Best time to visit Lord Howe Island
Australia · Oceania
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Lord Howe Island
Tap a month for its page
- JanJLord Howe Island in January: good, busy
- FebFLord Howe Island in February: sweet spot
- MarMLord Howe Island in March: sweet spot
- AprALord Howe Island in April: sweet spot
- MayMLord Howe Island in May: sweet spot
- JunJLord Howe Island in June: good
- JulJLord Howe Island in July: good
- AugALord Howe Island in August: sweet spot
- SepSLord Howe Island in September: sweet spot
- OctOLord Howe Island in October: good, busy
- NovNLord Howe Island in November: sweet spot, busy
- DecDLord Howe Island in December: sweet spot
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Plan this trip
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too.
Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Flights from
Flights
Your city is a guess from your time zone. Choose your city
Where are you flying from? Choose your city for its flights.
Book with the airline
Where to stay
Book direct
Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Month by month
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24° | 4d | 75% | 11.7h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 24° | 4d | 74% | 11.4h | sweet spot | 24C max, 4 rainy days |
| Mar | 23° | 6d | 74% | 9.7h | sweet spot | 23C max, 6 rainy days |
| Apr | 22° | 6d | 70% | 9.8h | sweet spot | 22C max, 6 rainy days |
| May | 21° | 8d | 70% | 8.6h | sweet spot | 21C max, 8 rainy days |
| Jun | 19° | 10d | 68% | 8.2h | good | 19C max, 10 rainy days |
| Jul | 18° | 11d | 68% | 8.3h | good | 18C max, 11 rainy days |
| Aug | 18° | 9d | 69% | 9.8h | sweet spot | 18C max, 9 rainy days |
| Sep | 19° | 7d | 71% | 10.1h | sweet spot | 19C max, 7 rainy days |
| Oct | 19° | 7d | 75% | 10.5h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Nov | 21° | 6d | 75% | 11.7h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Dec | 22° | 6d | 76% | 11.7h | sweet spot | 22C max, 6 rainy days |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the settlement, by the lagoon: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Lord Howe Island's November days now average 20.7°C, 1.0°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 11 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 22.6° | 23.1° | 22.5° | 21.5° | 20.1° | 18.4° | 17.5° | 17.2° | 17.9° | 18.9° | 19.7° | 21.7° |
| 2017–26 | 23.5° | 23.8° | 23.4° | 22.1° | 20.7° | 19.2° | 18.4° | 18.1° | 18.5° | 19.5° | 20.7° | 22.4° |
| Change | +0.9° | +0.7° | +0.9° | +0.6° | +0.6° | +0.8° | +0.9° | +0.9° | +0.6° | +0.6° | +1.0° | +0.7° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Lord Howe Island is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Brisbane
- from Sydney
- from Melbourne
- from Auckland
- from Perth
- from Jakarta
- from Manila
- from Singapore
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Lord Howe Island, flying or not.
Before you go
Type I plugs at 230 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Australian dollar. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise normal security precautions. US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Australia: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay are taken in most shops, cafés and hotels; carry some cash in remote areas. Since 1 October 2026 shops may not add a fee for paying by card; taxis follow their state's rules.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected; prices include service. In upmarket restaurants 10% for good service is common. Taxi drivers do not expect tips.
Getting around Lord Howe Island
- Apps — Rides: DiDi, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: Messenger, Text messages (SMS), WhatsApp.
The main roads of the island connecting the airport, accommodation, restaurants and golf club are within easy cycling distance. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Lord Howe Island, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 000 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
- Hospitals near Lord Howe Islanda search on Google Maps
- Pharmacies near Lord Howe Islanda search on Google Maps
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (25)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/australia/getting-help
- australia.com/en-us/facts-and-planning/about-australia/useful-tips.html
- rba.gov.au/payments-and-infrastructure/review-of-retail-payments-regulation/2026-03/non-tech-summary.html
- rba.gov.au/payments-and-infrastructure/review-of-retail-payments-regulation/2026-03/conclusions-paper/faqs
- transportnsw.info/tickets-fares/fares/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay
- transportnsw.info/tickets-fares/contactless-payments
- premier.vic.gov.au/tap-and-go-here
- premier.vic.gov.au/tap-and-go-arrives-trams
- premier.vic.gov.au/tap-and-go-rolling-out-buses
- transperth.wa.gov.au/Contactless-Payments
- transperth.wa.gov.au/tickets-fares/fares
- uber.com/global/en/cities/sydney
- web.didiglobal.com/au/help-center/where-is-didi-available
- accc.gov.au/media-release/surge-in-online-messaging-use-as-big-digital-platforms-continue-to-expand
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Australia
- infobip.com/blog/most-popular-messaging-apps-by-country
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/fares-and-zones/south-east-queensland
- translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/contactless-payments
- translink.com.au/tickets-and-fares/50-cent-fares
- statements.qld.gov.au/statements/105394
- translink.com.au/travel-with-us/airport-services
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Lord Howe Island in pictures
i
David Morgan-Mar, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
i
EmGer7, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Inas66, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
BriMiDra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
i
Inas66, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Lord Howe Island is like
Lord Howe Island is a UNESCO world heritage declared island around 600 km off the coast of New South Wales. A place of unique beauty with volcanic mountains and rainforest lying between surf and lagoon beaches. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Look around, it is a beautiful place. The views from high vantage points are amazing. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Lord Howe Island is very much geared up for outdoor recreation: bush walking, trekking, guided and self-guided walks, fish feeding, swimming, surfing, Scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking… More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Lord Howe Island has a small airport, with a notoriously difficult landing. This restricts operations to small turboprops only. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Although the island walks are well formed, all the cliffs are unfenced. Some of the island's lookouts are named for the people who have fallen and died there. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Lord Howe Island, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Lord Howe Island
Also in Australia
- Adelaide best Feb, Mar, Dec
- Alice Springs best Aug, Sep, Oct
- Brisbane best Jun, Aug, Sep
- Coober Pedy best Sep, Oct, Nov
- Darwin best May, Jun, Aug
- Gold Coast best Feb, Jun, Sep
- Great Barrier Reef best Aug, Sep, Oct
- Hobart best Feb, Oct, Nov
- Kangaroo Island best Feb, Sep, Oct
- Melbourne best Feb, Oct, Dec
- Mornington Peninsula best Jan, Feb, Dec
- Mungo National Park best Feb, Aug, Oct
- Perth best Mar, Oct, Nov
- Sunshine Coast best Sep, Oct, Nov
- Sydney best Feb, Sep, Oct
- Uluru best Jun, Aug, Sep
- Whitsunday Islands best Jun, Sep, Oct
Nearby
- New Caledonia New Caledonia · 1,262 km
- Auckland New Zealand · 1,558 km
- Great Barrier Island New Zealand · 1,603 km
- Nelson New Zealand · 1,666 km
Kind of place
Lord Howe Island is in Australia, Oceania. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
Check your inbox. A confirmation is on its way: open the link in it, press Confirm, and you are subscribed.
That did not go through. Check the address, or try again in a minute.
Already sent. A confirmation went to that address in the last day: look for it, spam folder included. Its link works for three days.
You are not on the list until you confirm from your inbox. The list lives with our email provider, Resend; the privacy page says the rest.
Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book through one, at no extra cost to you. That does not affect the scores on this page, which are computed from climate and holiday data before any link is built.