Good Question! Australia is such a big place with so much to see and do but doesn’t it get cold in winter? That depends where you are!

North of Brisbane experiences a very mild winter(if you can call it that) and you get some of the best weather for visiting certain areas as you are out of the wet season. Some places and attractions aren’t even accessible during summer! Read below to learn about some of my favourite spots to visit in Winter and Autumn.

Fraser Island and Whitsundays

Arguably two of the biggest highlights of Australia’s East Coast but vastly different from each other – these two hotspots can put on a cracking show throughout the middle of the year. You get some really nice temperatures for visiting  and swimming and you’re out of the wet season meaning less chance of rain ruining those picturesque moments! Fraser Island will have cooler temperatures than the Whitsundays but it will still get above 20 degrees during the day making exploring nice and breezy, not hot and bothersome.

Fraser island and the Whitsundays are two of the biggest attractions on the East Coast of Australia!

Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef and Cape Tribulation

Up in far north Queensland there’s plenty of awesome sights to see and things to do! This is the best time of the year to visit Cape Tribulation which is home to the oldest living Rainforest in the World – the Daintree and it’s where the beach meets the rainforest. Pretty unique!! it’s worthwhile spending a couple of nights up here at Cape Tribulation Beach house and while you are there you can enjoy plenty of activities like kayaking, night walks, jungle surfing, horse riding and a once in a lifetime great barrier reef trip!

There’s plenty of other awesome opportunities for fun from Cairns, the most obvious one being the Great Barrier Reef! Other fun activities include Bungy jumping, Skydiving, white water rafting or you could visit the other rainforest area to the southwest of Cairns – the Atherton Tablelands. Rainforest, water holes and waterfalls await including the waterfall made famous by Peter Andre in his Mysterious girl Film Clip.

May to August is the best time to visit Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest.

Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks

Over Summer some of the best Water Falls in Kakadu National Park become inaccessible due to the wet season. When May rolls around the water dries up and the tracks become open to visit spectacular areas such as Gunlom, Twin and Jim Jim Falls. You get cooler temperatures though probably still fairly warm by your standards(20 to 30 degrees celcius.) Much less chance of rain and better weather all round!

2 wheel drive tours can get you to alot of awesome spots but if you want to access areas such as Twin and Jim Jim Falls your gonna have to go for a 4 wheel drive tour to get there! Alot of extended tours will also visit Litchfield national park to the west of darwin which has more awesome waterfalls, rock pools and massive termite mounds!

When May rolls around the water dries up and the tracks become open to visit spectacular areas such as Gunlom, Twin and Jim Jim Falls.

The Red Centre

No trip to Australia is complete without visiting the Red Centre to see the Rock. People flock to visit this Australian icon all year round and always leave with amazing stories to tell. The high season for visiting Uluru is from May to October when the heat is not so harsh, make sure if visiting during this time you pack for warm days and cool nights. Being a desert the temperature can drop overnight while you are sleeping under the brilliant starry sky but will rise to a comfortable temperature for your day of trekking and sightseeing.

No trip to Australia is complete without visiting the Red Centre to see the Rock

The Kimberley and Western Australia

The Kimberley at the top of Western Australia is one of my favourite areas in Australia, all the best spots are inaccessible during Summer due to the wet season so the time to visit is Late April through till October.

You can conquer the Gibb River Road, visit amazing national parks and gorges and lakes and do some incredible and memorable hikes. You need a 4 wheel drive to visit this area or to do a 4 wheel drive tour either from Darwin to Broome or Darwin to Perth and also the reverse direction.

South of Broome the Rest of the West Coast is also best visited at this time of year. You can dive with Whale Sharks on the Ningaloo Reef and visit Karijini national park and Monkey mia to feed Dolphins on the beach. When it comes to Australian winter for me at least – the West is Best.

Related article: Top 10 Best Guided Tours in Australia

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