One of the most famous road trips in Australia is the Great Ocean Road. A version of this on foot is the Great Ocean Walk, a 100-km trail that starts at Apollo Bay, near Melbourne (Victoria), and ends at the Twelve Apostles, towering limestone rock formations that change color depending on the sun. Along the Great Ocean Walk, you will cross through various national parks, cliffs and beaches along the Indian Ocean. If you prefer a shorter trail, you can take the last leg starting at Princetown.

The George Bass Coastal Walk is a trail that follows the footsteps of the explorer George Bass on one of his voyages of discovery. The adventure begins on the Punch Bowl Road, in the outskirts of San Remo, and it goes until Kilcunda. On the George Bass Coastal Walk, you will walk on a seaside path where the grass mixes with the sand and the rocks on the beach, and you can even see whales when they migrate! Remember to check the schedule of the tides so you can go across the beaches.

Another one of the best trails near Melbourne is the Two Bays Walking Track, a hike on the Mornington Peninsula that unites Port Phillip Bay with Bushrangers Bay. After crossing the Arthurs Seat State Park and the Mornington Peninsula National Park, you will reach the path’s last surprise: the Cape Schanck Lighthouse in front of the Tasmanian Sea. Bring your camera for taking pictures of the landscape and local fauna, like the eastern gray kangaroo, the black wallaby, the echidna or the koala.

The Sherbrooke Forest is a rainforest in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, in Melbourne. It is a place with a great wealth of wildlife with Australian mountain ash trees abound, recorded as the tallest flowering tree in the world. This trail takes off from Ferny Creek and crosses through a magical environment: trails full of birds that are perfect for enjoying birdwatching, and trees that aim to touch the sky as well as the Sherbrooke Falls.

In Sydney, you cannot miss out on the coastal path from Bondi Beach to Coogee. After seeing the iconic Bondi Icebergs Pool, which melts into the ocean at the start of the path, you will discover beaches like Tamarama and Bronte Beach and natural pools such as Giles Bath. Without a doubt, the path from Bondi Beach to Coogee is one of the best trails in Sydney in the Australian state of New South Wales. Moreover, the area turns into an outdoor museum during the “Sculpture by the Sea” festival.

Near Sydney you can also have an adventure among the cliffs, waterfalls and landscapes of the Blue Mountains National Park that gets its name from the blue color it gives off when seen from a distance. The trail starts from the Conservation Hut at Wentworth Falls and goes around the National Pass and the Wentworth waterfalls. Before heading out, we recommend checking the local alerts to see whether access to the National Pass is closed.

The Somerset Trail is a trail full of contrasts in the D’Aguilar National Park, 70 kms from Brisbane, Queensland, where you will be able to see from a lush rainforest, to eucalyptus and palm tree forests. While the fruit from tropical trees attracts the flying foxes, the driest part is home to the possums. Along this hiking trail you will cross paths with hundreds of colorful flowers and you will have gorgeous views of both Somerset and Wivenhoe Lakes.

Mount Uluru, also called Ayers Rock, is located in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, in the red Australian desert. Sacred among the Anangu Aboriginal people and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This hiking trail allows you to go around the Uluru, see cave paintings and discover the Mutitjulu Waterhole, a natural pool where it is said to be home of Wanampi, an ancestral water snake. The best time to visit Uluru is from May to September.

In the Watarrka National park, in Australia’s Red Center, there are iconic places like Kings Canyon. The Rim Walk is a trail along the high parts of the canyon with fascinating views and a 500-step climb called “Heart Attack Hill”. Along the trail, you can step off the path towards the waters of “Garden of Eden” and discover “The Lost City,” sandstone domes that form an unprecedented desert “city.”

85 kms east of the city Alice Springs (Northern Territory) is where the throat of the Trephina Gorge lies, a breach full of mysteries and secrets. Along this footpath in the eponymous Trephina Gorge Nature Park, you can discover Aboriginal paintings on the rock walls, in addition to the various water pools that attract numerous animals and birds. It is the perfect choice to enter one of the eastern passes in the Macdonnell Ranges on foot.