Look at my travel plans to Australia!
 

I am trying to wrap up my planning for my trip to Australia and was wondering if this is a good schedule. Keep in mind that at this point I am trying to get a flavor of the cities, eat, shop and take in a few sights. I only have 10 days (us Americans don't get a lot of vacation time!)

Here the schedule...

Apr 6 - Fly to Melbourne from Newark (how glamourous!) on United Airlines and Air New Zealand, via Los Angeles and Auckland. God AUS is far away!
Apr 8 - Arrive MEL midday
Apr 9 - MEL
Apr 10 - MEL
Apr 11 - Travel to Sydney midday on United
Apr12 - SYD
Apr 13 - SYD
Apr 14 - SYD
Apr 15 - SYD
Apr 16 - Depart SYD midday

Is that sufficient to get a flavour of the cities?

I may be able to add 1 day and if I did, to what city?

Hopefully you can help, thanks for the assistance and advice!

Richard

Hi, richard!

I think your itinerary is well-balanced, and there's not much I could say to improve it (since you are set on seeing Melbourne); however, do add that extra day, and take a day out of the middle of the Sydney portion. With those two days, take an express train from Sydney to Canberra and spend two half-days and one night having a look at the nation's capital. That will still give you three-and-a-half days in Sydney itself, which is adequate to get a taste of the city.

You know what's funny - I'm planning a trip to Australia in August and I was told by a friend who has been there or business and pleasure - I couldn't go to Australia and NOT see Ayers Rock or the Olgas. I was also told Sydney was an awesome city and spend as much time as I could there. I was told that Canberra didn't have much to see and Melbourne was nice.

meant to say I was planning a trip in April - about the same time frame - that's what's funny. The other thing that's funny, I guess it's who you ask - what they suggest to see or not miss when you travel.

I know two others who went to Australia and never saw Ayers Rock.

Do I really need to travel to see abig rock? i would rather sit in a cafe and have an espresso....

A big rock?? Besides the geological significance that Uluru & the Olgas have, the area has tremendous cultural & historical importance, especially to the Aboriginal people of Central Australia.

It is difficult, expensive and time consuming to get to the Red Centre. And it isn't for everyone. However, if you do a little reading and gain some understanding about the people and the area, you'll find there's much more there than just a "big rock."

>>I was told that Canberra didn't have much to see<<

For some visitors yes, for others no. If you’d avoid Washington DC you’d probably pass on Canberra. If you want to focus on Australia’s natural wonders and/or nightlife, you’d probably pass on Canberra. However, if like many travellers you’re interested in learning something of the history and culture of your host country, Canberra is well worth a visit. It is after all the home of many of Australia’s national institutions, museums and galleries, as well as being an outstanding example of a successfully planned 20th century city, and Australia’s only major inland city.

It should be said though that during certain times of the year Canberra also plays host to two varieties of pest, each of which the city’s residents attempt to avoid where possible.

One is the bogong moth, which have been descending on the city in great numbers ever since its lights began to appear below their migratory flight path about 80 years ago. For thousands of years they were the occasion of great feasts held by the area’s Aboriginal people. (Snazzy, I can’t tell you whether they appear on any bush tucker menu, though.)

The other is the politician. These also descend on the city from the sky at certain times known as parliamentary sessions, gathering to roost, feed, squabble and sometimes mate. At other times they return to their spawning grounds all over the country. They are easier to avoid than the moths, as they generally confine themselves to certain central areas of the city within a few kilometres of their rookery in Parliament House. While they are generally ignored by the city’s permanent inhabitants, they can provide some amusing displays for the amateur naturalist and are best observed during a ritual known as Question Time.

and you're leaving Sydney before my birthday :(

thanks for the info on Canberra. As I said it's interesting how no matter how many people you talk to you get different opinions of what's important to see and what isn't.

Funny about the comment about "a big rock", that's what one of my relatives said, until I showed him pictures of that and the Olgas and the perspective to cars and people and the scenery and yes the history with the Aboriginal people is very interesting too.

soapsfan (and richardab), if you miss Uluru you'll have lots of company - most Australians haven't seen it either. Me included, I'm afraid. I'll rectify that one of these days.

Don't take much notice of my rave about moths and politicians - neither of them play a big part in Canberra's life. I suspect that one of the reasons not enough overseas visitors come to Canberra is that a lot of Australians unthinkingly 'bag' their national capital, to their shame. Most like to think of themselves as patriotic Australians - odd when you consider what a great national achievement Canberra is. Maybe the old national inferiority complex isn't quite dead and buried yet.

What Margo ...another Birthday!!!...you had one last year..greedy.

;-)

Richard-I think it really comes down to what you want to go. I've been to Australia 3 times now (from JFK, sorry about EWK) and I still haven't seen Ayers Rock. I keep meaning to go but it just doesn't interest me that much to spend heaps of money getting there and pricey accommodation. I would love to visit the Kimberley region in WA so we'll see if I can fit that in this time I around (July '05). If you're more of a city person then the whole Outback thing might just not be for you the way it is for some other people.

I think it's just great that you are making the effort to get whatever taste of Australia you can, whether it be cities and/or the outskirts. Like the USA, it could take years to see the entire place. Isn't it fun to have things to look forward to-that's why I keep going back!

Have a great adventure. You'll love Melbourne and Sydney b/c both are fabulous!

>Is that sufficient to get a flavour of the cities?

You're visiting Australia for 2 weeks!

This is how it will be..
1) It takes 2 days to get there and another 2 to get home.
2) At least 1 week to get over the jet lag

IMO you need at least 4 weeks or there is no point going.

Also, if you limit yourself to seeing only Melb and Syd, IMO you can hardly return home and claim to have visited Australia.

>Sydney to Canberra and spend two half-days and one night having a look at the nation's capital

That's the worst travel advice i've ever heard anyone give. Unless you have some reason to visit your nations embassy there is nothing in canberra that will interest you. Canberra is a city built on politics. It has a tiny population and there's nothing to do there. You will find better museums and gallaries in Melbourne and Sydney.

Canberra= a waste of time

There's probably little chance that AustraliaZoolsGreat will be taken seriously, but just on the off-chance perhaps a few comments are warranted.

Firstly, to state the bleeding obvious, it takes 14 hours to reach Australia from the US west coast, not 2 days, and if you're not over your jet lag in a day you're probably doing something wrong. It is verging on the mischievous to tell Americans (many of whom have only 2 weeks' annual vacation) that unless they have a month to spare they needn't visit.

I'm happy to debate the merits or otherwise of Canberra as a tourist destination, but let's base our advice on facts rather than misleading, misinformed and tired old stereotypes. Many Australians display ignorance of and even hostility to their national capital which, while deplorable, has scant relevance for overseas visitors.

If Canberra is a poor tourist destination, someone had better tell all the visitors. Tourism is, after all, Canberra's second biggest industry, and visitors tend to return again and again (presumably to do nothing and see nothing?)

"Built on politics"? If this means that Canberra is the seat of Australia's government, yes, which is why it has all the national institutions that attract all the visitors. Institutions like the superb National Gallery, National Library and the extensive and fascinating Australian War Memorial surely require no defence from me. And a free guided tour of Old Parliament House and its excellent National Portrait Gallery is a great introduction to Australia's formative years.

The city's population is over 300,000, considerably fewer than half of whom work in any level of government activity. Increasingly Canberra is becoming for many practical purposes the de facto capital of southern New South Wales, in part because of its excellent academic facilities. The city has a lively restaurant/ entertainment scene and a fast-growing wine industry.

The comment that there's "nothing to do" in Canberra is silly and not worth a riposte.

I don't recall any previous input from this poster. It's a pity that he or she has chosen to debut on such a negative note.

Having now run a quick search I see a flurry of postings by AustraliaZoolsGreat, who appears to be a Queenslander and who has in fact provided some constructive advice in that context. I have no problem with Australian Fodorites putting forward the positives of one's home region/state, but attacking other destinations really isn't the best way to go about that. And I do think that posters have a reponsibility to provide reasonably balanced advice to intending visitors. For instance, I wouldn't suggest a visit to Canberra for people whose focus is on sun and sand and who aren't especially interested in gaining an appreciation of Australia's history and culture. By the same token, Queensland may not be a suitable destination for some visitors. Diff'rent strokes.

"Sydney to Canberra and spend two half-days and one night having a look at the nation's capital

That's the worst travel advice i've ever heard anyone give."

Hmmm.... I guess that the best thing I can do with that comment is to follow the example of one of our senior politicians in Canberra and (to use his words) "let it go through to the wicket keeper". Welcome to our forum, AustraliaZooIsGreat, and may your future helpful posts be made even more helpful by your temperate use of language. Actually, you should browse through more of the past threads... you'll find that I've given FAR worse advice than this one!

As Neil said, there are a host of tourists visiting Canberra every year, but it would seem (from my observations) that the majority (apart from those from our own country) are Asian tourists, not from the USA or Europe (who are the main readers of this forum). I think that's a pity, as Canberra has a lot to offer (apart from politicians), and there are certainly a lot of museums and civic buildings that cannot be duplicated in Sydney, Melbourne, or any other Australian city (even if you do happen to think, as I do NOT, that the ones in Sydney and Melbourne are just as good). The Australian War Memorial, for example, would be worth half a day of anyone's time ... and the National Museum (you'd be lucky to see it all in a half-day), the National Gallery, the Science Museum (which my kids will happily condemn me to a six-hour round trip drive just to see) and the Screen and Sound archive (in which you can see on display one of the most valuable Academy Awards in the world, as it's made of painted wood... and you'll learn WHY it's so unique!). The theatre scene in Canberra is reallly very satisfying. And there's an observatory close by for people who can't bear the thought of looking in an art gallery or museum. And, of course, there's Parliament House, a building almost as unique as Sydney's Opera House, and certainly worth a look (it has on display one of the few copies still in existence of the Magna Carta ), even if you don't plan to sit in one one of the parliamentary sessions.

Believe me, Canberra is full of riches for those who approach it from a positive angle, even if it isn't a surf-'n'-sunshine city, which is what most visitors expect of Australia.

How about letting Richard enjoy his trip rather than making him feel like s*** for only spending 2 weeks in Australia? This forum should be used to give helpful advice, not put people down because every individual has different needs and wants and perhaps all our of travel hopes and wishes are different from one another. Time to be nice people.

Abby43, I fully agree, but it's "person", not "people" - only one poster has been guilty of that sort of negativity. Most of us appreciate the obvious point that not everybody has the time and/or money for a lengthy visit anywhere.

"Canberra a waste of time" - hmmm. Funny that recently published Tourism Australia Awards for 2004-5 ranked National Museum of Australia - ACT as number one in Major Tourist Attraction category in the country.