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.

You can easily pick a couple of places to visit in Australia if you have only 2 weeks - I've done it and would never have had the chance to go if I had listened to everyone that said I needed more time to make it worthwhile. There's loads of day bus tours you can use if for example you visited somewhere more rural / spread out like Queensland and travelling around Sydney is easy. The internal flights are easy and very frequent. Honestly if you just have the 2 weeks go for it!

I've never been and I know it's quite marmite but, for your criteria (art, history, English widely spoken), what about Malta? Or are you only considering outside Europe?

Melbourne is a good city with some lovely architecture, you could then take a flight to Alice Springs and take a trip to Uluru for the Aboriginal culture, then fly to Sydney and see the city. There really isn't a lot of modern history like anywhere in Europe though.

I flew to Australia for a week - flight out of the uk was Friday afternoon and I was stood in my hotel about 11pm Saturday. Flew back about 11pm Aus Friday and arrived back to the Uk Saturday afternoon. I was out exploring by 7.30 Sunday morning and really made the most of every minute. I was out there working and still managed to see enough to make it worth it (forgetting for a second I was there to work). Go for it, you won’t regret it!

Fully agree having spent 3 weeks there. I was with exodus on a group trip for part of it but had time alone in HCMC and Hanoi. I felt very safe. Safer than at home!

The problem with Aus for a short visit is the time difference. It’s not an immediate get going as SA is with a 2 hour time difference. It’s a slog to get there. Double the slog of very pleasant other countries.

There are great tour options and we’ve met lots of single women on expedition ships for example. You could easily join one of these and feel at home very quickly. Not a budget option though.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Australia, but it is quite a long way to go for a couple of weeks.

Where have you been on holiday before that you liked and why?

I think, for me, I don’t necessarily want to repeat of what I liked. If I don’t try something new, how will I know what I like? New experiences change your preferences but you have to get them first.

That's a fair point, and certainly was the case for me, after I got my first experience of traveling solo under my belt (which was definitely done within my own relative comfort zone).

As the OP had stated what she did like doing and that travelling solo was going to be a new experience, I was being led by that. Although admittedly I was going to overlook the language barrier bit as English is so widely spoken, it's not as big an issue as it used to be.

I've been told AAAustralia for 2 weeks, but that was different because I had previously been to Australia for 3 weeks to different parts so it did not matter and I dont really get jet lag except when I fly home.

I say go for it, if not now with two weeks, when? Jet lag isn't a big problem going to Australia, it's coming back to the UK where it messes you up more.
I got an app that told me when to sleep, wake and have caffeine ton the plane to alleviate jetlag, it really worked. I got to Sydney at 7am, had a bit of a nap in the afternoon and was absolutely fine the rest of the time.

Sydney and Melbourne have really good public transport compared to the UK, can't speak for other cities.

You could also have a few days in the country your flight stops over in to break it up eg Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong.

I've done a week-long trip to Aus too, including flight time from Europe. Because reasons. It was a packed week, and once I was back the jetlag was absolutely brutal.

I've done 2 weeks in Australia a couple of times. I got mildly told of going through security / immigration on the way out because I had "not stayed long enough".

You used to be able to buy discounted tickets for internal flights as long as you bought them outside Oz.

I would say for two weeks Sydney and Cairns would be a good mix. Sydney for the opera house (see something) museums, arts, jewellery (you have to come back with an opal or two).

Cairns is in the North and there are trips to the barrier reef, the rainforest and a few other things, I think I fed some kangaroos and met a couple of crocodiles.

Perth has lots of art galleries, independent artists but you really need a car to get to them. But you could do Freeo (Freemantle) and Rottnest Island where you can fall in love with a quokka. I did a whole day motorbike tour, you can either ride a hire bike or go on the back of a guide's bike.

Go cuddle a Koala at a wildlife park (they are not native to WA so you don't see them in the wild).

Oh and if you go on a wine river tour it is nothing like you get in Europe. As soon as you are on the boat they offer you a drink, at this point take coffee or juice, you need to pace yourself.

You will see a couple of vineyards, be fed and sample some wine, quite a lot of wine.

On the way back the boat will pass a rival company going in the other direction so you have to (well you are not forced but encouraged) to get up and dance and convince the other boat's passengers you are having more fun than them.

I used to live in Sydney and frequently travelled back here. 2 weeks is doable but it is a very long way and jet lag can be awful. 3 weeks would be better. Sydney is great though although not that much history but good transport and you can go to the blue mountains, over to the north shore or down the coast. I'd recommend Brisbane and going onto Cairns and the daintree rainforest. I'd probably fly into one city and out of another to maximise your time there. The distances between places are massive though so don't under estimate travel times to get places .