Which would any of you recommend as an add-on city to Sydney and Port Douglas--Melbourne or Adelaide?<BR><BR>Thanks

My wife & I spent 4 days in Melbourne & 5 days in Adelaide this last April. Melbourne is O.K. It has its attractions & some upscale shopping but for pure laidback fun Adelaide is the place. As far as I am concerned, Adelaide is one of Australia's best kept secrets. Adelaide itself is beautiful. We stayed in North Adelaide which has lots of very good restaurants & was only a short walk to downtown. If you decide on Adelaide you must take the trolley to Glenelg, Take a one day tour to Kangaroo Island, drive of take a tour to Barossa Valley to check out the wine, drive or take a bus to Hahndorf (a German settled village-touristy but neat), etc. Having said that, both Melbourne & Adelaide are a bit out of way from Sydney & Port Douglas, which are must do's as far as I am concerned on any trip to Australia. If you have the time (5/6+ days in each place)then you can swing Melbourne or Adelaide, however with limited time staying on the east coast may be more logical. I know if I did it again & had 3 weeks, I would do Sydney, Port Douglas, and it would be a toss-up for another week in Perth, Adelaide, or Hobart, however the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast may be a more logical choice due to the lesser travel distance. Hope I have not confused the issue. Have a great trip - you will love Austalia!

Neither - I would go to Hobart in an instant but as Bill says perhaps either the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast or both would be a better choice

Liz, Hobart is not a bad choice either. You gave me some good direction when I was planning my trip to New Zealand & Australia. I was the guy that was going to drive from Adelaide to Surfers Paradise via Broken Hill. You recommended a couple of other options such as using that time to visit Hobart. I included Hobart & loved it, however we loved everywhere we went in Australia, however Port Douglas & Sydney were our favorites but all the others places were very close tossups.

Liz, I also meant to say thank you to you in my last post. You really give some great advise.

Bill:<BR>I had been getting the impression from my reading that Adelaide was more interesting, but Melbourne seems to be offered on more tours--easier to get to? I had liked the idea of the Barossa Valley, too. Now I can try to decide between Adelaide and Hobart! Thanks for your input.<BR><BR>Mary

Hi, Mary H!<BR>I am inclined to agree with Liz that Hobart would be a better choice than either of your two original alternatives (peas in a pod, really), but before advising I would like to know what time of year you are coming. All three cities have their best and worst times.... in mid-summer, for instance, both Adelaide and Melbourne can be extremely dry and hot; on the other hand, unless you're coming from a cool climate, you may find Hobart chilly in July or August.

I can't speak about Hobart as I didn't get down to Tasmania, but if I had to pick between Adelaide and Melbourne, I'd choose Adelaide. I think it's a great little city and a bonus is that it's only a 30min. flight from Kangaroo Island. I loved my 2 day/1 nights on KI; I saw plenty of wildlife and few tourists. I'd use Adventure Charters again, (request that you stay at Stranraer Homestead B&B for your overnight.) I also enjoyed my tour to Barossa...