Cris423

Hello everybody,

Could anyone give an advice regarding the place to go in Australia. My friends and I are planning a vacation. And I heard it will be nice if you travel the australia by the road because you will get to explore the many states of Australia. Any recommendation for the places and vehicle for transportation? and I will do also my research regarding that. So that I could have wide range of choices.

Thanks,

Cris

Daneille

There is way too much detail that needs to be gone into here. Please let us know what you're interested in seeing because honestly a proper trip around Australia could take a year at least. If you plan just to do say the East Coast, then yes you could do that over several weeks, or even months. There is so much to see and do, and you will see a lot if you go by car. If you are planning to go over months then you would probably be best to buy a car and then sell it when you are leaving. I think there is a kind of market (at least in Sydney) where travellers can sell their cars when they are finished with them.
So questions to start with.
When are you coming?
How long are you staying?
What do you want to see?
Are you adventurous or do you prefer more sedate sightseeing?
What kind of budget are you on?
Do you want camping or hotel style accommodation?
And that's just the start!

b00bear

Hi there,

I don't mean to take over this topic but it is exactly what I wanted to ask so I thought it would be okay to repsond here. I hope you don't mind if I answer your questions as well to get some ideas. I was told that it's best to start planning early, like several months in advance.

My boyfriend and I aren't sure if we'll be coming in 2008 or 2009 but we would like to be there between July and August. Our stay will be for 2-3 weeks.

I mainly want to see landscapes and scenery, animals, the ocean, waterfalls, anything like that. I'm interested in seeing landmarks and other hot spots as well. I'd prefer more sedate sightseeing, but wouldn't mind including a couple of things that are more adventurous.

Budget? We'd like to watch our spending as much as possible, but I think we'll be prepared to be at least semi-comfortable. I'm not exactly sure what you were looking for as an answer for this particular question. Hopefully that'll be enough but please clarify if I didn't answer your question properly.

As far as getting around goes, we don't plan to rent a car out there so we'd be relying on whatever other modes of transportaion you have there (train, plane, bus, boat, etc.) Would you recommend renting a car? Would it be more costly to go without one?

As for accommodation, I was told that hostels are the way to go. Opinions?

Thanks for the time, Daneielle.

SnRSeattle

Cris and Daneille, here is a good starter project--go to the library and get the AAA book on Australia (if you can) or Lonely Planet or National Geographic and read up on the major sites in each area. DON'T think you can do it all--unless you sign up for one of the "if it's Tuesday it must be Brisbane" type of tours, and then you will have "been there" but you will not have "done that" at all. Examine yourself to see what exactly you want to get out of the trip: a flavor of the country? a better knowledge of unique flora and fauna? a glimpse of the ancient Aboriginal culture? This will help you decide when you have to start cutting things out of your itinerary. How much time do you want to spend getting there vs. time being there? This will help you decide how many stops you want in your itinerary. Australia is the size of the continental US and the distances are huge and the flights are expensive between major sites. Look into the Qantas site and look at the route map before deciding on an itinerary (although there are other carriers.) Do a little homework and then you can zero in on better questions to ask. Also, you can search this site for trip reports and see where other people have gone, how long they took to go places and what they liked and didn't like. We went to Australia from the US in July 2004 for 24 days and are going back this October for 30 days. The first time we went to Sydney, Uluru, Kakadu, Cairns, flying between places and renting cars to see the areas (not in the city of Sydney.) This time we are going to Sydney, Airlie Beach, and the far north Queensland area. It's a huge, diverse, beautiful, stark, hot (in many places), dry (in most places), unique and facinating country. I am sure you will enjoy it immensely.
Sally in Seattle

tropo

Yes, you really have to do your homework by reading up about Australia, and deciding what time you have, to see what you want to see.
Then come back to the Forum & mention which places or what you want to see, and how much time do you have.
Otherwise, its like me asking someone in the US, to tell me the must sees in their country with only 2 weeks to do it in, knowing its a vast country like Australia.

Cris423

Hello everybody, thanks for your recommendation about the trip in Australia. I already my research regarding and I found new accomodation in my trip. Just like hiring a <a href = http://www.mydriveholiday.com/> "campervans"</a>. Thanks a lot everybody.

Daneille

snrseattle - It wasn't me asking the questions about travelling to Australia. I was just the first person to respond to Cris423 asking for more information.