Best winter experiences in Australia
This country is magical mid-year.
It’s a time of wondrous experiences coupled with enthralling events.
We’re showcasing just some of the seasonal entertainment that is on offer right across the land.
Dig up your winter layers and get out and about to discover the best winter experiences across the country, worth battling the cold for.
Hands up who's keen on a Top End escape?! More below. Credit: Tourism NT/Helen Orr.
Essential winter experience in SA
Ghost Mushroom Lane, near Mt Gambier
If foraging for fungus piques your interest, don’t miss the chance to wander through a pine forest searching for glowing green mushrooms this winter. From May to June, Ghost Mushroom Lane near Mt Gambier leads curious visitors through marked trails to discover enchanting ghost mushroom breeding grounds. Thanks to the bioluminescent properties, these giant fungi glow green, illuminating the forest floor in the dark of the night!
Stay at: BIG4 Blue Lake.
Take a wander down Ghost Mushroom Lane. Credit: Thomas Cowey.
Must-attend winter event in SA
Illuminate Adelaide 2025
Where: Various locations.
When: 2 July - 20 July 2025
A colour show of a different kind brightens the state capital throughout July. Illuminate Adelaide threads light, art, and sound to create a feast for the senses. A stack of colourful projections and installations feature alongside musical entertainment and other sensory delights. The rich vibrancy reaches other SA locations at selected times, including Berri, Mt Gambier, and Victor Harbor.
Stay at: BIG4 Marion Holiday Park.
Or elsewhere: BIG4 Blue Lake, BIG4 Port Elliot or NRMA Victor Harbor.
Adelaide is bathed in colour in July. Credit: Illuminate Adelaide.
Essential winter experience in VIC
Hit the High Country!
Find your own piece of snowy paradise in Victoria’s High Country with winter activities to suit every traveller.
To embrace the snow slopes this year, adventurers can head into the high country to tap into adrenalin-inducing skiing and snowboarding at Victoria’s favourite Mt Buller, Dinner Plain, Mt Hotham, and Falls Creek. On the doorstep of six BIG4 parks, the High Country reveals a winter playground to test out tobogganing or snowshoeing on Mt Buffalo, a dogsled tour at Mt Baw Baw, or adaptive skiing and riding at Falls Creek for snow-seekers of every ability.
A classic Victorian winter experience. Location: Falls Creek.
Must-attend winter event in VIC
East Gippsland Winter Festival
Where: Various locations across East Gippsland
When: 20 June - 20 July 2025
Winter well with an escape to this year’s East Gippsland Winter Festival, bringing together a packed-to-the-brim program of family-friendly events, including lantern parades, market stalls, creative workshops, wellness experiences, live music, local produce, and so much more. This year’s event showcases the bounty of Victoria’s Gippsland region, with exciting events stretching from Mallacoota and Gippsland Lakes to the High Country.
Stay at: BIG4 Whiters Holiday Village, Waters Edge Holiday Park, NRMA Eastern Beach Holiday Park, NRMA Bairnsdale Riverside Holiday Park or Paynesville Holiday Park.
Chuck on your blue suede shoes and get to Bendigo. Credit: Leon Schoots.
Essential winter experience in TAS
Tasmanian Whisky Week
Get crafty this winter with a whisky-tasting trail in Tasmania's wilderness. To begin this perfectly paired pursuit, hit the Apple Isle, where you'll discover 50 distilleries scattered in every direction. For the serious enthusiast, time your visit to coincide with Tasmanian Whisky Week (4 - 10 August 2025), where award-winning distillers gather to showcase the state's finest drams, including Waubs Harbour single malt whiskey, distilled in an old salt-battered oyster hatchery on Tasmania's east coast.
Stay at: BIG4 parks in TAS.
Wonderful whisky. Pictured: Lark. Credit: Sam Shelley.
Must-attend winter event in TAS
Dark Mofo
Where: Various locations, Hobart.
When: 5 - 21 June 2025.
Inspired by ancient winter solstice rituals, Dark Mofo has emerged as a crowd favourite since it first kicked off in 2013. Hobart comes alive with the likes of large-scale art installations, musical performances, and other entertainment alongside signature showings such as the waterfront Winter Feast and the Nude Solstice Swim.
Stay at: BIG4 Hobart Airport.
The Winter Feast is among the highlights of Dark Mofo. Credit: Adam Gibson.
Essential winter experience in NSW
Go whale watching
This is the season of humpback-whale migration. The oceanic giants depart Antarctica and head to warmer waters northwards, and the NSW coastline is littered with prime viewing locations as whales make the annual trek up and back. Alongside a raft of viewing hotspots are a boat-load of cruise options where intimate encounters dial the wow-factor up to the max.
Stay at: BIG4 parks in NSW.
Seeing whales up close is an invigorating experience. Location: Jervis Bay. Credit: Jordan Robins.
Must-attend winter event in NSW
Vivid Sydney
Where: 23 May - 14 June 2025.
When: Various locations across Sydney.
Vivid Sydney is back for the 14th consecutive year, with 22 days and nights of after-dark kaleidoscopic fun. Take to the water or the streets to see the city transform into a creative wonderland with bewildering bright lights and creative installations splashed across Sydney’s harbour-front icons and the night sky.
Stay at: BIG4 Sydney Lakeside Holiday Park, Ingenia Holidays Avina, Ingenia Holidays Nepean River & Ingenia Holidays Sydney Hills.
Sydney truly sparkles during Vivid. Credit: Destination NSW.
Essential winter experience in NT
Embrace the dry season
Winter is prime time to explore the Top End, as it falls in the heart of the dry season (May-October). Expect warm, sunny days and pleasant nights while high humidity is reliably denied entry to the party. Whether chilling in Darwin or Katherine or uncovering the territory’s famed national parks, a visit to the Top End in winter is rich with rewards.
Stay at: BIG4 Hidden Valley and BIG4 Howard Springs in Darwin or BIG4 Breeze – Katherine.
From where you'd like to be. Location: Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin. Credit: Tourism NT.
Must-attend winter event in NT
Darwin Fringe Festival
Where: Various locations.
When: 11 - 20 July 2025.
The festival is action-packed: 10 days, 20-plus venues, 100 or so events, and nearly 200 performances. Local artists steal the spotlight, delivering bucketloads of entertainment in the fields of theatre, cabaret, dance, comedy, and plenty else. Exhibitions, workshops, studio tours, and more add to the creative feel that flows furiously through the NT capital each July.
Stay at: BIG4 Hidden Valley or BIG4 Howard Springs.
Darwin Fringe Festival is bursting with entertainment. Credit: Paz Tassone.
Essential winter experience in QLD
Catch the sun
As with the NT, winter welcomes the start of a typically drier period in QLD. Temperatures are reliably warmer the further north you go (special comments: Captain Obvious), so while southerners will be happy to just cross the border, those in the bottom reaches of QLD will likely eye a higher climb to find a few extra degrees. Whatever the case, generally, it’s a wonderful time to be in this part of the world and explore a bounty of treasure.
Stay at: BIG4 parks in QLD.
Queensland in winter? That's a yes from us. Pictured: Magnetic Island. Credit: Melissa Findley.
Must-attend winter event in QLD
Mary Poppins Festival – Day in the Park
Where: Queens Park & Portside Heritage Precinct, Maryborough.
When: 28 September 2025
Mary Poppins’ author, PL Travers, was born in Maryborough, so the city celebrates its link to the famous fictional character by hosting this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious annual event. It’s entertainment aplenty with races, challenges, parades, and other fun-filled activities where creativity shines. Maryborough is near Hervey Bay, a whale-watcher’s mecca in winter, which increases the appeal of a Fraser Coast getaway at this time.
Stay at: BIG4 Hervey Bay, Tasman Holiday Parks - Hervey Bay, Tasman - Fraser Coast, Tasman - Torquay Palms or Ingenia Hervey Bay.
Pop in to Maryborough for cart-loads of fun. Image courtesy: Mary Poppins Festival.
Essential winter experience in WA
Join a truffle hunt, Manjimup
This is not your average experience, which only serves to make it even more compelling. June marks the start of truffle season and the fertile soils and cool climate of this small South West WA town are perfect for growing the delicacy. A host of interesting insights are revealed during these outings, which run until late August and include tastings.
Stay at: BIG4 Bridgetown or RAC Karri Valley Resort.
It's hunting season of a different kind in Manjimup. Credit: Frances Andrijich.
Must-attend winter event in WA
Cabin Fever
Where: Various locations, Margaret River and Busselton.
When: 18 - 27 July 2025.
Fun, feasts, and fires all feature via a series of vibrant and diverse events that highlight the region’s many delights. There’s a clear emphasis on Margaret River’s delicious produce, wine, and craft beer along with a generous side of musical entertainment and more.
Stay at: BIG4 Breeze – Busselton, BIG4 Dunsborough Southern Stars Holiday Park, RAC Busselton, Mandalay Holiday Resort or Busselton Villas & Glamping Village.
Excitement reaches fever pitch when this event hits. Credit: Isolated Photography.
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