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How long do you need in Western Australia?

Q: How long do you need in Western Australia?

A week is the minimum if you want to leave Perth. A day gets you the Pinnacles, six days reaches Ningaloo Reef, ten days reaches Broome and the full run to Darwin is twenty-four days.

A week is the honest minimum if you want to leave Perth. A day gets you the Pinnacles. Six days reaches Ningaloo Reef, which is the thing worth coming for. Ten days reaches Broome, and the full run to Darwin is twenty-four. Western Australia is a third of the country and the distances are the trip.

Checked on 6 October 2026.

Western Australia covers a third of the continent and holds about a tenth of its people. That ratio is the whole planning problem: the things worth seeing are extraordinary and they are a very long way apart. Here's what each amount of time reaches.

How far each length gets you

If you have	You reach	Trip	From
A day	The Pinnacles Desert, sunset and stargazing	1 Day Pinnacles & Star Gazing Tour	$169
Four days	Monkey Mia and Shark Bay, and back to Perth	4 Day Perth to Monkey Mia	$1299
Six days	Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth: the swimming is the point	6 Day Perth to Exmouth	$1449
A week	Exmouth and back to Perth, no flight needed	7 Day Perth to Exmouth & Return	$1699
Ten days	All the way to Broome, across the Pilbara	10 Day Perth to Broome	$2905
Twenty-four days	Perth to Darwin: the whole west and the Kimberley	24 Day Perth to Darwin Tour	$5899

Prices are per person and update on their own.

What each one is really like

A day from Perth

The Pinnaclesthousands of limestone spires in the desert, two hours north.
Sandboarding at Lancelinon some versions, and stargazing on the way home.
Margaret Riveris the other direction and the gentler day — food, wine and coast.

Four to seven days — up the coast

Kalbarriat about 575km from Perth, river gorges and sea cliffs.
Monkey Mia and Shark Baywhere the dolphins come into the shallows.
Ningaloo Reef at Exmoutha fringing reef you swim to from the beach, which the Great Barrier Reef cannot offer.
Driving days run 450 to 600kmon the operators' own sheets. That's the nature of it, and the emptiness is half the appeal.

Ten days and beyond

Broomeand Cable Beach, after crossing the Pilbara — red earth, gorges and almost nobody.
Karijini National Parkon the Broome runs, which is as good as any gorge country in Australia.
The Kimberley and on to Darwinon the twenty-four day run, which is the biggest trip we sell anywhere.

If you only have a few days

Spend them around Perth rather than trying to go north. The Pinnacles and Margaret River are both a day each and both excellent, and you will not spend the whole time in a vehicle.