Destination: Australia

When To Go

Truth be told, any time is a good time to be somewhere in Australia. Weather-wise, when it's cold down south, it's magnificent in the north and the Centre; when it's too hot and sweaty up north, the southern states are at their natural finest. There's also the numerous festivals and other public spectacles that are on show every month, from the summertime food-and-wine banquets and large-scale concerts that mark the start of the year, through mid-year arts celebrations and whimsical beer-can regattas to end-of-year footy finals, horse races and yachting contests.

The seasons in Australia are the antithesis of those in Europe and North America. It is summer from December to February, when the weather and longer daylight hours are tailor-made for swimming and other outdoor activities across much of the country; no prizes for guessing that this is Australia's tourism high season. The period from June to August is the winter season, with temperatures dropping the further south you travel - it's officially designated the tourism low season but it's also the time when travellers head north, where the humidity of the wet season has subsided and the temperature is highly agreeable (the Dry roughly lasts from April to September, and the Wet from October to March, with the heaviest rain falling from January onwards). Autumn (March to May) and spring (September to November) both enjoy a lack of climatic extremes.

Unless you want to be competing with hordes of grimly determined local holiday-makers in 'Are we there yet?' mode for road space, places on tours, seats on all forms of transport, hotel rooms, camp sites, restaurant tables and the best vantage points at major attractions, you should try to avoid Australia's prime destinations during school and public holidays. During these times, you're also likely to encounter spontaneous rises in the price of everything from accommodation to petrol.