Australia - who to use?

[Louiseanne]

I’d really like to go to Australia in 2021. I always book holidays independently but for this I need some help as there are so many options. Can anyone recommend a company to help plan? There will just be DD18 and me and we want to visit Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock, kangaroo island, blue mountain.

[Gryff]

We are looking at Freedom Australia for our in the planning stage fo 2020/21
Really fancy some of the luxury train journeys etc they have but the can taylor make a trip as well

[Rac20]

We’ve booked with Austravel before.
Not sure how cheap they’d be but they probably would be able to give good advice.

[Guest]

I am going back in 2021 too, haven't decided which bit we will go to yet other than Sydney.

A long established company that I used the first time I went was Austravel and they are still going strong. However I think you could easily put the itinerary together yourself, Australia is very easy to get around, catching flights is like catching buses. How long are you going for?

[moanaminute]

We booked our trip to Australia earlier this year with Charter Travel.
Richard was very good at our ever changing plans and deliberations.
Booked flights, some hotel stays and car hire. Felt we got a good price - paid deposit and balance ?8 or 10 weeks before travel.

[mitch84]

You defo don’t need a company, google and book internal flights with Jetstar or virgin

[Guest]

Originally Posted by mitch84

You defo don’t need a company, google and book internal flights with Jetstar or virgin

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Or Qantas. They can be a bit pricier but not always.

Australia is an easy to navigate English speaking country, no need to use a TA and I think there could be a lot of unnecessary expense in doing so.

[Andi]

I went for a month in November 2018 with my grown up daughter. We flew to Sydney for a week and then onto Uluru (Ayers Rock) for 3 days. Then onto Port Douglas and did the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.

Next was Hamilton Island which was fabulous, we stayed at the Beach Club, this hotel is absolutely terrific but its for adults only so no young children, we went to Whitsunday Island and had a relaxing day.

We flew from here to Melbourne for a couple of days before collecting our camper van and driving to the tip of Victoria (Wilson’s Promotory National Park), then stayed on Phillip Island for the Penguin Parade. Took the ferry over to the Great Ocean Road for London Bridge and the 12 apostles before driving back to Melbourne for a few days before flying home.

We booked all flights, accommodation, camper van and a couple of events with Trailfinders and thought they were terrific, extremely helpful and well priced.

I too am used to booking everything myself but as this was so far away I liked the fact that Trailfinders could be contacted at any time of the day. However, this didn’t stop me pricing up the same holiday after I had paid Trailfinders a deposit. It turned out that with the special discounts that Trailfinders got it would have cost me a lot more to book it independently.

[MinniMouse]

DD is working in Adelaide for two years and we are flying out to see her Boxing Day. Dreading the flights and trying not to think about them. Kangaroo island is close to Adelaide. Adelaide is also wine country. They’ve done a lot of winery tours. They’ve also been to Maggie Beers (if you watch Australian Masterchef). There’s a fringe too. She’s also been to Melbourne, I think a two hour flight or so from Adelaide- just to give you an idea on the sheer size of Australia. When she told me she was going to Melbourne for 4 nights I asked if they were Sharing the driving and she said she was flying! They’ve driven to somewhere in the outback but it took them 4 hrs to get there and when I googled it I was surprised it took them so long to get there as it didn’t look too far on google earth!

She has booked flights when we are there for Sydney for 4 nights.

We are going primarily to see DD because I miss her a lot otherwise we wouldn’t be going at all. I think if you are going try and do a minimum of 3 wks or more. See if there are any Australia forums so you’re not fumbling in the dark.

We’ve booked emirates flights as these are the quickest route and the flight seats go to rows of two towards the rear of the plane.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by MinniMouse

DD is working in Adelaide for two years and we are flying out to see her Boxing Day. Dreading the flights and trying not to think about them. Kangaroo island is close to Adelaide. Adelaide is also wine country. They’ve done a lot of winery tours. They’ve also been to Maggie Beers (if you watch Australian Masterchef). There’s a fringe too. She’s also been to Melbourne, I think a two hour flight or so from Adelaide- just to give you an idea on the sheer size of Australia. When she told me she was going to Melbourne for 4 nights I asked if they were Sharing the driving and she said she was flying! They’ve driven to somewhere in the outback but it took them 4 hrs to get there and when I googled it I was surprised it took them so long to get there as it didn’t look too far on google earth!

She has booked flights when we are there for Sydney for 4 nights.

We are going primarily to see DD because I miss her a lot otherwise we wouldn’t be going at all. I think if you are going try and do a minimum of 3 wks or more. See if there are any Australia forums so you’re not fumbling in the dark.

We’ve booked emirates flights as these are the quickest route and the flight seats go to rows of two towards the rear of the plane.

See more...

No you wouldn’t drive from Adelaide to Melbourne unless you were specifically doing a road trip (that is one of Australia’s great drives) but not for a few days in Melbourne. It is maybe just over a one hour flight.

I am well travelled across Australia, having lived there and am an Australian citizen. I believe Mitch who has posted also lived there for some years too, so there are people that can help in this section. I always look for the Australia posts.