The Gold Coast, an hour's drive from Brisbane, is Australia's busiest holiday region with beautiful surf beaches and family theme parks, and considered Australia's equivalent of America's Miami Beach. Some 4 million visitors arrive each year to holiday along the Gold Coast's 70 km of coastline, which includes no less than 35 famously beautiful beaches. The Gold Coast is a surfer's Mecca. The southern beaches are the best and Kirra Point is said to have one of the 10 best breaks in the world.

Shopping, restaurants, nightlife, family entertainment, high-rise hotels, golf, fishing, sailing, surfing and unbelievably good weather - around 300 days of sunshine per year - are the trademark features of what has become Australia's biggest and busiest holiday destination.

The Gold Coast theme parks have become, since the 1980s, one of the region's most popular attractions. Wet 'n' Wild Water World is Australia's largest aquatic park, Dreamworld has many rollercoaster rides and other attractions typical of theme parks, SeaWorld is the largest marine park in the Southern Hemisphere, offering performances by dolphins, seals, sea-lions and penguins and Warner Bros Movie World offers visitors the chance to 'meet' their favourite Hollywood characters and see the business of movie-making up close.

The Gold Coast is 80 km from Brisbane and 20 minutes from Coolangatta airport. On any of its beaches you can take surfing lessons.

For families with children, as well as the theme parks, there is Infinity, a futuristic attraction in an endless maze: for 40 minutes you step into a fantastic world of illusions, sound and light effects (suitable for ages 8 and over, for families and groups of friends, or on your own).

For young people and lovers of lively resort life, Surfers Paradise has broad promenades, evening movies on the beach, cuisine from around the world, shops open until midnight and discos. Broadbeach is known for its excellent restaurants, shopping and relaxed, upmarket atmosphere.

To the west, only 30 minutes beyond the bustling coastal strip, lies the Gold Coast Hinterland. Here, a superb natural landscape of tropical rainforests, unusual rock formations and cascading waterfalls offers visitors opportunities for bushwalking, camping and wildlife-watching.