Each year, Lonely Planet releases a guide to the best in travel, a list of the 25 most inspiring destinations for the year ahead, as chosen by a team of travel experts.

For 2026 only one Australian destination made it to the list and that is the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, for its ‘otherworldly beauty, brilliant sunsets and a colossal outback adventure’.

I’d have to agree that the Flinders Ranges has so much to offer travellers, with various accommodation options and ways to see the Flinders, but for me the only way is by car and caravan, staying at one of the many pastoral stations that have opened their gates to visitors.

We’ve stayed in the Flinders on many occasions and here’s what keeps us going back.

Majestic scenery

There are so many breathtaking moments as you wind your way through the ranges and there are a number of scenic lookouts and drives where you can get brilliant views of the ranges from up high. The top scenic drives to take are through Brachina Gorge, Bunyeroo Valley and the Morlana scenic drive.

They all have incredible views from peaks and through valleys, winding around the ranges and bringing you up close to fascinating geological features, massive eucalyptus trees and wildlife. The drives are best done in a 4WD but there’s nothing too hard to tackle on these trails.

Wildlife

The Flinders Ranges have to be one of the best ways to get up close to loads of Australian wildlife. You are pretty much guaranteed to see emus roaming, kangaroos and wallabies, and all types of birdlife, including the huge wedge tailed eagle.

You need to be constantly aware of wildlife as you drive through the Flinders as emu especially tend to dart across the road and after rain, we have found roos tend to come out to roadside edges to drink from puddles. The best chance of seeing wedge tailed eagles is if there is any road kill, and they can quite often be feeding on it.

One of the strangest wildlife encounters we’ve had was when a flock of apostle birds swooped into our campsite. These large, dark grey birds are often seen in groups of 12 or more (hence apostles) arrived en masse, foraged around on the ground for a while then all left as quickly as they arrived.

Station Stays

For really authentic stays where you can feel uncrowded, immersed in the landscape and back to nature you can’t beat a station stay. There are more than 20 working pastoral properties to choose from in the Flinders Ranges area, where you can stay and even take part in some of the properties activities if you wish.

Most of these stations have created scenic drives on their properties for those staying to head off and discover parts of the Flinders that you just don’t get to see if you stick to the highways. There are ruins to discover and indigenous and settler history to find out about.

By opening up their properties for travellers to stay at, it has helped the station owners to shift from purely pastoralism to tourism which has helped in leaner, drought times, and given people an even greater appreciation of the region.

The Great Outdoors

Staying in the Flinders Ranges is very humbling with the hugeness of the landscape and mountain ranges making you feel very insignificant but so grateful that we have places like this to stay.  The lack of light pollution means every clear sky night is filled with millions of stars, a great chance to practice your night photography.

It gives you the ideal opportunity to make a campfire and even try your hand at campfire cooking on the coals. There’s nothing better than a good old roast and veggies cooked over coals and a traditional Aussie damper fresh from the camp oven is heavenly, especially when sliced thickly and slathered in homemade jam.

Hikes

There are many walks you can take in the Flinders too from easy, flat walks over short distances to more strenuous hikes to various peaks and through gorges over many kilometres. There really is something for every age group and level of fitness, including hikes in Ikara – Flinders Ranges National Park and Wilpena Pound.

Many of the station stays also have walking tracks to recommend on their properties and will have maps to guide you and detailed information on level of fitness and time needed to tackle them.

These are just some of the reasons showing why the Flinders Ranges in South Australia have earned a spot in Lonely Planet’s list of top destinations to visit in 2026. Maybe we’ll see you there!

Enjoy

Glenys

**If you enjoyed this post, please hit the *LIKE button, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE, leave a comment, and share the love on your socials. If you want to see more content between uploads, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for daily updates.