LOOKING for a great holiday destination not too far from home? Look no further than South Australia.
Lonely Planet has just declared the state as one of the top regions to visit in 2017.
It was listed fifth in the travel publisher's top 10 Best in Travel regions alongside Peru's Choquequirao, New Zealand's Taranaki, Portugal's the Azores and North Wales in the UK.
Lonely Planet's authors described South Australia as "a delicious feast suitable to anyone's taste".
"Its climate may be hot, but South Australia offers the coolest mix of brilliant wine country, abundant produce festivals, stark and stunning tracts of picturesque Aussie outback and crowd-free beaches that could make even the Bahamas jealous," the authors wrote.
"The Queen Mary 2 is putting South Australia on her travel list in 2017, choosing to dock not only at its artistic capital, Adelaide but also taking in the rustic charms of Kangaroo Island."
Lonely Planet's team of globe-trotters put together the best regions, cities and countries to visit each year in their top-selling guides.
This year Canada featured as the top country while France's Bordeaux was the top city.
