Land tour in Australia

[Nonnie1975]

Australia is next on my bucket list. We want to do a land tour before we go on the cruise. Any suggestions??? What are some must sees? TIA!

[CruiserBruce]

There is all sorts of info on the Australia boards...more appropriate than here.

 

The first thing in touring Australia is an understanding of just how big the country is. It is the same size as the continental US, but less than 10% of the population. And over 90% of that population lives within 100 miles of a coast. So things are extremely spread out, and to see them takes extra travel. So if you arrive in Sydney (about equal to Charlotte NC in location), Ayers Rock is about Denver, Great Barrier Reef is NYC and north, Perth is Los Angeles, etc.

 

Take that into consideration as you first figure out how much time you have.

[casofilia]

We want to do a land tour before we go on the cruise. Any suggestions??? What are some must sees?

3 weeks minimum!! Hire a car and go up to north of Brisbane for a few days. Back to Sydney and fly to Melbourne and do the same even going to Adelaide and back. You could start by flying in to Perth rather than Sydney or Brisbane and spend a few days in the West.

[Kinkacruiser]

Hello Nonnie,

The Princess Land tour pre-cruise will take you to all the tourist" hot spots" in less than a week, but it is pricey. That said, it would cost the same if you DIY over a longer period.

My suggestions:

Western Australia - Bungle Bungles in the Kimberleys, Margaret River south of Perth, Adelaide and nearby Barossa Valley (wine district), Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Queensland's Great Barrier Reef and Cairn's hinterland, Northern Territory's Uluru. You can see a bit of Tasmania if you include it in your cruise itinerary. If you stay withing 100 miles of the coastline you can minimize cost and time constraints.

We're a big country with lots to see out of the cities. Enjoy your time over here.

[Aus Traveller]

My suggestion is the tour that Japanese tourists used to take when they came to see Australia in a week. Fly into either Brisbane or Cairns (the latter might not be available). Fly domestic to Cairns and spend a few days seeing the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree rainforest. Fly to Uluru (Ayers Rock) for a couple of days, then fly to Sydney for a couple of days. You can easily research available flights to accomplish the above.

[casofilia]

A "Land Tour" in one week; bah humbug.

[Wehwalt]

The Hunter Valley wine area NW of Sydney is very nice and can be reached by regional train.

[skynight]

We did the Princess land tour a number of years ago. All high end. Was not disappointed. Tip. fly in at least 1 better two days early. There is major jet lag. We flew in four days early with a two night stopover in Melbourne. Great city.

[getting older slowly]

Think of what you really want to see, landmarks, scenery, cities, museums, or see history , or cultural things...... and then work from there..... ie if you are into trains... the Indian Pacific Sydney to Perth.. one of the great train trips in the world .....

 

But enjoy and see what interests you the most... and yes it is a long way between things

 

Cheers Don

[donaldsc]

A "Land Tour" in one week; bah humbug.

 

Totally agree. Doing Australia in a week is equivalent to visiting the US and doing a 1 week tour of the United States and makes as much sense. If you only have a week, either don't bother or pick one small section of Australia and just visit that.

 

DON

[dfields1814]

IMO Where you go is not the most important issue. What you want to do is put yourself in situations where you will meet and have direct experiences with the Australian people (as well as New Zealanders). I have been there several times. My best memories are the people I met there makes no difference where. I would suggest find activities that put in contact with the locals.

 

That being said my favorite two places are Alice Springs and Darwin and their surrounding areas. But they are a bit far from Sydney. Sydney is one of my favorite cites in the world. There is a lot to see and do there. Try to get a room as close to the harbor as you can. We stayed at the Marriott and walked to the ship. See the Barrier Reef while it is still there. Melbourne is nice city as well as Adelaide and the nearby wine country. If the weather is right Brisbane and the Gold Coast are fun. Never been to Perth but would like to go there on the train.

 

My first trip there I stayed a month and it wasn't enough.

 

Last time we were there my wife and I were walking around the Rocks area in Sydney. She walked back to the hotel. I told her I would be there in a hour. Huge mistake. Ended up at the Fortune of War pub and returned 4 hours later. Not good. But I met some life long friends there. I wish I could remember their names. LOL