The 10 best places to see cherry blossoms in Australia

Where: Auburn Botanic Gardens, Sydney, NSW

When: August 22-30, 2026

What: This 9.2-hectare oasis of lush greenery is renowned for hosting one of NSW’s most Instagrammable events – the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival. Running for nine days in mid to late August each year, this pink-hued festival is all about celebrating Japanese traditions, music, pop culture and food, with visitors able to wander through fields of fluffy pink sakura blossoms in a traditional Japanese garden. If there’s ever a time for a trip to Auburn, this is it.

Price: Free for residents, $15.80 for adults, $7.90 for children

Where: Sutton, NSW

When: September 12 to October 11, 2026

What: Tucked away just a 20-minute drive from Canberra, Tulip Top Gardens is one of the Capital Region’s best-kept secrets. Open exclusively for one month each spring, the 30-year-old family-run estate offers four hectares of landscaped valley grounds to explore. While hundreds of thousands of tulips take centre stage, you can also wander beneath a soaring canopy of blossoming weeping cherries and plums – then head up to the 1,000-square-metre cascade lookout for panoramic views over the valley floor. Make a day out of it with Dutch pancakes, woodfired pizzas and local wines, or bring your own picnic.

Price: $24 for adults, free for children

Where: CherryHill Orchards, Yarra Valley, VIC

When: September 18 to October 4, 2026

What: You can take in the magical sights of Japan just an hour’s drive from Melbourne CBD at the gorgeous CherryHill Orchards. Every spring, this Yarra Valley orchard hosts an enchanting Blossom Festival where you can wander through endless rows of flowering cherry blossoms, sip on cherry-based drinks, relax with a retro picnic pack and enjoy family-friendly activities. It’s a dreamy day out in the countryside for the whole family (dogs included), and will surely do wonders for the ’gram.

Price: $15-20 for adults, $10 for children (or free on weekdays)

Where: Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre, Cowra, NSW

When: September 26, 2026

Put your petal to the metal and make tracks to Cowra for the town’s biggest event of the calendar year. A four-hour drive west of Sydney, Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre bursts to life each September for the one-day-only Sakura Matsuri Festival – a vibrant celebration of Japanese culture timed perfectly with peak cherry blossom season. Expect the whole shebang: kabuki (drama-dance) performances, a stunning kimono show, bonsai workshops, sumo wrestling, origami masterclasses, martial arts performances, tea ceremonies and lots of traditional street food. If you can’t make it for the festival weekend, the gardens are still a blooming beauty from mid-September to mid-October, when the cherry blossoms (along with apricot, apple and plum blossoms) put on a dreamy springtime show.

Price: $37 for adults, $17 for children

Where: S&R Orchard Perth, Walliston, WA

When: September (dates TBC)

The hills come alive with the sweet smell of blossoms during S&R Orchard’s annual Blossom Festival. Only a 30-minute drive from Perth CBD, the short but sweet festival invites visitors to wander through a breathtaking sea of cherry blossoms in full bloom. Pack a picnic basket and make a day of it, with family-friendly activities like free tractor rides, an animal farm, a Ferris wheel, a bouncy castle and more than 20 food trucks.

Price: $12 for adults, $6 for children

Where: Lennox Gardens District Park, Yarralumla, ACT

When: Late July to late September

What: Much of this small Japanese-themed lakeside garden was gifted to Canberra by its sister city, Nara, in Japan. With grand wooden gates, an eight-metre-tall pagoda and traditional tōrō (Japanese stone lanterns), the Nara Peace Park in Canberra's Lennox Gardens District Park is a picture-perfect tribute to Japanese culture. Come spring, the sight of fluffy pink and white cherry blossoms – gifted by Japan’s prime minister in 1980 – makes it even easier to imagine you’ve touched down in the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Price: Free entry

Where: Around Canberra, ACT

When: Mid-August to mid-September

What: Come spring, Australia’s capital transforms into a fairytale wonderland as bright pink and white blossoms decorate the city’s parks, streets and lakeside trails. While Nara Peace Park (detailed above) gets plenty of love, you’ll find enchanting pink sakura displays at the National Arboretum’s Yoshino cherry grove and at Bowen Park along Lake Burley Griffin. Then for those fluffy white blooms, take a stroll under the canopy on the lake’s southern bank near the National Library or head to Stoke’s Street in Griffith for the ultimate secret photo op.

Price: Free

Where: Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, NSW

When: Late August to early September

What: Less than 90 minutes from Sydney CBD lies the breathtaking Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, which is completely free to wander around to your heart's content. Averaging altitudes about one kilometre above sea level, the gardens here allow cool-climate species, like cherry blossoms, to thrive. These pink-petaled beauties generally burst into full bloom from late August to early September, transforming the Ornamental Horticulture Garden into a dreamy floral wonderland. 

Price: Free entry

Where: Hunter Valley Gardens, Pokolbin, NSW

When: For a short time in September/October (check IG for updates)

What: Famed for hosting the largest Christmas light display in the Southern Hemisphere, this 14-hectare botanical wonderland is easily one of the most impressive in the country. With more than 6,000 trees and 600,000 shrubs spread across ten internationally themed gardens, you can rest assured that blossoms are on the seasonal roster (carefully tended to by a dedicated team of 40 gardeners). While the Hunter Valley Gardens don't have traditional cherry blossoms, they do have prunus flowering plums, apple blossoms and crab apple blossoms – and we've been told that when it comes to visuals, there's very little difference. These delicate blossoms typically bloom for a short period during September or October, but have been unpredictable due to strange weather lately. Follow the carpet of pretty pink petals through their Oriental Garden and pretend you're somewhere mysterious in Japan. 

Price: $39 for adults, $31 for children

Where: Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden, Olinda, VIC

When: Late September to mid-October

What: Pack a picnic basket and enjoy a relaxing (and scenic) day out on one of the lawns at Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden. The 40-hectare garden is home to a colourful display of 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 3,000 camellias and 250,000 daffodils, plus thousands of cherry and other spring blossoms that burst to life in mid to late spring. You can enjoy a peaceful stroll down the avenue of ornamental flowering trees or hop aboard the Garden Explorer bus for a 25-minute guided shuttle tour of the gorgeous grounds.

Price: Free entry