travel52

This is my 1st of many questions that you will be seeing from me. My husband and I are planning our 1st trip to Australia. Because we are trading our timeshare through RCI, we need to start planning as soon as possible. My 1st question is: what is the best month to travel to Australia? We are retired, so are open. We will be going to Sidney, Adelaide, Ayers Rock (I think). We would like to be traveling when it is warm, but not in the 90's. Would traveling in November rather than February (the 2 months we are thinking about) be less expensive for hotels? Thanks for your help.

Bokhara

Hi Travel52,

If you're limited to November or February, I'd suggest November. Mainly because it's usually a little cooler, which would help with your Ayers Rock (Uluru) trip.

However, to answer your first question, IMO the best month to visit the places you've mentioned would be April - warm enough, cool enough and usually fairly dry. (Although, of late, the whole year has been far TOO dry!)

November & February are both in Summer, but the high season (and school holidays) are in December & January.

This link to "Wotif" will give you an idea of the prices now, so you will have a rough guide. www.wotif.com.au


BTW, it's "Sydney" not "Sidney". A young German made this mistake when booking an online ticket to see his girlfriend in Australia recently. Apparently it finally dawned on him that something wasn't quite right when, arriving in shorts & finding snow, he was about to board a commuter flight for a small town of 500 in the US.

SnRSeattle

Hi, travel52, welcome to the forum. It is addicting because there is so much to learn about the country and such nice people who post here. Be aware that the weather in Australia is quite different from place to place. It is as large as the continental US, so the areas will be far apart. We went to Sydney (note the spelling) and Uluru (Ayers Rock) in July and had lovely weather then. I think the Red Centre is quite hot in both Feb. and Nov. Here is a weather site to get you started: http://www.weatherbase.com/
Happy researching. It's my hobby since we are planning a trip for oct. 2007.
Sally in Seattle

travel52

Thanks so much. We are not restricted to the month we travel. I realize how big Australia is, that's why I am having a hard time just getting started. I have used the Europe board in planning trips and can see that you all will also be a great help as we go to SYDNEY and beyond

DownUnder

Definitely November although March can be an excellent month in most states except Adelaide where it can get quite hot.

wally34949

If you're not into hot weather and flies, limit your stay at Ayers Rock to one night. You should find cheaper prices for airlines if you avoid Dec. and January for travel in Australia. If you are retired, consider a stopover in New Zealand. New Zealand I would recommend February. It takes awhile for it to warm up.

travel52

Thanks for the tips. I think what we will do is put in a request for November, February, March and April and see if we are able to get any exchanges for our timeshare. I guess it is difficult to get an exchange for Australia, so the more open we are the better. It sounds like if we get an exchange for February, we should avoid Ayers Rock because it will be too hot. We are flying from the U.S. on frequent flier miles and will need to purchase the flights within Australia.

Betsy

Consider avoiding the Australia school holidays when many families hit the road and prices are sometimes higher.

http://www.oztourism.com.au/ozhols.htm

travel52

Thank you ! That's why I use this forum. Lots of help.

JohnFitz

I am very late in coming to thisthread but as an Aussie I recommend March / April for the Eastern states ( it is the Fall )and the same time for up North but bear in mind it is the end of the monsoon/ wet season there .June in the North is lovely but in the red centre whilst warm during the day is freezing at night eg thermal underwear cold if outside .

caligirl56

We're planning a trip for 2008 for 4-5 weeks at the end of September and into October. I have been reading this forum a lot, and I thought I had come up with the perfect time (not too hot in the red center yet, not too windy in Sydney, no stingers yet in queensland--and no chance of monsoons. And my impression was (but maybe this is wrong) that it would be a little less rainy in most places during those months. The real negative that I know of is that the falls will be dry in Kakadu.

Now, after reading this thread, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to switch to April or May? Any opinions?

DownUnder

Australia is a vast country with various climates. At the moment it is hard to know when to expect rain with average rainfalls down in most parts. September and October are great months, but in the south March and April are usually sensational.

murphey

We went to Australia in November and were happy with the weather, except for Ayers Rock, where the temperature was 46 above. Bear in mind I am Canadian so have arctic blood. We also camped so no air conditioning. In any event, I found it was too hot for me to do anything, and I had heat stroke both times I tried to do a hike, so never made it around the rock.

Jed

I read that Fodors recommends the late spring (Oct, Nov) and early fall(Mar, Apr) for Sydney, and May through Sept for Alice Springs.

Frommers general recommendation is Sept and Oct.

RosieR

We use RCI all the time, we live in Australia and have travelled OS heaps. The only thing is I think you should book early for your timeshares, because of school holidays they fill up quite quickly.
Happy holidays

Calkin

Definitely November, but Ayres Rock during the daytime will be hot, no matter what the time of year is. What do they say - come to Ayres Rock - 10 million flies can't be wrong!
If you are into gardens, November is a beautiful time of the year in the temperate areas (Southern NSW, Victoria and Tamania) - especially for roses and rhoddendrums.
I second the www.wotif.com recommendation for your accommodation needs. I use it all the time. Highly respected and an easy site to navigate around.
Enjoy yourselves...

themurrays

have just returned from a 9500 klm outback camping trip [August/Sept] and I can assure you that Sept is becomming too hot and the flies are just returning from where ever they go in winter. The same applies for March. There is only one ideal time to be in the outback and that is late may/june/july. having said that it's a fantastic experience, and will be made even better by the recent rains they have had in the centre. If at Uluru go do the Valley of the Winds walk at the Olgas, a fantastic experience.

luvtravl

We've considered an August trip due to work schedules to visit Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock. Our other option if we take the trip this year is December - that would probably be very expensive. ?????