Travelling around Australia

[RuskinJazz]

Can anyone suggest a route to take when travelling around Australia. My boyfriend and I are flying out there on the 1st of November for a month. We really want to visit Byron Bay (like the hippy, chill out scene) and would like to end up in Perth to fly back to the UK after 4 weeks.

[Buenchico]

First, make sure that you've got an idea of the scale of the country. Think of the whole of Europe, from Ireland in the west to Poland in the east, and from Finland in the north to Spain and Greece in the south. Then add on about half as much again. That's Australia! It's massive and you'll only be able to see a very small part of it in a month.

A possible route might be to fly into Brisbane and spend about a week in the Brisbane/Byron Bay area. Then spend the second week based around Sydney. Head to Adelaide for a day or two but allocate the rest of the third week to Alice Springs, Kata Tjuta National Park and Uluru. That leaves you the final week to spend around Perth/Freemantle. (Make sure that you take a trip out to the Red Desert, it's unforgettable).

If you wanted to add Melbourne to the list, you could squeeze it in between Sydney and Adelaide. (Alternatively, you could go via Hobart, Tasmania).

Chris

[Rosetta]

We went for three weeks in October and it just wasn't long enough. We decided to do a few things well rather than dashing hither and thither, otherwise you spend all your time in airports.

In the end we went via Singapore for a few days, into Sydney which is a fab city (visit the Botanic Gardens to see the plants & the fruit bats, and Darling Harbour ) We then went to the Blue Mountains and then to Hunter Valley. Then up to Cairns for a week of sun and R & R.
I would love to go back, it was a brill holiday

I'm sure you too will have a fab time

[jno]

if you're flying around, you can see quite a bit in four weeks - it is bigger than Europe but a great deal emptier. Maybe include Sydney, Cairns (for the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest), Uluru/Ayers Rock and maybe Alice Springs in the outback, then Perth?

[pinktwink]

its a vast country i have recently returned having gone via singapore for 3 days. JNO is right in her ideas. We spent 5 nights in sydney whic was plenty then flew to ayres rock (uluru) 2 nights and headed by road to alice springs for 2 nights. Next we headed to Cairns a must for the great barrier reef and kuranda rainforest. We then went to port douglas a sleepy village and home. Would love to have done perth adelaide or melbourne but we only went for 4 weeks. The travel is tiring with time zones etc and especially as our days were packed with sightseeing activities. Schedule in rest days a must. Enjoy

[carmalee]

we went for over three months a while back - fabulous - don't underestimate the distances though. had business and family things but did the Great Barrier Reef thing - amazing - quite by chance we came upon Arlie Beach (between Brisbane and Cairns - Whitsunday Isles area) absolutely fantastic - so much so we stayed ages - there's a fabulous sea water pool - huge -plus really laid back atmosphere. have a great trip -but remember, depending what time of the year you go can make sea swimming on certain coasts dodgey because of serious jelly fish.

[jno]

and of course they've had a series of shark attacks recently, but you're safe in Alice :)

[coccinelle]

I won't tell you what I did as everyone's mentioned what's worth seeing. However out of all the places I've visited, I don't care much for Adelaide nor Melbourne. However, I LOVE Tasmania and Uluru is really worth seeing.