Australia - 2 weeks, help plan a high level itinerary
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Anonymous
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We plan to go to Australia next year and need some pointers/suggestions etc. Thanks in Advance!
1. Is 2 weeks enough? That's all we can do at this time, else we'll have to postpone the trip for another year. 2. We plan to fly to LA and from there to Sydney. 3. How many days in Sydney? 4. Where else to go? DD wants to see Platypus and other local wildlife 5. I'd like a combo of cities/beaches/nature stuff/art Ideas please! thanks! |
Anonymous
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Sydney is in a stunning setting but there is more to do in Melbourne. Both cities are surrounded by stunning nature. Wilsons Prom is near Melbourne and I think few overseas tourists go there. It is gorgeous.
You could take the coastal route south from Sydney and head to Melbourne. It's quieter than north of Sydney and really pretty. Might be too ambitious but Hobart is a great little city and Tasmania is small enough to easily explore. So many gorgeous places in Tassie, and quieter than nsw and Victoria. Flights from Sydney and Melbourne. Two weeks is not a lot. I'd say it's the minimum you'd need. |
Anonymous
| You may wish to briefly get out a map and delimit how far you may want to travel. Australia is an enormous country. I bet if you have some more specific limitations on where you'll likely be and how far you'd travel you'll get better responses. There are a few Aussies who post here, but the question is worse than saying "Flying to Boston! What to do in the US!" |
Anonymous
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You need to consider how many places you want to go-- some people would only want to do a week in 2 places, others might want to try and fit 4 or even 5 in.
I would say the candidates I'd start with are-- Sydney (Blue mtns?), Melbourne (your daughter might like to see the penguins at Philip Island, you can also do a day trip along the great ocean road to see the apostles etc.), Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), Tasmania the outback (Uluru) I'd probably start with Sydney and Melbourne and then add one of the other three depending on your interests as they are pretty different. |
Anonymous
| What month? Most places in Oz have uncomfortable summers and winters. |
Anonymous
What? No they don't. Some places do (for instance, I would avoid Darwin in the summer, but probably in general I'd avoid Darwin), and Queensland gets pretty hot too. With 2 weeks, I'd do Sydney and Tasmania - Sydney will give you the city/arts/stuff you have heard of and want to see (Opera House, etc). Depending on how old your DD is, I'd do Bridgeclimb. Tasmania is going to have amazing nature and empty, gorgeous beaches. There are several really good wildlife parks where you can get up close to the animals. And basically the entire east cost is full of amazing beaches. 2 weeks is really pushing it though. Because Melbourne is worth checking out also, as is the Great Barrier Reef and the Gold Coast. And there's also Perth, which I've never been to but I hear is lovely. |
Anonymous
| My parents did a week in Sydney and loved it. I did a week in Sydney and a week in Melbourne and had a great time. |
Anonymous
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I did it in 2 weeks. I did a few days in Sydney, then flew to Uluru (Ayers Rock), then went to Cairns. For me it was the right combination of city, outback and ocean. An absolutely amazing trip. Of course you could do a longer trip, but I loved what I experienced in those two weeks.
PP's are right that it is a huge country, so bear that in mind when selecting where you want to go. |
Anonymous
| 16:58 here. Just want to share that I went in October, so their spring, and it was a lovely time of year in all the places I went. |
Anonymous
| We spent a week driving down the coast from Cairns to Brisbane, and hit up the rainforests and GBR. Then flew to Sydney for 3 days, and I was okay with that. I liked Sydney but didn't find it to be spectacular. If we had time I would've done Uluru too. |
Anonymous
| I think Uluru is a little like Niagara Falls-- absolutely spectacular but a huge pain to get to. I would say feel don't feel you *need* to make it there, although certainly if you want to see the outback that's a good place to go. |
Anonymous
| You should check out some of the tour company itineraries of Australia to get an idea of the wide variety of things to see. I'm never sure why people turn up their noses at tours, but I took Tauck Tours to Australia in the late 90's, and it was one of the best tours ever. We spent time in Sydney, Melbourne, the outback/Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Gold Coast. The tour company got me (and my bags) from place to place, mostly by air, and then got us into the highlights, and then we had plenty of time to explore on our own. I was even able to walk into the Australian Open tennis tournament, which happened to be going on in Melbourne when we were there. We toured the Sydney Opera House, fed kangaroos and cuddled pandas, sipped champagne at sunset on the Outback, scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef, and I even found myself standing next to golfer Greg Norman on an early morning beach run in the Gold Coast. I don't repeat myself much in travel, so I like to leave nothing undone - no regrets. This was that kind of trip. |
Anonymous
I think the Grand Canyon is a better comparison. I loved it and wouldn't have missed it, but YMMV. |
Anonymous
| Sydney - Great Barrier Reef if you are into diving - Uluru so you can say you have experienced the horrible flies of the outback and seen the amazing stars and will never go back. Didn't go to Tanzania but that sounds very cool. WE spent two weeks in Australia - then two in New Zealand - we all agree should have done all four in New Zealand. |
Anonymous
Sorry. I meant "or", not "and". I experienced 110 degrees in both Sydney and Melbourne. Maybe both were total anomalies. |