Family Holidays: Australia family holidays

Take the Family holiday rating 4½ stars out of 5

Why

Crikey – or should that be strewth – where do we start! Australia is quite literally a whole magical world of its own. From bustling city to stunning beach to tropical rainforest (and that’s just Sydney). It might be quicker just to list the why-nots – it is a long flight (over 20-plus hours with at least one stop) but these days with seat-back TVs, kid channels, fun packs and on Gulf Air even sky nannies, airlines are trying to make the whole thing more painless. Plus you can turn the problem into an advantage by including a stopover in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore or even LA. Hey, two holidays for the price of one.

Australia is a fantastic holiday destination. More and more UK families are heading Down Under every year. Most go for a minimum of three weeks (jet lag, flight length etc) but even two or two-and-a-half weeks is long enough to get a taste of this wonderful country.

Above left: Aerial view of Manly Beach, Sydney
Above right: Sydney Opera House

When

Seasons in Australia are the opposite of those in the UK. Summer runs from November through to March while winter is from May to August.

There are huge variations throughout the country, however, mostly due its enormous size: New South Wales, the centre of Western Australia and Queensland have hot summers and mild winters but Victoria and Tasmania can experience chilly winters, combined with short days. Sydney averages temperatures of 8-16°C in July and 18 - 26°C in January, although it has reached 46°C at this time of year! April, May and June are the wettest months in Sydney.

The dry interior is hot year-round during the day but come nightfall it can become very cold. In the north, as the country enters the tropics, there are just two seasons - the dry from May to September and the wet from December to March.

How

Fortunately, for those of us keen to visit such distant shores, you will be able to pick up reasonably priced flights to Australia from many UK airports. Whether you would like to fly direct or break up the long journey by making the most of a stop over, (or two), you can find great deals with British Airways or Expedia Flights. It pays to be prepared, so why not Take a look at Take the Family's top 10 tips for flying with kids.

With ten main international airports, you'll be spoilt for choice for where to land, including, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Darwain, Cairns and Canberra. Direct flights from London take between 21 and 25 hours. Of course once there, a host of low cost airlines operate internally.

Stay

Accommodation cost can vary tremendously. In Sydney, mid range rooms, (sleeping up to 3), can cost from as little as £40 per room per night, with of course upper limits pretty much as high as you want to go. Whether you choose to stay in one place or visit a number of areas, the choice of accommodation options is huge, from all inclusive hotel resorts to budget motels, from houseboats to outback retreats, or from cottages to treehouses to taking control in a hired motor home.

Do

First thing is – it’s massive. Gi-blinking-normous, in fact. Flying from Perth to Sydney is like going from London to Cairo. Except you don’t get to see the pyramids. Plus with Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef in the north, Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the middle and treats scattered everywhere from top to bottom, you’ll need to arrange a few internal flights.

Stay in one place and explore it properly. Take your time. It’s so good you’ll want to go back.
Or try to see most of it – you’ll need at last three weeks and it’ll be hectic if you want to get a proper taste,
You can be relaxing by the pool one day. Walking through the tops of a rainforest the next. Then back on the beach for the afternoon.
Australia’s natural beauty is enough for most kids – the Great Barrier Reef or gazing at Uluru (Ayers Rock) are once-in-a-lifetime must-dos. While at Monkey Mia in Western Australia, kids can swim in shallow water with dolphins. Then there are man-made thrillers like Sportex – an interactive day out at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
Kids can learn to windsurf and waterski and / or visit Jervis Bay in New South Wales (3-hour drive from Sydney) with its pure white sand beaches to see wallabies, kangaroos and yet more dolphins.

Not far from Melbourne, the Puffing Billy train has thrilled kids for generations.

If you’re in Sydney make sure you visit the Blue Mountiains – just an hour west with the nearby Jenolan caves – a wonderful caving adventure for all the family.

The country’s favourite family holiday destination is the Gold Coast in the north which boasts a remarkable 300 days of sunshine a year, 70 kilometres of beaches and fantastic theme parks. 1 hour north of the Gold Coast is Brisbane, a vibrant and friendly city , jam-packed full of amazing parklands, such as South Bank Parklands, an outstanding recreational facility perfect for families, which encompasses, (the man-made), South Bank Beach , many rainforest walks, cafes and restaurants, markets and landscaped parklands or the world's largest subtropical gardens at the Roma Street Parklands.

For the crocodile hunters in your family, visit the amazing Australia Zoo in Beerwah, just 1 hour north of Brisbane, and 2 hours north of the Gold Coast. Setting the pace for world wide conservation, and opened in 1970, the Irwin family are actively involved in not only conservation, but groundbreaking research into protecting the world’s precious wildlife and its habitat. Become part of their Conservation through Exciting Education Misson. Click here to book tickets to Australia Zoo online.

And, you know what, we’ve hardly begun too scratch the surface.