Good time to visit Australia?

[Vash01]

I know there are many fsuers in Australia, so here is a question:

What is a good time to visit Australia- December (our winter) or midyear (our summer)?

I am looking into the possibility of visiting in 2019, but I prefer short tours (9-11 days) rather than 15 plus days.

I stumbled upon a 9 day tour with Trafalgar that actually sounded better than the 13-15 day tours. It covers Melbourne, Sydney, the Great barrier reef and Cairns. I would like to visit Brisbane but the other tours don't cover it either. That would require a much longer vacation and a lot more money.

From what I read, the winters there are not that harsh, so I could even go there in June or July. December would mean summer there, and I cant imagine it being worse than the summers in Arizona.

There are tours that cover Australia and NewZealand, but again there will be the issue of vacation time and money.

I know it is impossible to see a vast country like Australua in 9-10 days, but at least these tours cover some key tourist destinations. If I get lucky in the future and am able to take a month off, i could see more.

Any thoughts? Inputs fron non-Australians are welcome too, because I could get the tourist perspective. I am just gathering information now and have not made any definite plans but I would like to visit in the next two years.

Do Americans need Australian visa?

 

[misskarne]

You'll need an ETA to enter Australia. Very like the US ESTA. It's a visa waiver. Get it from the official immigration site and it's only like $20 or something. Important to note that the official domain for the Australian Government is .gov.au, so do not get suckered into any .com sites that will charge you more.

Australia's huge. A little bigger than the mainland US. The weather variances are such that what is a good time for one part won't always be a good time for another part. I'd be looking at February-March if you wanted to do both Victoria and Queensland. January will be hot, but it's also humid and monsoon-y in the far north. By March the edge should have been taken off the heat in the south and the weather will be better in Queensland.

9 days to do Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns and the reef sounds like a frigging nightmare. You'd miss out on so much and you'd spend all your time rushing around, never really enjoying anything. I wouldn't do us on anything less than two weeks, especially if you're city-hopping, but if you think it'll be fine, go for it I guess.

Or you could do it without an organised tour - Australia is a very amenable country for just wandering around exploring. The key thing is to decide what you absolutely desperately want to see. Plan everything around that, and note that some things are faster than others; for example, seeing the bridge and the opera house will take you maybe an hour (I don't know if they do tours of the opera house), but I wouldn't do Taronga Zoo on anything less than a day.

If you go to a beach - and I do recommend it, we have lovely beaches - please be very careful. The water itself is more dangerous than any creatures. I strongly advise swimming only at patrolled beaches (as the majority of the tourist ones are) and only between the red and yellow flags. Also, don't bother bringing sunscreen; wait til you get here and buy the SPF50+.

Also, make sure you check the customs website if you plan on bringing anything in with you like food or anything. We have very strict customs and quarantine regulations.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

Take time to visit New Zealand if you can. I spent 6 months there and fell in love with the country and people.

I met lots of Aussies in New Zealand & they were fun & funny.

 

[oleada]

We went in end of September/early October. It was actually a wonderful time to go; the weather was beautiful. It was warm in Sydney and the reef, but not hot. I don't think it rained much or at all the whole time we were there. It was a bit chilly in Melbourne (we had one day of rain there). Also, early October was before jelly season on the reef.

I also think 9 days is very little. The flight down there took A LOT out of me. I didn't expect to be so exhausted and I appreciated that we took our time in each place. If you do all 3 in 9 days, you'll be traveling constantly.

Things that stand out: Taronga Zoo was great. We had an AMAZING tour guide through Blue Diamond Tours, which was a day tour around the Blue Mountains. Our tour guide was amazing and he made a point of talking a lot about the aboriginal culture, which I appreciated. As for the reefs, the snorkeling was incredible! We saw quite a few turtles and black tip/white tip reef sharks which is a total highlight. We took the ferry to one of the outer islands (blanking on the names); rode bikes and saw whales breeching right in front of us. I liked all the craft beers and the wines, if you're into that.

You do need to apply for an ETA in advance. This was super easy.

Other tips: We got a SIM card at the airport for our phones, and that was worth it to us to get around using Google Maps/take pics on social media/etc. Australia is super credit card friendly and we barely used cash at all. USE A TON OF SUNSCREEN. I cannot highlight this enough. I forgot to reapply while snorkeling and my back was on fire. We also took our own refillable water bottles. Australia is so eco-friendly; there were stations to refill everywhere. You save money and help the environment.

I absolutely loved New Zealand but you'd need to add another week to that trip if you want to do that.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Being the resident Melbournian, here is my brief guide to the place.

Spring is probably the best time (Sept/Oct). The weather won't be stinking hot in Melbourne. However if you head north it will be hot all year round.

Not sure about the tours. The usual things are the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles and Penguins at Phillip Island. But they are full day activities and one heads east (penguins) and one heads west (Apostles). You would find the tourist attractions in Sydney are a lot more expensive than Melbourne (eg the Zoo in Sydney is $47 for an adult as opposed to $36 in Melbourne).

However Melbourne has the Yarra River, fantastic gardens, great national gallery, Museum (is only $15), good shopping, sporting venues (yes there is a rink in the city), fantastic restaurants (Southbank, City or Lygon St), markets (St Kilda Esplanade on Sundays is the best one). There is enough to keep you busy for a few days. Public Transport is pretty good but they are doing a lot of work at the moment putting in a new underground rail which is interrupting things.

I would actually recommend getting to Tasmania (Hobart). It is cold in Winter and still pretty cold in Spring. But in summer it is really nice and not as hot as the rest of the country. It is beautiful situated under Mt Wellington and along the Derwent River. It is only an hour flight from Melbourne too. It has MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) which is one of the most popular attractions. On Saturday mornings it has Salamanca Market and lots of galleries and good food places. If you are down there for new year, you can see the end of the Sydney Hobart Yacht race and they have a food festival Taste of Tassie. There is also Port Arthur Historic Site which is well worth a visit (which would be a day tour from Hobart). Such a great place I hope to move there in the next couple of months

 

[alexikeguchi]

I would actually recommend getting to Tasmania (Hobart). It is cold in Winter and still pretty cold in Spring. But in summer it is really nice and not as hot as the rest of the country.

I can second this recommendation from a tourist perspective. My younger son, who was 8 or 9 at the time, was actually the one to nominate Tasmania for inclusion in our approximately 12 day planned trip, which was all I could spare from my work. We were there in the first half of June, again because of my work schedule, but I enjoyed the weather very much. The air was crisp, and there was a frost at altitude, but it was not bitter cold. In addition, the weather in Sydney and North Queensland was not uncomfortably hot at that time of year, and travel was definitely off peak making popular areas less overrun and lodging less expensive.

As an aside, I made all our travel arrangements independently since I like to travel off the beaten path and maintain flexibility, and that is really easy to do in Australia. I even managed to do my own driving on the quieter roads of Tasmania and didn't find driving on the left prohibitive. I don't know what your comfort level is, but you might consider making your own plans so that you can tailor a relatively short trip to fit your interests, and you can still book day tours once you get there.

You certainly do get around! Happy and safe travels to you!

 

[Erin]

It's been 11 years since I think most of the advice isn't changed. I went for 16 days and did Sydney, Cairns, and Brisbane, which was about the right amount of time. I feel like 9 days isn't enough for the itinerary you are looking at. Especially since Melbourne is more out of the way than Brisbane. I went in November, which was a decent time. We did find Cairns a bit hot but not that big of a deal. We had some unseasonably cold weather in Sydney but I wouldn't assume it would always be like that. I do wish we had gone to Melbourne - I'd like to go back someday to check it out as I've heard so many good things about it.

New Zealand is great but is probably a separate trip. I spent two weeks there and felt like I didn't spend enough time there.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Absolutely any time you can get there! Australia rocks!!

 

[Peaches LaTour]

While you are in Australia, if you buy some Australian pearls, I shall be jealous forever. I have always wanted a string. Sigh.....

 

[Vash01]

While you are in Australia, if you buy some Australian pearls, I shall be jealous forever. I have always wanted a string. Sigh.....

It could be 18-24 months before I go to Australia.

If/when I go there, I will look for the pearls, now that you have mentioned those. LOL.

 

[Aussie Willy]

It could be 18-24 months before I go to Australia.

If/when I go there, I will look for the pearls, now that you have mentioned those. LOL.

I didn't realise pearls were the go to gem here. I know opals are.

If you want to get a taste of outback Australia, I would recommend Broken Hill. It is a mining town but very fascinating with lots to do and see. It has the painted hotel that you see in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. In winter the weather is lovely.

 

[Peaches LaTour]

It could be 18-24 months before I go to Australia.

If/when I go there, I will look for the pearls, now that you have mentioned those. LOL.

Saw a special once on Darwin pearls or some place in that area. I drooled through the entire show.

 

[asdf334]

I did Melbourne (including city, Phillip Island tour, and Great Ocean Road tour) - Uluru - Cairns (includes Great Barrier Reef and Kuranda Skyway) - Sydney (includes tour to Blue Mountain, Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb, performance of Carmen at the Opera House) in 13 days, with 10 of that being actual time on the ground using a mix of self-directed itineraries and guided tours. How much time you need is really dependent on how in-depth you want to go at each of the various cities/attractions. My travel philosophy is to see as many of the highlights/essentials as possible, so I don't necessarily spend a huge amount of time at each attraction.

I feel like if you don't scuba dive, it's not worth spending more than a day or two at the Great Barrier Reef. It's not that you can't see anything cool going snorkeling, but it's harder to see the really good stuff / more untouched parts of the reef if you don't scuba dive.

If you go to Uluru, be sure to also spend time at Kata Tjuta / the Olgas as well, which have quite interesting and diverse rock formations.

One of my favorite parts about Sydney was simply riding the various ferries around the harbor. Somehow, it also never got old seeing the Harbor Bridge and Opera House every day either!

I think the Sydney harbor bridge climb is worth doing. It's a fairly easy climb and you get great city views. Definitely reserve ahead of time as the time slots can sell out.

For guided tours, I would definitely splurge for the more boutique / small operators as opposed to a big company like Gray Line. Traveling in a smaller group was more enjoyable from a logistics perspective because you cut down on a bunch of time waiting for people to board/get-off the bus, and you can work with the guide to spend more/less time at various spots. Also, the smaller tours can pick-up/drop you off directly from your hotel as opposed to needing to go to a central location.

I went in July and while winter is nothing compared to winters I experienced growing up in the Midwest and New England, you will be caught off guard if you don't come prepared. There were definitely days when I wished I had a heavier jacket to wear!

It may be helpful to find a hotel that has a washer/dryer. We packed less because of it, and it also saved us when we got caught up in a couple of storms and needed to dry stuff out overnight!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney is a must, and if you have a few dollars to burn, try the Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk. The views are spectacular.

 

[Vash01]

I am nowhere close to visiting Australia yet but it is never too early to start planning. I am thinking of going to Sydney to do some sight seeing on my own. I have a distant relative there, so I could save some money on hotels. I would like to take a cruise to Melbourne that I read about. It goes to Hobart on its way. Not sure how to visit Brisbane and Cairns yet. This is such a huge country! I may have to skip Brisbane.

It seems I have a relative in New Zealand too, but not sure if I can stay with her and for how long. Couple of days should not be a problem but I may be better off doing an organized sight seeing tour there.

All this means that I may need 3-4 weeks to do justice to this trip, or visit New Zealnad another time. There is no way I can do it this year. I have to look at late 2020 or early 2021 as possible dates. My passport expires in April 2020, so going there toward the end of 2019 could create problems. I heard that some countries require you to have a valid passport for at least six months.

I have commitments in Oct/Nov this year, so it seems I have to wait until next year. It is always fun to plan a trip though.

 

[Erin]

My passport expires in April 2020, so going there toward the end of 2019 could create problems. I heard that some countries require you to have a valid passport for at least six months.

Yes that’s correct but there is an easy solution to this, which is to renew your passport early.

 

[Vash01]

Yes that’s correct but there is an easy solution to this, which is to renew your passport early.

I don't want to renew it too early. I would like to wait until January 2020 to renew it, so it will be good through 2030. Makes it easy to remember.

In any case I can’t go this year, and I plan on visiting NEXT YEAR between OCT. AND JAN. so it doesn’t really matter.

 

[Erin]

I don't want to renew it too early. I would like to wait until January 2020 to renew it, so it will be good through 2030. Makes it easy to remember.

In any case I can’t go this year, and I plan on visiting NEXT YEAR between OCT. AND JAN. so it doesn’t really matter.

I didn’t say anything about this year and there is no need to shout at me. But feel free to ignore my practical solution and I know you are happy to put me back on your ignore list.

 

[Vash01]

I didn’t say anything about this year and there is no need to shout at me. But feel free to ignore my practical solution and I know you are happy to put me back on your ignore list.

When did I shout at you? This iPad sometimes puts words in caps. Often it uses proper names in caps. It is random and unpredictable. I am too lazy to go back to change the case.

You seem to take offense easily. There was nothing offensive in my post. Your solution was nothing that I had not thought about. I will make my own decisions.