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Lonely Planet has chosen Fremantle as one of the world’s Top 10 Cities for next year in ‘Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016’.
The
11
th annual collection of the best trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the upcoming year ranked Fremantle seventh on the
Top 10 Cities 2016, due to it being a
“a raffish harbour town with sea-salty soul to burn.”
“As in any port, the world washes in on the tide and washes out again, leaving the locals buzzing with global zeitgeist,” Lonely Planet says. “It’s a delicious process, and nowhere in Australia does it better. Fremantle thrums with live-music rooms, hipster bars, boutique hotels, left-field bookshops, craft-beer breweries, Indian Ocean seafood shacks, buskers, beaches and students on the run from the books.”
“Fremantle dragged itself out of the economic doldrums in 1987, scrubbing itself up to host the America’s Cup yachting race. Once the yachties left town the city faced the question of ‘what now?’” Lonely Planet observes. “A process of reinvention began, with investment in the arts, the establishment of Notre Dame University and the consolidation of the city’s waterfront at the fore. In 2016, Freo is bearing the fruits of this process, with thriving urban culture and a string of awesome arts events celebrating the city’s essence.”
Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities 2016 are:
- Kotor, Montenegro
- Quito, Ecuador
- Dublin, Ireland
- George Town, Malaysia
- Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Mumbai, India
- Fremantle, Australia
- Manchester, UK
- Nashville, USA
- Rome, Italy
Australia is also featured in 10 other lists published in ‘Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016’, including being named as a Top 10 Country for next year:
Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries 2016
#6) Australia: “Getting here usually involves folding yourself into a plane for 24 hours. But with 2016 shaping up as a defining year for several of Australia’s key wilderness areas, it’ll be 24 hours well spent. With the weak Australian dollar, anything you spend here this year will be value for money. Petrol prices are heading south too: perfect timing for your Great Australian Road Trip.” Botswana, Japan, USA, Palau, Latvia, Poland, Uruguay, Greenland, and Fiji complete Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries list for 2016.
Best Value Destinations
#10) Western Australia: “The Australian dollar is a better deal for overseas visitors than it has been for a few years. This puts the dream-like landscapes of Western Australia, out of reach of some travellers thanks to the mining boom of the last few years, firmly back on the map.”
Most Accessible Destinations
#4) Melbourne: “With its highly accessible public transport system and compact city centre, Melbourne is one of the most accessible cities in the world.”
Best Places to Test Your Survival Skills
#5) Bob Cooper Outback Survival: “Where better to test your survival skills than in the
Australian outback. And who better to teach you the bush skills you need to survive than Australia’s most legendary survivalist,
Bob Cooper.”
The World’s Most Extraordinary Sleepovers
#6) Roar & Snore at Taronga Zoo, Sydney: “Nod off in luxury tented camps, complete with beds and wooden floors, with an astounding view of Sydney Opera House, the city and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”
Best Animal Adventures for Families
#8) Walkabout Wildlife Park, New South Wales: “You can visit this park by day to see native Australian animals roaming free, but we recommend the Wild Night Out where you can camp in the park overnight.”
Super Sleeper Trains
#8) Darwin–Adelaide: “Reaching this big nation’s belly by train allows a proper appreciation of its scale, and of the hardships endured by those who went before.”
Best Burger Experiences
#8) Burgers with Bounce and Bite, Darwin: “To try crocodile, emu, kangaroo, barramundi and other meats, Mindil Beach Sunset Market in Darwin is a hard spot to top.”
Most Iconic 20th Century Houses
#10) Rose Seidler House, Sydney: “Seidler’s ‘house of glass and legs’ helped shape the future of Australian architecture.”
Best Places to Meet Mythical Beasts
#10) Bunyip: “Monsters, spirits and mythological creatures are widespread in Aboriginal Australian lore but one that entered the popular imagination Down Under is the bunyip, a terrifying monster with a bellowing cry that was said to inhabit inland swamps and waterholes called billabongs.”
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