First trip to Australia
 

I will be going to Sydney for 4days with a tour group and I was wondering if it is worth the time and money to visit either Melbourne or the Ayers Rock for 1 day. Has anyone visited the Blue Mountains? Is it nice to visit? I know 4 days in Sydney seems like a short time for most but I do not like to stay in one city for more than 2 days.

Four days certainly isn't much time for a great city like Sydney. I would definately recommend the Blue Mountains. I spent 2 days up there, 1 hiking around the perimeter and one down in the valley. The sights are breathtaking. As for Ayers Rock, its quite a trip from Sydney. Packing all that Ayers Rock has to offer into one day may be tough. Kings Canyon is quite close to Ayers Rock as well and it is aboslutely amazing. I would base your choices on how vigerous of a schedule you want to have and how much you enjoy hiking. Each place is well worth the visit but each takes a good ammount of time to fully enjoy. I would plan at least half a day at each place for hiking and exploring. To really do it right you need much more time. This probably didn't help too much but you really can't go wrong with any of the choices. Next time schedule more time!

You need more than a day to visit Melbourne so stick to the Blue Mountains, they are beautifull, peacefull and well worth the visit.

Hi Sandy <BR>We too are planning a first trip to Australia for 4 of us next November. The key in visiting these places is what you really enjoy doing. With 4 of us we had to consider eachs likes/dislikes, and the fact that we will visit the Barrier Reef and NZ too. A friend indicated that at Ayers, she found it more of a spiritual thing, they did not climb the rock due to respecting the Aboriginal wishes. Picture taking was a big thing there, but if you check other posts bugs can be a problem. Decide if you are into museums, hiking, shopping, etc. There are so many sites on the web it may help you decide. We are spending at least 5 days in Sydney, but we do not know how productive the first day will be with jet lag from Michigan. Good luck planning. <BR>

Hi Sandy, <BR>If you are flying straight to Sydney from the US you will definitely have jet lag which will probably limit your activities for a couple of days.If you have never flown the enormous distance before, you really won't have much idea of how badly it will affect you. As an Aussie, I am used to having jet lag because we are so far from anywhere! I would definitely forget the Ayers Rock plan - it will take you a day to get there.