The nature in Australia is beautiful.

The cities are ordinary. Not worth the trip if you're a city person.

Generally, if you want to swim, you head north in their winter (ie North Queensland) although you can swim in southern Queensland esp Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast if you’re okay with chillier water. In their summer, beaches from southern Queensland downwards are good. If travelling in their school holidays, beach areas are super popular and you need to book well in advance.

I like the Noosa area in southern Queensland. A more chichi beach area with lowset development and lots of nature, great food and somewhat of a more linen-clad set. Even in winter, you walk along the path through the national park and you see scores of wetsuit-clad surfers along the gorgeous beaches then realise how many are 50yo-plus women and men just living their best lives. Inspiring. If you are travelling solo, lot of organised day trips you can join, eg kayaking, 4WD trips along deserted beaches, etc. I think you can fly there direct from Sydney.

Sydney has spectacular beaches and has the benefit of being able to enjoy both urban and natural settings at the same time. For example, you can get the ferry to Manly and enjoy the lively beach scene, good food, etc and then do the great 10km Manly to Spit walk. It’s one of my favourites. There really is no excuse for not having amazing coffee and food esp if you do a little research.

https://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/nature-and-parks/walks/spit-bridge-to-manly-walk

Other things to do if you’re travelling solo in Sydney might include a cooking course at the famous Sydney fish market, the Harbour Bridge climb and checking out the rock pools which are a pretty unique Sydney feature.

https://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/Sydney-Seafood-School/Cooking-Experiences/Book-an-Experience

https://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/tours/bridgeclimb-sydney

https://www.russh.com/sydneys-best-rock-pools/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Skip the Great Barrier Reef. The trip out of Port Douglas was expensive and the corals were bleached. Hugely disappointing. We did much better snorkeling in Kauai off the beach for free.

Perth is nice, but a massive detour.

What season are you planning to visit?

What year were you at the GBR? The coral was stupendous when we were there. Nothing else like it.

2010.

And it's only got worse
https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/sixth-mass-bleaching-event-great-barrier-reef/

I wouldn't bother doing it again.

Anonymous wrote:Skip the Great Barrier Reef. The trip out of Port Douglas was expensive and the corals were bleached. Hugely disappointing. We did much better snorkeling in Kauai off the beach for free.

Perth is nice, but a massive detour.

What season are you planning to visit?

What year were you at the GBR? The coral was stupendous when we were there. Nothing else like it.

Skip the Great Barrier Reef. The trip out of Port Douglas was expensive and the corals were bleached. Hugely disappointing. We did much better snorkeling in Kauai off the beach for free.

Perth is nice, but a massive detour.

What season are you planning to visit?

Anonymous wrote:Do some more research on the critters in Australia's waters.

There are certain times of the year you need to wear a complete body-covering thin wetsuit to prevent stings.

There are also the usual marine life to be aware of like sharks. (Which are in all bodies of salt water.)

If that's your idea of a beach vacation after flying half-way around the world at great expense, have at it.

Please don’t foist your Discovery Channel-inspired paranoia on others.

Do some more research on the critters in Australia's waters.

There are certain times of the year you need to wear a complete body-covering thin wetsuit to prevent stings.

There are also the usual marine life to be aware of like sharks. (Which are in all bodies of salt water.)

If that's your idea of a beach vacation after flying half-way around the world at great expense, have at it.

The absolute highlight of our trip to Australia (we spent six weeks with my sister who was living in Sydney at the time) was the trip out to the Great Barrier Reef to snorkle. Unlike anywhere else.

The Great Ocean Road and a hike through a Eucalyptus forest with Koalas were also amazing.

I'd also highly recommend seeing an opera at the Sydney Opera House. I believe there are tours you can take but we really enjoyed actually experiencing Mozart there!

Perth is almost as far from Sydney as LA is from NYC. Definitely fly from city to city - flights within AU are cheap.

I lived in Australia for a bit and Melbourne and Sydney are great cities. Sydney has lovely beaches. See the Great Barrier Reef before it dies out. Brisbane is fine but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there. FWIW, Uluru is hard to get to but 100% worth it.

Do you want to just ‘see’ beaches or spend a few days swimming and hanging out at beaches? What time of year? That’s probably key.

Australia is huge. The Southern Ocean Drive is scenic but not "beaches" think Big Sur.
Fly to most cities. Be sure you check your checked luggage to be sure it's 55 inches. US bags tend to be too big.
Port Douglas is great. Go see Daintree. Try an island. Not Green Island though!

If you’re going in their winter then recommend Sydney especially Manly. We loved Sydney, the vibe, beaches, restaurants. Brisbane was also cute and nice playgrounds. We had good weather in both places in their winter mid-60s to 70s and sunny (not warm enough to swim though).

Port Douglas has a beach but it has crocs so wouldn’t recommend as a beach destination. Obviously you have GBR so depends if you want to do that.

Every major city in Australia has beaches -- they're all on the coast. Look at a map. Perth is in the middle of nowhere and adds nothing to your itinerary but travel time.

Agree with PP -- if you only want cities and beaches, Australia is a long way to go for something that will feel very familiar.

Why would you go all the way to Australia just to see cities that aren't all that different from here??

The nature, the outback, the Aboriginal sites are the best part!!

Look at the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide. It's a great drive & Adelaide is a nice place.

I’m not particularly adventurous and would not be driving up the coast alone. I’d want to mainly visit cities like Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. I’d want to also see the beaches. Logistically, I know it’s a challenge so a few cities may need to be cut.

Anyone with thoughts on your favorite cities? Beaches? The number of how many days would be needed or logistics tips?