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Sydney Opera House on the harbour in daylight

Australia · east coast

Australia

The furthest place we send anyone, and the one that most rewards planning. Get the routing right and the stopover stops being an inconvenience and becomes half the holiday.

22h via one stopETA requiredOct–Apr for the southGuide price from £2,999pp

The short version

Three weeks is the minimum, and the stopover is free

Australia is a twenty-two hour journey each way and roughly the size of Europe. Two weeks means you spend four days of it in the air or recovering, and you'll see one city. Three weeks is the honest minimum. And because almost every route stops in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai or Doha anyway, breaking the journey for three nights each way costs very little — often nothing on the fare — and turns one long-haul trip into three destinations.

Where to start

Sydney, and then keep moving

Four nights: the harbour, Bondi to Coogee on foot, the ferry to Manly, and a day in the Blue Mountains. Then go — Sydney is not Australia any more than London is Britain. From there the standard route runs north to the reef, or south to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. Trying to do both plus Uluru in one trip is how people come home exhausted having seen airports.

The reef

Cairns, Port Douglas, and picking the right boat

The Great Barrier Reef is 2,300km long and the day trips vary enormously. The big pontoon boats take 300 people to the same platform; small operators take twenty to outer reef sites that are in far better condition. It costs more and it's the single biggest quality difference on the whole trip. Port Douglas is the nicer base — an hour north of Cairns, and the rainforest at Daintree starts just beyond it.

Sydney Opera House and the harbour at dawn

Build the route

Four regions, and how far apart they are

Sydney to Cairns is three hours by air. Sydney to Perth is five. Distances here are the thing British visitors consistently underestimate.

4 nights · SYD

Sydney & New South Wales

The arrival city. Harbour, beaches and mountains within an hour of each other, and the easiest possible landing after a long flight.

Circular Quay & The Rocks: Between the Opera House and the bridge. Walkable, and the ferries leave from your doorstep.
Bondi & Coogee: The coastal walk between them is the best free thing in the city. Stay here for beach over city.
Manly: Thirty minutes by ferry. Quieter, beachy, and the commute is the nicest journey in Sydney.
Blue Mountains: Two hours west. Eucalyptus haze, cliffs and the Three Sisters. An overnight beats a day trip.

5 nights · CNS

Queensland & the reef

The reef, the rainforest and the islands. Warm all year, and the one part of the country that works in the southern winter.

Port Douglas: The better reef base. Small, smart, and closest to both the outer reef and the Daintree.
Cairns: Bigger, cheaper, more backpacker. Good flight connections and plenty of operators.
Whitsundays: Whitehaven Beach and the sailing. Airlie Beach or Hamilton Island as a base.
Daintree: The oldest rainforest on earth, running down to the reef. Two ecosystems meeting at a beach.

4 nights · MEL

Melbourne & Victoria

Coffee, laneways, galleries and the best food in Australia — plus the Great Ocean Road starting an hour out of the city.

Melbourne CBD: Laneways, rooftop bars and trams. A European city that ended up in the wrong hemisphere.
Great Ocean Road: Two days, not one. The Twelve Apostles, and koalas at Kennett River on the way.
Mornington Peninsula: Wineries and hot springs, an hour from the city.
Phillip Island: The penguin parade at dusk. Touristy, and genuinely charming.

Add-ons

The Red Centre & beyond

Uluru, Perth and Tasmania. Each adds days and cost — pick one rather than trying to fit all three.

Uluru: Three hours from Sydney by air. Two nights: sunset, sunrise, and the base walk.
Tasmania: MONA, Cradle Mountain and the best produce in the country. A week on its own.
Perth & Margaret River: Five hours from Sydney. Usually a separate trip, or a stop en route from Asia.
Byron Bay: An hour's flight or nine hours' drive north of Sydney. Beaches and a very particular crowd.

Our speciality

The stopover that pays for itself

You have to stop anyway. Three nights in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur on the way out and a beach on the way back turns a two-destination trip into four, usually for no extra airfare.

Singapore3 nightsGardens by the Bay, hawker centres, and a night's proper sleep.
Flight · 8h
Australia16 nightsSydney, the reef, and Melbourne or Uluru.
Flight · 7h
Langkawi or Bali5 nightsBeach on the way home, and you land back rested.

This is the single most valuable thing we do on an Australia booking. The fare difference between a straight-through routing and a two-stopover one is often negligible, and almost nobody books it that way because the online engines don't show it.

When to go

Two climates, opposite seasons

The south — Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru — is best from October to April, their spring to autumn. Queensland and the reef are tropical: April to October is the dry season and the right time, while their summer brings humidity, rain and stingers in the water.

JanSouth peak

FebSouth hot

MarIdeal

AprIdeal

MayReef good

JunReef best

JulReef best

AugReef best

SepIdeal

OctIdeal

NovGood

DecSouth peak

March to May and September to November are the compromise months — decent everywhere. Avoid Christmas and January if you can: it's Australian school holidays, prices double and the domestic flights fill.

Worth leaving the resort for

What we'd actually book

Bondi to Coogee

Six kilometres of clifftop path past four beaches. Free, takes two hours, and the best thing in Sydney.

BridgeClimb

Up the arch of the Harbour Bridge. Expensive, and the dawn climb is the one worth paying for.

Outer reef, small boat

Twenty people to a good site beats three hundred to a pontoon. The single biggest quality call on the trip.

Daintree

The oldest rainforest on earth meeting the reef at Cape Tribulation. Go with an Indigenous guide.

Great Ocean Road

Two days from Melbourne. The Twelve Apostles at sunset, and wild koalas at Kennett River.

Melbourne laneways

Coffee, street art and small bars behind unmarked doors. Do a walking tour on day one and you'll find the rest.

Uluru at sunrise

Two nights, not one. Sunset, sunrise and the ten-kilometre base walk — which is better than the climb ever was.

Whitehaven Beach

Seven kilometres of silica sand in the Whitsundays. Seaplane in if the budget stretches; it's worth it once.

The practical bits

Things that catch people out

ETA requiredAn electronic travel authority, applied for online before departure. Quick and cheap, but not issued on arrival.

Flight timeAround 22 hours with one stop. Two stopovers turn that into three manageable flights.

Time zoneNine to eleven hours ahead depending on season and state. The jet lag is real in both directions.

CurrencyAustralian dollar. Card everywhere, and tipping is not expected.

DistancesSydney to Cairns is three hours by air; Sydney to Perth five. Internal flights are unavoidable — budget for them.

StingersBox jellyfish on the Queensland coast from November to May. Swim in netted areas or wear a suit; operators provide them.

SunThe UV index is genuinely higher than anywhere in Europe. Factor 50 and a hat, even on overcast days.

DrivingOn the left. Distances between towns are long and fuel stops sparse — plan the Great Ocean Road properly.

Before you book

Five things worth knowing

Three weeks, not two. Two weeks means four days in transit and one city. If three weeks isn't possible, do Australia properly another year and go to Asia instead.

Take two stopovers. You're stopping anyway. Three nights each way in Singapore, KL or Dubai costs little and transforms the trip — and it's the thing online booking engines never offer.

Pay for the small reef boat. Twenty people at an outer reef site versus three hundred at a pontoon. It's the difference between a good day and the day you remember.

The seasons work against each other. The reef wants their winter; Sydney and Melbourne want their summer. March–May and September–November are the honest compromise.

Avoid Christmas and January. Australian school holidays. Prices double, domestic flights fill, and the beaches you came for are full of locals.

Next step

Tell us your dates and we'll route it

Send your dates and rough budget and we'll come back with a full routing — stopovers both ways, internal flights, and the payment plan written out in full.

Your money is protected. Trip Tides is a travel agent — we book your holiday with a travel company, and that company is named on your quote and confirmation. Your contract is with them. If your holiday is a package including flights, put together by an ATOL holder, you'll get an ATOL certificate naming that company. We confirm in writing what protection applies before you pay.

Australia packages

Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.

7 nights in Australia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Financial protection confirmed in writing before you pay

from £2,199per person

Get a quote

10 nights in Australia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
The extra nights cost proportionally less — fixed costs don't change

from £2,859per person

Get a quote

14 nights in Australia

Half board · Oct–Mar

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Best value per night, and worth it on a longer flight

from £3,469per person

Get a quote

Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.