planning trip to oz

boroboy1954

Just starting to plan a trip to oz feb 2011 for me&my better .Would be grateful for any input as to itinerary and how much i will need roughly this is our 1st time.
Dates are flexible-feb1st Newcastle,Manchester,London via Dubai or Singapore 2nights.Feb4 fly Perth,Cairns,Sydney,Melbourne that is the order of sightseeing that i have in mind.Feb20 fly Bangkok(Phuket)March3 fly UK. Any tips and advice for best flights ,hotels,rail travel, tours, sights.Many thanks in advance.:)

joebob

We went feb 13th to march 17th this year. stopped off in singapore for 2 nights, great place went to raffles for a singapore sling about £18, went to sentosa island where there is an old pow camp you can go on a 1000 metre tobogan run and theres a little beach.
you can visit chinatown and little india as well. boat trips,a singapore eye. a big bar and restaraunt complex but drinks are very expensive. when we went it was the chinese new year end alot of shops and restaraunts were closed, still a great place to go.
when we got to oz we went on a 8 day cruise to tasmania stopping at melbourne for 2 days went to the zoo, and the prison that ned kelly was executed in well worth a visit.
stayed in sydney for 5 days highlights were bondi beach,manly beach, aday trip to the blue mountains approx$95 while we were there the mardi gras was on a brilliant atmosphere about 250.000 people on the street, went to cairns hot and sweaty wasnt too keen on cairns it selfno beach just a giant swimming pool, good base for trips thou went to green island for the day approx $100 can snorkel on reef glass bottom boat, helecopter rides, loads of jelly fish.
went on the karunda railway to karunda which is like an old hippy town worth a visit as you come back on the longest cable car ride in the world 7.5 kilometres, about $50 for day trip.
then went to hamilton islands for 3 days not that impressed only golf buggies for transport costly as well couple of bars and eating places.
the flight down from cairns was great for seeing the barrier reef.
then went to brisbane not much there for tourists we hired a car and went to surfers paradise,which was good.
finished off in fiji but was out of luck as there was a hurricane and we were in hotel for 4 days.
overall really enjoyed holiday will be going back in 2012 to sydney melbourne and other new places.

richardw

Consider emirates from NCL to PER via DXB.

Red_dog_Sam

Cairns - The barrier reef is the main thing to see. Plenty of options for trips when you're there - snorkelling , submarine , diving. I opted for a sail boat (slower than the powered boats but quieter and more fun) with guided snorkelling tours and an introductory dive (if you're a beginner). Also recommend a trip on the Kuranda scenic railway. You can get the skyrail cable car up and the train down.

Sydney - Loads to do. Ferry from Circular Quay to Zoo or Manley. Bondi. Harbour Bridge. Opera House. Tower. Night on the town! You can get a train from Sydney to Katoomba and hike into the Blue Mountains for the day. If you don't mind heights there's the skyride cable car and the world's steepest incline railway to try whist you're there!

Melboure is well know for it's trams - the burgundy one is free and is a good way of seeing the city. Bonza! If I ever go again I'll make sure my trip co-incides with a TEST MATCH! :-)

markandkate

Went for a month 4 years ago. Distances are vast and you will waste a huge ammount of time driving so fly as much as possilbe. We flew from Cairns to Sydney and it took 4 hours ( the same as a flight to Tenerife). Perth is Ok but the city tour bus takes 90 minutes! There is not a huge amount to see unless you really want to visit the west coast I would not bother

Uluru is fascinating but a big expensive money trap If there is a way to fly in and out in a day then do it. If not try looking at Peter Pan travel who have short tours.

In sydney you can get to the Blue Montains by train and other places too so look at day trips from the city rather than travelling around as there are plenty of places that you can get to

If going to CAirns or anywhere on the barrier reef book your trip before you get there you willonly waste a day going round all the places trying to chose where to go otherwise.

**curlywurly**

We go to Aus every year for a month mid March-mid April depending on when Easter is. Been to Cairns (wouldn't recommend - Port Douglas, about an hour up the coast is a lot nicer) - GBR is a must, as is Kuranda, and if you can drive up to Cape Trib it's an unforgettable place, Sunshine Coast (north of Bris - highly recommend), Gold Coast (south of Bris, recommend, but Sunshine Coast nicer), and drove all the way down the Coast to Sydney. You need about 5 days in Sydney, my highlights are Darling Harbour, Manly, Blue Mountains and a trip to the Opera House is a must. Also drove about 300 miles south of Sydney, very nice indeed, recommend.

We have flown with Emirates and Etihad. HAve a slight preference for the latter, but I am not sure if the stopovers are the ones you want. We didn't do stopovers - we found they added too much to the price.

I suggest you get a map, decide how long you want to spend in each place then get on Tripadvisor to choose your hotels. Also the Dorling Kindersley book "Australia" is very good, as are the Lonely Planet Guides. I read all of them cover to cover before I planned the trips. I agree with poster above that you may be better doing one coast rather than west and east.

Look at http://www.webjet.com.au/ for comparing prices of internal flights. It is often cheaper to fly on a particular day of the week so factor that in for your changeover days. We have flown with Virgin Blue and Jetstar and both are good. Beware though, the luggage allowance is not great.

I absolutely love Australia and now would not consider going anywhere else for our main family holiday. My favourite place which we have visited is Maroochydore (Sunshine Coast).

blued

We fly out via Dubai tomorrow for a month so will update with our experiences. We're starting at Brisbane and then heading south flying out of Melbourne.

fileyboy

Try for a Hong Kong stopover- much better than singapore. In Oz Sydney, Noosa, Whitsundays (airlie beach). on return a couple of nights in Bangkok plus Kho Samui rather than Phuket.

markandkate

If you are going to stop over in Hong Kong and want to do some serious shopping then do it on the way home otherwise you will be carrying your purchases all round Oz with you

Susan1942

I have travelled to Australia several times and stoipping over in various places.
However I now choose to fly with Singapore Airlines as I am happy with the standard of service etc.
I am flying out late November for 8 weeks and whilst SIA used to fly direct from Manchester to Singapore and then on going to Perth now that Manchester flight is coming down in Munich which is adding one hour to the travel time. I would prefer this to flying to Heathrow and having to board another Aircraft etc.

Sue