Week in WA
 

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for a week's time in WA in May? I've heard that the Margaret River area is beautiful and wanted to see the wine country. Any thoughts are welcome!

Stuart -

If wine country is your main interest, you'll be spoiled for choice in WA - Swan Valley (Perth), Dunsborough all the way to Augusta (Margaret River area), Pemberton/Manjimup area, Mt Barker, Denmark, Albany, etc - all have many, many wineries and some pretty incredible wines.

I have three trip reports for WA posted here that might give you some ideas.

The first link is for our latest trip (two weeks ago) and centers on walks and wineries.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34967476

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34838163

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34657096

If you're into natural beauty, my favourite spot is in the North in the Kimberleys. I think the Bungle Bungles is an amazing sight to behold. Then there's Karijini National Park and the dolphins of Monkey Mia.

When my husband and I were in WA last year, we went to some recommended wineries on our own, but also went on a tour, which was nice because we didn't have to worry about maps, driving, and also learned quite a bit about the region and wine in general.

We are in our mid-20s, so we opted for the casual and light-hearted "Wine for Dudes" tour http://www.winefordudes.com/ but also heard good things about "Margaret River Tours" http://www.margaretrivertours.com/

Cilla_Tey's suggestions are good if had more time, or if you want to skip the southern region altogether. WA is geographically bigger than you might expect, and since you are only there a week, you will likely have to chose whether you want to stay south (Perth, Margaret River, etc.) or visit the northern part of the state... it would be very difficult (if not impossinle) to do both.

I wrote something that might offer soem suggestions - http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34979159

See the Valley of the Giants! It's a bit of a trek, but so worth it! The scenery on the drive is amazing and will give you many pictures to impress friends upon your return home.

We spent a month in the summer of 2005 driving from Perth to Broome and there are almost too many highlights to mention. Pinnacles, Monkey Mia, Karijini, the western end of the Gibb River Road -- the whole of the Gibb River Road in fact -- and beautiful Broome. On a different trip we loved the Bungle Bungles and El Questro too (talk about opposites). But with only a week, and if you like the wine scene, then Margaret River is a good choice. We found a lovely, big and well located B&B but it was on the market (owner burnout) . . .

I didn't know about all these trip reports and can't wait to read them!!!