Hi! My husband and I are planning a 21 day trip to Australia in Feb. We'd like to visit the following: Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. We'll be landing in Sydney and are looking for suggestions as to where we should go from there and...in which order should we visit the places noted above? Also, we'd like your opinion on how much time we should stay in each place. Thanks in advance for your help! Gerry

Hi Gerry, <BR>You are certainly covering a lot of ground on your trip! A lot depends on your interests, are you city types, do you love desert country or are you beach people? <BR>The best idea is sort of a circle, except that Ayers Rock is in the middle. What about Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and back to Sydney. Not sure if you realise, but Ayers Rock is about 500km south of Alice Springs. You can fly into the Ayers Rock area or into Alice Springs but if you only have a day or two, flying into the Ayers Rock area will save a lot of time. The Olgas and Kings Canyon (both well worth the visit) are both in the Ayers Rock vicinity. <BR>What about 2 days Perth (visit Rottnest Island and Fremantle), 2 days Adelaide, 2 days Ayers Rock, 4 days Cairns (visit Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda, Daintree rainforest), 3 days Melbourne and 3 days Sydney. You'll also need to allow travelling time. To give you an idea, Perth is about 5 hours flying time from Melbourne. <BR>Hope this helps with your planning. Kay

It will definately be a busy trip sto cover all that ground in 21 days!One way to do it would be to fly straight to Cairns from Sydney airport and then work your way down the coast to Sydney then fly to Melb.Maybe skip Adelaide,( no offense meant) and fly to Perth, Alice then visit sydney at the end?It really does depend on what sort of thing you like to do, I find Cairns very toursity, and would prefer to spend longer in the N. Territory looking atAboriginal cave paintings <BR>I live in Melbourne and think it has great things to do for at least several days, <BR>Again its not Perth city I would visit but Margret River,Rottnest,Or even as far as Broome, <BR>good Luck try searching each states tourist site, I think vic"s is www.visitvictoria.com.au <BR>

My wife and I did a very similar trip five years ago. Our path was as follows: Syndey to Brisbane to Cairns to Alice Springs to Ayer's Rock to Perth to Adelaide to Melbourne to Hobart and then back to Melbourne and over to Auckland for a tour of New Zealand. The highlights for our were Sydney, Kangaroo Island (off Adelaide), Tasmania and the reef. Although we really enjoyed Ayer's Rock for the tremendous scenery (especially the Olgas nearby), we found Alice Springs to be a disappointment. We also though Brisbane, while a very nice city and people, offered less things to see and do than Melbourne and Sydney. in terms of time in each spot, we spent 5 days in and around Sydney (which included a trip to the Blue Mountains and Canbera), two nights in Brisbane, five nights in and around Cairns and the reef (we elected not to stay in Cairns but in Palm Cove which was slightly to the north of Cairns which was a much better option), we then had a day in Alice Springs, a day at Ayer's Rock, three days in Perth, three in Adelaide (with one day on Kangaroo Island), three days in Melbourne and five days in Tasmania. I think our timing was just right although it certainly felt like we spent a lot of time in airports and on planes but that's the price to pay if you want to see so much of the vast country. I hope this helps and please feel free to write back if you have additional questions. Best of luck!

I would agree with Hans to stay at one of the beaches just north of Cairns rather than in the city - it's nothing like the sleepy town I grew up in & is now tacky & touristy to the extreme. Nevertheless its a great gateway to the reef & rainforest. I would also suggest skipping Brisbane - I went to university there & its a great place to live but nothing much to recommend it to travellers other than thats its close to the Sunshine Coast (north) & Gold Coast (south). I've never been to Perth or Adelaide but I'm not sure if 21 days is really enough time to include them & still have enough time to do justice to Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns & Ayres Rock.

You are planning a lot!--but it's possible. I just took 20 days to go to Melbourne and area, Tasmania, Ayers Rock, Cairns (stayed in Palm Cove), then finally Sydney. Loved it all, but probably liked Sydney least, partly because the weather was the worst--and seemed like such a huge city---although a beautiful big city (incredible harbor), and wouldn't have missed it. Also spent the most time in Melbourne, Tasmania and Victoria so got a wonderful feel of it---I could move there in a minute. Loved going to the small towns. And the people are so incredibly nice. At the same time, I wouldn't have missed any of the things I did, and would especially like to have seen Perth. But Adelaide and Brisbane would be interesting too. Itinerary for you: Sydney (Darling Harbor, Rocks, explorer ferry), Brisbane ?, Cairns (stay in Palm Cove or Port Douglas--take Quicksilver tour to the reef, Kuranda and cultural center, Drive to Mossman and Port Douglas), Ayers Rock-Uhluru, Olgas--King's Canyon (we especially liked the cultural tour at Uhluru), Perth ?, Adelaide (Kangaroo Island), Melbourne (fairy penguins on Phillip Island, Great Ocean Road, Botanical Gardens and Market (take the explorer bus and you can get off and on where it looks interesting to you), ferry to Williamstown, zoo or Healesville Sanctuary, Lygon Street, Great Ocean Road, Yarra wine region, Wilson's Prom, the Grampians, Burke Street for shopping, plays), Tasmania (Hobart, Lounceston, Cradle Mountain), then leave from Sydney. Sounds wonderful! You can always go back to the places you liked the best to explore more---I plan to--and add some more!