Where are the best places to road trip in winter?

Thinking of a winter road trip? Want to know the best destinations to add to your bucket list? Western Australia is the undisputed king of winter travel, according to the RVers who pay the most to visit.


July 9, 2025

It’s that time of the year again. The winter exodus has begun as hordes of road trippers desert the southern states on their annual pilgrimage north to warmer climes. But where are they going, and where are the best places to road trip in winter?

The figures are in, and Western Australia comes up trumps as the most popular destination by far for winter caravanners and campers. Six WA destinations make the winter top 10 list, including the top three spots, according to RV booking platform Camplify.

Camplify booking data for June, July and August shows more than a quarter of all travellers hiring a caravan or camper through the platform are travelling in WA this winter. And the three most popular destinations are Exmouth, Coral Bay and Kalbarri. Also making the top 10 are Monkey Mia (seventh place), Margaret River (ninth) and Esperance (tenth).

Esperance @katieraebode

It seems WA is so good, RVers are even prepared to visit the state’s cooler coastal areas down south in winter. Most of them are hiring a caravan (42 per cent), followed by a campervan (26 per cent) and they are travelling for an average of about nine days. That’s a hefty investment because, unlike RV owners, hirers pay a premium to lease someone else’s rig (about $75 to $100 a day for most caravans and upwards of $150 a day for a luxury campervan).  

Camplify is the Airbnb of RVs, with a database of more than 11,000 caravans, campervans, motorhomes and camper trailers available for rent through an Australia-wide network of owners. The winter data is based on 1700 bookings made for loans in June, July and August.

The top 10 winter RV destinations are…

1. Exmouth, WA

2. Coral Bay, WA

3. Kalbarri, WA

4. Mundi Mundi Bash, NSW

5. Sunshine Coast, QLD

6. Broken Hill, NSW

7. Monkey Mia, WA

8. Gympie Music Muster, QLD

9. Margaret River, WA

10. Esperance, WA

The southern states miss out

Surprisingly, there are no Northern Territory destinations in the top 10 and only two from Queensland – the Sunshine Coast and the Gympie Music Muster. Not surprisingly, the southernmost states – Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania – don’t rate a mention.

Camplify CEO Justin Hales said WA was having a moment this winter, with the state’s warm weather, diverse landscapes and smaller crowds enticing RV renters to hit the road.

“We’re seeing more people book self-contained vans, with 42 per cent of winter bookings in the west being caravans. This gives travellers the freedom to set up in one spot and explore nearby towns and parks at their own pace.”

So what’s so special about the three top WA winter destinations?

Exmouth

Let’s start with Exmouth and Coral Bay, the Ningaloo/Nyinggulu sisters at the gateway to the largest fringing coral reef on the planet. Exmouth, near the tip of North West Cape, is the main launch pad for whale shark swims, which peak from March to August. The former US naval base also has on its doorstep some of Australia’s most prized beaches, including Turquoise Bay, as well as the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef. From Exmouth, you can swim with the biggest fish in the sea – the whale shark – see scores of turtles resting on the beach during mating season (November to March), and explore the dramatic gorges of Cape Range National Park – Australia’s answer to the Grand Canyon.    

©️Ningaloo Blue Dive

Coral Bay

The tiny village of Coral Bay is about 150km south-west of Exmouth, fronting a sugar-white beach and the infinite expanse of the Indian Ocean. Here, you can snorkel straight from the beach and come face to face with turtles and reef sharks in record time. Coral Bay is a popular destination for whale sharks swims too, but it’s almost more famous for its manta rays. The bay is home to the second-largest population of mantas on Earth, thanks to a plentiful supply of nutrients flushing through the lagoon. Join a manta ray swim cruise year-round and you are almost guaranteed to see at least one manta. Coral Bay is also a top spot for sand 4WDing to remote beaches.

Coral Bay @haylsa

Kalbarri

That brings us to number three on the list – Kalbarri. This coastal jewel at the mouth of the Murchison River has its share of idyllic beaches. But it’s most lauded for its staggering sandstone gorges and towering coastal cliffs, which together make up Kalbarri National Park. Venture inland and you will find the rock formation peephole known as Nature’s Window, as well as the Kalbarri Skywalk, two cantilever viewing platforms suspended 100 metres above the Murchison River. On the coast, the limestone cliffs are just as dramatic, plunging 100 metres into the foaming Indian Ocean, and connected by a series of spectacular walking trails. The nearby Pink Lake of Hutt Lagoon is an Insta-famous side-trip.

©️Kalbarri Skywalk

WA knows they have it good

Tourism bosses in WA know the state isn’t exactly a hard sell. A Tourism WA spokesperson was none too enthusiastic trumpeting the state’s “boundless road trip adventures” and “one-of-a-kind experiences”.

“Western Australia enjoys a wide range of climates from tropical in the north to Mediterranean in the south, meaning you’ll always find summer somewhere – it’s no wonder why WA is a much-loved winter travel destination.

“With 12,500 kilometres of some of the world’s most pristine coastline, the adventure to the destination is just as important when road tripping in our Dream State.”

For those who can’t get to the ‘Dream State’ this winter, you can at least dream about it for next season.

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Catherine Best
Catherine Best

Catherine Best is an award-winning travel journalist, author and editor of RV Daily who believes the best holiday homes come on two (or four) wheels. She got a taste for the RV life as a child, travelling around Australia in a 1984 Millard triple-bunk caravan, towed by an F100. Catherine and her family have since shared lots of caravaning adventures together, many of which feature in her book, Ultimate Caravan Trips Australia. A former Caravan of the Year judge, Catherine also contributes travel stories and photographs to newspapers and magazines around Australia and abroad. When she's not at the keyboard, you can find Catherine scoping out a free camp, scuba diving or sitting around an outback campfire with a glass of red.

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