The first and foremost thing that you have to do is to book your tickets. However, you need to have a clear understanding as to when you should go, where all you can go and how you can get around. Australia is a vast country with tropical climate in the north, deserts in the center and southern shores that are chilly. Therefore, seasons do play a part when planning your visit.
Best time to visit Australia
Generally, visitors come to Australia during summer months, December to February, when the Brisbane and Melbourne, the southeastern hubs, are warm. Beaches and outside cafes will be overflowing with people and there will be parties in the nights. However, accommodations can be got only at peak season prices and visitors will also have to put up with not only crammed public transport, but also long queues at places of tourist interest. Therefore, the period from October to November and March to April, referred to as shoulder-season months, are better times to visit Australia.
When southern Australia is experiencing summer, it will be hot as well as humid in the northern parts. As the wet season can be uncomfortable, it is better to plan your visit to northern Australia during the months June to August when it will be dry and humidity and temperatures will be more bearable. Winter is the best time to visit the central parts of Australia as well.
Places to visit in Australia
If you are used to urban life – coffee, galleries, pubs, bookshops, and live music – you must head straight to Melbourne. Don’t worry about the commuting though! You can hire professional chauffeurs here who can wait with your ride outside, while you buy books, enjoy live music, or break a leg at the pub. Moving on to Sydney, it has great surf beaches, hip shops, gourmet restaurants, cool bars and hot clubs. Whereas Brisbane is an upcoming dynamic city, Perth exudes frontier independence.
If you are a nature lover, you must visit the national parks in Australia. Kakkadu in the north is a tropical place with crocodiles, aboriginal rock art and raucous birdlife. The national park is best accessed from the city of Darwin. The national park Uluru-Kata Tjuta is in Central Australia and is a great place where you can experience native Australian culture.
Whereas snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland can give you a mesmerizing effect, Tasmania‘s Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park offers the Overland Track which is one among some of the best multi-day hikes in the world.
Some of the decadent wine regions in the south such as the McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley for Shiraz, Coonawarra for Cabernet Sauvignon, Clare Valley for Riesling and Adelaide Hills for Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are must-see places that you should include in the list of places to be visited.
Getting around in Australia
If you are not pressed for time, the Great Australian Road Trip may be a good idea. You can explore the surf towns and beaches along Australia’s east coast, and wander around the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne. For a magnificent great ocean road holiday, you can look for websites to get prospects for hotels, apartments, restaurants, travel packages, etc. Alternatively, you can also take a detour to the stunning island state of Tasmania or even southwestern Western Australia. If you are more ambitious, you can tackle a ‘lap of the map’ which is a grand circuit.
There are not many big towns in Australia as there are in Europe or the USA. Therefore, the distances between places of tourist interest can be huge. So for people with time constraints, it can be a good idea to fly from one city to another. Domestic airlines in Australia are affordable as well as reliable.