By Leigh O’Connor.
If there’s one thing 2025 has proved, it’s that Aussies didn’t just get their travel mojo back - we strapped it to the roof racks, cranked the playlist and hit the road (or runway) with a grin.
After a few years of cautious planning, we’re booking trips for the sheer thrill of it: to feel small under big skies, to eat something messy with our hands, to come home sun-tired and story-rich.
On the home front, the big hitters are still shining. Sydney keeps delivering that jaw-drop moment when the harbour opens up and you remember you live on a postcard. Mornings start with the Bondi-to-Coogee walk, afternoons drift into a lazy ferry ride and nights are for rooftop cocktails and a "just one more” bite in a city that never really stops flirting with you.
Melbourne is our moody, creative soulmate: laneways humming with espresso machines, galleries and gigs on every corner and a Wintery cosiness that makes you linger over dumplings, footy banter, or a late-night bowl of pho like it’s a sacred ritual.
Queensland is the national comfort blanket this year. Brisbane and the Gold Coast are packed with weekenders chasing warm water and easy fun, while far-north hotspots like Cairns, Port Douglas and the Whitsundays are pure escapism - reef days so bright they don’t feel real, rainforest dips that reset your nervous system and island sunsets that make your phone stay in your bag for once.
Over west, Perth and Margaret River are in their golden era: big-sky drives, beaches that look freshly ironed and cellar doors that turn "just one tasting” into a whole afternoon. Tasmania keeps whispering to the romantics and the hikers alike - Hobart’s cosy weirdness, MONA pilgrimages and road trips where you go from misty mountains to wild coastline before lunch.
Meanwhile, our passports are getting a workout again. Cost-conscious, sun-seeking Aussies are flocking to Southeast Asia. Bali remains the great Aussie exhale: scooters under frangipani, surf at dusk, cheap-and-cheerful massages and villas that make you feel fancy on a shoestring.
Thailand is right up there too - temple-gold mornings, night markets that smell like heaven and islands where your hardest decision is snorkel or nap. Vietnam and Singapore round out the region’s pull with street-food adventures, river cruises and sleek city breaks that are close enough for a sneaky last-minute escape.
Japan is still the heart-throb of 2025 and not just for sushi. We’re chasing cherry blossoms and ski powder, neon Tokyo nights and quiet Kyoto mornings and the gentle ritual of onsen towns where you slow right down and remember what silence sounds like.
Europe is roaring back as the ‘big trip’ dream, with Italy and Greece leading the charge: long lunches that roll into sunsets, tiny streets echoing with laughter, beaches the colour of gin and that delicious sense of being far from your inbox. A smaller but growing crew is zig-zagging to newer darlings like Malta and Portugal for sun-splashed coastlines, ancient stone cities and the kind of balmy evenings that make you order dessert twice.
What ties these favourites together isn’t just value or vibes - it’s feeling. 2025 travel for Aussies is about experiences that punch through routine: the first footstep on warm sand after a cold flight, the hush of a Tassie forest, the electric buzz of Shibuya at midnight, the taste of fresh pasta in a village you can’t pronounce.
Whether you’re packing the car for a coastal loop or plotting a far-flung stamp, go where your heart gets loud. The best destination this year isn’t a dot on a map. It’s the place that makes you feel most alive.
