Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, 3 weeks

We will be arriving in Sydney to do a land tour for 3 weeks before boarding our cruise leaving Sydney on Celebrity Solstice - Oct.21-2015. Could anyone give us some advise on what to see and do. We would like to visit the Blue Mountains during this visit and possibly drive the coast or fly to areas of interest. Thank you, Ross and Margie

Three destinations in three weeks makes for a very leisurely trip. I'm not saying you should add more if you don't want to, but you certainly have the time to do so.

First of all, the Blue Mountains can be done as a day trip for Sydney and usually that is enough time for a good visit unless you plan to do a lot of hiking. You can do this as a self-guided tour by taking the train or there are tour operators who offer guided tours.

Is there some reason you have chosen to visit Brisbane? I have to admit that I lived in Australia for several years and the only time we went to Brisbane was to fly into the airport to go to the Gold Coast with our children.

For your trip to Far North Queensland (Cairns/Port Douglas), I recommend that you fly there. It's 1500 miles from Sydney to Cairns and even if you drive the "coastal" road, you aren't driving along the actual coast so there aren't spectacular views.

Without knowing more about your interests, I won't hazard a guess about what you should see and do. If you want to post more information, I'd be happy to make recommendations. Or you can read some guidebooks from your local library or take a look at Trip Advisor which has lots of great info under the "Top Questions" in the Australia forum.

Wherever you go, I'm sure you will have a great time. We loved the years we lived there and are happy that we got to see so much of the country.

We will be arriving in Sydney to do a land tour for 3 weeks before boarding our cruise leaving Sydney on Celebrity Solstice - Oct.21-2015. Could anyone give us some advise on what to see and do. We would like to visit the Blue Mountains during this visit and possibly drive the coast or fly to areas of interest. Thank you, Ross and Margie

Hi gateway11,

The Blue Mountains are certainly spectacular and worth seeing. Other good options may be to catch a ferry to Manly Beach and have a look around. Sydney Harbour is beautiful and the ride to Manly is fun. Another famous beach is Bondi which is either a bus or train ride away. It is full of good cafes with lovely cakes and has a nice European flavour.

Taronga Zoo is also worth considering but not everyone likes the idea of visiting a zoo. The location is stunning and some of the animals have the best view in Sydney! You can catch the Taronga Zoo ferry from Circular Quay and there is a bus that connects and drops you right at the zoo. I also believe you can catch a chairlift as well, something I haven't done.

I agree that flying to Cairns will save you time. Another beautiful place to visit is Port Douglas, located about 1 hour north of Cairns. It is stunning and is a lovely place to walk around. If you have time, I would suggest spending some of your time in both Cairns and Port Douglas. I used to live and work in Cairns and I love the place. We returned recently on a cruise ship, and it was so nice to experience the lovely laidback feel of the place. You will also be able to do a tour to the Barrier Reef, especially the Outer Reef which is well worthwhile.

The weather will be Spring - not too hot or humid by Cairns standards, but still, be prepared as the heat affects a lot of people!!

If you need any other help, just ask, and we will try our best!

Never been to Vancouver, but DH and i are dying to visit. We have quite a few friends who live there and they love it! We are "foodies" and we keep hearing about all the wonderful food, so we can't wait! I would spend all my time in Trader Joes - we don't have one here and it is probably just as well that we don't as I would spend all my money there.

Nicki

In Sydney:

Bridge Climb and a Visit to the Opera House should be added to the list you already have.

Just thinking, maybe fly into Bris, spend 2 or 3 days including a visit to the gold coast and maybe the mountains, them fly to Cairns for a week or thereabouts, then fly to Syd to a week and a half, giving you plenty of time before you sail.

With a week and a half to two weeks in Sydney you might also consider

A visit to Canberra a day or two including the War memorial and Parliament house

A visit to Bondi beach

Even a day or two in the Hunter Valley Wine region

The Botanic Gardens in Sydney

But it is hard without knowing your likes

The current edition of the CC list of things to do in Sydney is here.

There's much more than that, of course, so you could easily occupy yourself for three weeks simply in Sydney and surrounding areas (remembering also that Canberra is very easy to reach from Sydney).

We absolutely loved Sydney! Besides the great sights to see, a few tips:

~Darling Harbor has fireworks on Saturday night. Then go catch the ferry over to the Circular Quay. It's a wonderful ride at night!

~The Opera house tour was well done. The Opera Kitchen is an open air restaurant by the Opera. It was good, moderately priced, and a fun place to eat if you can avoid seagulls stealing your food!

~From the Circular Quay, through The Rocks, and up to where you enter the Bridge is pretty steep climb. There is a bus that goes up there (don't remember the number), and it really helps if you're not ready for the hike.

~The Capitol Theater has 4:30 afternoon drawings for $30 front row seats to that night's performance ("Wicked" when we were there.)

~Harry De Wheels has the best meat pies (the Haymarket location is near the Capitol Theatre.) You really must try one "tiger style"! Pie Face is a larger chain that you'll find everywhere in Sydney.

~I'm Free Walking Tours are great, especially the longer daytime one.

~The best part about Manly is the ferry ride.

~There is a free bus that runs up and down Elizabeth Street during the day.

~We got an Opal Card (transportation). They are re-upped at 7-11's. It worked fine, but the MyMulti3 would have been more convenient for a week, good on all the ferries and trams, and not that much more expensive.

~If you do have an Opal Card, it stops charging you at $2.50 on Sundays. So that's a great day to take all the longer trips and ferry rides--ie Bondi, Manly, Watsons Bay, etc...

~The Blue Ribbon tour of the Blue Mountains was excellent. Not that much more than DIY, and definitely worth it. They also stop at Featherdale Wildlife Park which we thought was more fun than the zoo, and end the tour with a high speed ferry ride from the Olympic Park to Circular Quay.

~If you have an adventurous spirit, you'll remember the Bridge Climb long after the hole in your wallet. You probably won't need reservations, so just go when the weather's nice.

~It was wonderful to come "home" to a beautiful apartment, complete with expansive city views, cooking, and laundry. It also saved quite a bit just to be able to have breakfast and some light meals "at home." We had a great deal at the Meriton Apartments on Campbell Street. Can't say enough good about it. Ask for an upper floor room with a view, even if you have one of the cheaper rates.

September/October, being Spring, is a lovely time of year to visit Cairns and Brisbane, finishing in Sydney.

I have had overseas friends fly into Cairns, drive to Sydney, via Brisbane and the East Coast Pacific Highway route.

As you are arriving and leaving from Sydney, you could choose to fly one way from say Sydney to Cairns.

You could google some of these places in South East Queensland to see what is available in this region -

Fraser Island

Moreton Island

North Stradbroke Island

Gold Coast Hinterland -

Binna Burra, O'Reillys, Springbrook

Further island from Brisbane -

Bunya Mountains

Further north of Brisbane -

1770

Beaches -

Sunshine Coast (north coast of Brisbane)

Gold Coast (south coast of Brisbane)

You could stop at any of these places en route from Cairns.

Then there are just as many delightful places along the Coast from Brisbane to Sydney from which to choose to stopover, such as Byron Bay, the most easterly part of Australia, Iluka/Yamba, and any of the "Heads", such as Scott's Head, etc.

Free Bus is down George St :) (Elizabeth St Route has been discontinued)

Capitol will have Les Miserable on.

If you want to avoid the steep climb catch the train to Wynyard and walk along that way. If you are coming from the south its a bit harder on the bus as most of the buses head across the "bridge" so last stop or departure point is Wynyard.

The first week of october is school holidays so I'd suggest staying in a major city area rather than heading to cairns etc that week

If you have time fly to Ayres Rock also Kakadu where you see the Aussie 'outback' and unique to Australia. I agree don't spend time in Brisbane or Gold Coast, fly to Port Douglas (Cairns).

If cities are your thing, make sure you have enough time I Sydney to visit all the attractions.

If you want to avoid the steep climb catch the train to Wynyard and walk along that way. If you are coming from the south its a bit harder on the bus as most of the buses head across the "bridge" so last stop or departure point is Wynyard.

 

There is also a lift that goes up to the Cahill Expressway walkway which links to the bridge walkway and is almost a completely flat walk. It's at the eastern end of Circular Quay, the Opera House side. You get great views over Circular Quay from the Cahill Expressway.