What is a good digital camera?

I've wanted a decent camera for awhile (all I have currently is the camera on my iPhone) but I'm about to spend a year abroad in Australia, and I really want a good camera for my travels. I don't know much about photography, I'm very much an amateur, so I don't need something super fancy, but I want something that can take good-quality photos and has a decent zoom so I can take pictures from far away without the quality being awful and grainy.

Budget-wise, I'm looking for something in the $200-250 range (or less, of course). I really don't know much at all about photography or cameras, so suggestions on specific cameras, camera brands, or places to look for cameras are all appreciated!

Honestly for that price, an iPhone is probably fine, unless you can find a really good used DSLR deal.

Entry level DSLRs are $600+, not including lenses which can be hundreds of dollars each or more.

For your budget, a good point-and-shoot would be the best you could get.

Not that a P&S is a bad idea --- many people get great results with them.
They are also a lot less bulky than DSLRs.

But, for about $800, you could buy a Pentax K-70 DSLR
with a decent lens and maybe a few small accessories.

Really you won't get significantly better image quality above your iPhone unless you go to a camera with a 1" sensor or larger.
The only advantage you'd have with a small sensor camera with a long zoom is that it will be optical zoom. Remember you can often walk or travel closer to interesting things but getting back far enough from big things and architecture is the difficult thing.

I'd say pick up a used or refurb DSLR from a reliable vendor.

Eg. Within budget, one like this and an 18-55mm kit lens.

Here's a link to B&H showing all of the cameras on the market today that are within the $200-$300 price range:

Use the filters on the left to choose specific features that you want. This will make finding the camera that is best for your needs and within your budget far, far easier than say going to Amazon.

To see the image quality of these cameras at all ISO settings, go to
Dpreview.com has a lot of buying guides, too.

When buying a camera, you will find that the larger the sensor, the better the image quality. So it goes without saying that you should buy a camera with as large of a sensor that you can afford. Unfortunately the cameras in your price range all use a very small sensor. So their image quality in terms of noise and dynamic range (but not sharpness) is going to be very similar to a common smartphone. But, if you are fine with buying a used camera, then you will likely end up with a higher-end camera, albeit, an older model. Keh.com is a great site for buying used gear - it's almost as popular as ebay, but unlike ebay, keh provides 6-month warranties with their gear. Everything that I've bought from keh has been in far better shape than they advertised, which is fantastic. Here's what keh.com has in the $200-$300 price range for point-and-shoot cameras:

Of the cameras currently at Keh, I believe that the Sony RX-100 with its 1" sensor is by far the absolute best camera - https://www.keh.com/shop/sony-cyber-shot-dscrx100-20-2-megapixel-compact-camera-674445.html I'd but the RX-100 (version 1) over anything new on the market today. The 1" sensor is 2-3x larger than any new camera in your price range. Be aware that the current Sony RX-100 is the version VI.