Solo travel - is Australia a good choice?

[sbanar]

Going on my first solo trip. Have about 2 weeks. I like history and culture, some nature, and mixed in with quieter spots. I don’t drive.

I was thinking of either going to Fiji island hopping or going to Australia and flying between a couple of places.

Friends don’t think I would like Australia, but I figured it would be an easy and comfortable place to travel. No language barriers. Yes expensive. But cities should have enough museums and that to visit to keep me busy.

I don’t think two weeks is enough by the time you’ve factored in the really long outbound and return flights, and recovered from any jet lag. It’s a staggeringly big country and without a car you won’t be able to see some of its highlights, unless you take an organised tour.
how about Japan? You can’t beat it for culture, history, rail travel and safety.

Japan looks amazing - do worry it might be a bit too much of a culture shock on my own!

It's a long way for 2 weeks. What about Canada as a substitute? Depends on time of year too.

Why do your friends think you won't like it?

I can do up to 3 weeks but 2 is preferable to keep costs down a bit

I tend to find myself wandering the streets of an old town… so for all its beauty, that’s not something Oz offers.

I too like history and culture. Consequently I was underwhelmed by Australia.

Also agree that 2 weeks is not long enough. I did 3.5 weeks. It took over 24 hours just to get there.

If you are going that far I'd look at New Zealand instead. More compact so you could get around easier and personally I much preferred it as a country for many reasons.
I travelled in Thailand quite a while ago now and met lots of women doing that alone

Australia's culture and history is a mere 40 000 years old so I guess that's why you parvenus from Europe don't understand it.

That said, OP, two weeks isn't a lot of time given the size of the Australian continent.

🙄

Waaay to far for 2 weeks! I’d never consider NZ for 2 weeks either. All that flying and time difference! Australia has little history outside the last few centuries that you can see easily. Buildings etc. Depends how far you wish to travel.

Canada is a good shout but expensive. As is USA now. I’d probably join an organised trip to Japan or India. Safe when travelling with a few like minded people as opposed to backpacking.

I did Tasmania as a two week holiday on my own a couple of years ago. I hired a car and did a few of the national parks, as well as an organised hike (three capes trail) which was a fantastic experience and not too strenuous. There's lots of historical stuff there too, especially in and around Hobart.
In hindsight, three weeks would have been better, but I saw a fair bit in two weeks.

Are you particularly keen to go beyond Europe? If not, how about interrailing?

Otherwise, travelling to parts of SE Asia is can be quite easy and safe to do as a solo traveller. Not as far as Australia. And cheaper.

Some of the city’s do have nice old architecture, they don’t have as many so they don’t tend to knock them down. Some of the town’s have lovely art deco architecture. Melbourne and Sydney are big cities with lots of different areas to explore, have good art galleries, museums and markets. Plus there’s decent beaches to relax on when your cultured out. I don’t know if it’s changed much but you could safely walk around cities at night too, where there was much more of a buzz.

Travelling to Australia is about 24 hours plus hanging around at airports etc.
14 days isn't really long enough as you lose so much time travelling there and back

If you like history & culture Australia isn’t the place to go. And I say that as an Australian!

Aboriginal culture is very different to what you would be used to in Europe. It’s more storytelling, dance, art, rituals etc. So, yes it does have 60,000+ years of history but it’s not like walking around Rome or York. Plus to really experience Aboriginal culture you would need to go inland which is tricky without driving unless you did a tour.

What about the “stans” on a group tour? Or Sri Lanka?

I agree. New Zealand is stunning. Re-consider.

@PashaMinaMio NZ in 2 weeks! Travel greatly eats into this! 3 weeks minimum!

I’ve never been but I think it sounds amazing. I love traveling on my own.
What would your plan be, a few tours, how many areas etc?

Thank you for all your responses! I am wondering though, what jobs do you people have that allow you to take 3 weeks off?! I can only take this long as I am between jobs

Have you been to Thailand?

@sbanar I used to work in Local Government and often took off between Easter and May holiday if close. Definitely Easter (2 bank holidays) and we were allowed 3 weeks. Didn’t always take 3 weeks though and did not fly to the other side of the world at all when working. Colleagues in education frequently took 3 weeks in August - or longer! We did go on various safaris, island hopping in Caribbean, and USA. Widened our scope after I stopped working and DH ran a succesful company and gave himself 3 weeks off to recharge. I know lots of people who have taken 3 weeks but not every year. Sometimes you can bank leave too and use it as a bigger chunk.

Canada would be really good. People are super-friendly.

We had some longer holidays when working, unpaid leave.

Unpaid leave means others do your work which wasn’t on where I worked. Only for an exceptional reason when all leave was used up. Not using it in the leave year, and asking to carry a bit over, had to be agreed.

I'd go to Vietnam- very easy place to travel around solo.

Canada is super expensive, especially in the Rockies.

For a bit of a mix of history and many different cultures, how about Singapore? Very easy to get around everywhere by MRT and is very safe.