Caught in a sandy ’70s time warp, Avalon is the mythical Australian beach you always dreamed of but could never find. Challenging surf and sloping, tangerine-gold sand have a boutique headland for a backdrop. There's a sea pool at the southern end. Good, cheap eating options abound in the streets behind.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
17.95 MILES
Definitively Sydney, Bondi is one of the world’s great beaches. It’s the closest ocean beach to the city centre (8km away), has consistently good (though…
16.61 MILES
Sydneysiders love their giant 'coathanger', which opened in 1932. The best way to experience this majestic structure is on foot. Stairs and lifts ascend…
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
7.91 MILES
A spectacular mix of sandstone, Australian bushland and tranquil water vistas, this 14,928-hectare park forms Sydney’s northern boundary. It’s located 20…
14.63 MILES
Lovely Watsons Bay, east of the city centre and north of Bondi, was once a small fishing village, as evidenced by the heritage cottages that pepper the…
15.3 MILES
A 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay, this forested harbour hillside is full of kangaroos, koalas and similarly hirsute Australians, plus numerous…
16.74 MILES
Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, this magnificent building is Australia's most famous landmark. Visually referencing a yacht's sails, it's a…
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12.69 MILES
About 3km south of central Manly, spectacular North Head offers dramatic cliffs, lookouts, secluded beaches, pretty paths through the native scrub, and…
4.09 MILES
This central section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach…
Nearby attractions
0.75 MILES
With its huge saltwater pool and tucked-away location between the better-known Newport and Avalon beaches, little Bilgola feels like a bit of a secret gem…
1.44 MILES
This well-known Sydney surf beach is a kilometre-long strip of east-facing sand with reliable waves and a backing of Norfolk pine trees.
1.61 MILES
Sleepy Whale Beach, 3km south of Palm Beach, is well worth seeking out – a paradisiacal slice of deep, orange-tinted sand backed by pines and flanked by…
2.95 MILES
Long, lovely Palm Beach is a crescent of bliss that's famous as the setting for cheesy TV soap Home and Away. The 1881 Barrenjoey Lighthouse punctuates…
3.31 MILES
You will have to take the ferry at Palm Beach to reach this sheltered, carless beach suburb on the shores of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. There…
3.79 MILES
This historic sandstone lighthouse (1881) sits at the northern tip of the Northern Beaches in an annexe of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. You've got two…
4.09 MILES
This central section of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a spectacular wilderness, with awe-inspiring vistas over Pittwater and Broken Bay, hidden beach…
5.57 MILES
Immortalised by the Beach Boys in 'Surfin’ USA', long, spectacular Narrabeen is hard-core surf turf – get some experience before hitting the breaks. Not…