alishaandchris07

Hello, everyone! I wa swondering if I could get some feedback on our itinerary to Australia. We are going in November for our honeymoon... first timers!!! And we are so excited!! But I am stressing out with the itinerary!! I know we will not be able to see everything but we want to make sure we are making the most of our time. I am not sure ... well.. let me first tell you the itinerary.

Nov 2- 3: Travel to Sydney (via LA and Seoul)
Nov 4: arrive in Sydney in the am
Nov 5: Sydney sightsee
Nov 6: fly to Cairns in the am; spend the day in Cairns
Nov 7: Cairns (GBR)
Nov 8: Cairns (rainforest)
Nov 9: fly to Uluru (Ayer's Rock); spend the day there
Nov 10: Uluru
Nov 11: fly to Adelaide; spend the day there
Nov 12: Adelaide
Nov 13: Adelaide; fly to Sydney that night
Nov 14: Hunter Valley (we love wine!)
Nov 15: Hunter Valley
Nov 16: Blue Mountain; and back to Sydney
Nov 17: fly home from Sydney in the am

How does that look? Too busy? Should we jsut skip Ayer's Rock? That is where we are torn. Is it worth going to there or should we save it for our 10year when we go back?

Your advice would be sooooo greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!

Bokhara

Hi Alishaandchris
Congratulations!

I'd say "Go for it" ... but if you could fly into Cairns & out of Sydney & add those 2 days at the end to your time in Sydney, you'd probably get more out of it than 1 1/2 days in the beginning.

Only other amendment I'd make, is perhaps delete Adelaide (time factor only, I love it) & add that time to Cairns /Atherton Tablelands area, unless you have a particular reason for going to Adelaide. It is gorgeous, though, and the McLaren, Clare & Barossa Valleys are v.famous wine areas, and you could make day 12 a "Wine Valley Day". Decisions, Decisions (LOL).

I'd keep Uluru in. When you look back at your honeymoon trip, it may well be the the "standout" memory. Cities are cities all around the world, but dawn & dusk on that big "rock" are something you'll remember all your days.

Susan7

This looks a bit rushed to me, also bear in mind you will be moving around in terms of time zones from the east coast to the middle of the country and even though it's only a couple of hours difference that can knock you around on top of the jet lag. The previous posters suggestion of flying into Cairns and out of Sydney is a good one. Also I'd cut out the Hunter Valley and do wine around Adelaide.

DownUnder

Also agree with prievious poster. One of the reasons for going to Adelaide is a day trip to the Barossa Valley. It is only an hours's drive from th city and has stacks of excellent wineries. Most of the big names are there together with many smaller vignerons. The scenery is delightful and a bit like Tuscany without the medieval Castles and hill top towns. An extra day there and you would have no need to visit the Hunter. It would also give you a bit of a break from a fairly hectic schedule! Your other choices are all "must sees".

benderbabe

Yeah, I'd pretty much agree with the above posts.

You don't have enough time in Sydney, if you haven't been before, so try to maximise that a bit if you can.

There's not a whole lot to see in Adelaide. It's a nice enough place, just not that much to see... other than the Barossa... so yes, doing wine country there and skipping or shortening Hunter would be an idea.

You have plenty of time up north IMHO... well, just enough really.

Ayer's Rock is worth seeing...especially at sunrise/sunset... but it IS expensive to get there and there's nothing much else out that way either!

If you'll be coming back again in the future, you could easily save it until then. If it's not likely you'll get back this way, then I'd go ahead and do it now.

chimani

Hi and congrats.

So far everyone is saying - if you go to Adelaide and the Barossa, then why bother to visit the Hunter? Sort of makes sense - EXCEPT - why go to Adelaide at all?

Is wine the main focus of your trip? If it is, then fine - read no further. But if it is "we love it, but not to the exclusion of other experiences we might have in a country we have never been to, and may never visit again"... then - I would skip Adelaide.

Those three days plus the effort of getting there could be usefully spent at your other destinations.

And as a golden rule - four destinations in two weeks is one too many.

But it's up to you, of course.

To me one vineyard looks just like another, and both the Barossa and the Hunter are pretty nondescript scenery wise. You won't be able to heave crates of the stuff into a car and take it home, so ...

You can see rainforest elsewhere - but FNQ is an easy place to see it. You can't see a landscape like round the rock anywhere except Australia. You can see similar landscapes IN Australia but Uluru is the easiest to get to.

I guess what I am trying to say is you are spending a huge amount of a very short trip admiring the grape!! Can be done in France, Italy, Argentina, California, etc. etc. but there is only one place on earth where you can see the oldest rocks, and the flora, fauna, and colours that go with them .

Happy travels.

Pomme949

Alisha and Chris-
Congratulations! I have a couple of questions - where are you from and is it possible for you to fly into one city and out of another?

If so, consider doing all of your Sydney sightseeing at the begining and flying home from Adelaide or Melbourne.

I never went to the Hunter Valley, but I simply loved the wineries outside of Adelaide.

I wouldn't skip Ayers Rock. It's one of the most iconic places in Australia.

Yes, your trip is a bit rushed and you won't be able to sleep in, but Australia is so far away that I say you go for it!

I did something similar and have absolutely no regrets.

alishaandchris07

Thank you all for your responses! Definitely helpful. I do have to agree though... it does seem rushed, huh? We want to relax too. I think we may skip... dare I say... Ayer's Rock! Urrgghh... I don't know! But here's the thing... with my job I traveld a ton. So our hotels are covered in Australia during our trip... except for Ayer's Rock. I know that would only be one hotel (actually we have to pay for one in Cairns) but that would be money to spend on sightseeing tours and all.

Do you think we will regret not going to Ayer's Rock on this trip? Keep in mind, we definitely plan to come back on our 10 year reunion and probably do the Ghan.

I think my head is going to explode!! LOL Can I over think this anymore?? The time zone change was a good point. Unfortunately, we have to fly into Sydney and out... already booked the flight.

Will we regret Ayer's Rock? Or can we save it for the next time?

Thanks for your help!!

Susan7

I'd leave Uluru in, it will give you a sense of the desert areas and two days is plenty. The rock itself is fantastic, plus the Olgas, just be warned the food is overpriced and pretty ordinary. Adelaide, on the other hand is great for food and wine. To make the trip a bit less hectic you could omit Adelaide, unless you are really keen on wine. I don't think Hunter Valley wine is nearly as good as South Australian, so if wine is a priority, leave Adelaide in and omit Hunter Valley. If you want to extend any of your Sydney side trips, extend the Blue Mountains, if you are in to walking this is a great area.

Pomme949

I agree with Susan7.

Also, Adelaide is lovely and has a very soothing feel to it. My guess is even if you're sight-seeing, just being in the city will help you to relax.

By the way, we brought many bottles back into the States with us - packed in luggage, surounded by clothes, each wrapped in bubble wrap and inside two plastic bags.

When we came through custums, we were asked if we had any food items to declare, we replied "just some wine" and they let us through without asking how many bottles we each had.

mathius

Hi,

If you are going to do the ghan in 10 years & coming back I would give ayers rock a miss. it is very, very expensive and I know it is an icon but I have been and i would prefer to see the beautiful sites around cairns and sydney. Also i would only do one wine area, I would not spend any time around adelaide, it is nice but you are not missing too much by not going.

When I went to cairns I stayed at great B&B called Billabong, it is unique and very close to cairns. Along with great barrier reef it was one of my highlights. It is on an island only 10 minutes to ciarns. Fantastic. I hope this helps a litte.

amos100

My wife and I just did a similar itinerary this past May, minus the wine country. Sydney/Blue Mountains, Ayers Rock, Cairnes/Cape Trib., Sydney then back home. I would definately say Ayers rock is worth it for 1-2 days max. It is in my opinion must see, but 1-2 days there is plenty. While there I'd strongly recomend the Sounds of Silence dinner. Great experience. As for going into the rainforest, we loved that part of our trip, but I would strongly consider either you scrap it or add another day, b/c it is a long and not easy drive if going to Cape Tribulation and basically impossible to even go beyond w/o a 4WD and even then may be dicey depending on the rain. Finally, I would recomend you keep at least a day in the Blue Mountains. It seems rather underrated in all the things we had read and we almost didn't go there. It's an easy train ride from Sydney, beautiful Scenery, great outfitters if you want to try outdoor activities and awesome little restaurants and pubs w/ great food and drinks and very affordable. Hope this helps and good luck.