Sydney or Melbourne
 

Will be taking a land tour of Australia starting with 3nights in Melbourne, traveling around the country, and concluding with 4 nights in Sydney. Due to my schedule I will be arriving in Sydney three days early pre cruise. Is there enough to explore in Melbourne to continue there to spend the additional three days, or should I stay in Sydney?

My DH & I spent 5 days each in Melbourne & Sydney. We preferred Melbourne to Sydney - Melbie was nice for strolling, shopping, dining, and sightseeing (Great Ocean Road, Philip Island, Dandenong Ranges, etc.).

If I were traveling I would prefer to spend more time in Melbourne. But you should see what each city offers and if there are sites you want to stay & see in Sydney, you should do that.

We really loved Melbourne.

They are both pleasant cities with a selection of good museums and great restaurants, but cities are not really the reason most people travel all this way to visit.

Can you get out into the countryside? Blue Mountains (west of Sydney) or, as halfapair suggests, areas around Melbourne like Great Ocean Road etc.

I've been to both cities, but I can't imagine spending 6 or 7 days in either one of them. I'd combine the advice of both Halfapair and Susan and look to see what attractions OUTSIDE of each city interests you and plan to spend those 3 days on a tour (or a self-tour with a rental car). Both cities have a lot to offer, but IMHO the best of Australia is outside the large cities.

Look at my thread. "Sydney or Melbourne"

There is plenty in and around Melbourne to fill in a couple of weeks.

MELBOURNE OR SYDNEY? (From my thread)


For those of you in a quandary as to which to visit, Melbourne or Sydney. Here are a few quotes from “Town Life in Australia” by Richard Twopenny that may be of assistance.

MELBOURNE
“There is a bustle and life in Melbourne that you altogether miss in Sydney.”

“The natural beauties of Sydney are worth coming all the way to Australia to see; while the situation of Melbourne is commonplace if not actually ugly; but it is in the Victorian city that the trade and capital, the business and pleasure of Australia chiefly centre.”

“If you are a man of leisure you will find more ‘society’ in Melbourne, more balls and parties, a larger measure of intellectual life – i.e., more books and men of education and intellect, more and better theatrical and musical performances, more racing and cricket, football and athletic clubs, a larger leisured society than Sydney.”

In Melbourne “the people dress better, talk better, think better, are better...”

“There are a few lanes which it is wiser not to go down after ten o’clock at night.” These are known as the back slums.”

“There are four theatres, only one of which is well fitted up”

“There is certainly no city in England that can boast of nearly as many fine buildings, or as large ones, proportionately to its size, as Melbourne.”

Melbourne is certainly better off than Sydney or Adelaide, but bad are its best hotels.”

“Melbourne is said to have the prettiest girls in Australia. On first arrival their sallow complexions strike you most disagreeably, and it is some time before you allow that there is a pretty girl in the country.”

“In dress the Melbourne ladies are too fond of bright colours, but it can never be complained against them that they are dowdy – a fault common to their Sydney, Adelaide and English sisters...”

“Men, on the other hand, are generally very careless about their attire, and dress untidily.”

“You can see that bread and butter never enters into the cares of these people; it is only the cake which is sometimes endangered...”

SYDNEY
“One feels quite angry with the town for being so unworthy of its site.”

“The view of the city and suburbs as you come up into port is as charming and picturesque, as that of Melbourne from Port Phillip is commonplace and repellent. But when you get near the wharf the charm vanishes. Never was there a more complete case of distance lending enchantment to the view.”

“The most unpleasant feature of Sydney is, that there is a thoroughly untidy look about the place.
“Nobody seems to care how they dress and without being exactly countrified in their apparel, the Syneyites succeed in looking pre-eminently dowdy.”

“There are four theatres but none are well fitted or decorated.”


He does describe Adelaide as well if you want. He is rather scathing about the ten servants he had in 12 months. “Servants are the plague of life.”

The book was first published in 1883. Twopenny was the son of an Archdeacon and was for many years the editor of the Pastoral Review.

Some interesting facts:-
Comfortably furnish a four room working man’s cottage for £27
Rent for the above house 12 shillings a week.
A young solicitor’s income was £500-1000 pa
A landowner/wealthy man would earn £5000 a year or more,
Labourers earned 8-9 shillings a day, with rent costing 8-9 shillings per week.

Both :)

I would spend 4 days on the Great Ocean road where you will see kangaroos,koalas in their natural habitat(read hanging out on the side of the roads and golf courses) along with a beautiful lighthouse with history and fabulous geological rock formations all the way to the end. We loved the Ocean Road so much that we knocked some days off our Melbourne itinerary and were so glad that we did!

Honestly depends what interests you the most; if you're into art, live music, the bar scene etc. then Melbourne can easily keep you occupied, however if you're looking for more "sightseeing" type stuff then you'll likely have to travel outside the city (rent a car and do the Great Ocean Road as mentioned above is a solid idea).

Honestly I just use this Experience Oz site for most of this type of stuff, here's a few articles that can cover what you're looking for:

Sydney vs Melbourne, which is better for travelling: http://www.experienceoz.com.au/sydney-vs-melbourne

Top 10 "Must See" in Melbourne: http://www.experienceoz.com.au/must-see-melbourne

Sydney in 1 day: http://www.experienceoz.com.au/sydney-in-a-day etc etc

Mind telling us how old you are? If you're young enough to be into the "clubbing" scene then Sydney would be more your thing anyway

I suggest Sydney! A lunch cruise http://www.magisticcruises.com.au/sy...nch-cruise.php was booked by my BF as a birthday present for me. I was greatly surprised that i was not event told about where he was taking me to. Nothing can beat sydney harbour when it comes to sight-seeing and it was my first and the best cruising trip ever. Not to mention about the quality of food and comfort, though it was crowded on board. Your decision won’t wrong if you go there.

Personally, I've always perceived "harbour lunch cruises" to be an overpriced way to see Sydney harbour, accompanied by mediocre (or at best, average) food. Admittedly, I've never done one so my view is based on nothing but my own prejudice. However, to see the harbour (and Sydney from the water), many people would recommend taking the ferry to Manly (about 30 minutes) and that I have done several times. Great views of the Opera House and the Bridge and the harbour in general. When you get to Manly, walk up the Corso to the beach, have a coffee/beer/lunch/whatever and then catch the ferry back. Given the wide variety of land-based restaurants with good food and the number of not-that-expensive ferry trips available from Circular Quay, it's always been a mystery to me why anyone would do a "harbour lunch cruise".

Just as a random thought - so many head, rightfully, towards the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. Sometimes to Phillip Island.

But an area that's overlooked, unfortunately, is the alpine region between Sydney and Melbourne, near the state lines. Since living in the Melbourne area, I've really enjoyed driving the areas around Beechworth, for instance, with a campy stop in Glenrowan for a bit of Ned Kelly lore. Small roads are particularly nice in this area, with places to wade in creeks, see waterfalls and country towns. Just a little further into NSW this area gets quite dramatic (if you've seen the old Man from Snowy River, this is the backdrop)