There isn’t one best time to drive around Australia. The best timing depends on where you’re starting, how long you have for your trip and which parts of Australia you want to visit.
As a general rule, aim to travel through northern Australia during the dry season, when temperatures are more comfortable and roads and attractions are more likely to be accessible. The cooler months are also a good time to explore Central Australia and the Outback.
Southern Australia is almost the opposite. The warmer months are generally better for places like Tasmania, Victoria and southern parts of South Australia and Western Australia, particularly if you want to avoid the coldest and wettest winter weather.
For a full lap, the aim is to plan your direction and timing so you’re moving through each region during a suitable season. You won’t get perfect weather everywhere, but a little planning can help you avoid the worst of the heat, humidity and seasonal road closures.
If you’re still in the early stages, start with our comprehensive guide to planning a lap of Australia, then use this guide to work out the best time to travel through each region.
Why Timing Matters When Planning a Lap of Australia
When you’re travelling around Australia for months at a time, timing can make a big difference to your trip. It’s not simply a matter of choosing summer, winter or the shoulder seasons. The conditions can be completely different depending on which part of Australia you’re in.
When you travel can affect:
- which roads are open
- whether national parks and attractions are accessible
- how much heat, humidity or wet weather you’ll encounter
- how busy caravan parks and campsites are
- how easy it is to find somewhere to stay
Get your timing wrong and you could find yourself dealing with extreme heat, flooded or closed roads, inaccessible national parks or struggling to find a campsite during the busiest periods.
A better way to plan a lap is to think about where you want to be at different times of the year, rather than trying to find one perfect time to travel around Australia.
Understanding Australia’s Seasons When Planning a Big Lap
Australia’s size means you can be dealing with completely different weather conditions in different parts of the country at the same time. While you’re enjoying warm, dry days in the Top End, it can be cold and wet thousands of kilometres south in Victoria or Tasmania.
Across much of southern Australia, the familiar four seasons of summer, autumn, winter and spring are useful when planning your trip. Head into tropical northern Australia, though, and it makes more sense to think in terms of the wet and dry seasons.
The dry season generally falls across the cooler months and is when most caravanners plan to explore areas such as the Kimberley, the Top End and Cape York. Conditions are usually more comfortable, and seasonal roads, campgrounds and attractions are more likely to be open.
The wet season brings higher temperatures, humidity and heavy rainfall across the tropical north. Flooding can close roads and restrict access to national parks and other areas, which makes this a much more difficult time to include northern Australia in a Big Lap.
Central Australia brings another set of conditions to consider. Summer temperatures can be extreme, while winter days can be mild and comfortable but nights can get very cold.
Rather than choosing your departure date first and hoping the seasons work in your favour, it’s worth looking at the regions you most want to visit and working backwards from the conditions you’re likely to encounter.
Best Time To Drive Around Australia By Region
Best Time to Travel Northern Australia
For most people doing a Big Lap, the cooler dry-season months are the most practical time to travel through northern Australia. This includes the Kimberley in Western Australia, the Top End of the Northern Territory and Cape York and tropical north Queensland.
We travelled through Kakadu, Litchfield, Katherine and Darwin between May and September, visited the Kimberley in June and travelled Cape York in July. These months worked well for us and meant we could explore northern Australia during the dry season rather than dealing with the heat, humidity and heavy rain of the wet.
The Kimberley
The dry season is the main travel period through the Kimberley. By this time, the wet-season rains have generally eased and access begins opening up again, including many of the roads, stations, gorges and campgrounds people want to visit.
We travelled through the Kimberley in June, which put us there during the popular dry-season period. If the Gibb River Road or other unsealed Kimberley roads are part of your plans, don’t rely on the calendar alone. Opening dates and road conditions can vary from year to year depending on the previous wet season.
The Top End
May through September is a popular time to explore the Top End, including Darwin, Kakadu, Litchfield and Katherine. Days are generally more comfortable than during the wet season, humidity is lower and there is better access to many of the places people come north to see.
This is also the busiest time of year, so popular caravan parks, campgrounds and tours can book out, particularly during the peak winter months.
Cape York and Tropical North Queensland
The dry season is also the main travel period for Cape York. We travelled Cape York in July, then continued south through Far North Queensland over the following few months. It was a popular time to be up there, and plenty of other people had exactly the same idea.
Conditions on the Cape can vary considerably from year to year, particularly on unsealed roads and creek crossings. If Cape York is one of your must-do destinations, allow some flexibility and check current road conditions before heading north rather than assuming a particular road will be open because it usually is by that time of year.
Tropical north Queensland is more accessible than Cape York throughout the year, but the cooler, drier months are generally more comfortable for caravanning and exploring.
The trade-off across northern Australia is simple: the months with the more comfortable weather and better access are also some of the busiest. That’s worth factoring into your booking plans as well as your itinerary.
Central Australia (Red Centre, Outback Regions)
Central Australia is another part of the country where timing can make a big difference. Summer temperatures can be extreme, so the cooler months are generally a much more comfortable time for exploring places such as Alice Springs, the West MacDonnell Ranges, Uluru and Kings Canyon.
We travelled through Central Australia during May and June and found the daytime conditions good for getting out and exploring. The nights were definitely cool though, which is something worth being prepared for if you’re camping or caravanning through the Red Centre at this time of year.
Winter nights in Central Australia can get very cold, even when the days are sunny and comfortable. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you’re travelling through the middle of Australia you’ll only need warm-weather gear.
The shoulder months can also work well, depending on your itinerary and tolerance for warmer weather. As you move closer to summer, however, daytime temperatures become a much bigger consideration, particularly if you’re planning walks or spending a lot of time outdoors.
For a Big Lap, Central Australia often fits well into the transition between southern and northern parts of your trip. Exactly where it fits will depend on where you started and which direction you’re travelling.
Best Time to Travel Southern Australia
While northern Australia is generally better suited to the cooler months, much of southern Australia comes into its own as the weather warms up. Victoria, Tasmania and the southern parts of South Australia and Western Australia can be cold and wet through winter, so spring, summer and early autumn are often more comfortable for caravanning and camping.
We haven’t always managed to follow the seasons perfectly ourselves. We’ve travelled Victoria in December and January, but we’ve also been there from August through November and again in June. That June visit was because of family commitments rather than careful trip planning, and as people who don’t particularly enjoy the cold, it wasn’t where we would have chosen to be at that time of year.
We travelled South Australia during April and May, while our time in Western Australia has covered quite a few different seasons. We travelled parts of WA from October through March and also travelled from Kalgoorlie through the Wheatbelt to Geraldton and south to Margaret River between July and November.
That experience is also a good reminder that a Big Lap rarely follows a perfect weather map. Family commitments, bookings, road conditions and simply wanting to spend longer somewhere can all change your plans.
Victoria and Southern New South Wales
The warmer months are generally the easiest time to explore Victoria, particularly if camping and spending time outdoors are a big part of your trip. Winter can bring cold temperatures, rain and snow to the alpine areas, although what counts as good travelling weather will depend on what you enjoy.
Summer brings its own considerations, including hot weather, bushfire risk and busy coastal destinations during the school holidays. Spring and autumn can offer a useful middle ground if your itinerary allows it.
South Australia
South Australia covers a huge range of conditions, so timing will depend on where you’re going. Coastal areas and the southern parts of the state can be very different from the hotter, drier interior.
We travelled through South Australia during April and May, which gave us autumn conditions as we continued our lap. If you’re heading into the more remote northern parts of the state, the cooler months generally make more sense than the height of summer.
Southern Western Australia
Southern Western Australia follows a very different seasonal pattern from the Kimberley in the north. The south-west has cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers, so your ideal timing will depend on what you want to see and how much cooler weather you’re happy to put up with.
We’ve travelled southern WA across several seasons, including the stretch from Kalgoorlie through the Wheatbelt and down towards Margaret River between July and November. Travelling through different seasons also meant watching the landscape change considerably as we moved around the state.
Tasmania
Tasmania generally fits more naturally into the warmer part of a Big Lap, particularly if you’re hoping to spend plenty of time outdoors. Summer offers longer daylight hours and generally milder conditions, although Tasmania’s weather can change quickly at any time of year.
We haven’t travelled Tasmania with our caravan yet, but we did spend two weeks driving around the state and staying in hotels at the end of October and into early November while we were waiting for our van. We had just four sunny days in the entire two weeks, which was a pretty good reminder that travelling in the warmer months certainly doesn’t guarantee perfect weather in Tasmania.
When we eventually take the caravan over, our preference for avoiding colder weather will definitely influence when we choose to go.
Month-by-Month Guide to Travelling Around Australia
There’s no calendar that will guarantee perfect conditions for an entire lap, but this gives you a useful starting point when deciding where different parts of Australia might fit into your travel plans.
| Time of year | Where you might consider travelling | Things to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| January–February | Tasmania, Victoria, southern NSW, southern SA and south-west WA | Summer suits much of southern Australia, but expect school-holiday crowds, higher temperatures and increased bushfire risk. Tropical northern Australia is in the wet season. |
| March - April | Southern Australia, SA and parts of inland Australia as temperatures begin to ease | A useful transition period. Conditions in the tropical north may still be affected by the wet season, so check access before heading north. |
| May - June | Central Australia, northern WA, the Top End and increasingly northern Queensland | The dry season is getting underway across much of northern Australia. Nights can be cold through Central Australia and inland areas. |
| July - August | Kimberley, Top End, Cape York, tropical north Queensland and Central Australia | Prime northern travel season, but also one of the busiest periods. Book ahead where necessary and expect competition for popular campsites and tours. |
| Sept- October | Northern Australia early in the period, then start moving towards southern and inland regions as temperatures rise | The north begins heating up as the build-up to the wet season approaches. Spring can be a good time to start working your way south. |
| November - December | Southern WA, SA, Victoria, southern NSW and Tasmania | Warmer weather makes southern Australia more appealing, while heat, humidity and the approaching or established wet season become bigger considerations in the north. |
Use this as a guide rather than a fixed itinerary. Seasons vary from year to year, particularly across northern Australia, where the timing and severity of the wet season can affect road openings and access well into the dry.
Your starting point matters too. Someone leaving Melbourne in February will plan a very different lap from someone leaving Darwin in June, even if they want to visit many of the same places.
Does It Matter Which Direction You Travel Around Australia?
Yes, but there isn’t one direction that works best for everyone. Whether you travel clockwise or anticlockwise will depend largely on where you start, when you leave and the places you most want to visit.
For example, if northern Australia is high on your list, you’ll want to work out when you need to reach the north for the dry season and plan the rest of your trip around that. Your starting point will then help determine which direction makes the most sense.
The same applies if Tasmania or southern Australia is a priority. Work out roughly when you want to be there, then look at how the rest of your lap fits around it.
We cover this in more detail in our guide to [travelling clockwise or anticlockwise around Australia], including the factors to consider before choosing your direction.
What About School Holidays and Peak Season?
Good weather usually brings more people with it. The dry season across northern Australia, summer along the southern coastline and school holiday periods can all make popular destinations considerably busier.
That doesn’t mean you need to book every night of your Big Lap before you leave. In fact, locking yourself into months of bookings can make it much harder to change your plans when you find somewhere you love, the weather changes or something unexpected comes up.
It does pay to think ahead for the places that matter most to you. Popular caravan parks, national park campgrounds, tours and experiences can book out during peak periods, particularly around school holidays and long weekends.
We tend to prefer having some flexibility in our travel plans rather than booking everything too far ahead. If there’s somewhere we really want to stay or an experience we don’t want to miss, that’s when booking ahead makes more sense.
The trick is knowing which parts of your trip need a firm booking and which can stay flexible. You don’t need every day mapped out months in advance, but you also don’t want to arrive at one of your must-see destinations and discover there’s nowhere available to stay.
Planning Your Own Big Lap Timing
Once you understand how the seasons vary around Australia, you can start fitting the pieces of your own lap together. Your starting point, departure date and how long you have available will all influence where it makes sense to travel first.
Start with the places or experiences that matter most to you. If the Kimberley is high on your list, for example, work out roughly when you want to be there during the dry season and build the surrounding parts of your trip around that. Do the same for any other destinations where weather or seasonal access is particularly important.
Then consider how quickly you actually want to travel. Trying to reach northern Australia by a particular month is very different if you have six months for your lap compared with 12 or 18 months.
Leave some room for plans to change as well. Weather events, road closures, family commitments and finding somewhere you’d like to stay longer can all change your timing. We’ve had to adjust our own plans along the way, and having some flexibility makes that much easier.
If you’re still putting the bigger picture together, our Planning a Lap of Australia guide covers the other major decisions you’ll need to make when planning your trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best time of year to drive around Australia?
There isn’t one best time because Australia has very different climates across the country. Generally, the cooler dry-season months suit northern and Central Australia, while the warmer months are better suited to much of southern Australia.
For a full lap, plan your timing so you move through each region during a suitable season.
What is the best month to start a lap of Australia?
There isn’t a single best month to start. It depends on where you’re leaving from, how long you have and which parts of Australia you want to visit.
Work out when you want to reach seasonal destinations such as the Kimberley or Top End, then plan backwards from there.
What is the best time to travel northern Australia?
The dry season is generally the most popular time to travel through the Kimberley, Top End and Cape York.
Conditions are cooler and less humid than during the wet season, with better access to many roads, national parks, campgrounds and attractions. Exact conditions and opening dates vary each year.
Can you travel around Australia in summer?
Yes, but where you travel matters.
Summer can be a good time to explore Tasmania and much of southern Australia, while extreme heat, humidity and the wet season can make parts of northern and inland Australia less suitable.
When is the wet season in northern Australia?
The tropical wet season generally occurs during the warmer months, with the main period usually falling between November and April. Timing and rainfall vary by region and from year to year, so check current conditions and road access when planning travel in northern Australia.
How long does it take to drive around Australia?
How long you need depends on how much of Australia you want to see and how quickly you like to travel.
While you can physically drive around Australia much faster, a Big Lap is about far more than covering the kilometres. Our guide to [how long it takes to drive around Australia] looks at realistic timeframes for different styles of trip.
Common Timing Mistakes Lappers Make
One of the biggest mistakes when planning a Big Lap is locking yourself into a fixed itinerary too far in advance. Having a rough plan is useful, but you also need enough flexibility to adjust it as you travel.
Following the seasons and keeping some flexibility in your plans allows you to:
- avoid extreme heat and humidity
- travel through regions when they’re more likely to be accessible
- spend longer in places you enjoy
- adjust your plans around weather and road conditions
- change your timing when life gets in the way
You’ll still need to book ahead for some places and experiences, particularly during peak periods, but your entire lap doesn’t need to be locked into a rigid schedule before you leave.
With years of experience travelling Australia in a caravan, I’m passionate about helping others embark on their own unforgettable adventures. From off-grid camping tips to expert advice on planning the ultimate big lap of Australia, I share stories, practical hacks, and inspiration to make your journey stress-free and exciting. Whether you’re a seasoned traveller or just starting out, join me as I explore the beauty of Australia, one road at a time!
