We do not plan to rent a car for our 7 nights in Sydney but what about Melbourne? Should we fly between the two cities, rent a car to drive the GOR then return it before staying in Melbourne? Or should we keep it to tour Phillips Island and other sights? We plan on flying back to Sydney for our flight home.

Hi again Richard

When we did the GOR, we rented the car at the airport, drove the GOR then turned the car in and took a cab to our hotel. We stayed near the CBD and walked to all of our destinations. We used the trains to visit friends who lived out side of the CBD. It did seem like we walked farther in Melbourne than Sydney. But never missed not having a car

Cheers

Steve

You really don't need a car for Melbourne city centre or local areas as the transport network is great, however melbourne is surrounded by fabulous places to visit.

If I was you I would spend some time in the city then hire a car and see what's around. We did just that, but hired a car for 2 days which was not enough!
There is so much to see within 60miles or so radius.
And the GOR which we never got too is a seperate trip on it's own.

Good luck

Muck

We rented ("hired" as they still tend to say in Oz) a car at Tullamarine even though we were going to stay the first few days in Melbourne. We had little luggage, but stayed in an outer suburb - sure, there would have been buses, but they can take forever to outlying suburbs; we were glad we had the wheels to get around faster. If you can head for your targets after rush hour, and don't mind spending on parking what you would have spent on public transport, you're more independent, and we liked that. We even parked at Flinders Street in the center, that's expensive, but it saved us time and hassle.

There's a toll system that's a bit annoying - on the freeway from Tullamarine (the main airport) into Melbourne, and at other freeway locations well-known to locals only, there are cameras, and if you pass them your picture is taken and you have to call a number within a couple of days, tell them your car details and the time etc. and pay with a credit card.

The rental company offers you a fixed daily rate to take care of it, and this might be worth paying for if you're going all over. But if you're not, then you might be paying more than the tolls would have actually cost you. There's no way to pay as you go - no toll booths or anything, so you don't really know when and by how much you've been zapped until you call the magic number. Ah well...

WK

Hi Richard,
Here's a useful link for car rental comparisons:
http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/co...pare-Rates.asp
Don't forget to check what discounts are available for your credit card/F'Flyer memberships as well.

Depending on when you're renting, you may be able to strike a special deal (3 day weekend etc) which makes keeping the car between your GOR and Phillip Island trips a viable option. Otherwise, just re-rent when you need one.

Fly between Sydney & Melbourne - it's 12 or 13 hrs driving time (for me anyway (LOL))- unless you specifically want to see the countryside between.

If you're staying in Melbourne CBD or nearby suburbs, you won't need a car there. Public transport is v.good and cabs relatively cheap.