7 Australian holidays you can visit all year round
When is a good time for a holiday in Australia? Any time! Here are seven Aussie holiday spots that will welcome you any day of the year.
1. Cairns
Cairns has a year-round outdoor lifestyle with the reef, rainforest and outback are all right on the doorstep. Summer is the wet season and can be rainy, though it’s generally restricted to downpours in the late afternoon followed by clear skies in the morning. Summer is great for diving on the reef as the water is warm, turtles are hatching and lots of fish are breeding. It’s an ideal beach destination for winter as the weather is warm and the oceans free of the nasty jellyfish that can be found during the summer months.
2. Perth
With more sunny days than any other Australian capital city, Perth will always give travellers a warm welcome. Summers can be oppressively hot, though the arrival of the Fremantle Doctor sea breeze right around 4pm always cools things down. There’s essentially an eight-month beach season in Perth, so bring your swimmers and surfboard between September and April. In winter, you can explore the city’s great museums and galleries, visit vineyards in the Swan Valley or take the ferry out to Rottnest Island.
3. Tasmania
The Apple Isle is an absolute delight any time of year. In summer, temperatures stay around the early 20s and it’s ideal for hiking, mountain climbing or sailing. There are lots of festivals in summer too, like Falls Festival, MONA FOMA or Taste of Tasmania. Autumn offers incredible colours of foliage and spring is bright with flowers (though can be little wet). And yes, it’s going to be (really) cold in Tasmania in winter, but that just gives you another excuse to make yourself comfortable in front of a roaring fire with a warming glass of pinot noir. Spend your days in museums, eating at great restaurants or playing in the snow.
4. Airlie Beach
Locals here say that winter lasts about two weeks a year, and even then it doesn’t get very cold. As the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, Airlie Beach is a great base for year-round island hopping and is often actually better in the off season when you won’t find any school holiday crowds (and the prices are much lower). Travel towards the end of winter for whale watching as thousands of humpback whales make their way up the coast to calve in the warm waters around the Great Barrier Reef.
5. Darwin
It’s Australia’s forgotten capital, closer to Indonesia than Sydney. Yet Darwin is a great year round destination with vibrant nightlife, a thriving arts scene and some of the country’s most famous destinations (like Kakadu) a short distance away. Winter temperatures in Darwin are just about perfect, hovering around 30 degrees on average and almost never falling below 19. The dry season also means lower humidity, little rain and sunny skies. You can’t swim in the ocean at any time of year (thanks to the crocodiles) but the manmade lagoon on the waterfront is a nice spot for a cooling dip.
6. Noosa
There’s no denying that the unofficial capital of the Sunshine Coast is a great summer destination, with fantastic beaches and a cool surfie culture that will appeal to all ages. However, don’t be too quick to dismiss it as a year-round holiday spot. Noosa has enough good restaurants, interesting shops and art galleries to keep you entertained for at least a week, and further afield there are plenty of tourist attractions like Australia Zoo, the UnderWater World Aquarium, Fraser Island or the hinterland towns of Montville and Maleney.
7. Mt Buller
The name Mt Buller is synonymous with snow, so it’s a fantastic ski destination during the winter months. For the rest of the year, it’s the place for hiking, mountain biking and horse riding. The temperature is mild and the air incredibly clean, so you’ll spend the whole time feeling fresh and invigorated. You can even take a scenic ride on the chairlift for a stunning overview of the (now empty) ski fields.
Have you been to any of these incredible holiday spots? Are there any other locations you’d recommend for a year round holiday in Australia? Please let us know in the comments below.
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