The magazine chose 100 places to stay and visit, with several destinations from Australia and New Zealand making the cut.
In the places to stay list, TIME recommended Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat in Lake Pukaki, New Zealand; and Sun Ranch in Coopers Shoot, Australia.
As for places to visit, Dive Tutukaka made the list from Aotearoa, while Tasmania’s wukalina Walk and the WA EV Network featured from Australia.
To compile the list for 2024, TIME solicited nominations of places from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process.
This included hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks and more, and the focus was on offering new and exciting experiences.
See the full TIME list of World’s Greatest Places here.
Find out more about the destinations which made the list from Australasia below:
Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat
A luxury five-star lodge located in the heart of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, TIME described Mt Cook Lakeside Retreat as being one of “the best places on the planet to gaze up at the stars”.
The magazine praised the retreat’s Billion Star Dining experience as being “dinner and a show like no other” – the experience combines cuisine by Chef and Culinary Director, Corey Hume, with guided stargazing in the retreat’s purpose-built Pukaki Wine Cellar Observatory.
Sun Ranch
Tucked away in the New South Wales northern hinterland is Sun Ranch, the stylish brainchild of fashion designer Jamie Blakey and hotelier Julia Ashwood.
A former cattle ranch, TIME describes it as “the coolest imaginable version of ’70s California for convivial communing with nature and like-minded travellers”.
Dive Tutukaka
TIME praises Dive Tutukaka for its commitment to accessibility. With the operator being the first in New Zealand named as a PADI Adaptive Services Facility, divers of all levels can explore the waters of Poor Knights Island, including those with physical, psychological or mental challenges.
wukalina Walk
Wukalina (Mount William National Park) and larapuna (Bay of Fires) are where the palawa, or Tasmanian Aboriginal people, call home. Led by palawa guides, wukalina Walk is a three-night, four-day Indigenous-owned and operated hike.
“Walkers follow guides, tracing the footsteps of the relatives who came before them through breathtaking white sand beaches, granite headlands, and coastal heathland, staying in Indigenous-inspired huts and a lightkeeper’s cottage along the way,” says TIME.
WA EV Network
Once complete, the WA EV Network will feature 49 charging stations along key travel routes throughout Western Australia, covering 7,000km.
TIME says the Network gives travellers reason to set their sights on the west coast for an eco-friendly road trip, with stop highlights including the food and wine of Margaret River, snorkelling with whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park and surf breaks in remote Esperance.
