sebe

Staying in Australia three to four weeks after a cruise around New Zealand.
Need help with Itinerary. Thinking 3 days Sydney, three days Melbourne, three days Adelaide, not sure where to stay and how long in Alice Springs, 3-4 days in Cairns.
Then thinking gold coast for a few days back to Sydney and home. Thinking of flying mostly and using the trains. Need help.

eliztravels

Not sure why you haven't had the usual replies to your post, but generally those who know Australia well caution against trying to fit in too many destinations. Give us some idea of your interests, month of arrival, and budget (hostels or 5 star?) and it will be easier point you in the right direction.

sebe

We will arrive on March 28th. Stay in Sydney for three days, go to Melbourne for four nights, Adelaide for 4 nights Alice
Springs 3-4 nights and Cairns for 4 nights. Then back to Sydney and home. Will fly between cities except melbourne to Adelaide was thinking of using the train. Not sure where to stay in Alice Springs because want to see Ayers Rock. Will be staying in Hiltons in all of the cities where they are. Want nice hotels.

tt7

For some reason, many visitors want to drive from place to place though often don't seem to appreciate the distances/time involved, so I'm always inclined to the view that it's easier to fly, as you are doing (particularly if you are in any way time-constrained). However, in your case, if you were to drive anywhere, it would be Melbourne-Adelaide (rather than taking the train). The second half of the drive may be a bit boring but the first half along the Great Ocean road (GOR) certainly isn't, so if one were going to drive anywhere in Australia, that's probably the place to do it. I would take a couple of days to drive along the GOR and cut a couple of days off the time in Adelaide. Adelaide is nice but there's not much there (except the wine regions) compared with Melbourne and Sydney.

http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions...cean-Road.aspx

http://www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/

Wulfstan

Sebe: just my two cents worth but my wife and I loved Airlie Beach, Queensland. It is on the Barrier Reef with heaps to do (sorry couldn't resist that!). A lot of islands off shore that cater to different tastes they are called the Whitsundays Islands. From the expensive Hayman Island to lesser ones: we stayed a few nights in Airlie Beach and a few on Club Crocodile on Long Island a few years ago. Easy to book and get out to or you can scuba or snorkel on the Barrier Reef if you would like. All sorts of activities, we went in Feb and the weather was perfect and it was low season we stayed in Airlie Beach for about 26 USA a night (this was a bit ago as the Aussie Dollar has gone up a bit. Very tropical our hosts told us that the largest crocodile in Australia had been found in the area. We flew here from Sydney. Hope it gives you an idea!

millie2112

I think you plan is doable, but you need to remember that flying to all these citites will be really exhausting.
the drive from melbourne to adelaide is very doable, as is the drive from Sydney to Melbourne.
I would then perhaps take a train from Adelaide to Alice Springs, and then maybe fly from their to the Gold Coast.