Car Hire Darwin

Tropical Darwin is known as one of Australian’s most cosmopolitan cities, with strong Asian influences in its food markets and restaurants, and vibrant Aboriginal heritage and culture. Darwin is surrounded by stunning nature, including the Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks, some of the Country’s remotest beaches, and the fascinating Tiwi Islands.

Whether you love city life, laidback coastal lifestyle, or wild and unspoiled nature, you’ll find it all in Darwin. As many of the area’s attractions are quite spread out, you’ll find it best to get around by car. Budget Australia operates two rental locations in Darwin – one in the centre of town at the corner of Smith Street and Mclachlan Street, and a second office at Darwin Airport.

Family Accommodation in Darwin

If you’re planning a family trip to Darwin, you’ll be looking for accommodation that can cater for large groups, and has activities for kids on-site or close by. Luckily, there are plenty of choices that fit the bill in the city and surrounding area.

Ramada Suites Zen Quarter offers spacious apartments with city or water views close to the CBD. There’s an outdoor pool, children’s playground, and on-site café with harbour views. Or, as the family apartments have full kitchen facilities, you can opt for self-catering.

Mantra on the Esplanade is another popular choice with families. As well as standard hotel rooms, there are one to three-room apartments, an outdoor pool and in-house restaurant.

For cheap and cheerful accommodation that’s also central, try Darwin YHA. It has a choice of private rooms and dorms, and larger families can book out a whole dorm. There’s a self-catering kitchen, a pool, and even a spa.

If you’d rather stay outside of the city, Discover Parks Darwin has a selection of cabins available that sleep up to six, as well as powered sites for campervans and caravans. There’s also a swimming pool and laundry facilities.

Things to Do in Darwin

Darwin’s tropical beaches are popular with locals and tourists alike, particularly Mindil Beach, which also features sunset markets offering food stalls, souvenirs, clothing, and crafts.

While you’re down by the beach, if you have kids, you must check out Wave Lagoon. This mechanical surf pool provides pool noodles, inflatable rings, and boogie boards, and there are always lifeguards on duty.

The George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens are shaded and pleasant to walk around, and there’s also a large playground that the kids will love. There’s also a café within the gardens, or you can use the electric barbecues and picnic tables.

While Darwin itself offers everything you’d expect from a city, it’s surrounded by nature, and the area is just begging to be explored. Berry Springs Nature Park is a family-friendly location 40-minutes drive out of town with natural swimming pools, barbecue areas, and nature trails.

There’s plenty of wildlife that also calls Darwin home, and the area is famous for its saltwater crocodile population in particular. Crocosaurus Cove offers a number of different opportunities to get up close and personal with crocodiles, and is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.

Darwin takes great pride in its cultural heritage, and the excellent Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is well worth a visit. Whether you’re most interested in Aboriginal art or natural history, there’s plenty to see here for all ages.

Darwin Weather

Darwin enjoys a tropical climate, and the temperature is hot all year round, averaging 30-34°C and rarely dropping below 20°C. The area has wet and dry seasons, rather than cool and warm. In the dry season, from May to September, there is very little rain and almost every day is sunny. In the wet season heavy rains and tropical monsoons are common. While it doesn’t rain every day, it tends to be cloudy rather than sunny, although still hot and humid.

Fuel Locations in Darwin

Darwin has plenty of service stations, so it’s easy and convenient to fill up your rental vehicle before you return it to one of our locations in Darwin. If you’re heading into town from the south there are several gas stations located along the Stuart Highway. If you’re dropping your car off at our Darwin central location, there’s a Puma Fuel right next door. For those heading to the airport, there’s a Puma Fuel station at the south end of Bagot Road.

Distances to Darwin Attractions

While Darwin is the largest city in the Northern Territory, it’s small compared to Australia’s other major cities. Most of the sights in the city centre are located in a compact area. Out of town however, some of the area’s attractions require quite a long drive to get there. To give you an idea, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular attractions in Darwin and their distance from our rental office on Smith Street in Darwin's CBD.

• Crocosaurus Cove 500m
• Mindil Beach 1.5km
• Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory 3.5km
• East Point Reserve 7km
• Crocodylus Park 14.5km
• Howard Springs Nature Park 30km
• Berry Springs Nature Park 50km

FAQs

What is Darwin, Australia known for?

Darwin is famous for being Australia’s northernmost capital city, and the only one with a tropical climate. It’s often described as Australia’s gateway to South East Asia, and it’s a mere 700km hop across the ocean to Indonesia (it’s over 3,000km away from Sydney).

What is the best time of year to go to Darwin?

Darwin’s weather is at its best in the dry season spanning from June to September when there’s little rain and the temperatures are cooler.

What is there to do in Darwin for free?

Darwin offers many attractions that are free to enter. The Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory is free, as is the Botanic Gardens. The rest of the city’s parks and beaches, of course, also cost nothing to explore.