Not a member yet? | Register
BootsnAll Insiders
Question
2 - 2/12 weeks in Australia
I will be visiting Australia in June for about 2 or 2 1/2 weeks. I know this is a very short time but we are also traveling to a bunch of other countries so this is all we could afford here. We will be flying in from Singapore. I think we wanted to travel along the east coast of Australia making our way down to Sydney or lower. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we should go about this? Is the best way to rent a car and drive, fly from place to place, or is there a good train system? Also what cities does everyone reccomend visiting keeping in mind it will be June so I imagine it will be getting colder. Thanks!
Asked by Kiki327 on Friday April 17th
1 Answers | 
Open |
Answer this question | 
Spam
Answers and Tips | Answer this question
Hi Kiki:
I just returned from six months in aus so perhaps can help. Remember Australia is huge and so with 2.5 weeks you have little time to cover a ton of ground by driving. First of all poll your group and make a short list of priorities. ie. 1. Cultural aspect of urban Aus 2. wildlife 3. Beaches etc.
That way you can plan accordingly. Gasoline is expensive and vehicle rentals in some places are not that cheap as well. I used a site called webjet extensively while I was there. At one point I obtained a flight round trip from Sydney to Cairns for only $200 Aus. Compared to buses which are very expensive and trains which are slow! Even though not super cheap I recommend fly to where you want to go and then rent vehicle from there and drive strategically to things you want to see in that area. Then get on plane and go to one or more other areas and do the same.
By the way want to save a ton of money and have fun? Dont bother with youth hostels instead pack your own lightweight tent, sleeping mattress, and sleeping bag. The biggest best kept secret if you are equipped is Caravan Parks. Cheapest I stayed at was $8 the most expensive $33. Compare this with youth hostels. You can crawl into your own personal tent at the end of the day and go to sleep in privacy. You wont have to deal with that drunken 18 year old stepping on your face on the way to his/her bunk in the hostel.
Here are my choices of Cities based on being interesting and must see.
1. Sydney of course very metropolitan not a lot of aussie flavor but beautiful.
2. Brisbane: still metropolitan with more aussie flavor and very friendly.
3. Melbourne: very culturally rich but so universal you might as well be in any foreign city on the planet.
and my personal favorite:
3. Cairns: A smallish laid back party town with tropical climate, lots to do and very australian. Not far from great barrier reef exploration as well and you can easily take day trips to facinating areas with rainforests etc.
Remember to take 4 season clothing... it does get cool especially in southern aus. Recommend, lightweight long underwear and down vest. Of course for Cairns and other northern towns bring the swimming gear!
Hope this helps!
Don
Browse Regions
Members login
