What to do in Darwin with kids
Swim at LitchfieldWaterfalls and plunge pools you can swim in, a day out from Darwin.
Take them swimming at Litchfield. The day from Darwin is four swimming stops along one road: Florence Falls, the small pools of Buley Rockhole that you sit in one after another, and the wide plunge pool at Wangi Falls, the easiest to get into. On the way in are the magnetic termite mounds, metres tall, on a ten minute boardwalk. It is from $179 with accommodation transfers. Back in town, Mindil Beach markets run at sunset in the dry season. For a bigger adventure, a day in Arnhem Land is $239 a child, and two days in Kakadu with a scenic flight is $1,599 a child.
Checked on 28 October 2026.
Darwin is small, warm every month and relaxed, and the family days are in the water: not the sea, which belongs to the crocodiles and the box jellyfish, but the waterfalls and plunge pools inland, an easy day out of town.
Litchfield, the best family day
| Stop | What it is |
|---|---|
| Magnetic termite mounds | Metres tall, lined up north to south so they catch the least sun. A ten minute boardwalk |
| Florence Falls | A double waterfall into a deep pool, down a staircase through monsoon forest |
| Buley Rockhole | A chain of small pools you sit in, one after another |
| Wangi Falls | A wide plunge pool beneath twin cascades, the easiest to get into. Leave time here |
From the Litchfield day trip's own sheet. About a 450km round trip with Darwin accommodation transfers, a stop at Batchelor to buy lunch, and a small group of up to 20. Effort is rated 3 out of 5: staircases down to the pools, no long walks.
- Pack swimmers, towels and lunch from the Batchelor stop. There is nowhere to buy food in the park.
- The pools are reliably open in the dry, roughly May to October.In the wet the falls are at their biggest, and the park opens the pools once the rangers have checked them.
- There is the full day, stop by stop, on our Litchfield in one day page.
In Darwin itself
- Mindil Beach marketsat sunset in the dry season, in a city that treats the heat as normal.
- The waterfront, and a small city centre you can cover in a day.
- Swim at the falls, not the beach. The sea is for looking at in the Top End, so Litchfield is the day to book.
Trips with a child price
| Trip | Length | Adult | Child | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Day Arnhem Land & Mikinj Valley | 1 day | $305 | $239 | — |
| 1 Day Arnhem Land & Injalak Hill | 1 day | $345 | $239 | — |
| 2 Day Kakadu Retreat | 2 days, 1 night | $1899 | $1599 | — |
Effort is the operator's own rating from 1 to 5. Prices are per person and update on their own.
- Arnhem Land in a day$239 a child. Aboriginal land you can only enter on a permit, which the trip holds, with a picnic lunch, park fees and the Arnhem Land entry included. Minkinj Valley is rock art beneath a towering escarpment; Injalak Hill goes with a traditional Aboriginal guide, on unformed paths with no handrails. Both leave Darwin at 5:15am, so they suit early risers.
- Two days in Kakadu, the comfortable way$1,599 a child. A light aircraft flight over Kakadu on day 1, sunrise with the birdlife on the Adelaide River floodplains, a buffet breakfast at Cooinda and a night in a suite at Anbinik Resort in Jabiru. Six guests at most, and the easiest trip here at 2 out of 5 for effort.
Warm whichever month you go
Darwin averages 31 to 33°C by day in every month. June and July are the driest, with 1 to 2mm of rain each, and nights of 19 to 20°C; January brings 432mm, the storms, and the falls at full power. The dry, May to October, is when the swimming holes are reliably open. More on our best time to visit Darwin page.
1 Day Litchfield Tourfrom $1791 day1 day. Litchfield's waterfalls and poolsView trip
1 Day Arnhem Land & Mikinj Valleyfrom $3051 day1 day. Arnhem Land, children $239View trip
1 Day Arnhem Land & Injalak Hill from $3451 day1 day. Arnhem Land with an Aboriginal guide, children $239View trip
2 Day Kakadu Retreatfrom $18992 days, 1 nightResort Accommodation2 days. Kakadu with a scenic flight, children $1,599View tripPeople also ask
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Where this comes from. Adult and child prices, what each trip includes, start times, group sizes and effort ratings are each trip's own details as held on its page here, and prices update on their own. The Litchfield stops are as published on our Litchfield in one day page, and swimming closures follow the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission's published advice for Litchfield National Park. Temperatures and rainfall are Bureau of Meteorology long-term monthly averages for Darwin Airport, station 014015, from 84 years of records.