Pass walk.
Dive Jervis Bay, Jervis Bay Credit: Jordan Robins
Man swimming with a seal during a snorkelling tour with Dive Jervis Bay.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Dive Jervis Bay, Jervis Bay Credit: Jordan Robins
Man swimming with a seal during a snorkelling tour with Dive Jervis Bay.
Printhie Winery, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy fine dining at Printhie Winery, Orange
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Printhie Winery, Orange Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoy fine dining at Printhie Winery, Orange
Discover a new rush
Make friends again with your joyful inner child in the Worimi Conservation Lands, a moving playground of towering dunes sculpted by powerful winds in Port Stephens, around a three-hour drive north of Sydney. Feel your adrenaline spike as you bounce down giant sand dunes, explore 10-storey dunes by quad bike on an adventure tour and learn about the area’s rich First Nations culture with Aboriginal-owned Sand Dune Adventures. That moment when you find sandy grains in your mouth from smiling too much? It’s as solid gold as this ever-changing sandscape.
Press play on your new passion
Nestled among the North Coast’s rivers, rainforests and reefs, the Tweed Area’s natural playgrounds invite you to re-centre yourself and discover what makes you feel most alive. Breathe in the beauty of Gondwana forests, find a pristine waterfall in Mount Jerusalem National Park, discover a new rush as you learn to surf, explore the Tweed River, follow the recently extended Northern Rivers Rail Trail or explore your creative side in Murwillumbah. The invigorating beauty of this wild playground rubs off on you — even if you just want to kick back and do nothing at all.
Find your party people
Be moved by Aussie music royalty at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in the New England hub of Tamworth in January. Discover creative installations in unlikely spaces during the Open Field Arts Festival in Berry in June. Cut a rug with glamorous drag queens at Broken Hill’s Broken Heel Festival in September, or pitch your tent at the Deniliquin Ute Muster, also in September in the Murray region town of Deniliquin, where you can laugh and play alongside your 20,000 new mates.
Sand Dune Adventures, Port Stephens Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a quad bike tour on the Stockton Sand Dunes with Sand Dune Adventures.
#newsouthwales #feelnsw
Sand Dune Adventures, Port Stephens Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a quad bike tour on the Stockton Sand Dunes with Sand Dune Adventures.
Deni Ute Muster, Deniliquin. Credit: deni ute muster
Deni Ute Muster is set to return with one of our biggest and best line ups yet on Friday 30 September and 1 October 2022.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Deni Ute Muster, Deniliquin. Credit: deni ute muster
Deni Ute Muster is set to return with one of our biggest and best line ups yet on Friday 30 September and 1 October 2022.
Recharge on the river
Go with the flow on a houseboat as you float down one of the mighty rivers that have carved their own paths across NSW. Breathe in the tranquillity as the bush unfurls around your floating home on the Hawkesbury, north of Sydney, or drive further north and cruise the great lakes around Forster. Feel the need to get completely off the grid? Make your way to the Murray region and explore Australia’s longest river by houseboat. Find a sense of calm as you wake up each day to the chorus of birdsong across the river’s glassy waters.
Switch off in paradise
Lean into a digital detox on UNESCO World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island, where the lack of mobile reception frees your mind and the spectacular natural surroundings makes unwinding easy. Lose yourself in the moment as you wander through rainforests, climb Mount Gower and swim or dive with 450 different types of fish. Marvel that Ball’s Pyramid — the world’s tallest volcanic stack — was born from fire six million years ago as you snorkel around this watery wonderland. Reflect on an incredible day back at your luxe suite at Capella Lodge, on the secluded southern end of the tiny island, or the laidback Arajilla Retreat.
Connect with something big
Some moments make us realise this world is bigger than us — like when you enter Mungo National Park, outside Mildura in southwestern NSW, for the first time. Gaze out in awe at the park’s otherworldly formations on a 4WD tour across terrain that’s like nowhere else on Earth. Reach out to the spiritual heart of this ancient land, where the 42,000-year-old remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Woman were discovered, on a walking tour with an Aboriginal ranger.
Mungo National Park, Mungo Credit: Destination NSW
4WD setting up camp overlooking the sand dunes near Mungo National Park.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Mungo National Park, Mungo Credit: Destination NSW
4WD setting up camp overlooking the sand dunes near Mungo National Park.
Snorkelling, Lord Howe Island Credit: Destination NSW
Woman snorkelling off Lord Howe Island.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Snorkelling, Lord Howe Island Credit: Destination NSW
Woman snorkelling off Lord Howe Island.
More Inspirational Stories
Mulwala Water Ski Club, MulwalaCredit: Destination NSW
Mulwala Water Ski Club located in the Riverina Murray region in Mulwala, offers an outdoor bar and casual relaxed dining overlooking Lake Mulwala. Learn to water ski on a world-class, private, twin lake the Max Kirwan Ski Park.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Cool off with an adventure: NSW is a watersports playground
Mulwala Water Ski Club, Mulwala Credit: Destination NSW
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Hot sands, wild rivers, bays with towers of coral and waves that curl like a rockabilly quiff – NSW is a paradise for adventure on and under the water. For adrenaline-chasers, there are world-class waves and whitewater runs, foils and jet boats built for speed, and reefs home to sharks and turtles. For the quiet adventurers, try paddleboard expeditions, fishing for rainbow trout and bass in pristine rivers, and colourful snorkelling spots.
Your next adrenaline hit
Surfing may be the famous action-hero of the NSW watersports scene, but the state’s rivers, lakes, bays and beaches also host a huge diversity of aquatic adventures to get the heart racing. Take in Sydney Harbour’s icons, while spinning, splashing and thundering past in a jet boat with Oz Jet Boating or Thunder Jet Boat. In Western Sydney, Penrith is a hub for adventure. Penrith Whitewater Stadium, purpose-built for the 2000 Olympics, is uniquely set up for both beginner paddling and intense raft adventures, as well as kayak courses where you can test yourself against Olympic times; Cables Wake Park teaches you to wakeboard via zipline (jumps and obstacles included); and Jet Pack Adventures lets you feel like a water-powered Iron Man.
In Brooklyn, on the Hawkesbury River, Jet Ski Safaris will take you around the bends of the river at 30 knots, while Fliteschool Manly and OzFoiling (with multiple locations on the Mid North Coast) will teach you how to cruise the coastline via eFoil, a motorised surfboard that glides above the water like an elegant seabird. Outside of Sydney, on the Murray River, encounter one of the greatest and oldest waterski clubs in the world at Mulwala Water Ski Club.
Find a wave
With reliable breaks on some of the world’s most picturesque beaches, NSW is a premium spot on the international surf circuit. Surfers with their own board and years of experience behind them can find world-class waves all up the coast while newbies can join in on a surfing lesson, all you have to do is choose which one and which beach. You can also practice on a perfectly shaped, perfectly reliable wave (with multiple options suitable for beginners or experts) at URBNSURF, Olympic Park’s surf park, and finish off with a meal at RAFI, the onsite Applejack-run restaurant and bar that overlooks the waves.
URBNSURF Sydney Credit: Applejack_Sandy’s_URBNSURF Sydney
URBNSURF Sydney
#feelnewsydney
URBNSURF Sydney Credit: Applejack_Sandy’s_URBNSURF Sydney
URBNSURF Sydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
#feelnewsydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Explore NSW’s coral reefs
The pristine, ecologically rich seas of NSW have seen the development of 10 protected marine parks covering more than 100,000 square kilometres, offering a haven to wildly diverse range of sea life. Beyond those areas, in the harbour and the bays of the coastal cities, there are also vibrant ecosystems ripe for snorkel or scuba dive trips. Self-guided snorkelling can be done in most places along the coast and, provided you have the equipment and training, so can diving. Or learn the ropes with a tour. Woebegone Expeditions and Courses will teach you how to explore the reefs of the South Coast with safe, freediving techniques; Region X Snorkel Tours has you jumping off a kayak with a snorkel around Batemans Bay; and Ecotreasures fits in a headland walk between time in the aquatic reserve around Manly. For new divers, you can explore the lower North Coast with Jetty Dive Centre or the tropical far North Coast with Cooly Eco Adventures. While Sydney Underwater Scooters will set you up with a handheld swim-assister and show you the clear waters and underwater fauna of Sydney’s Gordon’s Bay.
Paddling sunrise to sunset
Every river, bay and lake has a different scene and a different story, and cruising on a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lets you discover at your own pace. NSW is also full of explorers and local experts ready to guide you along the way. In Sydney, Sydney Harbour Kayaks and Sydney by Kayak will introduce you to the harbour at its multicolour best with dawn and dusk paddles. Manly Kayak Centre has both hire and guided options for kayaks and SUP, as well as giving you the opportunity to try your hand at SUPBALL, which is like polo but replaces the horse with a SUP. Cronulla SUP and Balmoral Paddlesurf let you explore less famous, but no less beautiful, beaches of Sydney’s south and north respectively.
On the Sapphire Coast combine your next river adventure with a story, like on Navigate Expeditions’ Aboriginal Culture Tour, where you journey into the land’s Indigenous heritage, or a Kayak and Shuck Tour where you visit the oyster farms. On the North Coast, social enterprise and SUP tour guides Wajaana Yaam Adventure Tours offers cultural eco-tourism on a paddleboard around the pristine waters of Solitary Island Marine Park. Not far away in The Tweed, Watersports Guru offers SUP lessons and hire, allowing you to cruise the waters Cudgen Creek while taking in the local birdlife – if you’re lucky you may even see a pod of dolphins.
Reel in a new experience
With pristine rivers and wild oceans, NSW is a dream for fishing for both newbies and those looking for the next big catch. Out on the oceans of the South Coast Kiama Charter Service will help you pull in your first deep-sea fish (go for blue-eye trevalla, gemfish or hapuka). While Port Macquarie Fishing Charters, Reel Ocean Adventures (in Tuncurry) and Evans Head Deep Sea Fishing Charters, provide the boats, deep-sea equipment and vibes on the North Coast. Inland, learn traditional yabbying in the bush at Narrabri Fish Farm, or set up your own line on NSW’s most epic jetties at Coffs Harbour, Lake Macquarie and Lake St Clair in the Hunter Valley. If you know the ways of a fly fisher, the Snowy Mountains and Blue Mountains are the hot spots.
Kayaking, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a day of kayaking on Sydney Harbour.
#feelnewsydney
Kayaking, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Friends enjoying a day of kayaking on Sydney Harbour.
Navigate Expeditions, Kalaru Credit: Destination NSW
Guests on a walking tour with Navigate Expeditions in Kalaru
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Navigate Expeditions, Kalaru Credit: Destination NSW
Guests on a walking tour with Navigate Expeditions in Kalaru