Slow down and see the best natural landscapes Australia has to offer with our selection of outstanding guided walking experiences. Expert guided walking and hiking tours through Australia’s most dynamic locations offer both flexibility and insight into dramatic wilderness environments that are often inaccessible through other means, and provide plenty of luxury touches to elevate your experience.
Covering well-researched paths stretching across Tasmania’s UNESCO-listed wilderness and white sand beaches to the ancient Flinders Ranges mountain range of outback South Australia, these outdoor experiences maximise your time spent in Australia’s most picturesque and untouched natural regions and reveal secrets of the landscape few will experience.
Why take a guided walking holiday?
Luxury walking and hiking holidays are an utterly unique style of travel. Due to the diversity of Australia’s landscapes, no two walks are alike, but all luxury walks and hikes share common traits that compel travellers:
- Guided walks offer a sense of structure, as your expert guide knows the best paths and detours. Offering insider knowledge throughout, your guide can also point out fascinating insights that cater to your specific interests and find memorable ways to surprise and delight you.
- Only operating in small groups, guided walks are popular for solo travellers looking to meet like-minded adventurers. Conversely, a guided walk can be organised as a private group of just close friends and family.
- Many of these walking trails are in breathtaking, off-grid regions only accessible via foot, making guided walks a wonderful way to disconnect from your day-to-day and reconnect with nature while travelling.
- Australia’s broad range of walks and hikes vary in difficulty, so travellers of varying fitness can participate. No matter whether you’re an experienced hiker or are an absolute beginner looking to explore the great outdoors, there’s a walk to suit.
- For guests wanting to challenge themselves on holiday, walking holidays provide a powerful sense of achievement. Putting in the effort of one foot after another makes your sunset views all the more beautiful, your sundowner drink all the more refreshing, and your rest at the end of the day all the more replenishing.
- Due to their luxurious and environmental focus, guided walks are easily teamed with other eco-luxury experiences and accommodation to create a full itinerary that leaves a gentle impact on the environment.
Discover the ancient history of the Flinders Ranges on the Arkaba Walk
A quintessential Flinders Ranges experience, the Arkaba Walk is one of Australia’s most renowned walks taking guests through 600-million years of geological history in remote South Australia. Over four days and 45km, traverse landscapes ranging from 63,000km former sheep station turned conservation area to the ancient and spectacular mountainous scenes of Wilpena Pound and Elder Range, alongside open hill country, creeks and rivers housing marsupials, birdlife, and other wildlife.
Catering to a maximum of ten guests at a time, intrepid participants of the Arkaba Walk unwind in luxury open-air campsites and enjoy three-course camp dinners with accompanying South Australian wines, memorable deluxe swag sleeping under the Milky Way, and a hosted stay at the beginning and end of the trip at the original Arkaba 1850s homestead.
Admire wildlife on the varied, family-friendly Maria Island Walk
Mere kilometres off the coast of Tasmania lies a nature-rich paradise nicknamed Tasmania’s ‘Noah’s Ark’, Maria Island. With no cars or roads, walking is the main mode of transportation through the island’s bush and beach walking trails. Over four days, guests will discover UNESCO Heritage settlement sites, white sand beaches, ancient eucalypt forests, and fascinating geological formations housing a diverse and curious range of wildlife ranging from wombats, whales, dolphins, Forester kangaroos, Cape Barren geese, Tasmanian devils, wallabies, parrots, honeyeaters, and birds of prey.
Taking a maximum of ten guests per walk with two accompanying guides, rest in secluded wilderness camps set up alongside beachfront, as well as a heritage-listed house with a unique colonial history. This walk is also popular for being family-friendly, taking children as young as eight, and can be made more challenging with optional ascents up Mt Maria or Bishop and Clerk, which offer their own rewarding views.
Challenge yourself with dramatic Tasmanian walks through wilderness and coastline
A remote and rugged island state off the coast of mainland Australia, Tasmania is a mecca for hikers. Rewarding walking and hiking opportunities are found on coastline carved by the strong breezes of the Southern Ocean, through UNESCO Heritage-listed wilderness virtually untouched by civilisation, and alongside kaleidoscopic landscapes of pink granite mountains and orange-lichen covered rocks.
The renowned Cradle Mountain walk leads guests through World Heritage-listed Wilderness, while the larapuna/Bay of Fires walk offers a vivid coastal backdrop of lichen-covered rocky headlands and white sand beaches. For a unique perspective of the region, take the Aboriginal-owned and operated wukalina Walk to discover First Nations perspectives, stories, and connection to country. The one-of-its-kind Wineglass Bay Sail walk combines the dramatic contrasts between trail walking and ketch yacht sailing, while the Three Capes Lodge Walk leads guests into National Park that sits at the very edge of the world. Each offers their own challenges and variations in scenery and include exclusive private lodge accommodation, offering a plush landing after a day of wilderness exploration.
Discover major cities on foot and live as locals do
Walking through Australia’s bustling cities is an immersive and active way to discover not only the major icons of each city, but also the hidden gems preferred by locals. For urban explorers, a custom hosted walking tour around Melbourne is the perfect way to explore the street-art-lined city streets and discover the hidden nooks and locally preferred gems that many other travellers miss. Along the way, your guide can connect you to areas of personal interest, like street art exhibitions, outstanding cafés, trendy boutiques, and beyond.
For a blend between the natural and urban, a walking tour with expert Sydney hosts offers the best of dynamic Sydney landscapes and the day-to-day picturesque suburbs where people conduct their daily business. Tread the popular path between Bondi and Bronte beaches and go bushwalking in the National Parks in Sydney’s Northern Beaches to see how locals live – complete with a hosted lunch at your guides’ home.
Enjoy customised bushwalking adventures followed by a plush landing
As a country of spectacular natural contrasts, Australia houses many fragile bush landscapes perfect for a day’s adventure. A day spent bushwalking is one of the finest ways to explore nature-rich locations while providing flexibility and opportunity to relax in five-star accommodation at night. Destinations such as scenic Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia, the National Parks of the Top End, and the vast outback vistas of the Red Centre are all popular destinations for this type of exploration.
We collaborate with expert providers who respect the landscape as a fragile living eco-system and offer fascinating insights into the land without intruding on nature. Venture into the diverse ecosystems of Kangaroo Island and see abundant wildlife in the wild, discover the remote waterholes and fragile, plant-lined paths of Litchfield National Park, or walk the base summit of Uluru while receiving interpretation of Anangu Dreamtime stories passed down for thousands of years – and then return to your five-star accommodation to enjoy fine dining, premium local drinks, and thoughtful details.
