Australia family holidays

A campervan trip is the ideal family holiday in Australia, because it’s the easiest way to explore this vast country. Having one base – albeit a moving one – means there’s only one lot of unpacking to be done, you can pick and choose your own itinerary, and you’ll have total flexibility. Plus, you can even save money by cooking for yourself – often with an incredible backdrop at one of Australia’s scenic camp sites.

With a multitude of vehicles available, including campervans sleeping up to six people, and with depots in all major cities, you’ve got plenty of choice. You just need to decide where you want to start and finish, and how long you want your rental to be. Australia has a wide range of campsites, from simple spots with no facilities, to all-singing all-dancing sites with swimming pools, children’s entertainment and on-site restaurants. Plus, if you opt for a campervan with a full bathroom, you can stay at almost any campground, safe in the knowledge that you’ll have a comfortable night’s rest. Find out more about campervan holidays in Australia.

With world-class beaches, ancient rainforest, delicious dining and plenty of thrills to boot, the Gold Coast has to be up there with one of the best family holiday destinations in Oz. But it’s the theme parks which really set this place apart. Home to Dreamworld, Whitewater World, Wet ‘n’ Wild, Sea World and Warner Bros Movie World, the Gold Coast can keep families entertained for days. Kids can meet their favourite movie characters, ride rollercoasters, zoom along waterslides, and meet native Australian wildlife.

The Gold Coast also has an array of family-friendly resorts and apartments. Mantra Crown Towers is a great option. Just 100 metres from Surfers Paradise Beach, it has one, two and three bedroom self-catered apartments. There’s also a dedicated kids’ pool and play area, plus a pirate ship and waterslide. There’s a Thai restaurant as well as outdoor barbecue facilities, so you can enjoy a ‘shrimps on the barbie’ moment on your family holiday to Australia. If you fancy some downtime, why not make the most of the child-minding services and enjoy a relaxing hour or two in the spa?

Nowhere puts the ‘great’ in the great outdoors quite like Australia. If your children are excited by the ocean and the natural world, there are so many exciting activities available.

If you’re in Sydney, Lets Go Surfing provides lessons on the famous Bondi Beach for children aged seven and above. You can even opt for a family lesson with a private instructor, who will customise the surf lesson around you – you’ll be standing up on a board in no time. Meanwhile, in the Blue Mountains, don’t miss Scenic World. Kids will love riding on the steepest passenger railway in the world and the scenic cable car with a glass floor offering thrilling views of the valley below.

Of course, no family trip to Australia would be complete without meeting some of the local wildlife. In Port Douglas, Wildlife Habitat is an award-winning and eco-certified wildlife sanctuary where you can interact with Australian animals in their recreated natural environments. You can hand-feed wallabies and kangaroos, catch a glimpse of the ostrich-like cassowary, and even have your photo taken with a koala. The kids will love it.

Thanks to its vast size, Australia always has warm temperatures and blue skies somewhere – so there’s never a bad time to go. The seasons Down Under are the opposite of those in the UK, so the Christmas break here falls in the height of Australia’s summer, while Britain’s school summer holidays occur during Oz’s winter. If you’re travelling with small children, you might prefer to avoid the summer heat – in which case spring and autumn are ideal times to travel.  

The weather patterns vary across each state. Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania tend to have four distinct seasons – just at the opposite time of the year to ours – making it easier to decide when you want to travel. Queensland, on the other hand, is more tropical. There’s a distinct wet and dry season here, with June to October typically being the drier months. The Red Centre, Northern Territory and Western Australia can experience blistering summer temperatures, so it’s best to save these destinations for the shoulder seasons, or visit during the Australian winter.