Okay, so I think I've finally decided on our itinerary for our trip to Australia next October. Now I need experienced Fodorites to tell me if the itinerary is actually doable.

Fly into Sydney, spend 4 nights

Then fly to Cairns and spend 8 nights in Port Douglas, Great Barrier Reef area (including Daintree & Atherton Tablelands)

Then fly from Cairns to Melbourne, stay a night or two in Melbourne, pick up rental car and spend 3 days driving the Great Ocean Road.

1 day in Coonawarra area

Drive on to Adelaide; then fly to Hobart; 7 nights in Tasmania

Fly back to Sydney, pick up another rental care and drive to Blue Mountains for 3 nights.
Then back to Sydney, and home.

Am I spending too long in any particular area? Any and all advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
glorib226

Glorib226, the first part of your trip 4 nights Sydney, 8 nights Port Douglas/Cairns looks good to me. I haven't done the GOR so can't comment on that.

The last section I would rethink. I would re-allocate the 3 nights in the Blue Mountains to Tasmania. I really love the Blue Mountains, but I think that time would be better spent exploring Tassie which could easily consume 3 weeks itself.

Maybe think about doing a loop like this: Hobart (2 nights)--Freycinet National Park (2 nights)--Bay of Fires (2 nights)--Cradle Mountain (2 nights)--Strahan (1 night)--Lake St Clair (2 nights)--Hobart.

Can I come too? Sounds pretty good G. Mmm I think your itinerary and Susans suggestions are both good options. 7 Nights only in Tassie would be cutting yourself short really. Perhaps you could allow a day trip to the Blue Mountains out of your 4 days Sydney allowance? But overall I do think you are on the right track!

We are putting an itinerary together also and appreciate hearing your ideas! We plan spend a few days in Sydney, take a cruiseship up the coast from Sydney for 10 days and then spend another 9 days or so on the Sunshine Coast. We will have about a week left at that point and are trying to decide if it is worth the time (and cost) to go over to Perth or if there would be better places to spend that time. I hadn't thought of Tasmania and will look into that. Any thoughts?

If you drive the GOR Please spend a day in Apollo. I enjoyed the shopping, the markets - all about it!

justplainfun -

I live in Perth and there's loads to do here, but you really should consider Tassie - it's easier to get to and will give you an entirely different perspective of Australia. It's a beautiful place to visit.