Things to do in Albany
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Albany
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best window. Warmest, calmest weather, orca season to April, Taste Great Southern in March and Anzac Day in April.
Spring wildflowers, whales to October and the Agricultural Show in November, with changeable weather.
Warm and busy summer. Best beach mornings, fullest car parks and highest prices. Book everything.
Shoulder autumn cooling down, with the Albany Classic motor event on the last weekend of May.
Cold, wet and stormy winter, but peak whale season and the most dramatic seas at The Gap.
What's on
- Taste Great Southern Usually early March, four days
Four days of chef dinners, long lunches and wine events across Albany, Denmark, Mount Barker and the Porongurups.
- ANZAC Day Dawn Service 25 April
Dawn service at the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial in Albany Heritage Park, among the most significant in Australia.
- Albany Classic Motor Event last weekend of May
Historic cars with a Mount Clarence hill climb on Saturday and an around the houses event in the CBD on Sunday.
- Albany Agricultural Show mid November, 13 to 14 November in 2026
Two day regional show with livestock, exhibits, food stalls and Friday night fireworks.
Best things to do in Albany
National Anzac Centre
Albany's defining museum, following one real Anzac's war story through interactive exhibits above King George Sound.
The Gap and Natural Bridge
A platform over a granite chasm where the Southern Ocean surges in, beside a huge sea-carved rock arch.
Albany's Historic Whaling Station
The world's only complete historic whaling station, with a preserved whale chaser ship you can board and explore.
Middleton Beach
Albany's sheltered town beach for calm swimming, a boardwalk to Ellen Cove and sunrise over King George Sound.
Little Beach
A small perfect cove of white sand, turquoise water and granite boulders inside a nature reserve east of town.
Museum of the Great Southern
The best low cost rainy hour in town, covering Menang culture, natural history and Albany's port story.
Albany Convict Gaol Museum
A compact 1850s stone gaol whose individual prisoner stories make a town heritage walk feel specific and human.
Albany Farmers Market
Saturday market where Great Southern growers sell only their own produce, best at 8am for full choice.
Where to stay in Albany
Middleton Beach and Binalup
beaches, couples and a quiet pretty base
Swim before breakfast, walk the boardwalk at sunset and drive five minutes to the centre for dinner.
Albany CBD and Harbourfront
first trips, dining and museums without the car at night
Walk to Liberte, Majuba, Due South, the museums and the Saturday market, and drive to beaches by day.
Middleton Road and Dog Rock
drivers, value motels and quick in and out stays
Drive up rooms with free parking five minutes from everything, with a restaurant on site at the main motel.
Think twice about
- Albany Highway strip, Yakamia and Orana
A noisy arterial of fast food and car yards with nothing walkable at night. Fine for a cheap driving night, poor as a holiday base.
- Torndirrup and Frenchman Bay as a base
Beautiful but almost no dining nearby and dark kangaroo prone roads back to town. Visit by day, sleep in Middleton Beach or the centre.
Best restaurants in Albany
Liberté
Albany's decorated French Vietnamese bar restaurant in the London Hotel, the one splurge dinner to book first.
Majuba Bistro
An intimate European bistro on York Street known for blue swimmer crab spaghetti, duck and bouillabaisse.
Due South
A big harbourfront tavern with water views, 24 craft taps and chilli mussels, built for groups and families.
Wilson Brewing Company
Albany's own craft brewery bar for tasting paddles, brewpub food and live music at local prices.
Dylans on the Terrace
Albany's benchmark breakfast cafe, with the deepest review base in town for eggs, pancakes and coffee.
Gourmandise & Co
A French cafe and bakery for croissants, cakes and light lunches, and the best picnic provisioning in town.
Emu Point Cafe
A waterfront brunch cafe at sheltered Emu Point, made for a calm swim followed by breakfast on the deck.
Venice Restaurant
Albany's most reviewed Italian, a family favourite for pizza and pasta where you can bring Great Southern wine.
Outdoor things to do in Albany
Bald Head Walk Trail
Albany's great ridge hike, with calm sound on one side and surf on granite on the other for 12.5 kilometres.
Castle Rock Granite Skywalk
A forest climb to a steel skywalk wrapped around a granite summit, with views to the coast and Stirling Range.
Bluff Knoll
The Stirling Range's highest summit, a steep and rewarding climb famous for mist, wildflowers and rare snow.
Albany Golf Club
A true 1898 links through coastal dunes beside Middleton Beach, with Sound views and whales in season.
Albany Whale Tours
Three hour King George Sound safaris to resting humpback and southern right whales from late May to October.
Naturaliste Charters
Full day Bremer Canyon expeditions to the only reliable killer whale gathering in Australia, January to April.
Former HMAS Perth II Dive Wreck
A 133 metre scuttled destroyer turned reef, one of Australia's best wreck dives for qualified experienced divers.
Greens Pool
A granite ringed natural pool of calm clear water near Denmark, the classic sheltered swim on an Albany day trip.
Best hotels in Albany
The Beach House at Bayside
Albany's best small hotel, a seven room boutique bed and breakfast behind the Middleton Beach dunes.
BIG4 Middleton Beach Holiday Park
Beachfront holiday park with cabins, sites, a pool and direct Middleton Beach access for families and longer stays.
Hilton Garden Inn Albany
The city's most substantial hotel, 108 modern rooms over the marina within walking distance of dinner.
Six Degrees
A heritage hotel on Stirling Terrace with a lively bar downstairs and harbour views, Albany's closest night out.
Albany Backpackers
A central renovated hostel with dorms, private rooms, a big kitchen and harbour views for budget travellers.
Dog Rock Motel
A clean central motel beside Dog Rock with parking at the door and a restaurant on site for road trip nights.
Is Albany expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | A$130 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | A$260 a person |
| Splurge | A$520 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- National Anzac Centre: a few days ahead
- Limeburners: a few days ahead
- Albany Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Albany Whale Tours: weeks ahead
- Naturaliste Charters: months ahead
- Former HMAS Perth II Dive Wreck: weeks ahead
- Singlefile Wines: a few days ahead
- The Beach House at Bayside: weeks ahead
- Book the Beach House, Liberte, whale boats in July and August and the Bremer Canyon orca expedition well ahead.
- Book hire cars and all accommodation early for Christmas, Easter, Anzac weekend and Taste Great Southern.
Is Albany safe?
- Stay behind barriers and off wet granite on the Torndirrup coast, where the Southern Ocean has killed visitors.
- Swim at sheltered harbour beaches and carry water, layers and sun protection on every long walk. Emergency is 000.
Albany travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- York Street is closed and quiet by 9pm, so dinner is the evening, not a prelude to it.
- Little Beach and Greens Pool car parks fill by late morning in summer. Arrive early or skip that day.
Getting around Albany: public transport and more
- Hire a car. Torndirrup, Denmark, Two Peoples Bay and the ranges have no sensible public transport option.
- Drive carefully at dawn and dusk for kangaroos, fuel up in town and download offline maps for the parks.
Who Albany suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Albany your trip
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