I want to go to Australia (some day). What advice do you have? What are must-do things?

In My Humble Opinion
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I live near Austin, Texas, United States. I want to visit Australia some day. Of course, the current travel climate is not good what with COVID-19 and all. I also figure on a budget of US$10,000-12,000 for a trip for two (me and my wife). We’re a M/F couple in our early to mid 50’s, by the time this trip could possibly happen. This is a significant amount of money for us, so this is likely a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip. Is that budget too much or not enough?

If you are someone who lives in Australia or familiar with visiting there, what sorts of things would you tell someone wanting to visit?

What time of year is good for this trip? On our end, we can go anytime. Our schedules are no longer set by school years, etc.

Setting aside COVID, do I need permission from Australia to visit from the United States? My international travel has been limited to Mexico and other Caribbean destinations. We have passports.

I am figuring on about $2000 per person for round trip air fare from Austin to Sydney, so there goes a big chunk of the budget. I’m about an hour from the Austin airport, but Houston, San Antonio, and even DFW are not out of reach if those places are much less expensive as departure points. It looks like, domestically, the big deal is just getting to Los Angeles. Does $2K sound about right per person?

Where should we go? I would like to visit (in order of priority) Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and maybe Brisbane or Adelaide. However, I am not really committed to any of those, except Sydney and Canberra. Where should my initial flight go? Are there better cities to visit?

How does one travel within Australia? We don’t have to fly everywhere if trains are available. I don’t mind renting a car, but I’m nervous about driving on the left. How hard is it to make the switch?

I’d also like to see a bit of the Outback and learn about aboriginal people and the overall history of the place. How is the colonization experience there similar and different to that of the USA and North America? I’d like to learn about that, beyond “they were all prisoners.”

I’m thinking the trip would take two weeks from take-off to landing. Does that sound reasonable? Could I fit that within my budget, after $4K for airfare? What does a mid-range hotel room cost?

I have learned that my wife and I travel best with a plan. We don’t do well with just drifting from one thing to another. With that said, we don’t want our entire time structured by someone else. Are there some reputable tour companies you would recommend? I would rather mix with domestic tourists rather than be stuck with a group of Americans. I see Americans every day!

I’d also like some down time that includes things like relaxing on a (topless!?) beach somewhere, having people bring us fruity things to drink. Where are some good places for that? Maybe we could see a show or something in Sydney, though I don’t think it should be a show that we could see here in the USA. We like music, too. Drinking at a bar with a live band is a popular pastime for us. Is there a place like Austin’s Sixth Street or New Orleans’ French Quarter?

We are not food adventurers. We like for our foods to be familiar in appearance and taste. That doesn’t mean that we only want to eat at McDonald’s, but would we face any challenges finding foods that a couple who enjoys American, Mexican, and Italian dining would enjoy? My wife is also allergic to fish (but not shellfish like lobster, crab, shrimp, etc.). If a food, such as fried shrimp, is fried in the same oil as fried fish, there can be problems. This can be a problem in the USA, of course, too.

Since we’re all the way down there, would a quick trip to New Zealand be feasible to throw in as well? I’m thinking maybe a day or two over there. What is that like?

I’ve probably blathered on about this long enough. What do you Australians say? (Is it okay to say “Aussie”, or is that disrespectful?)

Basically, I am asking for Australians to gush about their homeland. Sell me on a visit!!

Thank you so much.

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If you can do 18 hours in Economy, the price runs between 15 to 18 thousand per person.
If you can’t, you are looking at over 6 thousand per person.

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If I were planning an Australian trip, I would spend a fair bit of time in the Margaret River area … the caves, the scenery, and the wine country intrigue me. Not sure if that would appeal to you, but I offer it as something to consider.

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I’m hoping you meant 15-18 hundred, not thousand.

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Aussie here. Hi.

First up, you’re not coming here for a while. We’re not at home to visitors while COVID-19 is going, so it’ll be a while.

Best flight for you might be DFW-SYD, for example, but there are also flights from San Francisco or LAX. You can also go via Auckland - do a little time in NZ and then come here or vice versa.

However, two weeks is a short trip, really. Remember that, while Australia might be an island, we’re a bloody big one, very nearly the size of the continental US. Getting around this country is either ridiculously time-consuming or it’s expensive.

I’d be selective in where you go. You can either do a whirlwind where you’ll only be in one place for a day or two and then move on, or you can stay a little longer in fewer places. Sydney is where you’ll likely land, so start there. It’s our largest city, lots to do.

When you’ve had enough of that, head north to Cairns for the Reef (and the lying-on-beach-with-drinks bit).

From there, pick either the Rock or the Road i.e. Uluru and Kata Tjuta in the Northern Territory or the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

Look at sites like webjet.com for an idea on flight prices. Central Sydney hotel prices vary immensely; you can get a comfortable-but-not-grand room or you can go nuts on opulence.

You’ll have no trouble with food if you’re not too adventurous, it’ll be pretty close to what you’re used to (although my American-born husband commented when he moved here that Australian food generally tends to be fresher and bolder in flavours).

The seasons are reversed; our hottest season (which is hot - although maybe not so much of a shock if you’re from Austin) is December to February, lingering into March. Sydney’s not bad, Cairns is basically Florida as far as the weather - heat and humidity - goes. Victoria’s south, but still pretty hot in summer.

Husband had no trouble making the switch to left-hand drive - but remember the indicators and windscreen wipers are generally on opposite sides. Every time we go back to the US, he washes the windscreen when he wants to indicate a turn for a day or two.

Try some Vegemite while you’re here, and watch out for the dropbears.

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I’m not Australian, but my late husband was and I’ve traveled there a few times.

One thing I can’t find noted in your post is for how long you intend to visit. If you have only a couple of weeks, just resign yourself to air travel to get from one place to another. Australia is a large country and things are pretty spread out. You’ll spend most of your time on a train if you rely on that as your main transportation. Air travel between major ports is cheaper than here in the States. Or it used to be. Spend some time researching this.

Re New Zealand, you won’t see much in a couple of days. A stunning place that merits a couple of weeks at least all on its own. (Husband’s family was from there and I spent quite a lot of time there, too.)

Off the top of my head must-see/do things:

Why would you go to Australia and not visit the Great Barrier Reef? I highly recommend a few days in Cairns with an organized scuba dive trip. There are some fabulous ones.

Similarly, I would urge anyone to spend a day or two in Melbourne. Not for Melbourne per se, although it is a nice enough city, but to take a drive along the Great Ocean Road. Spectacular. You can stop at Cape Otway and spend time there at the lighthouse, looking out over the Tasman Sea. (You’ll likely learn that map of Tasmania has a particular meaning Down Under.)

From there you can make your way up to Ballarat, which offers Sovereign Hill. It’s a living museum of a gold mining town. Each night, they reenact the Battle of Sovereign Hill. It’s fun and quite memorable.

If you drive out the other direction from Melbourne up to Healesville, you’ll find a very fine animal sanctuary with every imaginable Australian species featured. If you want to see lots of native Australian animals, this is a worthwhile trip. It burned there a few years ago, so it may not be as beautiful as it once was.

Sydney… of course the opera house. Beyond that, meh. It’s another pretty coastal city. I remember we did a day journey on a train through the Blue Mountain National Park and that was quite scenic.

The food won’t give you any trouble. They have as many American fast food joints as we do here. I do recommend you enjoy some meat pies and a variety of Australian pastries. They do like their food quite colorful and sweet.

If you’re a wine drinker, you’ll be in heaven. They have some of the best in the world.

ETA: Don’t forget to look up at night! You’ll see a whole different sky. And if you’re lucky, the Southern Cross can be seen.

One last pointer, if you can, visit when the flies aren’t active. Australians aren’t kidding when they talk about the flies being very aggressive.

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I live in Australia (Melbourne), so I can provide a little advice, although you may benefit more from someone who’s been a tourist here!

The first thing to know is it’s a big country. Takes 10 hours to drive and 11 hours on the train just from Melbourne to Sydney (check that on a map and you’ll see) so everyone flies.

Weatherwise, again because it’s so big the north (Brisbane and above) is pretty much always warm and tropical but does have rainy seasons. Lower down Sydney and Melbourne have 4 proper seasons (winter in Melbourne (June-Aug) is around 15C and summer (Dec-Feb) around 30-45C. If you’re not great with heat, I’d avoid winter and check us out in our Autumn perhaps which is still warm but not the baking heat of summer.

Sydney’s great for the landmarks (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, the beaches) some of the early history of settlement, and proximity to a great zoo, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley, a great wine region. It’s the biggest city along a stunning series of bays and can be great for 3-4 days, plus day trips to the mountains and the wine region if that’s your thing.

Canberra is relatively close to Sydney (3 hr drive) and scenic - not the red earth but you do get in and out of the bush which is nice. I’ve not been to Canberra much but people I know rate it for a school holiday - not sure I’d fly all the way for it though.

Melbourne’s the cool, arty, coffee city set around the Yarra River. Fun to hang out in, has the national art gallery, cool laneways but no massive tourist hotspots, still perhaps worth a few days to get another taste of life. Rated one of the world’s most liveable cities (even if we’ve just finished 16 weeks of lockdown!)

Some people drive from Melbourne to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road - very scenic but if you’re not certain about driving I’d skip this and Adelaide too. Fun but less going on.

Instead I’d think about going north if you want beach life, Byron Bay, Cairns, Port Douglas, up towards the great barrier reef. More resort type living and some nice drives into the hinterland if you feel up to it.

To get into the real outback, you’re probably looking at a trip to Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory - ancient indigenous rock art, crocodiles, red dust, the whole thing. Or Uluru which is accessible via air. Accommodation is limited there so can be premium but you probably would just do a day or two to catch Uluru (used to be known as Ayers Rock, but we know better now!) at different times of the day (magical) and the Olgas. You can’t climb Uluru anymore but probably some cultural things you can arrange to do there.

WA has some great locations too but again very spread out. 4 hour flight to Perth from Melbourne, and then long drives to Margaret River or plane to Broome. If you are only thinking 2 weeks I’d keep to the east coast/centre.

I also lived in New Zealand, and think it is well worthy of at least 1-2 weeks in its own right. Think you’d feel you hadn’t really seen it if all you did was stop in Auckland for a day or two to break up the trip. It’s much smaller and some people do the whole thing top to bottom in a week or two but that does mean driving. Can fly between cities but a lot of the pleasure of NZ is the beautiful scenery and the whole small town feel as you go from place to place. It is very well set up for tourists so there are tour buses that would do the driving but I’ve never been a fan of those, YMMV.

Hope that’s helped, happy to answer any specific questions?

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Good advice. In my experience, few North Americans make it to Western Australia, but as one who has been there a few times, it is worth it. Margaret River wines are very nice, and Perth is a nice city, with a pleasant CBD, a big park where you can rent a bike to explore, a zoo that has animals that are rare in North American zoos, good public transport (Transperth), and rail connections to other places you might like to see (Kalgoorlie is easy to reach by rail, but it is, IIRC, a seven-hour train ride). And of course, the beaches–Scarborough and Rockingham are particularly popular.

I’ve spent some time in Sydney too, and found it to be very walkable, with good public transit. I always stayed in Manly, across the harbour from Sydney’s CBD, but that meant that I got to take the ferry across the harbour. I particularly enjoyed the Maritime Museum, with the decommissioned warships you can tour, and just walking in the downtown.

As for weather, I always went in the Australian winter (June, July, August), because airfares were lower then; and as a Canadian, the winter was much milder than the kind I was used to–in fact, it was more like summer. Some cool days, but nothing that got in the way of enjoying a cold beer on a bar’s patio.

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Yep, sorry about that.

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I’m that aforementioned husband, by the way.

Honestly, it your question feels like when Australians ask me what they should go and see if they have a few weeks in the States. It really boils down to what you are most interested in. Basically, I’d say list your priorities and go with the top two.
I do not recommend trying to fold a trip into New Zealand into the same trip; I’ve never been, but it looks like that is worth a few weeks to itself.
If you want the ‘typical Australian’ experience, then either Sydney or Melbourne are your best bet. Fully half the population of Australia lives in those two cities! Both have excellent public transportation, and lots to see and do. I’d give a bare edge to Sydney as it has more of the iconic Australian sights.
For the more ‘outback’ experience, I’d recommend Uluru/Kata Tjuta, in the Northern Territory, or Kakadu north of those two, near Darwin. Uluru is more arid, in the Red Center; Kakadu is tropical rainforest.
If you’re more interested in beaches, then the Gold Coast between Sydney and Brisbane.
The Great Barrier Reef is more than worth a look, and Cairns is a lovely town, but I’d only recommend those during Australian winter. Don’t expect to find beaches in that area, by the way; crocodiles make it too dangerous.

As @tavalla said, I don’t find the transition between left-hand drive and right-hand difficult; just pay more attention to where you’re aiming during cornering and you should be fine. That said, there are some people who find it difficult.
Roundabouts have their own danger; once you’re experienced them, you’ll never want to go back to four-way stops.
If you’ve any more questions, I’ll be happy to reply with the American perspective on Australia.
Oh, and…
Avoid vegemite at all costs - that stuff is vile.

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I agree. But you reminded me of an Australian food habit that might strike a North American as weird.

Beetroot, or as we’d call it in North America, beets. IME, it tends to be a default on burgers–not Big Macs or Whoppers (unless you ask for it on those), but it will often be the default in a sit-down pub or restaurant. So, where we North Americans might expect lettuce, tomato, onion, and/or pickle on our burgers in the local pub/bar, you can expect those, plus a slice of pickled beet in Australia.

It’s actually not bad, as I found when I ordered room service in a Sydney hotel once. Very tasty, in fact, and I’ve used it on burgers I’ve prepared at home in Canada. But it was a surprise I wasn’t expecting. A happy surprise, and I do like pickled beets, but be aware that if you don’t like beets, you might want to specify “no beetroot” when you order a burger.

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I went for 2 weeks a couple years ago. This was my trip of a lifetime as well.

Highlight of the trip: the Syndey Harbour BridgeClimb.

Link

Not at all scary - unless you have an issue with heights - and breathtaking.

mmm

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My wife and I did a similar trip 8 years ago, from the UK. We flew London Heathrow to Perth, Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Adelaide, Adelaide to London. I believe our total budget was around £5,000, the majority of which was for flights and accommodation.

We liked Perth (and its nearby town of Fremantle, where we actually stayed). We visited Rottnest Island which was lovely - unusual wildlife (e.g. quokkas) right up close, fun boat trip there and back (you have a choice of fast ferry or even faster powerboat), virtually no vehicles so you cycle round it. But I wouldn’t say it was a “must see” - I tend to agree with those who have said you will get more for your time and money by sticking to the east of the country.

We also liked Sydney - a nice city to simply walk around. Accommodation there was more expensive for what you got, I would recommend avoiding the pricy city centre hotels and just look in the suburbs, catching a train/metro to the centre is easy, quick, and relatively inexpensive. Even then I doubt you will find anywhere decent for less than about 150 USD per night. But don’t take my word for it, we were there a long time ago and I can’t even remember the details - you can use the web to price that up (and flights of course). I would say Sydney is a must see - the harbour, opera house, bridge, beaches, park, and zoo are all highlights. We also took a day trip by train to the Blue Mountains, that’s worth doing as well.

We didn’t do much sightseeing in Adelaide as my primary reason for being there was to compete in the World Croquet Championship (yes, really) but again it seems like a very pleasant, safe city to spend time in. However I think if I were to go to Australia purely for sightseeing, I would start in Melbourne, take in some of the Great Ocean Road on the way to Sydney, then head north to the Great Barrier Reef, with Uluru thrown in somewhere. That will give you a few days in each major location, I think. If you are prepared to slum it a little bit, and can find cheap flights and accommodation, you may be able to stretch your budget towards 3 weeks rather than 2.

I have also spent 10 days in New Zealand, for a different croquet World Championship, and I agree that is a whole other undertaking - definitely worth at least 2 weeks of its own. I wish I’d spent longer there. Of course, given the cost of the trans-pacific flight, it might make most sense financially to spend 2 weeks in Oz then 2 weeks in NZ all in the same trip. That’s what I’d be aiming for if I were you, if that is in any way realistic financially.

ETA: I meant to ask the OP - do you have a particular reason for wanting to visit Canberra? I’ve never been so I’m not going to knock it too much, it’s just it doesn’t usually feature in the top 10 places to go in Australia. I have a vague feeling there are some good museums there, but it’s very much the administrative capital of the country rather than the cultural capital (which would be Sydney). I would say, think of it like a US state capital - if you were a tourist in New York State for example, you’d probably head for NYC rather than Albany. Apologies if you already know all this, and hopefully folks who have actually visited Canberra will weigh in too.

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About where do the crocodiles end and the sharks begin? And how far upriver do the crocs venture?

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That was pretty much my impression of Sydney as well. The opera house is cool and a world famous landmark, but otherwise I found Sydney felt like just an average big city. That said, I would recommend to the OP that if you’re going to Sydney, definitely go see a show at the opera house rather than just taking some pictures of it. That’s the only way to really experience the place. And if you are spending a couple of days in Sydney I’d say the Taronga Zoo and Sydney Aquarium are worth seeing. The aquarium is the only place I’ve ever seen a duckbilled platypus in person.

My biggest piece of advise – if you head out into the Outback bring one of those insect nets you wear over your head. Trust me. You will thank me once you experience the massive numbers of flies out there.

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I’m from Melbourne, and, much as I love the city, I always recommend that people on short trips skip it. It is a safe, pedestrian friendly city with no really bad weather (it’s never really cold, or really hot, or really humid, or …) It’s not a bad place to take a holiday, if your idea of a holiday is to just spend a couple of weeks resting, eating out, drinking coffee, not working or doing housework. Like any city, it’s got a couple of unique features, but like most cities, not many.

I always think that the distinctive feature of Australia is the lack of distinctive features, best experienced by taking a long drive in the outback or between cities. Part of the Australian experience is the lack of distinctiveness in the cities, so I guess you could experience that too… but I wouldn’t make a special effort to experience it in multiple different locations.

I don’t think that ‘visiting Australia’ should be your whole plan, like ‘visiting Paris’ could be.

Tell us what you like to do on holiday, what you like to experience in places you go to, and I think you’ll get more out of your Australian holiday than just ‘Sydney, Melbourne, maybe Brisbane’.

(I’m interested in architecture, which always makes it interesting for me to visit even places like the housing suburbs of LA, but I don’t think everybody is like that)

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I spent two weeks in Australia 15 years ago. We drove from Cairns down to Sidney in late November. My favorite part was Cairns and scubadiving on the great barrier reef. It was during jelly fish season so you could only swim in the netted areas at the beach but there was plenty of stuff to do for 3 days and I’d love to go back.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the Gold coast since it was during schoolies and the beaches were flooded with kids on vacation. The reef was depressing when we dove there. I mostly agree with galen:

But there was a cool inland waterfall where the water was too cold for crocodiles and it was fun to spend the day swimming and sliding down the rock at Josephine Falls.

The friend I was traveling with took a month and drove around Australia and Tasmania and he never saw the interior of the country. Depending on how much you want to see I’d book a month or drastically chop your sightseeing list.

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Overall, if you asked me what my favourite area in Australia is, I’d say Cairns and the surrounds. Cairns is a nice little town, people are laid-back and friendly. The Reef is awesome. The Atherton Tablelands above and to the west of Cairns are lovely, with rolling hills and neat little farms. It’s not the traditional “outback” experience like in the Red Center, but it’s charming in its own quiet way.

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Gotta agree. I have a lot of special memories from Cairns and surrounds.

To the OP:

Our scuba day trip ferried us out to a private island covered with sugar-colored sand. As we slipped around in scuba and snorkel gear gawking at the reef, the tour operators prepared a lovely, sumptuous lunch on the beach for after. There’s a glass-bottomed boat for those who don’t want to get in the water – but I recommend you jump right in.

I never really believed those giant 6-foot clams exist in this world. They do!

On another day, we took the Kuranda Scenic Railway trip. The train takes you up to Kuranda Village where you can study the gorgeous wildlife, poke around the shops and enjoy fabulous views. The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary and Birdworld are jaw-dropping. When you’ve seen and done enough, you can take the Rainforest Skyrail back down to Cairns. A day you won’t soon forget.

We spent lovely evenings dining at great patio restaurants sampling Australian wines and eating fresh-caught seafood. Bliss.

There’s a special bed and breakfast we loved there if you don’t mind being away from the seaside. It’s tucked up in a very private spot – a delightful place. The hosts are stellar, helped us arrange our day trips and went above and beyond to make sure our every need was met. Nowadays it’s called Tabu. The salt water pool was memorable and the gardens spectacular. Google it for photos, rates and reviews if you’re interested.

I’m sure you won’t go begging for choice of special memories to make in Cairns.

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I applaud the OP for asking the question, because we’d like to do a similar trip, with mostly the same interests. In fact I postponed retirement a year, partly to save for such a trip. (Everyone knows how 2020 worked out for travel, just waiting to get beyond it.)

In addition to Australia, I was also considering Argentina or South Africa. I think those places would be similar in cost and travel time; all would be in the south (I would like to see the Southern Cross for one thing), and have a variety of wildlife and scenery quite different than found in the US. If anyone has been to those or in addition to Australia, how do they compare as places to tour? Which would be your favorite of those three? Ant safety concerns? I don’t want to hijack the thread, though, just thinking it would be an interesting comparison.