Australia - How much time in Sydney/Melbourne

[Pacolovestacos]

For those of you who have been to Australia, how many nights would you recommend in Sydney and Melbourne.

Was thinking maybe 4 in Sydney and 3 in Melbourne.

 

[kimblebee]

For those of you who have been to Australia, how many nights would you recommend in Sydney and Melbourne.

Was thinking maybe 4 in Sydney and 3 in Melbourne.

That sounds about right. You’ll want a full day for the Opera House and surrounding area. I recommend the harbour boat tour.

 

[gotomu212]

What else are you doing in Australia? Everyone has different taste but we always minimize our time in the cities and spend our time in other areas.

Australia has so many unique natural spots, while a city in one country is a lot like a city in another country to me.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I haven't researched a ton yet. Will do GBR for sure as I like snorkeling. Maybe 3 or 4 nights there.

 

[kimblebee]

I haven't researched a ton yet. Will do GBR for sure as I like snorkeling. Maybe 3 or 4 nights there.

If you’re nice, I have an Uncle with the ocean as his back yard...

lol

 

[gotomu212]

I haven't researched a ton yet. Will do GBR for sure as I like snorkeling. Maybe 3 or 4 nights there.

Look into explorer fares (used to be walkabout pass) with quantas. You’ll get cheaper domestic fares on multi city stops as long as you fly with them from the US (or wherever you’re from). That way you can hop from city to city. Some of our favorites are on the southern coast- Kangaroo Island, Great Ocean Road, and the Grampians (inland). Uluru was a great stop just to say you’ve been there and GBR is fantastic (Fitzroy Island is popular with a lot of people who don’t want to break the bank but want to stay close to the GBR- you can take a boat out for diving/snorkeling at the reef from there).

 

[Pacolovestacos]

If you’re nice, I have an Uncle with the ocean as his back yard...

lol

Lol hook a brotha up

 

[Pacolovestacos]

Look into explorer fares (used to be walkabout pass) with quantas. You’ll get cheaper domestic fares on multi city stops as long as you fly with them from the US (or wherever you’re from). That way you can hop from city to city. Some of our favorites are on the southern coast- Kangaroo Island, Great Ocean Road, and the Grampians (inland). Uluru was a great stop just to say you’ve been there and GBR is fantastic (Fitzroy Island is popular with a lot of people who don’t want to break the bank but want to stay close to the GBR- you can take a boat out for diving/snorkeling at the reef from there).

I will cash in some miles so I can fly first class from USA. My knees can't take coach all the way from the USA , lol.

I was definitely considering Kangaroo Island. But the main hotel there was going for North of $1,000 per night. I'll have to find a different option if I want to stay there.

 

[jevs]

I’d do the opposite. But I’m Melbourne born so biased and think Sydney is overrated. Melbourne is like a mini NYC.

Second seeing the GBR before it is completely destroyed. Uluru is totally worth seeing if you have the time to add NT to your trip.

Avoid ALL theme parks in Australia - they’re ALL **** compared to Disney and Universal. Although I’d recommend a walk through Luna Park in Melbourne only for the history.

 

[lifesavacation]

We did 4 nights in Sydney, 3 nights in Port Douglas near Cairns, 2 nights at Uluru, and 3 nights in Melbourne.

The timing in each depends on what you’d like to do.

I could retire in Sydney, I loved it so much. You could easily spend a solid week there. Absolutely loved the Bondi to Bronte beach trail. I could jog that every morning with a smile on my face.

The Great Ocean Road out of Melbourne was gorgeous and will take full day.

Loved snorkeling the GBR. There’s so much to see in the Daintree Rainforest. You can easily fill a few days near Cairns.

3 or 4 days in each location could be too little. I wish we could have stayed longer but with the travel time, it was all we could spare.

We used miles for business class. The flight wasn’t bad at all.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

Yea I think before I settle on how many nights in each place, I need to decide what sort of day trips I want to do. But most things I've seen on the internet have indicated that 3 nights is sufficient for Melbourne.

 

[jevs]

Yea I think before I settle on how many nights in each place, I need to decide what sort of day trips I want to do. But most things I've seen on the internet have indicated that 3 nights is sufficient for Melbourne.

Yep sounds like a plan. I do this when planning trips to the USA, make up a cannot be missed list and go from there. I wouldn’t take too much notice of what the internet says about sufficient time in cities, I was told 3 days is more than enough to see ALL at DL lol. And 5 days was plenty for NYC lmao - we stayed 15 nights and were flat out with our can’t miss list, sure I could stay 6 months and wouldn’t see everything