Lonely Planet rates Anzac Centre
The largest travel guide book publisher in the world has named Albany’s National Anzac Centre as one of the best global travel experiences for 2015.
Lonely Planet’s e-book New in Travel 2015, ranks the centre at number 21 out of its top 26 worldwide experiences from Singapore, Ireland and Spain to Panama, Costa Rica, South Africa, Argentina and Taiwan.
Since opening in November, the centre has exceeded visitor targets, with more than 20,000 national and international visitors.
Author Virginia Jealous said the centre’s “modern, minimalist design” contrasted with older reminders of the war still present in Albany.
She writes that it is the only one of its kind in Australia, “a place for personal reflection on the men and women who sailed (and still sail) to war so far from home”.
City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington said the centre’s launch as part of the Anzac centenary resulted in unprecedented media attention and renewed interest in Albany as a visitor destination around the world.
“It’s an obvious recognition of the remarkable centre that has only been open since last November,” he said.
Number one on the list is the observation deck at New York’s One World Trade Centre, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Also on the list is a four-hour zip-line tour in Elgin, South Africa, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando.
A tunnel for visitors to explore Europe’s second largest ice cap in West Iceland is another must-see destination, so is a chocolate village in Belguim.
Two other Australian experiences made the list — the Three Capes Track in Tasmania and the Outback Astronomy at Broken Hill in New South Wales.
