Explore the Southern Highlands gems named in Lonely Planet's Ultimate Australia Travel List

Travel site Lonely Planet released its Ultimate Australia Travel List this year, with 500 places and experiences recommended for people tick off their travelling lists.

From these, four highlights in the Highlands were listed, which is a win for a region that is marketed as a tourism destination that has a lot to offer.

Check out which attractions made the list.

This story was originally published on June 3, 2022.

A museum dedicated to a cricket legend, a wine trail, an iconic waterfall and a national park have been named as Lonely Planet's top destinations to visit in the Highlands.

The Bradman Museum, Southern Highlands Wine Trail, Fitzroy Falls and Guula Ngurra have been listed in Lonely Planet's Ultimate Australia Travel List.

The travel guide, which was published in April, tells readers the top 500 destinations and events they should visit across Australia.

Senior director, trade sales and marketing Chris Zeiher said these "key" spots had a lot to offer, and were chosen by the publication's writers and content creators.

"The Southern Highlands is within such easy reach of Sydney and Canberra and offers travellers a boutique mix of experiences," he said.

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"From first-class dining to excellent outdoor adventures (eg. Fitzroy Falls), the region has broad appeal and is perfect for family adventures or a romantic getaway for couples.

"And as annual festivals such as the Southern Highlands Food and Wine Festival [are] set to resume in late October, there's a perfect opportunity for travellers from around Australia to experience the delicious regional produce."

The Bradman Museum made the top 100, ranked as number 72.

The wine trail is in the top 300 with a ranking of 273, followed by Fitzroy Falls at 340 and Guula Ngurra at 485.

Mr Zeiher said it was a "complex" process to decide which attractions were selected for the book.

Thousands of major attractions and highlights were collated in a list, and then sent to Lonely Planet's members, writers, staff and content contributors.

"Each individual voter was provided a scoring grid and had 20 destinations to place their votes against," he said.

"Over 500 responses were collected and once the scoring was calculated, our ultimate Australia travel list was created and ranked from 500 to, a very clear, number 1."

Uluru was named as the ultimate must-see destination in all of Australia, followed by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania as the second.

The Great Barrier Reef is third, followed by the Great Ocean Road as the fourth and Three Capes Track in Tasmania as the fifth.

Other destinations in the top 10 are the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia, the Daintree National Park in Queensland, South Australia's Kangaroo Island, the Warrumbungle Dark Sky Park in NSW, and Sydney's famous Vivid Festival.

You can read the extracts from the book below.

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NEW SOUTH WALES // GUNDUNGURRA & THARAWAL COUNTRY

The charming NSW Southern Highlands town of Bowral is where the late, great cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, Australia's most legendary sporting hero, spent his boyhood. Today, you can retrace the career of the famous batsman at the Bradman Museum, which has an engrossing collection of Don-centric memorabilia.

The museum forms part of the International Cricket Hall of Fame, with displays on everything from the Ashes to the physics of cricket, and the way the game has been captured by the media over the decades. In 2020, Shane Warne's baggy green cap joined the ever- expanding collection. The complex also has a pretty cricket oval and a light-filled café.

See it: Ask staff for a free map of the Bradman Walk, a leisurely 1.7km trail taking visitors to the cricketer's childhood homes, school, church and other local attractions.

NEW SOUTH WALES // GUNDUNGURRA & THARAWAL COUNTRY

An easy day trip or weekend away from Sydney, the NSW Southern Highlands isn't only home to a wealth of historical attractions and some seriously posh nosh and lodgings. These rolling green hills are also home to one of Australia's most exciting young wine regions. With its first vines planted in 1983, Joadja Estate, in the hills above Berrima, is the region's oldest continuous vineyard and winery. There are now more than 60 vineyards in the Southern Highlands, the region's cool-climate conditions particularly well suited to varietals including pinot noir and pinot gris. However, you can also sample chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and more.

Sip it: Download a wine trail map from the Southern Highlands tourism website and work your way around the region's 15 cellar doors at your leisure, or sign up for a wine tour.

NEW SOUTH WALES // YUIN COUNTRY

A hot contender for the state's most spectacular waterfall, Fitzroy Falls plunges over an 80m-high cliff into a lush valley in the NSW Southern Highlands' Morton National Park. What's particularly cool about Fitzroy is that you can admire the falls from multiple angles on both the 3.5km-return West Rim Walking Track (allow 1.5-2.5hr), and on the 6.7km-return East Rim Walking Track (allow 2-3hr). The Fitzroy Falls Visitor Centre has information about the area's history, Aboriginal connections, wildlife and more.

See it: Fitzroy Falls is 140km, or under two hours' drive, south of central Sydney, and an hour southwest of Wollongong.

NEW SOUTH WALES // GUNDUNGURRA COUNTRY

'Guula Ngurra' means 'Koala Country' in the language of the Gundungurra people - a fitting name for this national park created in 2020 to protect vital koala habitat. The 33-sq-km park in the NSW Southern Highlands also provides a sanctuary for other threatened species including the endangered glossy black cockatoo, as well as rare vegetation. Formerly part of Bangadilly National Park, the 3km Mount Penang Loop Walk makes a scenic circuit in the southeastern fringe of the park.

See it: The national park is located 25km northwest of Bowral.

These passages were reproduced with permission from Lonely Planet 2021.

You can purchase Lonely Planet's Ultimate Australia Travel List for $39.99 RRP at www.shop.lonelyplanet.com.

Destination Southern Highlands was contacted for a comment.

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