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Hey All,

I'm planning a vacation in Aussie for about 16-18 Days in January, and am looking for advice of things to do. I had at first thought I would spend the entire trip in Sydney, but that seems like a waste. I up open to any ideas or things that I should see while I'm here.

I was also looking for Hotel recommendations. I was thinking either the Westin or the Mariott while I was in Sydney. Are these in a good location?

Thanks a bunch!

Personally, I'd look for local festivals/events to check out around part of the country and see if you can either work it into the trip, or make it a central point of it.


But for a vacation, I personally think that staying all 16-18 in one city (even if it is one of the "Great Cities" of the world) isn't as fulfilling of a trip as seeing other locales as well.

First watch out for drop bears.
Now with that out the way, I would recommend travelling around a bit seeing different areas. I would recommend at least some bush walking or see if their any caves within the area that you decide to stay that do tours. A crocodile farm might interest you because i know some offer tours and croc meat is quite nice to eat.

Remember to bring a poking stick to annoy the wildlife.

If you have the time I'd make my way to the northern NSW coast. Some places there (Byron Bay and especially Lennox Head) are beyond beautiful. That would be easiest if you're renting a car, although I'm sure some buses go by.

For QLD.....we don't have much that's amazing unless something is on haha. I'd say if you want a lovely Australian beach then northern NSW has the gold coast (apparently a tourist-y part of qld, god knows why) beat.

Spending all that time in Sydney would be a real waste. Darling Harbour is amazing, it has a real magic, but outside of that Sydney is a bit gak, really. Honestly you could land there, spend a few days and then look to move on.

Other than that it depends what you want. If you just want city life then look to spend some time in Melbourne, that city has a real energy and life to it. If you want scenery then the Great Ocean Road is marvellous, a couple of days there and you'll see some amazing things.

As a West Aussie I'm bound by law to tell you that Margaret River is among the best food and wine locations in the world, and we have the best beaches in the world... but we're also quite a long way away if you're looking to base yourself on the east coast.

Thing is with Sydney is to keep in mind the lockout laws if you were looking to maybe spend a long night out on the town and stuff. I'd say start there then explore more northwards or go to Melbourne and explore down there; resist the temptation to see Canberra if you get it, it'd be like standing in line at the post office in terms of fun activities.

 n0t_u wrote:
keep in mind the lockout laws

 n0t_u wrote:
explore more northwards

Sadly, we've got similar laws mostly in place, at least in Brisbane. No shots/bombs/shooters etc after midnight, everything cuts off earlyish (up to 3) depending where you are.

 n0t_u wrote:
go to Melbourne and explore down there

From what I've heard this is spot on, Melbourne is meant to be fantastic.

 n0t_u wrote:
; resist the temptation to see Canberra if you get it, it'd be like standing in line at the post office in terms of fun activities.

If you're into military stuff then the Australian War Memorial is worth a gnader, but otherwise yeah I'm not sure what you'd get out of heading there, parliament house isn't that great or anything.

I'd meant like see the sights going north.
You can only really look around Darling Harbour for so long.

 motyak wrote:
If you're into military stuff then the Australian War Memorial is worth a gnader, but otherwise yeah I'm not sure what you'd get out of heading there, parliament house isn't that great or anything.

Canberra is pretty decent for a bunch of stuff, the national museum is great for instance.

It's just that street life is terrible. It's like every government town in that sense. Washington DC is the same - great tourist spots but the overall vibe is really bad.

motyak wrote:If you have the time I'd make my way to the northern NSW coast. Some places there (Byron Bay and especially Lennox Head) are beyond beautiful. That would be easiest if you're renting a car, although I'm sure some buses go by.

For QLD.....we don't have much that's amazing unless something is on haha. I'd say if you want a lovely Australian beach then northern NSW has the gold coast (apparently a tourist-y part of qld, god knows why) beat.

These places look awesome, what kind of a drive are we talking? Are these places I should spend a night or two at?

sebster wrote:Spending all that time in Sydney would be a real waste. Darling Harbour is amazing, it has a real magic, but outside of that Sydney is a bit gak, really. Honestly you could land there, spend a few days and then look to move on.

Other than that it depends what you want. If you just want city life then look to spend some time in Melbourne, that city has a real energy and life to it. If you want scenery then the Great Ocean Road is marvellous, a couple of days there and you'll see some amazing things.

As a West Aussie I'm bound by law to tell you that Margaret River is among the best food and wine locations in the world, and we have the best beaches in the world... but we're also quite a long way away if you're looking to base yourself on the east coast.

I agree, the more I think about it, the more of a waste it would be to spend nearly 3 weeks in One City. Melbourne looks pretty fun, and I just looked at some pictures of Victoria, it looks stunning.

Margret river looks gorgeous as well. There are so many awesome beaches in Austrailia, every picture I see is just stunning. I'm also a huge craft beer fan... I might even find one my wife likes.

I'm honestly just a little overwhelmed. I've never quite had to plan a vacation for this long in a place I haven't visited before, so I really appreciate the advice from everyone so far!

Why on earth are you coming here? I'm probably not a good person to ask because even though I've grown up here, I've actually spent more time travelling in the States and other countries than I have in Australia

But if I were coming to Australia for a vacation, I'd probably spend more time exploring the countryside rather than the cities. Maybe spend a couple of days in Sydney and a couple of days in Melbourne at most, then hit the road.

 Sasori wrote:
I'm honestly just a little overwhelmed. I've never quite had to plan a vacation for this long in a place I haven't visited before, so I really appreciate the advice from everyone so far!

Sounds like the same problem my wife and I had planning our trip of the US

WIth that amount of time there's plenty you can get done. One big thing though is to avoid doing too much, because Australia is a sparse place and so travel time can quickly chew up lots of your trip. That's why I was a bit reluctant in recommending Margaret River. It is simply amazing, but to get here you'd be looking at a flight from a major city, so that's half a day gone, and then getting in a car from Perth and travelling for another half a day. It's worth it for an extended stay, but not for a couple of days.

Probably doing Sydney and Melbourne, with some time spent up and down the coast would be the winning option. Maybe check out the Great Ocean Road, you drive out of Melbourne and then head along the coast, it's beautiful, there's lots of nice towns along the way, and there's lots of nice scenic spots.

Thinking about, given you're coming in January, it might be best to stick to the coast and do the beaches more than anything. It can be obnoxiously hot in January, and that only gets worse if you head inland.

If you look at a satellite image of Australia, the areas that are less green/more red might be unpleasant if you don't like heat, though a lot of it is a dry heat. I found most of the USA more unpleasant in the summer because of the humidity in most the places I visited even though the temperature might have been a bit lower.

Tasmania could be a good trip as well, there's a ferry across that could be interesting, I've never taken it myself though....

https://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/

AllSeeingSkink wrote:Why on earth are you coming here? I'm probably not a good person to ask because even though I've grown up here, I've actually spent more time travelling in the States and other countries than I have in Australia

But if I were coming to Australia for a vacation, I'd probably spend more time exploring the countryside rather than the cities. Maybe spend a couple of days in Sydney and a couple of days in Melbourne at most, then hit the road.

My wife has family in Adelaide, so she will be arriving before me to spend Christmas and part of December with them, before meeting up with me when I arrive in January. Plus, to be honest I have always wanted to visit. When I was a kid I dreamed of being a herpatolgist and living in Austrailia!

sebster wrote:

 Sasori wrote:
I'm honestly just a little overwhelmed. I've never quite had to plan a vacation for this long in a place I haven't visited before, so I really appreciate the advice from everyone so far!

Sounds like the same problem my wife and I had planning our trip of the US

WIth that amount of time there's plenty you can get done. One big thing though is to avoid doing too much, because Australia is a sparse place and so travel time can quickly chew up lots of your trip. That's why I was a bit reluctant in recommending Margaret River. It is simply amazing, but to get here you'd be looking at a flight from a major city, so that's half a day gone, and then getting in a car from Perth and travelling for another half a day. It's worth it for an extended stay, but not for a couple of days.

Probably doing Sydney and Melbourne, with some time spent up and down the coast would be the winning option. Maybe check out the Great Ocean Road, you drive out of Melbourne and then head along the coast, it's beautiful, there's lots of nice towns along the way, and there's lots of nice scenic spots.

Thinking about, given you're coming in January, it might be best to stick to the coast and do the beaches more than anything. It can be obnoxiously hot in January, and that only gets worse if you head inland.

Seb,

I really appreciate the advice.

It sounds like from you and Motyak's advice my best bet is to spend about 8 days in Sydney and 8 Days in Melbourne, and from there just visit everything that is in a reasonable distance of them. This will cut down on the major traveling time, and allow me to at least get the best out of the first visit.

Also, are there any reputable "Outback" sort of tourist things to do? I imagine there is got to be something cool that can be done, but I don't know from which city or even what organization would be best.