We are really excited to be flying from our home in Portland Oregon into Melbourne 23 Dec and have until 15 Jan to flight out of Brisbane. We enjoy contemporary art, fresh foods, and hiking about. We had planned to explore Melbourne for a couple of days then head to Hobart on 25 Dec and stay a couple days there before heading out to eventually ending up in Launceston to fly to Sydney on 31 Dec for New Years. Our plans looked great up to that point then we saw the incredibly inflated prices, no vacancies, and minimum night stay in Sydney. After days of research, we were thinking of heading to Melbourne or another city to spend new years. It looks as though we could stay in a luxurious penthouse suite for the same price as a basic room in Sydney. (on our previous trips we camped or had a caravan!) Is it worth looking into? What's going on in Melbourne or other towns in the area? My wife has her mind set on Sydney but is starting to have her doubts. Any ideas?

How about Canberra? Here's what's going on according to the Australian Tourism website:

"Choose your new year’s eve entertainment in Australia’s capital, where the action includes a music concert, dance party and fireworks over Lake Burley Griffin. Check out the free, family-friendly concert in Civic Square, where a range of Australian musicians begin the celebrations. A little later in the evening, the pace picks up with the Bass in the Place dance party in Commonwealth Place. Both offer prime viewing for the big, loud and breathtaking fireworks at 9pm and the strike of midnight. You can also spread a picnic on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin and watch the pyrotechnics explode from four positions on City Hill."

I recommend that you spend a few days there so you can experience some great artwork in the National Gallery of Australia and some excellent hiking in Namdagi National Park and/or Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

Another possibility as you like hiking, stay in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

The western suburbs of Sydney also has some of the more interesting contemporary art centres:

Campbelltown Arts Centre
http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/d...&iSubCatID=491

Casula Powerhouse http://www.casulapowerhouse.com/

Lewers Bequest and Penrith Regional Gallery
http://www.penrithregionalgallery.org/exhibitions.php

These are very far apart so you'd need a car. You could drop into Lewers on the way to the Mountains. The house is the home of two Sydney-based modernists and there is some of their work still in situ as well as contemporary shows. The Campbelltown gallery is a detour on the way to Canberra. Maybe you could stop in if you take Longhorn's advice and go to Canberra.

Hadn't thought about Canberra. Great idea Long horn. Looking at the Blue Mountains it looks like that is something else that is a must see. Galleries, hiking, food and drink!

Has anyone pricelined Downtown Sydney a week before New Years? Is every room in town actually booked?

Hotels that are slightly out of the centre might be better. A friend from Hong Kong recently stayed at the Vibe which is i Goulbourne st near to Central Station. http://www.vibehotels.com.au/default...e-hotel-sydney

The Vulcan has rooms the week before Christmas. This hotel is in a slightly weird location not too far from the Fish Market but quite close to major bus routes.
http://www.vulcanhotel.com.au/

On the eastern side of the Sydney you could try places like Hughenden Hotel and Art Hotel which are both well served by public transport:
http://www.thehughenden.com.au/
http://www.artshotel.com.au/

My son lives in Sydney and what he does is takes his car into Sydney in the morning, parks his car and sets up a picnic table etc at the botanical gardens and between himself and his friends they spend the day in there so that they have a great view for the fireworks and his car is available to take his friend's mother home who cannot walk too far. Taxis after the fireworks would be dreadful to try and get but the trains would be Ok al beit you may have to wait a while and they would be packed. However if you got accommodation somewhere else and away from the action but on a train line it could be fine in Sydney. Its a great night out and you can sleep for most of the next day like everyone else does.

the Melbourne fireworks and entertainment on NY eve are fab and lots of families got into the city for them-free public transport -it's just that Sydny fireworks is more widely shown and known.

There you are poster, Melbourne is a great alternative.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht race leaves Sydney on Boxing Day. Accommodation in Hobart may be at a premium. But you will get to see the yachts arrive.

Canberra or Melbourne would both be great for NYE.

Checking Wotif there's a reasonable price the week before New Year at Crown Hotel Surry Hills. This is a brillant location for restaurants and it's about a 10 minute walk to Central Station.


http://www.gostay.com.au/
http://www.wotif.com/

Melbourne would be great. Awesome food, great culture, and NYE with fireworks over the Yarra and the Southbank promenade.

Hey thanks for all the great ideas everyone. We're going to look at things and pull the trigger next week. So far we have rooms in Hobart 25-27 Dec and Launceston 30 Dec. We had planned to rent a car and keep it loose to explore Tas. It looks like the flights both to Hobart and out of Launceston to either to Sydney or Melbourne are available. If we spent NY in Melbourne we could do the ocean road drive after NY and then we heard the drive to Sydney is well worth it. Rent a car and stay at b&b's for 4-5 days on the way to Sydney? Four days in Sydney? Rent a caravan for a week and meander through the mountains and oceanside towns to Brisbane? Then hang in Brisbane for a day or two before flying out 15 Jan. The more I read of all the things to do, I wish we had significantly more time to explore. With our time frame would this itinerary be feasible? Would we regret not seeing the fireworks @ Sydney? Should we pare our areas to explore down? Or do we add two days on bare boat charter and bag a couple days of camping or driving about? Or what about finding a great beach destination and chill for a day or two?

Downtown Hobart is great for New Years. The Sydney-Hobart yachts will have arrived – or most of them unless it is a very slow race – and so there are about a thousand yachtsmen around Constitution dock.

Many will not have washed for several days (well, I never washed when I sailed the Sydney-Hobart ) and the whole environment is quite a blast.

Sydney is fantastic NYE, I am sure Melb or Canberra will be fab too.

For the Blue moutains, Leura is gorgeous....enjoy