Ed

My wife and I are planning a 10 to 15 day trip to Australia on or about Feb. 22 2000. We are planning to go to Sydney, Canberra,Brisbane & Cairns. Maybe also Adelaide. At this time I'm not interested in the outback area. Any suggestions and recommendations will be greatly appreciated as to places to see or to stay overnite or other things not to miss.

graul

Ed, Trying to see 5 cities in 10 days or so, you'll be spending most of the time in planes, at airports or sitting in taxis ... good luck with getting timely/direct connections! <BR>I'd seriously consider limiting to Sydney and Cairns to maximise your sightseeing/activity time. if, however, you really are a 'tic-that-one-off' person then good luck with cramming everything in

Susan

Ed, I disagree with the above post. I went to Australia for 10 days and went to Sydney, Cairns, Ayers Rock, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide and Melbourne. Of course I am not a big city person so my visit to Sydney consisted of the time we arrived (8am) to the next morning when we left for 3 days in Cairns. (Actually we stayed in Palm Cove and did 1 day of diving, 1 day of rain forest safari and 1 day of golf/driving around.) You must go to the Great Barrier Reef even if you just snorkel. I was in Ayers Rock for 24hrs (1pm until 1pm the next day.) We saw sunrise, sunset did Sounds of Silence and there's not much else to see. But is is beautiful and peaceful and I am glad I didn't miss it. You should consider Ayers Rock and Kangaroo Island if you like nature. KI was the only place we saw kangaroos and koalas in the wild. For me a zoo doesn't count. Anyway, we made every connection on time. We didn't feel like we spent alot of time in airports. Other than the international flights, security is low and so we had minimal delays. We squeezed every second we could out of our visit and would do it the same way again. Go for it! Unless of course I thought I would go back soon in which case you could see more the next time.

Elsa

Ed, <BR>For what it is worth, my daughter went to Canberra and said she didn't think it was worth going out of your way for. If you had plenty of time, it would then be another place to see, but from what you've written I wouldn't spend the time going there. Also, there have not been many posts re Can., so I assume others feel the same way my daughter does.

brendan

Ed, I too would give Canberra a miss because time is limited. I have lived in some of the places you have mentioned and have extensively travelled to all except for Adelaide. What is your budget? You can stay in some great spots and accommodation can be first class. If you were to cancel Canberra, then you could add the Gold Coast which will be very handy to Brisbane. Brisbane itself is not exactly a tourist mecca but the Gold Coast is fun, relaxing and you can make it romantic as well (acommodation that time of year is relatively cheap and very good). The Gold Coast is Australia's answer to Hawaii. I personally think it is better. Instead of Adelaide, I would choose Melbourne. If you have any questions about each spot just e mail me and I can give you some suggestions on what to do and where to stay.