Australia is a huge country with so much to see. Being so far away from most places it takes a while to get to as well as costing quite a bit in flights. So unless you do plan on coming multiple times to make the most of this beautiful country you'd need to spend quite a lot of time, 3-4 weeks or more. The places to visit are plentiful so you need to plan carefully, do your research and maximise your time in places by not back tracking. Look at a map because valuable and expensive days could be wasted travelling back through places you have already been to.

 

Some of the best places to visit in Aus are the major Capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Darwin). Other places to visit include Uluru which is the largest monolith in the world. You'll find Uluru in the Northern Territory in Central Australia. The east coast of Australia is famous for the Great Barrier Reef and tropical northern towns including Cairns, Port Douglas, Airlie beach, Whitsundays, Hamilton Island and Whitehaven beach. Moving down from the north you have the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.(sin city of Australia) Not to mention many of the islands off the Qld coast such as Moreton Island and Fraser Island which is also the largest sand island in the world. An hour and a half south is Byron Bay famous for relaxation, back packers, chilled atmosphere and beaches. Further down the east coast about 3 hours north of Sydney is the Hunter Valley, vineyards, b&bs, concerts/musicians, the lot. Then comes Sydney. Just below is a separate list of tips purely for Sydney. 1hr west is the Blue Mountains National Park so named because of the blue haze which is thought to be caused by the oils emitted by the Eucalyptus Trees. On the coast road which goes from Sydney to Victoria there are endless quaint and beautiful coastal villages to visit.

 

Then there is Melbourne which is called little Europe in Australia due to its large multicultural and foodie community. Tasmania is its own little island south of Victoria. Apart from flying, you can also reach Tassie via the ferry from Melbourne, which is great if you are doing a self drive as its a car and caravan carrier ferry. You could easily spend a month touring around Tasmania. Heading west over to Adelaide is the city of Churches and the home of the Great White Shark, Shark diving and the Barossa Valley, where you can sample many a fine wine. From Adelaide one of Australia's greatest train journeys is the Ghan, going from Adelaide in the south, through the red centre stopping at Alice Springs then up the very north to Darwin. Another great train journey is the Indian Pacific which as the name suggests, travels from Sydney (the Pacific Ocean) to Perth in the west (Indian Ocean). Off the coast of Perth is Rottnest island which is home to the Quokka, a rare marsupial. Over in the west are some of the best sunsets available. South of Perth there is Margaret River, where you can visit one of the many winery's or surf the amazing beaches. As you travel north up the West Australian Coast, there is Monkey Mia, where wild dolphins come close to shore nightly to be hand fed, Exmouth where you can swim with Whale Sharks and in the far north there is Cable Beach in Broome, home of Australias pearl industry. Inland is the Kimberly's, wild, remote and breathtakingly beautiful, especially at the end of the wet season when the rivers and waterfalls are in full flow. ​

 

Flying around Australia is obviously the quickest way to get around. From one side of Australia to the other Sydney to Perth is a 5 hour flight. Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane is 1 hour 20 minutes. Qantas and Virgin are the best domestic lines to fly as most include baggage. There are also budget airlines such as Tiger air and Jetstar which are cheap, but you have to pay for baggage and have a tendancy to be cancelled or late. It can be quite expensive with flights ranging anywhere from $70 on sale to $300 plus so it can all add up over a big country.

 

I would recommend if you had the time driving from Sydney up the east coast taking a little road trip. Hiring a car or camper van because once you leave the city its an easy drive virtually following the coastline through all the major tourist spots. Sydney to Gold coast is a 13 hour drive with a few stops. It can easily be broken up with stops at the Hunter Valley and Byron inbetween. Then continuing all the way up north to the Great Barrier Reef. After Cape Tribulation in the far north of Queensland you will need a 4WD. The east coast can be done in a few days or a few weeks depending on time and places you wanted to stop at but a great way to experience Australia