Darwin in July
 

As part of our world trip we land in Darwin in July any information on where to stay (not too expensive!) and what trips to go on.
Thanks

How long will you be in Darwin ? You may wish to spend a night in Kakadu if you have the time. Day trips - Adelaide River jumping crocs, fish feeding in Darwin, Litchfield NP - Buley Rockholes, Wangi Wangi Falls., Berry Springs, Animal Park ( next to Berry Springs), Darwin Museum, Mindl Beach markets in Darwin, Darwin Cup (horserace) etc. Depending on how long you are staying there are some excellent serviced apartments available

We would strongly suggest you stay right in town....easy to walk around and you are close to all the restaurants. We think the hotel is called 'Darwin Central' ( top end of town, main entrance is in a lane )
about 2-3 years old and we paid about $125 aud per night
We had previously tried some cheaper hotels but found them too noise and we got hassled by some of the locals.

Wallos suggests that you should spend a night in Kakadu...I concur that you should go to Kakadu if you can, but stay more than one night! We were in the NT for about 10 days last August and we stayed 3 nights in Kakadu..loved it. Also went to Katherine and then drove back up to Darwin stopping at Litchfield. Darwin was great and I'd like to go back. We stayed at Palms City right on the Esplanade. It was nice. Had a kitchenette and a balcony with a double bed and a single bed for about AUD$160 as I recall. Excellent location, not noisy at all, easy walk. I wrote a review of this in another post. Do some searches with key words here in this forum and you will find a good bit of info on that part of Australia.

There are various opinions about Kakadu vs. Litchfield and where to go if you only have a limited time. Tell us how long you will be in the area. I was glad to have visited both parks. July will be in the dry in Kakadu so much of the place will be brown and this is when they do a lot of burning... it would be much different there in the spring or fall. In the wetter times you are more limited to where you can go due to road closures. It is a HUGE park.

I wouldn't have wanted to miss the place myself. I think it takes more than one day to get the feel of it. One day there and the next day back would have made me crazy and I think I would have missed some essential essence of Kakadu. Yellow Waters Dawn cruise was a highlight.

Thanks for the info! We are staying about 10 days in Darwin

Since you have 10 days for Darwin, I would suggest you divide your time equally between Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine. Wallos listed all the major attractions in and around Darwin. Depending on your interests (do you like swimming and hiking?), you could easily spend a full day at Litchfield NP and another full day at Territory Wildlife Park and Berry Springs Park (next to each other). For the Katherine area, I would recommend visiting Edith Falls N.P. and Katherine Gorge N.P. Swimming and hiking are the attractions at Edith Falls and hiking and boating (either a guided boat tour or rented canoes) are the attractions at Katherine Gorge. Also plan to go on the Crocodile Night Adventure in Katherine. You can also visit the Cutti Cutti cave nearby. Since this will be school holidays time, I would recommend making your tour reservations in advance.
We have stayed at the Cullen Bay Serviced Apartments in Darwin which we enjoyed. They are within walking distance of the shops and restaurants on Cullen Bay and the Mindil Beach Sunset Market, but not within walking distance of the Darwin CBD. We have also stayed at the Parap Village Serviced Apartments, but they are about a 10-minute drive from town. As for Katherine, we have always stayed at the St. Andrew Serviced Apartments which are just one-block from Main Street. We like these apartments very much.

thanks longhorn55 approx how much per week were the serviced appartments you stayed in?

when out in Kakadu if you're stying in Jabiru, you might consider a Lord's trip to Arnhemland for the day. Incredible rock painting

AndrewDavid

Lucky you!

You have time to take a good look at Kakadu, and maybe Arnhemland. Don't miss Litchfield. And something I have never done (budget constraints) is visit the Tiwi Islands.

I have to admit to being underwhelmed by Katherine Gorge after seeing Jim Jim and Twin Falls in Kakadu.

In Darwin, the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT is worth a visit - and you can walk from there to Mindil Beach Markets.

The rates for a one-bedroom apartment at Cullen Bay Holiday Apartments range from AU$192 to AU$260 per night depending on the view and time of year you are there. (July should be high season.)
The St. Andrew's Serviced Apartments in Katherine run AU$165.00 per night for a one-bedroom apartment.
See their websites for more info.

If you rent a car and drive the "circle" Darwin-Kakadu-Katherine-Litchfield-Darwin (or vice versa) you can do it all in 10 days.

We swam in the lower pool at Edith Falls on our way from Kakadu to Katherine. (The lower pool has COLD water!) I regret not spending more time there and hiking to the upper pools. I've heard the upper pools are very nice.

At Katherine Gorge I recommend taking the 4 hr. boat trip. We signed up for the 8 hr. day day of hiking and found that it was too strenuous for us and bailed out. You really must be fit and able to jump from rock to rock to do that trip. We were able to turn back and join the 4 hr. group which had a nice stop to swim on one of the beaches, oranges and fruitcake to eat, very pleasant. The 2 hr. trip would have been too short. 4 hrs. was just right.

I wish we'd had a bit longer at all the swimming places in Litchfield. We only had a day there. We liked Buley Rock Holes the best.

We also enjoyed Berry Berry...WARM water there! We got there early and had the place mostly to ourselves. Most people go to the Wildlife Park first, I think and then to Berry Berry afterward. By noon, Berry Berry was really filling up. We went to the Wildlife Park after a picnic lunch at Berry Berry...but it wasn't so great for us because it was very, very hot and all the animals were just laying around in a stupor. So it is a trade-off when you choose to do one or the other. The aquarium at the Wildlife Park is one of the best I've ever seen. It is pretty small but really excellent. Don't miss it.

Hi we were in Darwin last july. We went on a tour of Kakadu with Billycan tours. There were 4 of us with a guide and it was great

Thanks Weasel did you book the tour when you reached Darwin or before you left?