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Advice needed for at most 5 days in Australia


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I consider taking a cruise beginning in Australia. I usually travel alone and with considerable luggage. I figure being able to spend at most 5 days in Australia prior to the cruise and I would like to see and enjoy as many great sights as possible.

Would you have any suggestions about what to see and how to get there?

Would you know of any tour operator who offers rather short interesting tours, that cover different places in Australia and who is highly flexible as to when and where the tours start and end?

Thank you for your help.

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The distances are great in Australia, so with only 5 days for sightseeing prior to your cruise, you will need to restrict yourself to one destination and arrange to take day trips from there. The most logical choice would be Sydney where you could easily spend 3 - 4 days just sightseeing in the city and 1 - 2 days of day trips (the Blue Mountains is a popular day trip). Another option would be basing yourself in Melbourne for 2-3 days with day trips along the Great Ocean Road (a long day trip) and to Phillip Island. The third option would be flying to Cairns and taking a shuttle (or driving, if you are comfortable doing so) to Port Douglas for 5 days. You can easily arrange for day trips to the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree National Park and the train/Skyrail to Kuranda. (Note: due to the weather and stingers (deadly jellyfish), I would recommend 5 days in Port Douglas only from June to October. )

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I figure being able to spend at most 5 days in Australia prior to the cruise and I would like to see and enjoy as many great sights as possible.

Would you have any suggestions about what to see and how to get there?

If your cruise starts in Sydney, spend 5 days in Sydney.

 

Taking a short, interesting tour for 5 days to see the great sights of Australia is like taking a short, interesting tour for 5 days to see the great sights of the contiguous 48 states of the US. They're the same size. It just cannot be done.

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Thank you all for your replies.

 

I will address the points you made beginning from the top, trying not to repeat myself:

  • I do not have any reservation or booking. If the cruise begins in the “wrong”place, I will just lose one day flying from where I am to where I will embark. Hopefully - with your help - I will be able to integrate places where I would like to be into the places I will have to be.
  • The stay should be in the time period from January to March.
  • In the past, I visited historic sites and wonders of nature such as waterfalls or taking safaris. There seems to be a preference for old sites but that would notexclude attending a concert or so – if it was worth spending the scarce time, meaning that I could not get an equivalent performance at another time somewhere else.
  • I realize that flying from one place to another would allow me to spend at most 3 full days at different sites and I know that for distances of 250 miles / 400 kilometers trains can – if available – be an interesting alternative to planes, but hardly for longer distances.
  • I sought a few sites for the places suggested by GradUT and will have to study the information yet.
  • In my opinion, in general, driving is fine to get to a place but not to enjoy the journey. I realize that sometimes there is no alternative.
  • I noticed that Tasmania has not been suggested and assume that that is because I would have to fly there and back.
  • I usually spend more time in one place the second time I get there, but as I know Australia only from some wildlife and a few travel reports, I would also be interested in its diversity.

I would appreciate some additional suggestions and especially what you would suggest to do in the cities for which you recommended several day long stays.

 

Thank you again for your help.

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We spent 12 days in Australia in October 2016– split between Sydney, Port Douglas, and Melbourne. Assuming that you are coming from the US, the first day you are going to be EXHAUSTED from air travel. We traveled from Atlanta to San Fran to Sydney. 26 hours from first take off to touchdown in Sydney at 8am local time.

 

If I were going to go back for just 5 days in Jan, I would fly into Melbourne and spend some time exploring the Great Ocean Road and taking in the city’s culture on bike. Then I would make my way to Sydney, tour the city for one day and then take a day tour to the Blue Mountains.

 

 

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I would appreciate some additional suggestions and especially what you would suggest to do in the cities for which you recommended several day long stays.
For Sydney, one starting point would be the CC guide to things to do in Sydney, the current edition of which can be found here. There is plenty for 5 days. If time were not a problem, you'd probably want closer to 5 weeks. Sydney is certainly not a "see it all in a one-day tour" place.

 

If you have at most 5 days, forget trains. Sydney to Melbourne (for example) is about 11 hours each way by train; FWIW, they are about 450 miles apart.

 

And that is the problem with touring Australia: the distances. If you were to go to Tasmania, it will basically take you most of a day to get there and most of a day to get back. With only 5 days, that's a lot of sightseeing time wasted in travelling.

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Thank you all for your information and thank you, afowler8, for the beautiful pictures.

 

I believe to have got your messages.

 

I will see where the cruise will take off first, where I can fly in second and then what I can see in and around these two places (should they be different). Thank you also for reminding me of the long flight(s) to get to Australia and of the heat which are likely to take their toll.

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Thank you all for your information and thank you, afowler8, for the beautiful pictures.

 

I believe to have got your messages.

 

I will see where the cruise will take off first, where I can fly in second and then what I can see in and around these two places (should they be different). Thank you also for reminding me of the long flight(s) to get to Australia and of the heat which are likely to take their toll.

 

 

that sounds the best plan, your cruise will probably depart Sydney (by far the majority do) then check where you can get flights to, either direct or after a layover somewhere, then we can probably give you even better advice.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I now found a cruise and that does not help in getting to know Australia. The embarkation will be in Perth and the ship will then head west. I will therefore not see anything of Australia on the cruise.

 

The previous suggestions did not mention Perth. I imagine that the reason could be, that it is so far from the other places that were suggested. However it could also mean, that it is not a prime sight.

 

May I ask for suggestions to visit Australia for 5 days including departure in Perth? Should I rather than spend 5 days in Perth of which (let's say) 2 would be wasted or just arrive 2 days later or what other city should I fly into and then transfer from?

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I now found a cruise and that does not help in getting to know Australia. The embarkation will be in Perth and the ship will then head west. I will therefore not see anything of Australia on the cruise.

 

The previous suggestions did not mention Perth. I imagine that the reason could be, that it is so far from the other places that were suggested. However it could also mean, that it is not a prime sight.

 

May I ask for suggestions to visit Australia for 5 days including departure in Perth? Should I rather than spend 5 days in Perth of which (let's say) 2 would be wasted or just arrive 2 days later or what other city should I fly into and then transfer from?

 

Does this mean once you depart Perth then you will not be visiting other Australian Ports.

 

That being the case, spend your time in Perth with perhaps a few self drive day trips out of the city.

 

PLenty to do in Perth and surrounds - Go to Ports of call Australia and search Perth and Fremantle, plenty of info there.

 

Best city in the world in my opinion but am somewhat biased as I live here.

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May I ask for suggestions to visit Australia for 5 days including departure in Perth? Should I rather than spend 5 days in Perth of which (let's say) 2 would be wasted or just arrive 2 days later or what other city should I fly into and then transfer from?
At another time or in another place, I might tease by being amiably rude about Perth and Western Australia. But what Bpos says makes absolute sense even if you're not already biased in favour of Perth.

 

The main reason is geography. Some FTers seem to think that Australia is an island the size of Jamaica. It isn't; it's an island the size of the contiguous 48 states. If you were to fly to Sydney, spend two days there, and then fly to Perth for 2 days before embarking on the cruise, it's a bit like flying half way round the world to get to New York, spending two days there before flying to San Francisco for 2 days and then starting the cruise. Why would anyone do that? Spend all of the time in one place.

 

In fact, if you have 5 days in Perth, you would probably have time to get down to Margaret River for a day or two if you really think you'd get bored in and around Perth itself.

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Thank you Bpos and Globaliser.

 

So, I plan to stay in the Perth region for 5 days. That leads me to 2 more questions:

 

Would it make sense to transfer to Freemantle 1 or 2 days prior to embarkation or are day trips so easy that transferring would not make sense?

 

For the location, would it make sense to stay at a hotel close to William St / St. Georges Terrace?

 

Thank you for your help.

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Would it make sense to transfer to Freemantle 1 or 2 days prior to embarkation or are day trips so easy that transferring would not make sense?
No need: Fremantle is a suburb of Perth, and closer to the city centre than many other suburbs. If push came to shove, you could walk from the city centre to the ship on the same day as your cruise departure. ;)
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No need: Fremantle is a suburb of Perth, and closer to the city centre than many other suburbs. If push came to shove, you could walk from the city centre to the ship on the same day as your cruise departure. ;)

 

I think what Globaliser means is that the Fremantle Train Station is not far from the Cruise Terminal - probably a 500 metre distance but the shortest route does involve getting over a pedestrian bridge.

 

I would stay in Perth, use the free inner city transport (called Cat buses) to get around the city, which is quite small by world standards and also the suburban train service to venture out further (like Fremantle for instance which would be about a 25 minute train ride from Perth)

 

If you search this forum you will find threads about the best places to stay etc - was a recent topic

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I think what Globaliser means is that the Fremantle Train Station is not far from the Cruise Terminal - probably a 500 metre distance but the shortest route does involve getting over a pedestrian bridge.
In all seriousness, you are of course correct.

 

But the point was that Fremantle is only about 10 miles from the centre of Perth. So if wheels were suddenly uninvented overnight, it is theoretically within a day's walking distance, and so there's no need to travel to Fremantle a day or two before. However, I wouldn't recommend walking - hence the smiley.

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In all seriousness, you are of course correct.

 

But the point was that Fremantle is only about 10 miles from the centre of Perth. So if wheels were suddenly uninvented overnight, it is theoretically within a day's walking distance, and so there's no need to travel to Fremantle a day or two before. However, I wouldn't recommend walking - hence the smiley.

 

All the cruisers I know (or those I see on cruise ships) are such that most are lucky to make the trip from their cabin to the Food Court three times a day for food and refreshment.

 

I doubt that the percentage who could do the walk - Perth to the cruise terminal in Fremantle would be less than 1% of the cruising population.

 

But I did miss the smiley and am use to making posts that most people on first reading think that I am serious

 

Have a look at the link below to see what I mean

 

.https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2362723

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All the cruisers I know (or those I see on cruise ships) are such that most are lucky to make the trip from their cabin to the Food Court three times a day for food and refreshment.

 

I doubt that the percentage who could do the walk - Perth to the cruise terminal in Fremantle would be less than 1% of the cruising population.

 

But I did miss the smiley and am use to making posts that most people on first reading think that I am serious

 

Have a look at the link below to see what I mean

 

.https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2362723

 

 

Thought every post you made was dead serious.

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Thank you for straightening the distances out. I found a map but not the scale to it, which made it impossible to decide on a correct basis.

 

10 miles would take some 3 hours to walk for someone who is used to it and does not pull or even carry luggage. I even consider 500 meters to be far with luggage.

 

I reserved a flight into Perth and as suggested will now look for a hotel, letting myself be inspired by some other posts on this sight.

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Plenty of good and new hotels etc in Perth and apparently a bit of an oversupply so you should be able to get a good deal. If coming from USA or the UK, our prices will be a good deal for you given the exchange rate differences, just make sure your booking is in Aust $

 

Trip Advisor is a good place to start your search for Hotel Accomodation.

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