Sydney and Melbourne
 

Hi folks, am thinking of taking a trip to Sydney and Melbourne in July. How cold are the winters there? It's just cool like California, right?

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For Sydney: http://tinyurl.com/y37rux
For Melbourne: http://tinyurl.com/ygv3hw

I guess "cool like California" could be one way of putting it. Sydney never gets cold enough for snow or frost. You will get freezing temperatures in the Blue Mountains just inland, however. Lovely days with temps in the upper 60s F are not rare in Sydney. I havent spent much time in Melbourne in winter. Maybe a bit cooler than Sydney, though again, snow and frost are rare if they ever occur at all.

The comparison with California isn't too far off the mark if you go by the numbers (www.weatherbase.com).

Melbourne's average temperatures in July aren't much different from San Francisco's in winter, but it records more rain (MEL 300mm, SFO 0mm).

The devil is in the detail, though. I live in Canberra, which is inland and high and has frosty nights and very occasionally a dusting of snow, but I've spent winter days in Melbourne which felt much colder than here because the daytime conditions were grey with a bitter wind rather than still and sunny.

Sydney's average temperatures in July are just a little cooler than LA's in January but again, more chance of rain. You can get very pleasant winter days in Sydney if you're lucky.

Very rough summary - Melbourne, sweater AND coat; Sydney sweater OR coat. But note that the above figures are historical averages only.

Melbourne is having its warmest May for 153 years (daily temps. around 20 celisius), so the way the climate is changing who knows what July will bring. Cool to cold would be the best way to describe the "normal" winter temps., but with all the hot chocolate places around at the moment, it doesn't take long to warm up!

RalphR,
Actually, we do have frosts in both Sydney and Melbourne. In my experience, Europeans & North Americans visiting Australia sometimes feel the cold more than they would expect, and we don't generally have the same degree of central heating that is common in the Northern Hemisphere. I think some visitors are expecting the whole country to have a climate similar to Far North Queensland and don't realize that our climate zones can be vastly different.

That said, our really cold days are usually interspersed with milder ones and it's rare for us to have more than a day here & there of sleet, rain or grey skies. Our Winters are more likely to be cold & clear than grey & cold, which makes a huge difference to how (I anyway) experience them.
The last time I was in London in Winter, it was the lack sunshine that got to me more than the temperature. And, I have to say, I found the central heating in most places a tad stifling.

Thanks, guys! Great help. Now all I have to do is look for hotels. Any suggestions on reasonably priced ones that are centrally located and/or conveniently located in both Sydney and Melbourne?

Have a look at: www.wotif.com

I stayed at Lindrum in Melbourne last December. It's near Federation Square and an easy walk to Flinders Street Station. I think it was about $190 AUD on Go Stay. I can highly recommend it.

Also for a great novelty the Adelphi Hotel (more expensive) has a lap pool that cantilevers over Little Collins St, so you can look down at the street from the pool. They have a very good collection of Australian photographers in the hallways on each floor.

darkchocz, you can also use the forum's 'search' facility (above) to access previous threads on hotels in various price brackets. In Sydney the prime tourist area is the north end of the CBD (central business district, =downtown) around Circular Quay and The Rocks, but almost anywhere in the CBD is pretty convenient using trains and buses. You may find 1-BR serviced apartments with cooking and dining facilities offer a good alternative to hotels. There are quite a few listed in wotif.com. A map of the city centres will help, of course.

The Lindrum would be an excellent choice. Very Melbourne. The Langham on Southbank has a great location.

Re frosts in Sydney: A trivial point I know, but on looking around the internet I see I was indeed incorrect on this point. Nonetheless, frosts are rare in Sydney near the coast, and I would presume that means the CBD.

Fortunately for me, Ralph; I don't need to look at the internet - I live in Sydney, and have lived Melbourne & Brisbane and visit Perth, Adelaide & Canberra regularly on business.

And whilst there are not many frosts on the coast, I can assure you I've chipped enough off my windscreen at home, about 3 minutes walk to the beach, to know they weren't mirages.

So, I guess I might have a clue about whether it frosts here or not ;)

Bokhara, your right , our perception of Oz is constant sunshine and boiling hot weather.
You can't possibly get frost...could you??

:-)

Muck

Thanks for all the suggestions! Am gonna hit wotif and all the other hotel sites. Looking forward to the trip!!!

Wotif is great. We used it for our trip last year. Be sure you know the cancellation policy of the hotel you book or you could be in for a nasty surprise. I used a combo of booking directly with the hotel and wotif. Sometimes the hotel matched the wotif rate.

Bokhara: sorry, didn't intend to slight you. It's just that in the dozens of times I've stayed at my sister in law's place in Sydney in winter (Kogarah and now Oyster Bay), I've not once seen frost. But that's not like living there.

Well Ralph I live in sydney ...

the stats and my experience support your observations...

at the downtown weather station in sydney there is one frost recorded every 5 years.

I'm finally making it to Melbourne this weekend. What clothes should I pack? Will a light jacket and/or cardigan keep me warm enough?

I read there are 2 observations decks - one's the Rialto and there's another one too, can't recall the name now. Which one's better?

The forecast is for temps in the 18-20 range, so perfect! The Skydeck at Eureka Tower on Southbank is the other observation deck.