QUEENSLAND

Queensland is the Sunshine State, and no Australia travel or Australia vacation is complete without spending some time here. After all, even Australians call it the Holiday State, so what better recommendation could there be? Queensland is entirely contained within the sub-tropics and tropics, and has over 2000 miles of coastline and hundreds of superb beaches. These range from highly developed, such as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast with their varied accommodation, restaurants, amenities and entertainment to untouched remote and wild beaches rarely seeing a human visitor. Queensland is also home to the Great Barrier Reef, over 1200 miles of coral, fish and color just off the coast. As well as the world's largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef has islands and coral cays dotted along its entire length. And, just like the beaches, you can take your choice of islands, from family or singles fun to five-star elegance to deserted hide-away.

But sun and surf are not all Queensland has to offer. Behind the beaches of the Gold Coast is the Great Dividing Range, home to rainforest, nature resorts, and further west, opportunities to live on the land with local farm and station (ranch) owners. In the north is World Heritage listed Wet Tropics rainforest, where you can just as easily spot a platypus in the wild or luxuriate in a 5-star spa deep in the green glades of these ancient forests. The Queensland Outback has endless vistas, remote luxury, and gemfields of opal, sapphire and even marble mines. Queensland boasts Australia's number one train journey, traveling from Brisbane to Cairns, and several shorter journeys, some less well known and others, such as the Kuranda Rail, more famous.

And of course, Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo is on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, so your Australia travel can include the Crocodile Hunter's wildlife zoo along with beach, surf, coral reef, rainforest and even an outback adventure tour. All without leaving Queensland.

Whatever your taste in an Australia vacation, Queensland offers it all. Casinos, surfing, nature exploration, diving, sun and sand, luxury relaxation, 4WD exploration, and a wide range of sports, it's all in Queensland. Even digging for dinosaurs!

Queensland is a big state, and so we've divided into several sections.

Cairns, Daintree, the Great Barrier Reef and beyond

The Whitsundays & Islands

South Queensland

Rail Journeys in Queensland