Travelling to Darwin was my alternative option to Alice Springs and Uluru, because unless you are made of money – you really can’t do it all (especially when you only have 4 weeks annual leave a year).
If we do decide to extend our VISA in Australia, I would definitely do this trip because it looks so good. A real mixture of outback experience, hiking, animals and just wonderfully weird sceneries.
HOWEVER, I was persuaded to do Uluru / Alice Springs and I’m glad we did. We don’t have anything like this in the UK so really I couldn’t say no.
So what is there to do in Darwin? SO MUCH. We love the outdoors and half of our trip would have been in the outback so bear that in mind. This trip also requires a camper van. As an alternative to hiring a camper van, it is possible to pay for a guided tour. This option is very expensive with long days and without the fun of camping.
As usual, you can find the spreadsheet itinerary at the bottom of this post. I’ve also added an approximate costing to this trip on the spreadsheet. We’ve guesstimated fuel and food costs based on our trip to Alice Springs and all the activity prices are correct at the time of writing (September 2022).
Day 1 – Fly into Darwin
The first day is always the most exciting. I love the airport experience (most of the time). So we fly into Darwin, which from Sydney is a 4hr 30 minute flight. Our plan was to pick up the campervan straight away and in the afternoon if there was time, do the Darwin WW2 Tour. Dom and I both studied history but it was mainly focused in Europe so we haven’t studied too much Australian history and were intrigued to learn a bit more.
Day 2 – Drive down to Litchfield National Park, Darwin
Time for the outback adventure part of the trip. There are so many swimming spots, which is one of my favourite activities (it helps that it’s free). Litchfield National Park is HUGE. You’ll be driving between different locations within the park and a lot of the places can only be accessed with four-wheel drive. Bear that in mind when you’re deciding which areas you want to visit.
The Northern Territory government website has a map that shows all the spots.
We were particularly interested in seeing the colossal Magnetic Termite Mounds, Cascades, and the Reynolds Track (unfortunately no Ryan Reynolds) that leads to Sandy Creek Falls. Multiple swimming spots with beautiful scenery.
Day 3 – Drive to Douglas Daly
Another couple of swimming spots for today. The first being Douglas Daly Hot Springs where you can bathe in the warm water. The advice given is that this is “generally” accessible to two-wheel drive vehicles but I suppose the weather may impact this.
If you’re doing this trip, I would recommend a four-wheel drive as a few stops require this.
After bathing in the Hot springs and having lunch, head ten minutes down the road to Butterfly Gorge for hiking and a much colder swimming location.
After the swimming stops, we’ll drive down to Katherine for the evening.
Day 4 – Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls
Southern Rockhole is a 8km round trip hike which we planned to do (depending on the season). You can swim in the water but you’ve got to hike there first. It is an up and down rocky route with no real path so you’ll have to have a reasonable level of fitness. Those with mobility issues may want to consider visiting another area of the park.
If we have time, I really wanted to head over to Edith Falls for a shorter walk (2.6km) and a dip in the water.
After warming up, we’ll drive the 3 hours and 40 minutes back to Darwin ready for the next day.
Day 5 – Air Boat, Crocodile Jumping Tour and a Rodeo in Darwin
Well, I’m not really sure you can visit Darwin without doing a crocodile jumping tour. These animals are humongous and you watch them jump out of the water (if that wasn’t obvious). The pictures look absolutely unreal and honestly terrifying but this is a must do.
We also saw that you could do an air boat tour along the river. It reminds me of the Everglades in Florida and to be honest just looks incredibly fun. Hopefully no crocs will jump on board though as there doesn’t seem to be much of a structure to the boat.
Depending on the time of year – the Noonamah Tavern Rodeo is also on in 2022 it was on in May and August. It’s only on a few times a year so best to check in advance if this is something you’re super keen on. We’ve never been to a rodeo and had wrongly assumed they were only an American event.
Day 6 – Return to Sydney
Return the campervan in the morning and head to the airport to fly back to Sydney.
As I said, if we renew our VISA in Australia, we will definitely visit Darwin. I’ve done a costing breakdown but please bear in mind that we haven’t done this trip yet so it is an approximate costing. All amounts are in Australian dollars.
Find the spreadsheet itinerary here:
Feelings inspired to see more of Australia? See my Queensland itinerary here.