Holiday to Australia

Skye32

We would love to visit Australia, possibly next year. Can anyone suggest where to visit and any good travel agents that we could book through. It would be for 2 adults and 2 children. Ideally, we dream of living out there but thought we should visit first! Any suggestions would be great!:p

richardw

Perth is a great place. Emirates, Royal Brunei often have good deals.

rebl43

Skye, do you know about this forum? It is for people who want to emmigrate.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=54

Skye32

Hi Rebl43, Thanks for this site, can't wait to read it all!:T

LesD

We went a couple of years ago with Mercury-Direct and had a fabulous time. They have 3 weeks in May for c£900.

May (their autum) or November (spring) seem the best times to go.

Mimosa_Miminski

I have booked great flights, stop overs and accomodation with both TravelBag and TravelMood.

http://www.travelbag.co.uk/index.html?SOURCE=goog-brandwords&KEYWORD=Travelbag

http://www.travelmood.com/default/default.asp

I found the prices, service, and quality excellent. They're both very well established, reputable companies. I was particularly impressed with travelbag - as when there was a small issue with the stopover - they instantly gave me a full refund on the hotel and transfer straight away (even though the hotel was great - just a little further out that I was expecting).

Regarding flights: I've had better quality service with Singapore Airlines and Malaysian airlines. Wasn't too impressed with Quantas though. Haven't tried Emirates yet as the stopover locations don't appeal.

There used to be a special around Australia flight deal which we arranged in Melbourne at an STA travel shop. It meant that you could fly to different bits of Australia really cheaply (but could only be booked in Australia). Worth looking out for when you're there.

I recommend visiting Melbourne (St. Kilda, Lygon Street, Phillip Island, Great Ocean Road, Healsville animal sanctury) & Sydney (Harbour area, Ferrys to various islands), Personally I think Perth isn't that exciting compared to the other cities. If you want something a bit different go to Broome (and Malcolm Douglases crocodile farm), Uluru is ok for a day or too (but accomodation is very expensive)

JoseChungsDoomsday

Please, stay away from perth there really is nothing there to offer someone on a holiday.

Stick to the east coast - cairns, brisbane or sydney, you cant go wrong!

movieman

Yeah, Perth is a long way from anywhere else in Australia, so if you're going for a holiday then the other side would be better. However, I hear that Perth isn't a bad place to live if you want to emigrate.

One thing to remember is that Australia is very big, so getting from place to place can take quite a while if you're going over land rather than flying. I took a coach tour and while we weren't really in a hurry and were stopping along the way, it took days to get from one city to another.

coolagarry

We went for a month in Oct last year using travelmood which we were very pleased with.
Flew to Cairns and after a week flew to Brisbane. Stayed there for a week and then drove a self hire to Sydney (took a week going verry slowly) and spent a week in Sydney.
Travelmood fixed up the car hire but you can do it there yourself just as easily. I found the time on the road was the best. Motels all over the place at less than $100AU for a double room ( I imagine a family room wouldn't cost much more).
It's a lovely country with really nice friendly people. Driving is dead easy.

bergy2

Hi
My wife is an Aussie and we have 3 kids and went last year and been twice before

Flying - worth paying a bit more and avoid Qantas and BA - Malaysian and Singapore are meant to be class - we went qantas and were disappointed with the in flight stuff screwing both ways - new system they raved about too

Melbourne is a great city - Sydney too and many don't go to ACT Canberra but it is a beuatiful city - if you head to Melbourne pm me and I will fill you in on dozens of great things within 200ks

time of year means totally different things to do - we had a week at the NSW beach in a hot british summer - cold aussie one lol in March April but deserted - you can see Whales in October etc etc - so think it all through a bit b4 you book up

AussieLass

I wouldn't bother about Perth either.

I'd stick around the east coast on your first trip. Spring starts Sept 1st & Autumn 1st March so both these seasons are pretty mild. I wouldn't go in Summer with kids, especially when your'e not use to the heat. Can get pretty awful. Loads to see and do & places aren't that far away that you cant drive comfortably.

We flew with Japan Airlines and they were great. Had a stopover in Japan which is included in the ticket. You need it.

Have a great time.