Australia›Month by month

When to go

Australia, month by month

Where in Australia is at its best each month, and where to skip. Each verdict comes from the place's stated best season and the closures, weather warnings and festivals Tourisma has for it: in the middle of the season is a great month, its first or last month a good one; a weather warning (monsoon seas, smoke) moves a month down, a closure (a park shut, the boats stopped) moves it down to mixed at most, and a shut place is better avoided.

Australia in January

Plan January

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, K'gari (Fraser Island), Kakadu National Park, Noosa & the Sunshine Coast, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Australian Open (tennis)

Australia in February

Plan February

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Hunter Valley, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, K'gari (Fraser Island), Kakadu National Park, Noosa & the Sunshine Coast, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Adelaide Fringe

Australia in March

Plan March

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Brisbane, Gold Coast, K'gari (Fraser Island), Kakadu National Park, Noosa & the Sunshine Coast.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Adelaide Fringe

Australia in April

Plan April

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Kakadu National Park.

Better avoided

Australia in May

Plan May

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), Kakadu National Park, Port Douglas & the Daintree, Whitsundays (Airlie Beach), Adelaide & the Barossa, Canberra, Cradle Mountain, Great Ocean Road (Lorne & Apollo Bay), Hobart, Hunter Valley, Kangaroo Island, Margaret River, Melbourne.

Can fall this month

  • Vivid Sydney

Australia in June

Plan June

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Adelaide & the Barossa, Blue Mountains (Katoomba), Byron Bay, Canberra, Grampians (Halls Gap), Great Ocean Road (Lorne & Apollo Bay), Hobart, Hunter Valley, Kangaroo Island, Margaret River, Melbourne, Perth & Rottnest Island, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Vivid Sydney
  • Humpback whale migration

Australia in July

Plan July

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Adelaide & the Barossa, Blue Mountains (Katoomba), Byron Bay, Canberra, Grampians (Halls Gap), Great Ocean Road (Lorne & Apollo Bay), Hobart, Hunter Valley, Kangaroo Island, Margaret River, Melbourne, Perth & Rottnest Island, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Humpback whale migration

Australia in August

Plan August

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Adelaide & the Barossa, Blue Mountains (Katoomba), Byron Bay, Canberra, Grampians (Halls Gap), Great Ocean Road (Lorne & Apollo Bay), Hobart, Hunter Valley, Kangaroo Island, Margaret River, Melbourne, Perth & Rottnest Island, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Humpback whale migration

Australia in September

Plan September

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Adelaide & the Barossa, Cradle Mountain, Great Ocean Road (Lorne & Apollo Bay), Hobart, Kangaroo Island, Margaret River, Melbourne.

Can fall this month

  • Floriade, Canberra
  • Brisbane Festival and Riverfire
  • Humpback whale migration

Australia in October

Plan October

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Cradle Mountain, Darwin, Hobart, Kakadu National Park, Uluru (Ayers Rock).

Can fall this month

  • Diwali in Sydney and Melbourne (dates shift yearly)
  • Floriade, Canberra
  • Humpback whale migration

Australia in November

Plan November

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Brisbane, K'gari (Fraser Island), Kakadu National Park.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • Melbourne Cup
  • Diwali in Sydney and Melbourne (dates shift yearly)

Australia in December

Plan December

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, K'gari (Fraser Island), Kakadu National Park, Noosa & the Sunshine Coast, Sydney.

Better avoided

Can fall this month

  • New Year's Eve fireworks, Sydney Harbour
  • Boxing Day Test (cricket), MCG
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