Australia and NZ visit!
 

I am from India, and am planning to visit Aus and NZ by mid December. COuld someone tell me how someone like me(new in Aus and NZ) can find the best tour operators?I tried Googling, got some idea about NZ. But its still confusing. Should I seek the help of Travel agents from India/ should I contact in NZ directly.

It would be great if someone could throw some light on how tourism works in Australia too,ie the various steps involved in finalizing and booking a trip. Thank you.

If you're just looking for an organized tour, I suggest you start online - here are a few totally random options, none of which I am personally familiar with, but I'm sure you can find reviews online.

https://www.zicasso.com/luxury-tours...-travel-agency

http://www.tourradar.com/g/australia-tour-operators

https://www.goway.com/trips/dest/aus...try/australia/

https://www.discovernewzealand.com/

Most posters here are independent, do-it-yourself-travellers. We'd be happy to help you build an itinerary if you can provide more specifics, such as:.

Have you booked flights? If so, where are you flying into and out of?

How much time do you have?

Where would you like to visit? Australia is HUGE and NZ is vast in its own way. What attracted you to these two countries in the first place - the ocean, the outback, the forests, hikes, outdoor pursuits, museums, what?

Have you looked into visas?

We need much, much more info to help.

That "much more information " includes

How many & what age groups in your party
When you are coming - dates will help, otherwise month/s
How long you will be in Australia
How long in New Zealand
Would you rent a car to drive in regional areas & day trips out of major cities - or would you be reliant upon public
Transport & organised tours

What are your interests? - Art Galleries/ theatre/ museums
Nature, bushwalking, scenic drives?

Have you already booked your flights? If so - what are your entry & departure ports?

Travel style - do you like to rush about, glimpsing as much as possible, or do you prefer to have a more relaxed style with 2-3 nights in each place as a minimum?

This may seem like a lot of questions. We're not spying on you, truly. Just trying to get a sense of who is coming & what your interests are, so that suggestions made are relevant to you.

Here are a few good starting points:

Get a good paper map of Australia, so you can see where various places are in relation to each other.

Use Google maps and/ or Rome2Rio as a rough guide to distance cws, travel modes and times.

www.Australia.com
Look at the Destination tags & FAQs here

Accommodation: Booking.com, Airbnb
Use this to see options, locations & prices.
NOTE: Prices vary according to dates, so if you have a rough idea of when you are coming, use those dates. If. It, use the month you think you may come.

Airlines: webjet for an Overview. Book direct with the airline.
There are 4 domestic carriers

Qantas & Virgin - full service, with a 23kg luggage allowance.
Jetstar & Tiger - low cost carriers. Charge extra for everything
Make sure you read & understand the T & Cs before you buy on All carriers. And car rental companies.

Rental cars: vroom vroom

Lastly, as Melnq8 says, Australia is a big place - this will give you some comparisons.

Here's the link: https://www.buzzfeed.com/simoncrerar...ustralian-maps

If you have not already booked your flights - wait until

1) You have your Visas
http://www.border.gov.au/Lega/Lega/F...isit-australia

2) You have a good idea of where you want to go. In many cases, "open jaw" flights make most sense in our large country. That is, flying into one city and out of another.

PS - I missed the December in your first post. Dates will be very important. December is our long school & other holidays - and peak tourism time. This applies particularly for the days surrounding NYE in Sydney.

There is so much involved in a long haul destination and it is an expensive trip so worth getting right! I would always recommend using a specialist company, they will tailor make your holiday based on your interests and the knowledge that they offer is invaluable.
December is a peak time to travel and Australia is hosting the Ashes cricket series so availability will be limited, it is definitely worth booking things as soon as you can.

Culture Club, you should know that promoting your own business is not allowed on Fodors. If not, read the Terms & Conditions to which you agreed when you joined.

Despite your attempt at self-serving promotion -many, many people can and do make their own trip arrangements.

Your company may do a good job, but flouting rules to promote it doesn't do much for its reputation in my book!