Australia

Holidays by Destination Australasia Australia Standard Itineraries 

Sydney is included in almost every first-time visit to Australia, with the Barrier Reef and Ayres Rock (Uluru), the other staples. There are more and more variants but the main three options are:

• Sydney, inland to Ayres Rock and then east again to the Barrier Reef - the classic trip.



• Sydney, then straight north to the Queensland resorts and theme parks and then north again to the Barrier Reef.



• A Cities and Outback itinerary might start in Melbourne, flying to Alice Springs which is about a four-hour drive from Uluru, with the option of visiting other sites like the crags and waterholes of Kings Canyon, Palm Valley, the East and West MacDonnell Ranges, and the Devil's Marbles. From Alice you might then fly to Sydney.

• A Western Australia and the Tropical North tour, say starting in Perth and stopping at Darwin, before going on to Cairns.



• A tour of the southern states could start at Adelaide, and move on to Tasmania via Melbourne.



• You could devote a lot of time to the coast and interior of the Top End, allowing at least eight days.



• To see the Kimberley properly you could do six nights in Broome and on an Outback station, with four nights on the coast.



• In the Red Centre you could consider two nights each at Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and three on an Outback cattle station, and possibly a further two in the West MacDonnell Ranges.



• To see the Reef and Tablelands in the tropical north, allow as much as 10 days.