Collection

My happy place

In this special series, our writers reflect on the holiday destinations in Australia and around the world that they cherish the most.

  • Opinion

Returning to my hometown is a watershed moment. The sights, smells and sounds of this country comfort me. People say “hello” as they walk by.

  • Georgia Dunkley

  • Opinion

I cried when I first visited this European capital as a child. Now I visit every year to embrace its never-ending changes.

  • Ute Junker

  • Opinion

The beautiful thing about this Asian metropolis is that it never loses its magic; you just have to go looking for it in different places.

  • Paul Marshall

  • Opinion

On my first visit, the Italian capital proved to be the remedy I was seeking: I found bliss at virtually every turn.

  • Julietta Jameson

  • Opinion

After breakfast at a cafe, I’d work a few hours at the local library before heading to the lagoon for a swim. It wasn’t long before I started wondering if I could live here.

  • Tim Richards

  • Opinion

A baby in tow, we found a place for $100 a week. For that, we got five bedrooms, cold showers, basic furnishings and a claustrophobic kitchen. It was perfect.

  • Mark Daffey

  • Opinion

Growing up, we would head to this same town for our holiday every year. A trip to France would have seemed as remote to us then as a trip to the moon would for my kids now.

  • Stephanie Peatling

  • Opinion

If happiness is defined as “the state of pleasurable contentment of mind” then this ancient city, for all of its horrors and delights, is my unlikely happy place.

  • Anthony Dennis

  • Opinion

My family started visiting this seaside town in the 1980s. Back then I hated the tea-tree, the sand dunes and the lack of a pub.

  • Katrina Strickland

  • Opinion

Byron Bay was the epitome of small town, blue-collar Australia, albeit one with very nice beaches. And no one was rich.

  • Craig Tansley

Each year, I see the same faces. Together, we are all building memories for the next generation at this Mornington Peninsula highlight.

  • Belinda Jackson

Beaches are beautiful but to me, they take second place to the alps. The steadfast, majestic beauty of the mountains does something to me that I can’t explain.

  • Justine Costigan

  • Opinion

I’ve been visiting this wonderful European city for almost 25 years. I love it so much, in fact, that I decided to live there.

  • Ben Groundwater

  • Opinion

A new job took my grandfather to paradise. Joining him there was the highlight of my childhood.

  • Mark Chipperfield

  • Opinion

I didn’t intend to come to this Thai town, but I missed my ferry. I discovered an incredible place most tourists never experience.

  • Paul Marshall

  • Opinion

After eight months of inner-city lockdown, home-schooling and curfews, an escape to rural Victoria was a breath of fresh country air.

  • Penny Watson

  • Opinion

Every summer our friends disappeared to the coast in caravans, or road-tripped to Surfers Paradise. We were stuck at home, until my mum had an idea.

  • Julietta Jameson

  • Opinion

We tried family holidays in different parts of Australia. But when we returned to this childhood spot, I knew we’d found the right place.

  • Justine Costigan

  • Opinion

I grew up in a place where no building is allowed to be higher than the tallest coconut tree. It remains my happiest place on Earth.

  • Craig Tansley

  • Opinion

It may not be the quiet beach town it was in the ’80s, but I’m always drawn back to this Queensland holiday favourite.

  • Justin Meneguzzi

  • Opinion

My parents sent me to an American-style summer camp on the outskirts of Sydney. For a 13-year-old girl, it was a week in paradise.

  • Julie Miller

More collections

Natural beauty, cultural hotspots, amazing food and wine: it’s not hard to find 100 amazing places in our own backyard. The tricky bit? Deciding what to leave out.

  • 5 stories