Anonymous wrote:Sydney is absolutely do not miss. You can do ferry trips to Manley, do the Bronte to Bondi walk, see The Rocks, day trip to the Blue Mountains. We never get tired of it. Museums, art scene...great food.

Port Douglas is a good base for the Reef and Daintree. Fly to Cairns.

I would skip Melbourne.

Agree with this - really loved Sydney, and the transport set up to get around the area is excellent.

Your teens might like the Sydney Bridge climb. I'm afraid of heights and even did it.

The problem with January is that it will be stinger season at the Great Barrier Reef, and too hot to comfortably visit the Red Center. Maybe go for Tasmania? We loved Sydney and Melbourne too.

Hi Australian here. Could you extend your trip a little? 12 days total is doable but not a long time for such a long way to go, jet lag will be a struggle for at least the first 24 hours.

Sydney and Melbourne are both gorgeous cities and different vibes- Sydney is more stunning scenery, iconic landmarks, beaches while Melbourne has more character and cultural type things.

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced bleaching so do some research on where is best to go- maybe you could ask on reddit or something.

I'd opt for New Zealand.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe 2 days in Melbourne and 2days on Kangaroo Island (which you access through Adelaide). That place is crawling with kangaroos (you can’t even drive at night), and lots of cool nature experiences . For the Great Barrier Reef, I would fly to Cairns, then travel by car/bus to Port Douglas. Besides seeing the reef I recommend a tour of the Daintree Rainforest .

In Sydney, walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. There is a pricy but cool sleepover option at the Taronga Zoo. (Ferry ride over is so pretty, worth a visit even if you don’t do the “Snore & Roar” option. )

Enjoy!

We did this in June, so our summer. Wore wetsuits when snorkeling the reef.

Their spring/winter was pleasant (weather wise).

If you find yourself with a night in Brisbane (like before flying home or en route to Port Douglas), take the family here:

https://eatstreetnorthshore.com.au/

It is a fun venue , with all different food venders who operate out of cargo containers. My teen daughter really enjoyed it.

For one and only trip, I would do Sydney, Cairns/Port Douglas/GBR, Uluru (Ayers Rock).

I was underwhelmed by Daintree rainforest, took a guided day trip from Cairns. It’s basically an elevated pathway that you walk on. Later I found out there are other entries into the rainforest. With grandparents, maybe guided day trip is best but if I were to do it again, I would DIY and find other ways to explore besides walking on the platform for hours. The river boat trip to get there was cool, to see crocodiles.

I would do some research on best way to see the Great Barrier Reef, and do a scuba or snorkelling trip in areas that are less bleached. North or south of cairns.

I liked Sydney. I definitely would not exclude. I also visited Brisbane because I had a conference there. There was a koala zoo an hour away where you can see lots of koalas. This is fine if you don’t have a lot of time or if mobility is an issue.

I heard Kangeroo island is cool. I did not get a chance to go,

If there is more time, I think Tasmania would be worth a visit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We visited Melbourne for a week plus and barely scratched the surface. Really lovely place to do day trips from too.

I agree on the daytrips. We drove the Great Ocean Road to see the apostles, went to see penguins at Philip Island, went to some wineries.

What time of the year?

January

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We visited Melbourne for a week plus and barely scratched the surface. Really lovely place to do day trips from too.

I agree on the daytrips. We drove the Great Ocean Road to see the apostles, went to see penguins at Philip Island, went to some wineries.

What time of the year?

Anonymous wrote:Sydney is absolutely do not miss. You can do ferry trips to Manley, do the Bronte to Bondi walk, see The Rocks, day trip to the Blue Mountains. We never get tired of it. Museums, art scene...great food.

Port Douglas is a good base for the Reef and Daintree. Fly to Cairns.

I would skip Melbourne.

I love the zoo show on Nat Geo Wild and would love to go to Taronga zoo. It’s supposed to be small and you can take a ferry across the bay/harbor to get there.

Anonymous wrote:We visited Melbourne for a week plus and barely scratched the surface. Really lovely place to do day trips from too.

I agree on the daytrips. We drove the Great Ocean Road to see the apostles, went to see penguins at Philip Island, went to some wineries.

We visited Melbourne for a week plus and barely scratched the surface. Really lovely place to do day trips from too.

Maybe 2 days in Melbourne and 2days on Kangaroo Island (which you access through Adelaide). That place is crawling with kangaroos (you can’t even drive at night), and lots of cool nature experiences . For the Great Barrier Reef, I would fly to Cairns, then travel by car/bus to Port Douglas. Besides seeing the reef I recommend a tour of the Daintree Rainforest .

In Sydney, walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge. There is a pricy but cool sleepover option at the Taronga Zoo. (Ferry ride over is so pretty, worth a visit even if you don’t do the “Snore & Roar” option. )

Enjoy!

If you are going in the Australian summer, it is the wrong season for north Queensland or the Northern Territory. You could go as far north as the Whitsundays but that’s it.

If you are going in the Australian winter, don’t go further south than Sydney.

Please tell us which season so we can give better recommendations.