From luxury lodges and coastal resorts to outback adventures and cruise deals, these Easter getaways prove there’s still time to escape.
As autumn starts to kick in, the Easter break is our last chance to catch the tail-end of warmer weather before the mercury plummets. And with Easter just weeks away, Australians might assume the best holiday deals are long gone. But there are still plenty of last-minute escapes available across the country and beyond.
From discounted luxury stays to family packages and cruise departures over the long weekend, these are some of the standout Easter offers you can still snap up.
1. A Top End wildlife safari
The Australian safari camp is home to some of the country’s most spectacular bird and wildlife. (Credit: Hels Orr)
If you’ve ever wanted to experience the Top End like a safari destination, Bamurru Plains delivers exactly that. Set on the vast floodplains west of Kakadu National Park, this luxury wilderness lodge is known for its immersive wildlife encounters, where guests can spot buffalo, wallabies and prolific birdlife from open-air safari bungalows.
The all-inclusive experience includes guided airboat safaris, wildlife drives and bush walks, along with gourmet meals and beverages served in the lodge’s elevated dining pavilion overlooking the wetlands. For Easter travellers, the property is offering 10 per cent off selected stays between April and May, with prices starting from $5090 per room for two nights. Families can also take advantage of an April bonus where one child stays free.
2. A luxury escape in the Blue Mountains
Delight in a charming local stay at Echoes Boutique Hotel.
Easter High Tea at Hydro Majestic Hotel.
Lilianfels resort captures sweeping views of the Jamison Valley.
Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges is nestled in the quaint village of Blackheath.
Easter Sunday egg hunts will also take place at Parklands, Hydro Majestic and Lilianfels, while the Hydro Majestic’s Wintergarden Restaurant will host a special Easter High Tea from 3 to 6 April, priced from $99 per person or $134 with free-flow sparkling wine. The offer is valid for new bookings made until 30 April 2026, for stays until 31 May 2026.
3. A Tasmanian east coast adventure
Bridestowe creates high-quality lavender products and welcomes visitors from across the world. (Credit: Luke Tscharke)
Aerial view of the Wineglass Bay. (Credit: Luke Tscharke)
The historic Duck Reach Power Station. (Credit: Tourism Tasmania/Nick H Visuals)
The itinerary takes travellers through Freycinet National Park, home to the iconic pink-hued sweep of Wineglass Bay, as well as historic sites like Port Arthur and charming regional stops including a lavender farm. Along the way, guests travel with expert guides and enjoy curated experiences designed to showcase Tasmania’s landscapes, produce and history.
The tour is priced from $2650 per person, making it a great option for travellers who want a structured Easter getaway without the hassle of planning every stop.
4. A country Easter in the Queensland hinterland
Experience farm-to-table dining at Spicers Hidden Vale. (Credit: Hamilton Lund Photographer)
At Spicers Hidden Vale in Grandchester, just an hour from Brisbane, guests can celebrate Easter with a relaxed country escape complete with egg hunts, lawn games, live entertainment and seasonal dining. Set against the retreat’s picturesque rural backdrop, the Easter package is priced from $661 per night for two guests in a Valley View room, with event tickets from $49 per child and $99 per adult.
5. A luxury Sydney stay near the Opera House
Paradox Sydney is set within a heritage-listed architectural masterpiece dating from 1856.
Another strong city-break option is Paradox Sydney , just moments from Circular Quay. You can book a two-night stay from $779 in a Premier Room Atrium View, with three-night packages from $1104.
The deal includes daily buffet breakfast at Lady Fairfax Room, a $50 dining credit, a welcome house wine, beer or soft drink per guest at The Fax Bar, and guaranteed 1pm late checkout for two guests. The offer ends 30 March 2026, with travel available until 31 March 2027.
6. A Japanese wellness retreat in Victoria
A peaceful Japanese escape awaits at Shizuka Ryokan. (Credit: Emily Godfrey)
The three-night wellness package blends traditional Japanese hospitality with restorative treatments, including Japanese bathing rituals, yoga and meditation sessions, reflexology and aromatherapy massages, as well as a partner yoga and massage experience. Guests are also treated to a multi-course omakase banquet dinner, complete with sake tasting.
Prices start from $1110 per person, with 10 per cent off bookings made until 31 March for stays between 2 and 17 April using code: Easter Getaway, making it a peaceful Easter option for travellers seeking a full mind-and-body reset.
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7. A luxury wildlife escape in the Flinders Ranges
Arkaba is a private wildlife conservancy. (Credit: Tracey Experience Co)
Stay in the historic homestead. (Credit: Randy Larcombe)
Set within a 25,500-hectare private wildlife conservancy, the property was once a working sheep station and is now dedicated to conservation and immersive outback experiences. Guests can explore the rugged ranges through guided walks, wildlife drives and scenic tours, while evenings are spent enjoying gourmet dining under expansive outback skies.
The all-inclusive stay starts from $5770 per room for two nights, and guests can save 10 per cent on selected stays between April and May, making Easter a perfect time to experience the region’s dramatic landscapes and cooler autumn temperatures.
8. A family-friendly Cairns holiday
Contemporary luxury meets Far North Queensland charm. (Credit: Tourism Tropical North Queensland)
Crystalbrook Riley's chic, private, European-inspired pool cabana. (Credit: Tourism Australia)
Novotel is a tropical retreat in the heart of Cairns.
The main Tropical North Queensland hub has several Easter deals on the table. At Crystalbrook Riley, families can book a five-night package that includes daily breakfast at Paper Crane for two adults and two children, a Green Island Eco Adventure excursion, 10 per cent off dining across Crystalbrook’s Cairns restaurants and bars, and complimentary bike hire.
Nearby, Novotel Cairns Oasis Resort is offering its Reef Creatures Family Escape from $450 per room for two nights, including family accommodation, daily buffet breakfast and general admission to Cairns Aquarium. Children aged 15 and under stay and eat breakfast free, and Accor members can save an additional five per cent. The deal is available to book until 31 March 2026 for travel until March 2027.
There’s also a Stay 3, Pay 2 offer at Pullman Cairns International , where families get a complimentary third night, with kids 11 and under staying free and receiving complimentary breakfast. Guests travelling over Easter can also enjoy festive extras, including a Good Friday seafood buffet, sunset BBQ with fire performance and an Easter Sunday egg hunt, alongside school holiday kids’ activities. Book by 31 March for travel until 30 April.
9. A coastal Terrigal escape
Crowne Plaza Terrigal offers a family-friendly beachside escape.
If you’re craving a classic NSW beach getaway, Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific has a tempting coastal escape available.
The hotel’s Winter Escape package starts from $529 for two nights and includes daily buffet breakfast for two adults, secure car parking, a bottle of wine on arrival and 25 per cent off food and drinks across the hotel’s restaurants and bars. Overlooking the iconic Terrigal Beach, the property makes a great base for seaside walks, ocean swims and relaxed long lunches.
The deal must be booked by 12 March 2026, with stays available until 24 September 2026, making it a flexible option for an Easter or autumn getaway.
10. A stylish Melbourne CBD stay
Next Hotel is located in city’s east end district.
Luxury Escapes is offering a stay at Next Hotel Melbourne from $549 for two nights in a Next Queen Room, with three-night packages from $799. The Manhattan-style hotel sits right in the heart of the CBD.
The deal includes a generous $150 dining and drinks credit per package to use across the hotel’s onsite venues, plus guaranteed 12pm late checkout for two guests. The offer ends 27 March 2026, with travel available until 31 March 2027.
11. A remote outback lodge escape in Queensland
The luxury lodge invokes the spirit of adventure in the Queensland outback.
If you’d rather go big this Easter, Mt Mulligan Lodge in outback Queensland is offering a luxe all-inclusive stay from $1253 per person for two guests. The experience includes four nights, all gourmet meals, beverages, mini bar and signature experiences, with accommodation in the property’s contemporary Outback Retreat overlooking the weir and Mount Mulligan’s fiery rock face.
Guests who linger a little longer can also enjoy 10 per cent off when booking four nights or more.
12. A wine region balloon flight at sunrise
Balloon Aloft offered the first passenger balloons in Australia in 1980. (Credit: Destination NSW)
For something memorable, Balloon Aloft is offering $50 off general adult tickets during autumn, with Easter flights included in the sale. Sunrise hot-air balloon experiences depart from spectacular locations including Camden, Mudgee, the Hunter Valley and Byron Bay, with each flight followed by a gourmet breakfast celebration at a local restaurant or winery.
13. A luxury wilderness walk in Tasmania
Spot wombats on Maria Island.
The Maria Island Walk is incredibly scenic.
The Maria Island Walk offers a guided four-day, three-night escape through one of Tasmania’s most wildlife-rich national parks, with pristine beaches, coastal trails, chef-prepared meals and remote camp stays all part of the experience. Prices start from $3350 per person twin share, making it a bucket-list Easter option for walkers wanting something truly immersive.
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14. A relaxed Sunshine Coast beach escape
Ivory Palms Resort is taking 15% off stays of 3+ nights.
Relax knowing you've saved 15% at Essence Peregian Beach.
Save 15% on 5-night stays at Glen Eden Beach Resort.
Glen Eden Beach Resort at Peregian Beach is offering 15 per cent off five-night stays, making it a strong pick for a quieter beachfront holiday.
In Noosaville, Ivory Palms Resort is taking 15 per cent off stays of three nights or more with promo code TODAY26, valid for stays from 6 to 19 April 2026 and booked by 13 March 2026.
Essence Peregian Beach is also offering 15 per cent off its Exclusive Easter Escape, plus a bottle of wine on arrival for stays of at least three nights.
Over on Noosa North Shore, Senses Noosa North Shore has a 20 per cent discount, with three-bedroom houses from $520 per night and two return ferry passes included for stays of three nights or more using promo code TODAY.
15. A boutique hotel stay in regional NSW
Bring the family along this Easter.
The Gem Hotel in Griffith is offering a Deluxe King Room for $200 per night during the Easter school holiday period, plus 20 per cent off dining at its award-winning European-style steakhouse, Bull & Bell. Travellers can unlock the offer using the code TODAY. It’s a timely excuse to visit during the Griffith Easter Party , which runs from 2 to 6 April.
16. A Red Centre escape near Uluṟu
Base yourself at Desert Gardens Hotel. (Credit: Anson Smart)
For a warm-weather Easter break, the Red Centre offers a completely different kind of holiday. At Desert Gardens Hotel, guests can stay from $245 per night, twin share in a Standard Room.
The hotel sits within walking distance of the resort’s restaurants, galleries, cultural experiences, and, of course, Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Travellers can spend their days exploring the region’s ancient landscapes, joining guided walks or watching the famous desert sunsets.
The offer is valid for travel between 1 and 15 April 2026, with a minimum three-night stay required, and is available until midnight on 11 March 2026, subject to availability.
17. A coastal getaway in Mollymook or Port Stephens
Bannisters Port Stephens is hosting some Easter activities. (Credit: Ben Mack)
You'll be swimming in extras at Bannisters this Easter.
The Bannisters hotels in Mollymook and Port Stephens are offering Autumn Extras with direct bookings, including 10 per cent off food and beverage, a seasonal in-room treat and early check-in or late check-out, subject to availability.
Over Easter, Bannisters Port Stephens will host family-friendly fun at Cheeky Dog , including live music, a jumping castle and an Easter egg hunt, while both Port Stephens and Mollymook are also dialling up the holiday mood with extended happy hours and live entertainment.
18. A luxury Brisbane stay
Stay in Brisbane luxury for under $600.
Fortitude Valley’s stylish Ovolo Brisbane is offering a two-night luxury stay from $599 in a Valley King, with three-night stays from $899. The package includes a guaranteed upgrade from Valley Queen to Valley King, daily a la carte breakfast at Kazba, a nightly drink during apero hour, a $50 dining credit, daily valet parking and guaranteed 12pm late checkout for two guests. The offer ends 20 March 2026, with travel available until 30 April 2027.
Enjoy a wine flight for two at Shaw + Smith’s Adelaide Hills Tasting Room.
Oval Hotel’s Summer Stays with Shaw + Smith package is a love letter to South Australian wine culture. Based at the sleek, stadium-adjacent hotel in Adelaide’s CBD, the deal is priced from $399 per night and includes a welcome bottle of Shaw + Smith sauvignon blanc in your room, a three-course dinner for two at Bespoke Wine Bar & Kitchen on arrival night and a classic wine flight for two at Shaw + Smith’s Adelaide Hills Tasting Room.
Extra nights can be added from $229 per night, with self-parking and wi-fi included throughout. The offer is available for stays until 7 April 2026, making it a compelling Easter option for wine lovers wanting a stylish city base with cellar door access just a short drive away.
Emily Murphy is Australian Traveller's Email & Social Editor, and in her time at the company she has been instrumental in shaping its social media and email presence, and crafting compelling narratives that inspire others to explore Australia's vast landscapes. Her previous role was a journalist at Prime Creative Media and before that she was freelancing in publishing, content creation and digital marketing. When she's not creating scroll-stopping travel content, Em is a devoted 'bun mum' and enjoys spending her spare time by the sea, reading, binge-watching a good TV show and exploring Sydney's vibrant dining scene. Next on her Aussie travel wish list? Tasmania and The Kimberley.
The Grampians just might be the ultimate antidote for the metropolis, writes one returning Aussie ready to disconnect from the modern world and reconnect to the Great outdoors.
There are no kangaroos back in Chicago: they’re all here in the Grampians/Gariwerd . In the heart of the Grampians National Park’s main gateway town, Halls Gap, pods of eastern greys are eating grass beside my parked rental car beneath the stars. Next morning, when I see the backyard of my rented villa on the edge of town for the first time, there are kangaroos feeding beside a slow-moving creek, lined with river red gums.
Five hundred metres up the road, 50 or so of them are eating by the side of the road in a paddock. I pull over to watch and spot three emus. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos fly overhead towards the tall green mountains just beyond town.
‘Kee-ow, keee-oww’… their calls fuse with the maniacal cackle of a kookaburra (or 10). Gawd, how I’ve missed the sound of them. Far above, a wedge-tailed eagle watches, and there you go: the ‘great birds of Australia’ trifecta, all half a kay from the town limits.
Exchanging city chaos for country calm
The park is renowned for its significant diversity of native fauna species. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)
I’ve come to the Grampians to disconnect, but the bush offers a connection of its own. This isn’t just any bush, mind you. The Grampians National Park is iconic for many reasons, mostly for its striking sandstone mountains – five ridges run north to south, with abrupt, orange slopes which tumble right into Halls Gap – and for the fact there’s 20,000 years of traditional rock art. Across these mountains there are more than 200 recorded sites to see, created by the Djab Wurrung, Jardwadjali and Gunditjmara peoples. It’s just like our outback… but three hours from Melbourne.
I’ve come here for a chance at renewal after the chaos of my life in America’s third-largest city, Chicago, where I live for now, at the whim of a relative’s cancer journey. Flying into Melbourne’s airport, it only takes an hour’s drive to feel far away from any concept of suburbia. When I arrive in Halls Gap two hours later, the restaurant I’m eating at clears out entirely by 7:45pm; Chicago already feels a lifetime ago.
The trails and treasures of the Grampians
Grampians National Park /Gariwerd covers almost 2000 square kilometres. (Image: Ben Savage)
Though the national park covers almost 2000 square kilometres, its best-known landmarks are remarkably easy to access. From my carpark here, among the cockatoos and kangaroos on the fringe of Halls Gap, it only takes 60 seconds’ driving time before I’m winding my way up a steep road through rainforest, deep into the mountains.
Then it’s five minutes more to a carpark that serves as a trailhead for a hike to one of the park’s best vantage points, The Pinnacles . I walk for an hour or so, reacquainting myself with the smells and the sounds of the Aussie bush, before I reach it: a sheer cliff’s edge lookout 500 metres up above Halls Gap.
Overlooking the vast Grampians landscape from Hollow Mountain. (Image: Robert Blackburn)
There are hikes and there are lookouts and waterfalls all across this part of the park near town. Some are a short stroll from a carpark; others involve long, arduous hikes through forest. The longest is the Grampians Peaks Trail , Victoria’s newest and longest iconic walk, which runs 160 kilometres – the entire length of Grampians National Park.
Local activities operator Absolute Outdoors shows me glimpses of the trail. The company’s owner, Adrian Manikas, says it’s the best walk he’s done in Australia. He says he’s worked in national parks across the world, but this was the one he wanted to bring his children up in.
“There’s something about the Grampians,” he says, as he leads me up a path to where there’s wooden platforms for tents, beside a hut looking straight out across western Victoria from a kilometre up in the sky (these are part of the guided hiking options for the trail). “There are things out here that you won’t see anywhere else in Australia.” Last summer, 80 per cent of the park was damaged by bushfire, but Manikas shows me its regrowth, and tells me of the manic effort put in by volunteers from town – with firefighters from all over Australia – to help save Halls Gap.
Spot wildflowers. (Image: Visit Victoria)
We drive back down to Halls Gap at dusk to abseil down a mountain under the stars, a few minutes’ walk off the main road into town. We have headlamps, but a full moon is enough to light my way down. It takes blind faith to walk backwards down a mountain into a black void, though the upside is I can’t see the extent of my descent.
Grampians National Park at sunset. (Image: Wine Australian)
The stargazing is ruined by the moon, of course, but you should see how its glow lights up the orange of the sandstone, like in a theme park. When I’m done, I stand on a rocky plateau drinking hot chocolate and listening to the Aussie animals who prefer nighttime. I can see the streets of Halls Gap off in the distance on this Friday night. The restaurants may stay open until 8pm tonight.
What else is on offer in The Grampians?
Travelling along the Wimmera River in Dimboola. (Image: Chris McConville)
You’ll find all sorts of adventures out here – from rock climbing to canoeing to hiking – but there’s more to the Grampians than a couple of thousand square kilometres of trees and mountains. Halls Gap may be known to most people, but what of Pomonal, and Dimboola, and Horsham? Here in the shadow of those big sandstone mountains there are towns and communities most of us don’t know to visit.
And who knew that the Grampians is home to Victoria’s most underrated wine region ? My disconnection this morning comes not in a forest, but in the tasting rooms and winery restaurants of the district. Like Pomonal Estate, barely 10 minutes’ drive east of Halls Gap, where UK-born chef Dean Sibthorp prepares a locally caught barramundi with lentil, pumpkin and finger lime in a restaurant beside the vines at the base of the Grampians. Husband-and-wife team Pep and Adam Atchison tell me stories as they pour their prize wines (shiraz is the hero in these parts).
Dine in a restaurant beside vines at Pomonal Estate. (Image: Tourism Australia)
Three minutes’ drive back down the road, long-time mates Hadyn Black and Darcy Naunton run an eclectic cellar door out of a corrugated iron shed, near downtown Pomonal. The Christmas before last, half the houses in Pomonal burnt down in a bushfire, but these locals are a resilient lot.
The fires also didn’t stop the construction of the first art centre in Australia dedicated to environmental art in a nature-based precinct a little further down the road (that’s Wama – the National Centre for Environmental Arts), which opened in July. And some of the world’s oldest and rarest grape vines have survived 160 years at Best’s Wines, outside the heritage town of Great Western. There’s plantings here from the year 1868, and there’s wines stored in century-old barrels within 150-year-old tunnels beneath the tasting room. On the other side of town, Seppelt Wines’ roots go back to 1865. They’re both only a 30-minute drive from Halls Gap.
Great Western is a charming heritage town. (Image: Griffin Simm)
There’s more to explore yet; I drive through tiny historic towns that barely make the map. Still part of the Grampians, they’re as pretty as the mountains behind them: full of late 19th-century/early 20th-century post offices, government offices and bank buildings, converted now to all manner of bric-a-brac stores and cafes.
The Imaginarium is one, in quirky Dimboola, where I sleep in the manager’s residence of an old National Australia Bank after a gourmet dinner at the local golf club, run by noted chef and teacher, Cat Clarke – a pioneer of modern Indigenous Australian cooking. Just south, I spend an entire afternoon at a winery, Norton Estate Wines, set on rolling calico-coloured hills that make me think of Tuscany, chit-chatting with owners Chris and Sam Spence.
Being here takes me back two decades, when I lived here for a time. It had all seemed as foreign as if I’d driven to another planet back then (from Sydney/Warrane), but there seemed something inherently and immediately good about this place, like I’d lived here before.
And it’s the Australian small-town familiarity of the Grampians that offers me connection back to my own country. Even in the better-known Halls Gap, Liz from Kerrie’s Creations knows I like my lattes with soy milk and one sugar. And while I never do get the name of the lady at the local Ampol station, I sure know a lot about her life.
Kookaburras are one of some 230 bird species. (Image: Darren Donlen)
You can be a local here in a day; how good is that? In Chicago, I don’t even know who my neighbour is. Though each day at dusk – when the kangaroos gather outside my villa, and the kookaburras and the black cockatoos shout out loud before settling in to sleep – I prefer the quieter connection I get out there in the bush, beneath these orange mountains.
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Sleep beside the wildlife on the edge of Halls Gap at Serenity .
