Darwin itself is compact and easy to get around; it’s the rest of the Territory that’s vast. A car makes daily life simpler, but it isn’t the necessity here that it is almost everywhere else in the NT.
Getting around the city
Closer to Asia than you’d expect
Darwin sits nearer Dili, Jakarta and Singapore than it does Sydney or Melbourne, and direct flights to Bali and Singapore make a long weekend in Southeast Asia an easy option in a way it isn’t from anywhere else in the country. It’s a real, if unusual, lifestyle perk that regularly surprises people who move here from further south.
Approximate direct flight times, to scale against each other. The two marked rows are the point: from Darwin, Singapore and Sydney are the same journey — which is why people who move here from further south end up taking long weekends in Asia.
Indicative scheduled times, not timetables — routes and frequencies change, particularly between the Dry and the Wet. The airport itself is about fifteen minutes from the CBD.
You can usually drive on a valid overseas licence for a period after arriving, but you’ll need to transfer to an NT licence once you’re a resident. If you’re heading beyond Darwin on the highway, carry water, check conditions first, and tell someone your plans.