Australia and Oceania Travel Forum

Ever since my wife was a little girl, she has always wanted to visit Australia. On our wedding day (23 years ago) I promised to take her there for our 25th anniv. Well, I have just 2 years to plan the vacation of a lifetime and I want to get it right. This will probably be our one and only time there so I want her to experience as much as possible. At the moment, I'm thinking of a 3 week escorted land tour. I would like some help in deciding what to see, when to go, and which company to book with. I am also open to other suggestions on what to do other than an escorted tour. I will appreciate any and all help. Thanks

Hi Scott, welcome to VT.

Australia is such a vast, and mainly empty, country with a lot to see and the distances are huge, so three weeks isn't long at all.

We'll need more information about the kind of things you like and the time of year you'll be visiting, then we can come up with some ideas. Have a look at our Oz pages here on VT - just use the search panel up there on the right.

I don't know what the escorted tours include, or how they handle the internal travel, so I can't comment on them. But bear in mind that it's an easy country to travel around, we speak English and we're a friendly bunch so doing it on your own is not difficult.

As stated above, Australia is a huge country and seeing it all in 3 weeks impossible.
As far as cities go, I think Sydney is a must (and it would be the gateway in anyway). Depending on your interestes, Great Barrier Reef / islands in Queensland. Or Uluru and the outback (although this is more difficult to get to). Being South Australian, I'm a bit bias, but I would recommend Kangaroo Island (near Adelaide) for something a bit different. Possibly the best place to see Kangaroos, Koalas etc.
Good luck planning.

Hi Scott. Another big welcome to vt (hiya Colin). This is a wonderful site for info so stick around and have a good look at our pages. So does that mean that you are planning to visit in March? ...because our answers will depend on the time of year you come downunder. It would be good if you could hold off for a couple of months and come around May because that way you can do both north and south Australia with reasonable weather.

I would not do an organised tour here. You are best picking 3 destinations and flying in between each. Coming from the US also gives me an indication on what would be best for you. (So probably Western Australia would be out of the plan).

I would do one week in Sydney, 1 week in Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, and 1 week in Darwin. That way you would get to see a big city with icons and the Blue Mountains, the gorgeous beaches of the Great Barrier Reef and the outback in Darwin (Kakadu). You can fly home via Singapore as there are now flights from Darwin to Singapore via Tiger Airways.

Cheers, Ann :o)

Hi Ann :-)

I love that sunset - that's from your front porch is it? I can picture you, in the hammock, mint julep in hand...

That's down on our local beach Colin...and hubby and I had a glass of wine to enjoy ;o)

So if you do happen to get to Perth Scott, that's one of our favourite pastimes here mate....and hubby & I would be glad to take you and your wife there.
Cheers, Ann :o)