~3 weeks vacation to Australia

[u/Ok_Possible_5702]

I (36M) will be traveling to Australia for ~3 weeks, between October and November. I took 2 weeks off from work, and one week I'll be working remotely.

Interests: culture (*not* art), history, foodie. Preferred landscapes/scenery: beach and deserts.

My high-level plan is, in some order:

• central Australia/Outback: Uluru or (less likely) Alice Springs. 3-4 days
• Cairns/GBR: beach-time and sightseeing. 3-4 days
• Sydney + Melbourne rest of the time (this is when I'll be working, so I won't have all day to sightsee and visit)

I don't drive, so I don't plan on renting a car to move around, which limits my options (I know it's strongly discouraged for a tourist to drive around alone in the Outback anyway). I am happy to partake in small group tours and use public transports (flights, trains, buses) as needed. Budget is pretty flexible, I'll prioritize speed over price for travel between locations, and I'm looking for accommodations that are clean and decent (think ~3 stars hotel, not a hostel but no Four Seasons either).

Questions:

• Uluru
  • is 3-4 days enough? too little?
  • I see most tours do the whole "camping under the stars". Is that recommended? Is that the best way to experience the landscape's uniqueness? I used to go camping as a kid/teenager but haven't done it since.
• Cairns/GBF
  • 3-4 days sounds good?
• Sydney + Melbourne
  • looks like I'd be spending a week and a half between the two cities. Is that too much time? Should I try to fit in another destination (Brisbane? Adelaide?)?

[u/keepturning1]

Strike off inland Australia/Uluru, you don’t have enough time. Enjoy the east coast. I’d spend a minimum of a full week in Sydney at least to see and do everything. Melbourne could be skipped for more time in Queensland and northern NSW (Gold Coast, Byron Bay). So start in Sydney and head north along the east coast is the easiest and best option for a first timer in Australia.

[u/Ok_Possible_5702 → u/keepturning1]

Strike off inland Australia/Uluru, you don’t have enough time

How much time would be needed? Honestly I'd rather strike off Melbourne or perhaps even Cairns, before i give up visiting the outback.

[u/EliraeTheBow → u/Ok_Possible_5702]

This commenter appears to have missed that you aren’t driving. So ignore them. Your plan is generally sound except that you’re going to Cairns/GBR at the beginning of wet season. This means you may/may not actually get to see GBR during your visit. They’re unlikely to take you out when it’s raining, and well, wet season is wet; also a potential for cyclones.

I’d also probably pick one big city (Melbourne or Sydney), from a tourism perspective, they’re pretty similar and instead go to Hobart for a period. If you like good food and wine, Tassie is a must.

I’d do four days in outback, four days in cairns/daintree (it’s pretty boring if you can’t actually get out on the reef), six days in one of the cities (Sydney if you like beaches imo) and then Tassie for whatever time you have left.

[u/gtrain1019 → u/Ok_Possible_5702]

Do not “strike off” inland or Uluṟu. You are coming to visit australia, if anything strike off Melbourne or Sydney, you only need to see one big city, nowadays our big cities are just the same as any other international western big city, minus the history so either Sydney or Melbourne will do, Uluṟu or Alice Springs is a must

[u/spatchi14 → u/Ok_Possible_5702]

Uluru is easy to get to, there’s direct flights from most major cities (and Cairns/Darwin) and once you’re there you can either use a hire car or a join a tour, and the tours pick you up from the airport.

Don’t bother with Alice Springs. The drive along the ranges is nice but it’s a big detour for little gain.

[u/Sovereignty3 → u/Ok_Possible_5702]

I think they said to strick it off because by buss or stuff it would take way longer to get there from say Melbourne/Sydney by bus than the 3 days they want to spend on the trip. A flight on the other hand, which they aren't wanting to use, is way quicker and would actually let you have time there. From Geelong in Western Victoria at 8.39 am on a Monday, it's telling me it will take 25 hours and 24 minutes to get there. One would have less than a day to enjoy it on a 3 day trip by bus.

[u/keepturning1 → u/Ok_Possible_5702]

Around a week at least which will get in the way of seeing the east coast. But if you skip those other places then it could be possible. Honestly most people get to Australia and once they arrive just wanna kick it in Sydney at the beach soaking up the lifestyle.