Australia at christmas help!

[C0untDucku1a]

Hi we want to go to australia over christmas and new year. Sydney and Melbourne. Ive been surfing the web for it but im totally overwhelmed with where to start or what is a good deal or idea??? Two adults and two children. Can anyone point me in the right direction with companies etc?

Yes it's overwhelming and you absolutely need to narrow it down, you mention Sydney and Melbourne but what exactly attracts you to these cities? If there is something particular you want to see or somewhere you want to stay then you might need to get it booked sooner rather than later as Christmas and new year are incredibly popular times to go to Australia.
A good place to start is to get hold of a few holiday brochures which detail most of the popular trips and sights for inspiration.
Go to an experienced travel agent, sit down and discuss your thoughts and the holiday will begin to take shape.
Too tip - get everything packaged including the trips you want to go on, to avoid disappointment and do not wait until you get there.

Thanks. We have family in sydney and theyre having a full house over from england.

When we went to Australia I just booked everything myself - I asked on the TripAdviser Australia forum and got excellent advice from Australians and regular visitors on there though they will need to know what you want to see e.g. wildlife, beaches, cities.

We did multi-flights with BA/Qantas (booked via BA) and accommodation booked direct or via Booking.com. Hired a car though had organised excursion to Great Barrier Reef. We only did Sydney briefly as it was August so breakfast with koalas at Featherdale, Blue Mountains, Harbour Bridge, Opera House and boat. Went to Port Stephens which is 2 hours north and did whale and dolphin watching and sandboarding but most of our trip was around FNQ.

We had the BEST Christmas in Oz a few years back.

Lobster and BBQ and lots and lots of very cold white burgundy wine. Heaven.

Enjoy it!

Start your planning with fixed places/dates. Are you spending Christmas/New Year/ in between with family? Contact them now. What date in, what date out? If they have a full house, where do you stay (ask for recommendations - you don't want to be staying an hour or more away), how do you deal with transport etc. What else can you do while staying there that means you can make full use of that point of your holiday.

Then think about wants. From Sydney, think either north to Qld or south to Melbourne and whether it happens first or last. As PP have mentioned, it's the start of our school summer holidays. Think Cornwall in August for some perspective.

Lobster and BBQ and lots and lots of very cold white burgundy wine

Totally off-topic, but you drank white burgundy in Oz? And not just their locally-produced Chardonnay...?!

Melbourne is an amazing place to live but if you're only making two stops and you have to go to Sydney, I'd recommend going somewhere else for the second one so you can see and experience more things that are uniquely Australian.

I'd recommend going to port Douglas (via Cairns) or the Northern Territory. You'll see more of the natural world from those places.

Melbourne is awesome but it's just a beautiful city. You're going a long way just to see a beautiful city. See something you won't find in Europe instead.

Don't do Melbourne, it's just a big ugly city.

Queensland is beautiful and you'll get a lovely beach holiday there. Tasmania and Adelaide are often overlooked. Adelaide has an absolutely stunning coast line and loads of wineries that are kid friendly. Could also try the Whitsundays.

You really don't need travel companies, you can sort it yourself. We did a three week reccie trip before we emigrated and I halved the prices quoted by travel agents for a lot of things. Definitely plan early though as it is peak season here (I'm in Sydney).

First thing, look at flights. Are you interested in adding a night or two stopover on the way home? If nothing else it breaks the journey so the jet lag isn't as bad if you are heading straight back to work. I always try and stop in Singapore as I really like it (as do my kids), but that limits my choice of airline. Etihed were doing a great sale recently but they fly through Abu Dhabi.

How old are your kids? That will determine the kind of things you might want to do/see when you get here. Then, what kind of holidays do you like - chilled with not too much extra travel or organised activities and busy busy.

Next, are you staying with family? You say they have a house full, are there other people coming and if so is the expectation that everyone stays - how realistic is this? Most of my UK friends here spend February trading stories about CF guests and as I have mentioned on here before 2017 will always be remembered in our house as "the year the X family ruined Christmas"........ Arrange your own airport transfers (most people don't really want to meet the 5am flight), hire a car if you need to, share costs and the workload of having people staying. Airbnb have some great places to stay here so think about breaking it up a bit if you are staying with family. If you need accommodation for your whole stay I can come back to you with ideas.

Once the basics are sorted you can fill in the gaps. As someone else said Melbourne is fab, and if you have older teens/young adults like we do and want nice restaurants, shopping and a cool city vibe it's great. There are definitely more "Australian" experiences though. You also need to thing about are you flying in and out of Sydney so if you go somewhere else you will have to come back for your flight, or do you want to fly back from somewhere else. Don't underestimate the distances here, it still blows my mind that when we fly to Bali most of the flight is spent over Australia. Just had a thought - the London/Perth direct flights start this weekend, not sure if that is if interest.

Ask away if you have any more questions, I have a lot of free time on my hands at the moment

I'm from Melbourne. It's a great city for living, not so exciting to visit. Unless there's something specific drawing you there, which I'm happy to give more info on, maybe look elsewhere for your second destination.

I'd avoid the tropics (Nth Queensland, NT) at that time of year though. Freaking hot and steamy, and the risk of disruptive weather like floods, cyclones. Maybe go the other direction - Tasmania, specifically Hobart and surrounds, is gorgeous.

We had an amazing Christmas in Australia 11 years ago staying with family. My children were aged 4 and 8 at the time and looking back we have some great memories of our travels there.

I think the planning was good fun too. We did Sydney, Brisbane, Gold coast and Magnetic Island in Queensland. On the way there we stopped in Los Angeles and on the way back in San Francisco. Happy times.

I live in Manly, Sydney. Is there a particular reason why you want to visit Melbourne? I would stay longer than 2 nights and go to Philip Island instead. In Melbourne, seeing the penguins at St Kilda is a nice thing to do.
Sydney, well the list is endless , the beaches on the northern beaches obviously, the city and why not stretch it and go to Jerveys bay or one of my favourite place in Australia, Noosa.
Sydney can be surprisingly cold in Summer. You will need long sleeve in the evening and it can go as low as 12 degrees in the early hours (5 am)

Hi OP... how old are your kids? I’m an Aussie and I have lived in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. I was also a flight attendant so have seen the whole country. I imagine you want a holiday that appeals to all members of your family and want to do and see some amazing things without being stuck inside planes or buses for too long or having to sell a kidney. I would book soon as that is our summer vacation period and domestic travel prices are going to be at their peak. Melbourne is the most “European” in style of all Aussie cities, and it has amazing restaurants and shopping. From there you can travel the Great Ocean Road, or book to stay in one of the adorable seaside towns like Rosebud, Lorne or Portsea. It all depends how much time you’re planning on spending there. You could even drive around the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide (more great wine and food) and fly back to Sydney from there. If you prefer, you could go to the Gold Coast instead of Melbourne and have a holiday based around theme parks, beaches and hotels, but I suspect it’s more like a Eurodisney package tour, and probably much more expensive. Just research the distances - they are MUCH a greater than between UK or European towns and the cost of transport, etc. At least the exchange rate works in your favour! Agree that tropics may not be best plan due to wet season storms, although climate change seems to have hit hard. (Also happy to help out if you want to PM me!)

I agree with yesimstillwatchingnetflix don't bother with Melbourne, stick with Sydney Queensland and northern territory. Don't bother with Adelaide unless you want to visit me!

Atherton Tablelands/Cairns..WetTropics meets reef..lived&worked all over Oz&this is most ecologically diverse/spectacular from UK. Dnt miss Tjapukai near Cairns for an amazing Indigenous experience too&of course the esplande lagoon&Marina areas.It will be hot&muggy,bit of rain &mossies too but thats theQLD summer for you-everywhere has aircon😀
If you google Tolga Bat rescue centre..Malanda Dairy..Lake Barrine&Lake Eacham..MillaaMillaa Falls&tge waterfall circuit..NeradaTeaPlantation..the CurtainFig(!)further up is PortDouglas&stunning MossmanGorge&Daintree rainforests.You'lll have an amazing time!

If possible, try to budget a trip to the Isle of Pines in New Caledonia (3h from Sydney), it is pure paradise. Forget Melbourne! Jump in a flight and dive in a water so blue it looks photoshopped!

If you're doing a sydney city trip you might want to leave out Melbourne and balance it out with a nature trip like Tasmania. Tas is beautiful, you might want to travel around there or sleep in different places so you can see more of it.

Oh wow so many reaponses yesterday! Thank you.

Kids will be nearly 8 and 10.

We did look at tazmania, so will consider that again.

We wont be staying with family in their home.

And the reason for adding melborne was .... dont judge.... Neighbours set tour.

Good for you! There are some fabulous things to do from Melbourne!