Aussie gem takes out the fifth spot of world’s most beautiful villages list

Many people may pass by this tiny Queensland gem. But the tropical paradise has just taken out the fifth spot on a world’s most beautiful village list.

With just 4000 people living there and waters that teem with crocodiles and deadly Irukandji jellyfish, Mission Beach in Far North Queensland is often overlooked as a tourist gem.

But a new list has just ranked it the fifth most beautiful village in the world – and the only Australian spot to make the top 10.

Mission Beach is a quiet coastal town located in the Cassowary Region of Queensland, between Townsville and Cairns.

Its sand stretches more than 14km along the coast, flanked by lush rainforest and green mountains.

Welcome to paradise. Picture: Craig Tonsley

Sunrise at Mission Beach, looking out to Dunk Island. Picture: Brian Golding

The palm-fringed beach has 14km of soft sands. Picture: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

The peaceful beach enclave is also the closest access point to the Great Barrier Reef, with the sprawling reef starting just 40km off the coastline.

Uswitch.com was the author behind the world’s most popular beautiful villages list, analysing social media data on more than 40 spots previously listed as the best spots to visit.

The company analysed how many times villages had been featured on Instagram in photos and hashtags and scraped Pinterest for how many times a village had been pinned.

Unsurprisingly, the village of Oia on the iconic Greek island of Santorini took out the top spot.

The island has long been a popular spot for tourists and, pre-Covid, was regularly booked out over summer as people flocked to the region to see its breathtaking sunsets and unique blue and white buildings.

Ha Long Bay in Vietnam took the second spot, another place that is hugely popular with tourists thanks to its traditional junk boats, soaring cliffs and aqua water.

In third spot was Göreme in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.

The region is an Instagrammer’s delight with its bizarre homes chiselled into rocks, unusual “fairy chimney” rock formations and its hot air balloon rides.

Fourth was the quaint fairytale village of Hallstatt the hugs the edge of a lake in Austria and finally taking out the fifth spot was our very own Mission Beach in Queensland.

The world’s most popular beautiful villages. Picture: USwitch

The full list is as follows.

1. Oia, Greece with 1,612,671 total social media impressions.

2. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam with 1,168,018 total social media impressions.

3. Göreme, Turkey with 1,129,300 total social media impressions.

4. Hallstatt, Austria with 799,213 total social media impressions.

5. Mission Beach, Australia with 608,796 total social media impressions.

6. Wanaka, New Zealand with 566,714 total social media impressions.

7. Vernazza, Italy with 493,134 total social media impressions.

8. Shirakawa-Go, Japan with 256,681 total social media impressions.

9. Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, Scotland with 242,210 total social media impressions.

10. Furnas in The Azores, Portugal with 227,708 total social media impressions.