We're planning to go to Australia in August. We'll start in Sydney for 3 or 4 days, and end at the GBR for 3 or 4 days. That leaves another 3 or 4 days in the middle. We're interested in Kangaroo Island and Uluru. I notice that many of the packaged tours make lots of 1 and 2 day stops. Should we take this approach on our own and do both? If not, any thoughts on the better choice? Also, are the Blue Mountains worth more than a day trip from Sydney? We'll be traveling with our two kids (12 and 15). Thanks.

A day in the Blue Mountains, if you like hiking its beautiful and lots of antique and crafty shops at Leura you can get a train there or drive very scenic.

My husband and child drove to Ayers Rock we stayed at a Resort there (most expensive hotel on our trip but worth every cent, we did the breakfast sunrise to watch the sunrise on the Rock and saw wild animals even patted a dingo, my son loved it early start though worth the money. I don't know how much the tours are you could try a travel agent in Sydney.
have fun.

i would do Syd, then do uluru over KI then GBR. there are a number of tours at uluru - i'm looking at going in June so I'm currently sussing them out. Also recently an old post resurfaced with some valuable information in it. you could do a 2-3 day tour at uluru (uluru and kata tjuta and kings canyon) and then go to barrier reef. depends on what you like to do and how much luxury you like, but if you're into the great outdoors, the wayoutback sleep in swags (or tents can be arranged if you need them). I did a tour Darwin - Broome - Darwin in a swag and it was excellent, but then again, I'm a camper, so that sort of thing does it for me.

if you have 4 days in Syd you could overnight in BM, but with 3 days, just do a day trip. I recently stayed here http://www.federationgardens.com/ at Blackheath, which was excellent for families - 2br cottage, tennis court, heated pool, table tennis. Not sure if that's your sort of thing, but I enjoyed it.

Thanks for the advice. There are so many options that it makes it hard to choose. I'll look into tours at Uluru.

Hi, mandelieu, is your itinerary excluding travel days? I sure hope so because it does take a day of travel on each of the transfer days (i.e., a day to get to Uluru, another one to Cairns, etc.) If you only have 9-12 days total, I advise only going to Sydney and the GBR. We are currently planning our second trip to Australia and it is 5 weeks and we are only going to Sydney and Far North Queensland! Also, go to the Qantas site or webjet and see what times flights go to where you want to go. And check out the prices. I just did a quick look at Qantas and the flight from Uluru to Cairns is $360 pp AUD. Not fun to pay for 4 people! That said, our trip to Uluru was awesome and also the GBR and Sydney. Lastly, if you are wanting to spend more time in the Blue Mountains and less in the city, look into Jenolan Caves. I think kids the ages of yours would really love it there. (www.jenolancaves.com)
Sally in Seattle

I would not do both K.I. and Uluru if you only have 3 or 4 days. That's much too much traveling for the amount of time you have.
Something to consider is the weather. We were at Uluru and K.I. once in late July. The days were pleasant in Uluru, but it was cold once the sun went down. It was chilly all day on K.I., but not unpleasantly so. Whichever destination you choose, you will need some warm clothing.
You will also want to factor in the costs of transportation and accomodations. Accomodations and food are very expensive at Uluru. There are many more choices on K.I. so that you can find something in your budget. Once you get to either destination, you will have to decide if you want to rent a car or take tours. Uluru is far from Yulara Village (the accomodations area), so you can't just walk over there. There are tours from Yulara to Uluru and to the Olgas, but they aren't cheap. For your family of 4, it would be much more cost-effective to rent a car (and it would give you more flexiblity as well.) As for K.I., there are some good 1-day tours which give you an overview of the island. We did this on our first trip, but on our second visit we rented a car and this is a good option, especially if you have more than one day to devote to your visit.
Finally, your choice of Uluru or K.I. will depend a lot on what you want to see/do. At Uluru, you can see an amazing monolith and walk around it (about 9 km) or climb it (the Aborigines request that you don't, but it's your decision). You can also do some hiking at the Olgas. At K.I., there is a lot of wildlife to see--sea lions (up close, but not too close), koalas (loads of them at Koala Walk--ask how to get there), kangaroos, pelicans, etc. plus some amazing scenery--sand dunes, rock formations, and a cave. There's also some amazing hikes in Flinders Chase N.P.
Finally, I think that one day devoted to the Blue Mountains will be sufficient. You can do this as a day trip by train if you don't want to drive.

Thanks for the input. I'll have to survey the family to see what sounds most interesting to them. I'm leaning towards KI since my daughter loves animals, but it's hard to pass up Uluru.