A little rich for my blood, but good clients of mine have stayed there and they loved it. They have often stayed at Claridges and more recently at The Lanesborough (which they hated). They especially loved the personal attention of the staff at the time hotel 22 Jermyn Street. Twice since they have tried to book there, but couldn't get in on short notice.

Why does it still say there are no responses to this question? I thought my answer above was a response! Anyway, bringing this up to the top as the person who posted the question would probably think no one has answered.

Hi
I am visiting Australia for a few months in September 2004 and am hoping to see as much of the country as possible. I will probably start from Melbourne and will be travelling alone so would be grateful if anyone has any tips e.g. any danger areas, accomodation (I shall be on a tight budget), transport, weather etc.

gwennie - no danger areas that I know of (but perhaps I need to know that your defifition and mine are the same).

You need to be more specific about what sort of accomm and how much you want to pay - and where you intend on going.

Transport - bus, train, plane - but you can pretty much forget train unless you want to do it for the experience and the infrequent times fit your schedule. Otherwise - distances can be huge - depends where you are going - but there are bus passes you can get (do a google for greyhound). imho they are not as good value as they were, say 6 years ago. Personally don't like to fly much - prefer to see the land from ground level!! - but Oz is very big so you might like to check out the sites for Virgin Blue and Jetstar (a Qantas offshoot).

Fares are heaps cheaper than they once were - but the earlier you book the better the deal.

G'day Gwennie,
Australia is very save for Solo Travelers.
I frequently have woman of all ages on my tours and they often either before or after the tour travel on their own for another few weeks. Some even hardly speak english.
If you are concerned about dangers in nature, just use common sense and take notice of any warnings that are posted where needed.
If you are a little more specific regards your plans and travel routes we can give you more info.
If you wish you can also write to me direct for more info.
Cheers, Mike

Hello gwennie,
I traveled alone to OZ for five weeks on my first (of 5) trips down under. I am also a "mature woman." I covered a lot of territory on that trip, starting with Cairns, then on to Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice, Darwin, and then ended up in Sydney. I saw a lot of places, met a lot of great people, and enjoyed myself soooo much that I've been back 4 more times, and have now been to Canberra, Perth and Tasmania (all of the capital cities).

I might suggest that you look at some tours. My city travel was pretty much on my own, but from Adelaide to Darwin, I was with a group of 42 Ozzies and it was FANTASTIC. I took the Ghan train from Adelaide to Alice, and then a plane to Ayres Rock, where I finally met up with my big group. We then traveled by bus for about 13 days in the outback. I can't say enough about how much fun that was! I traveled with Australian Pacific tours.

As a teacher, my budget wasn't what I would call, anything goes, but I did manage to do a lot of neat things that I might not ordinarily do. I did a hot air balloon ride out of Alice! I did some scenic fly-overs at Ayres Rock and Kakadu.

I'm sure you will have a great time on your trip. Have no fear about traveling solo!

Hi Simpsonc510 - thank you for your tips - am very grateful. I shall certainly contact Australian Pacific Tours - sounds great fun!!

I was planning on starting from Melbourne but may now start from Cairns.
Once have worked out my itiniery I will - no doubt be asking for more advice.

To OzMike- your tours also sound interesting will contact you by email in near future regarding my travels.

Thankyou to everyone else for your advice. This is the first time that I have travelled on my own and am both excited and nervous!

If you're going to Cairns I can't recommend Lilybank B&B highly enough. It's more like staying with old friends than merely renting a room for a few days. Breakfast is particularly wonderful, good restaurants a short walk down the road (even in the rain) and most of the tours pick up and drop off right at the gate. You are not downtown, but downtown Cairns isn't such a much. You ARE close to the airport, but I can't remember actually hearing a plane the whole time I was there. Very friendly folks run it. I would certainly make it my base for my next trip to Cairns (when the money fairy makes it possible again ;-).
Very reasonable price too.

Gwennie,

Good On Ya! Bravo for striking out on your own! I'm seeing a trend in the past two years of women who've put off travelling because they didn't have a Significant Other, or a girlfriend didn't want to go where they did, or who cancelled out after they'd planned it --these women decided not to "wait" and went for it and in every instance, they've been glad they did!

Last year I had a lovely client who was striking out on her own and I was surprised at how her co-workers seemed determined to undermine her independence. I was getting emails almost daily from her voicing concerns because they had made comments like "you're going WHERE?" "By yourself?" "You're going to drive?"

She went, had fabulous experiences and followed that up with a trip to London on her own.

You'll have a wonderful time - no worries! And, as another poster suggested, APT is a very good touring company if you want to use them.

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

Gwennie...I'm also a mature woman who travelled to Australia solo. Wonderful! Lovely people! No problems. I rented a car, great experience. When going solo you will meet many, many Aussies. I booked in with APTours, for a Perth to Broome tour, super. Aussies, Brits, US, Europeans, Canadians represented. I signed up for "roommate ok"..better price, but had a private room at all tour stops except for 1 or 2 nights at the end in Broome.

Tho I'm in the US, I contacted and worked with:[email protected]
She is a wonderful person, took great care to see that the tour worked out beautifully. Frankly, when I phoned APtours here in the US, the woman I spoke with was a bit "snippy", so I went right to the headquarters in Australia and found Tina.

You'll have a wonderful time, I'm sure.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post messages to me. I am grateful for the tips and advice and am now working my way through the 'Lonely Planet Guide to Australia'!!!!