Melbourne
Sydney
Canberra
I’m 26, like to socialize, and would likely be there from roughly August to October.
They’re all interesting cities. Canberra isn’t as big or lively as Melbourne or Sydney, probably wouldn’t be my choice for a short stay.
My pick would probably be Sydney (although Melbourne-born and bred) because the weather is likely to be better in the late Winter/early Spring period. Melbourne can be very grim in August.
On the other hand, because of the weather Melbourne is very good at things to do inside, so probably has a slight edge on Sydney in terms of good cafes/bars & etc.
You’d find interesting things to do and interesting people to get to know in all of your choices, and they all have excellent universities.
I’ve never been to Canberra but Bill Bryson doesn’t have much good to say about it in his book In a Sunburned Country. He describes it as kind of like a giant suburban office park, without a lot of charm. Of course to judge by his description he only spent a few days there, maybe it has hidden good points that only reveal themselves to you over a longer stay.
I have been to Sydney and it is one of my and my wife’s favorite places in the world, definitely our favorite big city.
Not much in it between Melbourne and Sydney, really. Not in August, anyway. By October, Sydney might have the edge if you’re interested in cold beer, tanned thighs, etc. Summer’s coming by then, and that’s when Sydney comes into its own.
If you’re more of an indoorsy person, then Melbourne.
Hmm, this is a good point. I looked up average temperature data for Melbourne and Sydney, and Sydney is about 10-12 F warmer on average during August, September, and October. I’m a goober for warm, pretty weather.
That seems long enough for you to be able to experience all three.
My list pretty much goes:
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Adelaide
- Perth
… - Brisbane
… - Canberra
- Darwin
Where are you living right now? Do you want something sorta the same or a bit different?
OK, Canberra is the Australian city you live in if you enjoy being bored out of your fucking skull and you hate fun. You’ll wonder where all the people are and how quickly you can get out of there.
Sydney, in that time period the Sydney Dopers can make you a Rugby League expert - even though the current premiers will not be a Sydney team but could be from Melbourne.
Why is it, that as far as Americans are concerned, everything west of the eastern states doesn’t exist? There’s a whole 2/3 of a continent left over, you know!
grumble
Seriously, it’s annoying. It’d be like Aussies pretending that the rest of America didn’t exist because everyone knows it’s all about New York…
:mad:
Not only Americans. 
::d & r’s really fast to hide behind a big gum tree on the Nullabor::
Do you really want the Melbournians, Sydneysiders and Brisbaners on this side of the Great Dividing Range? I know I don’t. It’s quiet here, and there’s no rugby and I like it that way. 
Well, I’d have to attend a particular program in one of those three cities. There’s no reason I couldn’t travel on weekends of course.
Bites When Provoked, Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney are the only cities in Australia with an exchange program for my school. I’ve heard Adelaide and Perth are quite nice though. 
I’ll swallow my nationalistic (cityistic?) pride - Adelaide’s nice, but unless you are going to be studying here it’s probably not all that great for an extended stay, especially if you’re going to be looking into the socialising/partying kind of thing. And extra especially if you’re not going to be driving.
I love Adelaide. I was born here, and that’s why I’ve moved back here after living in Sydney for a few years. But it’s very quiet. There’s clubs, but the night life isn’t anything special. There’s events (parades, art exhibitions, celebrations), but not to the degree that there is in the Eastern States. And if you don’t drive, although the public transport around the city is some of the best in the country, so much of the touristy stuff is at least a few hours drive and there’s less transport that way so you’re kind of stuck unless you can get a tour or a friend to take you around. We’ve got a zoo, but it’s not a patch on Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. We had an amusement park down at the beach, but that was destroyed and packed up a few years ago, and Brisbane/ the Gold Coast are full of amusement parks (sea world, WB Movie world etc.). We’ve got markets, but apparently Melbourne’s shopping district puts them to shame.
I’d suggest if you’ve got the money, book a trip to adelaide on one of the wine tasting tours or something like that. You get to see a bit of our town, taste some of our wine but then you can head back to Sydney or whatever when the weekend’s over.
Aww, gosh. Cut a girl’s righteous indignation right out from under her, why don’t you?
Sierra Indigo’s assessment of Adelaide is spot-on, I have to say. It’s worth noting that we’ve probably got the best food around though; excellent prices, service and quality. It’s a foodie’s heaven. But yeah… excitement-wise? Dead as a doornail.
I’d dispute the Melbourne market thing though - I *hated *the markets when I spent a week in Melbourne. If you like to haggle, you’ll like the markets. Otherwise, you’ll end up like me - feeling that you’ve been transported into the melon-buying scene in Life of Brian!
/mock glare at kambuckta.
That’s true. If they started coming here in droves it’d ruin everything.
Suddenly we’d have people shouting back ‘Yeah!’ when the main singer asks us if we’re ready to ROCK?!, instead of a mild muttering (indicating that while perhaps rocking is not entirely out of the question in the short-term future, we’re not willing to commit to it at this point in time) or total silence marred only by the sound of crickets*.
The New South Welsh would infiltrate our delis with their ‘devon’ and you wouldn’t be able to find a decent bung fritz to save your life…
And can anyone imagine the horror that would be Rove Live in Adelaide?
It’d be unspeakable.
[*Right now, everyone else is thinking I’m joking, but Sierra Indigo and any other South Australians are nodding their heads knowingly.]
Bung Fritz??
Take my advice neuroman and stay well away from any town that names a foodstuff bung fritz. It will only bring you grief…digestive at least.
Philistine!
You probably don’t appreciate a pie floater, either.
Canberra - you have to pay Australians to go and live there
Sydney is the most overrated city in the world. To use an American analogy, it’s Detriot with a better view. Sure, there are some cool things there but everything else is just the worst this country has to offer.
Melbourne is a fantastic city, has everything, lovely people. Take it any day of the week of Sydney.
It’s tragic for you Brisbane isn’t an option. A world class city, perfect weather and the nicest folks you’l ever meet.
mm
[SIZE=1] There is actually a reason it is called the Nullabor.