The top ski resorts in Australia

Craig TansleyBy Craig Tansley
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Little known fact: Australia has more mountains covered in snow than Switzerland and our biggest ski resort is over twice the size of New Zealand’s largest. And nowhere else can you ski between gum trees and among kangaroos. So, what more motivation do you need to strap on some skis and hit our home-grown slopes?

With some incredible snowfields across New South Wales and Victoria, it’s time to gather the gear and head to the slopes. Take your pick out of these ski resorts in Australia and get planning.

1. Thredbo

Why Thredbo?

Thredbo looks more like a European-style ski village than a purpose-designed ski resort; homesick Austrians designed it (in the ’60s) to look like the Tyrol region they left behind. Most bars and restaurants offer stunning views over the slopes, all accommodation is a short walk to the lifts (some hotels are ski-in/ski-out) and the skiing is some of Australia’s best.

Who it suits

There’s more to do off-piste at Thredbo than at any other ski resort in Australia, so most will love this place. Thredbo Village has a large variety of cafes, restaurants and retail stores, as well as an art walk featuring more than 30 sculptures and paintings.

Thredbo in NSW
Thredbo is the place to be this winter. (Image: Destination NSW)

Skiing kudos

Thredbo has the highest vertical drop of any Australian resort, and its longest run (the Supertrail). But it also suits total beginners; Friday Flat is one of Australia’s best beginner areas.

Apres and off-piste action

Ski down to the Alpine Bar at Thredbo Alpine Hotel for a taste of Chamonix-style après, with DJs playing from 2 pm to 6 pm as skiers hit the heated pool. Or try Australia’s best alpine cocktails at the Après Bar of the Denman Hotel; its restaurant, The Terrace, is regarded as one of the best restaurants in NSW’s southern region. For families, there’s also a flare run and fireworks display every Saturday night.

Stay at

You’ll find some of Australia’s most luxurious on-snow accommodation in Thredbo, like Ski In Ski Out , Thredbo’s only five-star ski-in, ski-out accommodation, or River Inn , where you can ski right to the chairlift.

Cedar Cabin The Eastern Thredbo
Spend a dreamy winter afternoon sequestered at Thredbo Village’s Cedar Cabin (Credit: Monique Eastern)

Secret gem

Take a snowcat to the Kareela Hutte restaurant on top of the mountain for a five-course meal with matching local wines.

2. Falls Creek

Why Falls Creek?

Falls Creek is the quintessential Aussie snow village, one of the world’s more unique. It is pedestrian-only, so you can walk or ski around the village right up to ski runs, après bars and restaurants.

Drone shot of Falls Creek at sunrise
All the Falls Creek accommodation, dining, day spas and on-piste activities are ski-in/ski-out. (Image: Jezzalanko Creative)

Who it suits

With its small, safe village atmosphere and a high number of beginner runs, Falls Creek was traditionally marketed as Australia’s ultimate family ski resort. But in recent years the development of luxury hotels, bars and restaurants has seen it take aim at the couples market.

Skiing kudos

Victoria’s largest ski resort is also one of the best spots in Australia for cross-country skiing, with 70 kilometres of trails.

Apres and off-piste action

Where Falls Creek’s dining and bar options were once more down-homey, now they’re downright sexy. For drinks, try Apartment 3 or Astra Bar & Restaurant, with culinary treats from award-winning French chef Janis Mallet. QT Falls Creek’s Stingray bar has its characteristic retro style, while its Bazaar restaurant brings some chic to town, with guests encouraged to ‘dress to impress’.

Stay at

Astra Falls Creek designed its rooms with a European flavour, but it’s the day spa that really impresses. QT Falls Creek is also a super-stylish option.

Astra Falls Creek at night
Stay at Astra Falls Creek to be really impressed. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Secret gem

The ’60s-era Feathertop Alpine Lodge offers the best happy hour at Falls Creek; enjoy Coffin Bay oysters with a glass of Veuve and stunning alpine views.

3. Mt Hotham

Why Mt Hotham?

Mt Hotham is an Australian resort with terrain as challenging as the US or Europe.

Skiers heading down slopes at Mount Hotham in Victoria
Mount Hotham promises visitors incredible panoramic views.

Who it suits

Experts, granted (this is the mountain to come to on a powder day), but there’s a lot at Mt Hotham to suit even the rawest novice. You can also try snow-shoeing or take a sunset tour by Snowcat.

Skiing kudos

Mt Hotham is a magnet for advanced skiers because of its side and backcountry options. There’s a designated Extreme Zone just beyond the lifts, where a free snowcat vehicle will take you to an area featuring gullies, steep cliffs and tree skiing. As for beginners, they get to learn at the top of the mountain (every other ski area uses the bottom of the slopes).

Aerial shot of Craig Parry Village in Mt Hotham
Mt Hotham is a magnet for advanced skiers because of its side and backcountry options. (Image: Victoria High Country)

Apres and off-piste action

Dinner Plain is Mt Hotham’s own specially built alpine village 15 minutes from the slopes. Here you’ll find Stonesthrow Restaurant at Hotel High Plains, with its open fire and windows looking out across the snow; visit after soaking at the Japanese-inspired Onsen Retreat + Spa a few doors up. There’s also fine dining looking across the slopes at Jack Frost Restaurant.

Dinner Plain accommodation in Mt Hotham
Dinner Plain is Mt Hotham’s own specially built alpine village 15 minutes from the slopes. (Image: Julian Kingma)

Stay at

Sleep in a four-storey chalet at Nolyski , with its own sauna, then ski down to fresh snow.

Secret gem

Head to Alpine Nature Experience , Australia’s only igloo village, to camp amid snow gums in a snow dome.

snow dome at alpine nature experiences in mt hotham
Head to Alpine Nature Experience to camp amid snow gums in a snow dome. (Image: Kate Hanton)

4. Mt Buller

Why Mt Buller?

You can be on a chairlift in three hours from Melbourne’s CBD.

Who it suits

Everyone. Some 65 per cent of Mt Buller is designated as a beginner or intermediate terrain, while the remaining 35 per cent includes some of the most challenging terrain in Australasia. With its wide range of activities and après-ski options, it’s also ideal for those who don’t want to ski all day.

Kids skiing in Mt Buller
65 per cent of Mt Buller is designated as a beginner or intermediate terrain. (Image: Andrew Railton)

Skiing kudos

Beginner area Bourke Street runs alongside some of Mt Buller’s best cafes, restaurants and bars, offering a non-stop action reel of spills and thrills. Experts meanwhile have an endless range of tree runs just beyond the groomed slopes.

Apres and off-piste action

Aside from Thredbo, no ski resort in Australia offers the night-time attractions of Mt Buller, with bars and restaurants for every kind of skier: from ski-in, ski-out après bars like the Arlberg Bar, to the best Austrian drinking establishment outside of Europe, Kaptans Restaurant and Herbies Bar, where you can enjoy schnapps and schnitzels beside a log fire. There are plenty of off-piste activities on hand too, from sled dog and snow-shoeing tours to sculpture park walks.

Slopes at Mt Buller
Mt Buller has great night-time attractions. (Image: Andrew Railton)

Stay at

Ski straight to the chairlift from the luxurious Breathtaker Hotel and Spa , which is also home to an award-winning day spa. Chalet 5 is one of Australia’s newest luxury ski-in, ski-out options, part of the new Whitehorse Village.

Secret gem

Mt Buller’s best coffee can be found on a sundeck at Koflers Hutte, right up on the mountain.

Mt Buller sunset
There are plenty of off-piste activities at Mt Buller as well. (Image: Andrew Railton)

5. Perisher

Why Perisher?

Perisher is Australia’s answer to the super-resorts of North America and Europe, an amalgamation of four ski villages that covers 1245 hectares and is serviced by Australia’s only underground alpine railway. This means you can easily stay in the nearby ski town Jindabyne for a bigger choice of restaurants, bars and activities.

Who it suits

Eighty per cent of the mountain at Perisher is designed for beginners and intermediates making it the ideal place for a family ski holiday. It’s not as steep as any of the other major resorts, but you’ll find the southern hemisphere’s best terrain park for experts.

Chair lift at Blue Cow Perisher in New South Wales
Perisher is the largest ski resort in the entire Southern Hemisphere. (Image: Destination NSW)

Skiing kudos

You can ski an entire weekend without doing the same run twice, across four distinct ski areas: Guthega, Blue Cow, Perisher Valley and Smiggin Holes.

Apres and off-piste action

Perisher doesn’t have the same village amenities as its neighbour Thredbo, but what’s here is intimate and cosy. Chill in front of a fire at Marritz Hotel’s Rams Head Bar or Marritz Restaurant or meet locals at the Pub Bar in The Man From Snowy River Hotel. If staying in Jindabyne, stop along the way for a locally distilled schnapps at Wildbrumby Distillery or a craft beer with tapas at Jindabyne Brewing. Brumby Bar & Grill offers the best dinner option in town.

Stay at

Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa offers two on-site restaurants and a day spa, or stay beside the lifts at Barrakee Ski Lodge .

Secret gem

You’ll find 100 kilometres of cross-country skiing at nearby Alpine National Park; try snow-shoeing with Wilderness Sports.

Craig Tansley
Craig Tansley has been a travel writer for over 20 years, winning numerous awards along the way. A long-time sucker for adventure, he loves to write about the experiences to be had on islands, on the sea, in forests or deserts; or anywhere in nature across Australia, and the world.
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Taking the route less travelled along the Great Ocean Road

    Megan ArkinstallBy Megan Arkinstall
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    The Great Ocean Road has captured the hearts of Australians with its astounding scenery since 1932, but going off-course can enrich your experience with untouched nature, foodie delights and charming towns. 

    It’s a chilly 16 degrees. My husband pulls on a steamer and jogs – as all seasoned surfers do – into the water. We’re at Bells Beach , the legendary break on Victoria’s Surf Coast that’s home to the Rip Curl Pro, the world’s longest-running event in competitive surfing. Each year, over the Easter long weekend, up to 40,000 people descend on the region for the event. Today, though, we have the beach almost to ourselves, and the less-than-favourable temperature doesn’t deter my husband from surfing this famous break.  

    Bells Beach
    Bells Beach is known for its epic surf break and is at the start of the Great Ocean Road. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Torquay to Anglesea and Aireys Inlet 

    Split Point Lighthouse
    The red dome of Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    The nearby surf town of Torquay marks the starting point for the Great Ocean Road . Unfolding our map, which we have marked out with a highlighted route for our children to follow, we set off for lesser-known Anglesea, a chilled-out town 20 minutes south of here. Its wide, sandy beach is a gentler swimming option for our young family. Groms can learn to surf here with Go Ride a Wave, which also runs stand-up paddle boarding on the Anglesea River.  

    Split point lookout
    The lighthouse overlooks the Shipwreck Coast. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    After a couple of nights in Anglesea, we hit the road again, first stopping at Aireys Inlet. Here we stretch our legs at Split Point Lighthouse, which was made famous by the 1990s television series Round the Twist, before driving under the Memorial Arch that welcomes us, officially, to the Great Ocean Road.  

    This 243-kilometre coastal road was built by returned First World War servicemen and serves as a permanent memorial to those who fought and died during the war. Carved into rock using hand tools and horse-drawn carts, it was a huge engineering feat and provided much-needed access to isolated coastal communities. 

    Lorne to Birregurra 

    Lorne is a delightful beachside stop for lunch and browsing boutique stores. It’s also the gateway to Great Otway National Park , which comprises a varied landscape of old-growth forests, cool-temperate rainforests, heathy woodlands and rugged coast. With the highest rainfall in Victoria, the region is home to many waterfalls – 10 of which are within 10 kilometres of Lorne.  

    Turning slightly off the main drag, we wind along a gum-shaded road to Erskine Falls. Here, our son leads the way through the hyper-green rainforest and down 200-plus stairs to the cascade that drops 30 metres into a lush fern gully. We hop over large boulders to get closer to the falls, enjoying the entire place to ourselves; it’s worth the return climb.  

    From Sheoak Falls Picnic Area, there are walking trails to Henderson Falls, Phantom Falls, Won Wondah Falls and Kalimna Falls, some of which follow an old timber tramway from forest-logging days, which only came to an end in 2008.  

    Erskine Falls
    Erskine Falls is one of many falls within a day trip of Lorne. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    You can follow your appetite north to the town of Birregurra, which is part of the Otway Harvest Trail that connects farm gates, markets, wineries, breweries and distilleries. It’s home to three-hatted modern Australian restaurant Brae , helmed by celebrated chef Dan Hunter, set among native gardens and an organic farm, and Otways Distillery, which produces small-batch spirits using local produce and botanicals.  

    Brae restaurant
    Brae is a three-hatted restaurant in Birregurra. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Apollo Bay to The Otways 

    Back on track, the cliff-hugging stretch between Lorne and Apollo Bay is breathtaking. At Teddys Lookout, we overlook the winding road ahead and St George River spilling into the ocean. We spend languid days in Apollo Bay, a buzzy seaside town that boasts a three-kilometre-long, crescent-shaped beach with a backdrop of rolling green hills. One evening, as the sun sets, we take the steep 10-minute walk to Marriners Lookout, which affords panoramic views of the ocean, hinterland and town.  

    A 15-minute drive along the road, Maits Rest is a lush rainforest gully that has been protected since the early 20th century. Wandering along the 800-metre boardwalk, we inspect the delicate moss-covered forest floor and the gnarled roots of 300-year-old myrtle beech trees, then crane our necks to see their canopies, some 50 metres above us. It’s therapy in nature.  

    Cape Otway to the Twelve Apostles 

    Twelve Apostles
    One of the famous Twelve Apostles, limestone sea stacks that rise from the Southern Ocean. (Image: Ben Savage)

    The southernmost tip of Cape Otway is a delightful detour, home to the 1848-built Cape Otway Lightstation, the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia. We climb the narrow winding staircase to the gallery deck, explore the keepers’ quarters and telegraph station, and enjoy a coffee and some ‘famous’ scones at the charming onsite cafe.    

    It’s a pinch-me moment to finally see the Twelve Apostles in person. This unmistakable cluster of limestone stacks rising abruptly from the sea were never 12, however. When coined this in the 1890s as a marketing ploy, there were only nine; today, only seven remain after two collapsed in 2005 and 2009. We admire these Aussie icons from the viewing platform, in awe of Mother Nature’s ever-evolving artwork.  

    The Grotto
    The Grotto is another natural attraction within Port Campbell National Park. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

    Edging the wild Southern Ocean, this part of the coast – dubbed Shipwreck Coast – is made up of many sea-carved natural wonders including London Bridge, The Grotto and Gibson Steps. After exploring the lookout trails of Loch Ard Gorge/Poombeeyt Kontapool – its English name taken from the site of the 1878 shipwreck – we nestle into the sandy beach encircled by towering sandstone cliffs, as our children splash about on the water’s edge, and soak it all in.  

    Port Campbell to Timboon 

    Timboon Fine Ice Cream
    Timboon Fine Ice Cream is part of a regional foodie trail. (Image: C McConville)

    Just north of Port Campbell National Park, the region of Timboon is part of the 12 Apostles Food Artisans Trail, filled with purveyors of delicious foodstuffs such as Timboon Fine Ice Cream , Timboon Railway Shed Distillery and Apostle Whey Cheese. As an antidote to the indulgence, the 20-kilometre Poorpa Yanyeen Meerreeng Trail is a self-guided ride or walk between Port Campbell and Timboon through tall forests, over historic bridges and past sparkling lakes and farmland with grazing cattle.  

    Warrnambool to Port Fairy 

    Warrnambool building
    A 19th-century building in Warrnambool. (Image: Peter Foster)

    In Warrnambool, a town rich in maritime history, we take the four-kilometre Thunder Point Walk that traces the coast. The kids squeal when an echidna shuffles out from beneath the wooden boardwalk, and we stop to admire a seal lazing on a rock at the port.  

    Further along, the streets of quaint fishing village Port Fairy are lined with 19th-century cottages, old stone churches and Norfolk pines. Follow the historic walking trail to see some of the 60-plus National Trust buildings. Port Fairy is also home to Port Fairy Folk Festival (6-9 March), one of the country’s longest-running music and cultural festivals. You could time your road trip with the event for a fittingly celebratory end to any journey.  

    The Great Ocean Road can easily be done in three days, but we’ve spent a week on the road. The highlighted line on our now creased and well-worn map doesn’t follow the famous route precisely. It has sprouted branches in many directions, leading us to untouched rainforest and charming rural towns filled with culinary delights, and where we experienced some of our most memorable moments on the Great Ocean Road.    

    A traveller’s checklist 

    Staying there

    Oak & Anchor
    The Oak & Anchor in Port Fairy.

    The Monty is a highly anticipated, newly refurbished motel with a chic Palm Springs-inspired aesthetic set across the road from the Anglesea River. Basalt Winery in Port Fairy grows cool-climate wines such as pinot noir and Riesling in rich volcanic soil. Stay among the vines in its tiny home, complete with a kitchen, lounge area and outdoor firepit. 

    The Oak & Anchor Hotel has been a Port Fairy institution since 1857. Cosy up by the bar in winter or bask in the sunshine of the Lawn Bar in summer. The rooms are beautifully boutique with considered details, such as luxe baths for sinking into post-road trip. 

    Eating there

    The Coast in Anglesea is a modern Australian restaurant focused on local ingredients. Grand Pacific Hotel has been a local landmark in Lorne since 1879 and recently underwent a restoration. It serves a mix of traditional pub and Italian fare alongside ocean views.  

    Graze is a cosy 40-seat dining room in Apollo Bay with a modern Australian menu complemented by regional wines. Apollo Bay Distillery offers tasting flights, a gin blending masterclass and serves woodfired pizzas.