Best time to visit Australia
The best time to visit Australia, specifically eastern Australia is from Sept-Nov (Spring) and March-May (Autumn). You’ll have amazing weather (low to upper 70s) during these times which will be great not only for enjoying the beaches but also for walking around the cities and hiking around the many national parks.
- Visa Info: If you are a U.S Citizen, you’ll have to fill out an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) prior to entering Australia. This can be completed via the Australian ETA app and will allow you to stay for up to 3 months. There will be a charge of $20AUD.
How to travel around Australia
If you’re just visiting the main cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, etc.), you won’t need a car. While they all have great public transport (including trains, buses, and trams), the best way to see the cities is by walking through them which is what we prefer. In Melbourne, the City Circle Tram and all tram stops in the in this specific tram zone (see link here) are free but you’ll need a Myki card to pay for other modes of transportation or to take trams outside of this zone. If you’re wanting to venture outside of the cities and see more of what Australia has to offer, we suggest renting a car. We rented a car on our first day when arriving in Melbourne, however, parking at the hotels can be expensive. If you’re doing a road trip up the coast like us, we suggest waiting until your last day in Melbourne to rent the car so you don’t have to pay for the hotel parking.
- Note: You can use your credit card to pay (tap on and off) for all public transit in Sydney.
- Rental Car Info: Apex Car Rentals
- Website we used to compare prices: Kayak
- After comparing a few different rental car companies we went with Apex.
- Avoid going with the company Jucy as we noticed they have a big “Jucy” logo on the sides of all of their vehicles and will scream “tourist” everywhere you go.
- Address: If you go with Apex, they will pick you up in a shuttle at the Melbourne airport and bring you to: 5 Western Avenue Melbourne Airport to pick up the car.
- Driving in Australia: Remember to drive on the left side of the road. This can be hard to remember especially if you’re used to driving in the U.S. Definitely avoid driving at night, the kangaroos are attracted to headlights and we saw many dead koalas and wombats on the side of the highways as well. Also, there were speed cameras everywhere and the speed limit is strictly enforced.
- Note: There are a lot of toll roads so make sure to ask your rental car company if the vehicle has a toll pass.
15 Day Australia Road Trip
From Melbourne to Sydney, Sydney to Byron Bay, Byron Bay to Brisbane, to then Bundaberg before heading back to Brisbane. While this is not the fastest way to get around Australia, it was definitely worth it to be able to follow our own schedule and explore areas off the beaten path.
Day 1-4: Melbourne, Victoria
Where we stayed: Pegasus Apart-hotel
Our first 4 days in Australia we stayed in Melbourne, partly because Anthony had a work conference to attend, but also because Melbourne is a huge city with so much to explore. The hotel is located in the CBD (Central Business District) which was a perfect location with amazing views. Another bonus was that the rooms came with a kitchenette which was extremely convenient, especially since there is a grocery store right around the corner.
Top things to do in/near Melbourne:
- Visit Dandenong Ranges National Park
- We did the Lyrebird Walk Trail to Neuman, Paddy and Coles Ridge Loop. See on Alltrails. The trail was absolutely beautiful and we saw a diverse range of plants and wildlife that we’d never seen before.
- Take a trip to the Mornington Peninsula
- We spent the day at Montalto Winery and had our very own private picnic set up for us.
- After the winery, check out the nearby Cape Schanck Lighthouse, the view overlooking the ocean is beautiful.
- Visit the Royal Botanic Gardens
- Have a drink along the Yarra River- Try Ponyfish Island
- Visit Phillip Island and see the famous penguin parade- ( we didn’t have time to do this activity, but it was recommended to us by a few of our friends!).
- If you don’t have a car or want to travel as far to see penguins there is a colony at St. Kilda Pier, but be careful and check if it’s open because it was temporarily closed when we were there.
Day 5: Drive to Sydney
The drive to Sydney took us about 9 hours. Unlike the rest of the trip, we wanted to get through this section as fast as possible because honestly, there aren’t many noteworthy places to stop. This was probably the most tedious section of our road trip, and if you can skip it and just fly to Sydney, we recommend doing that. In addition, there is an overnight train that you can take between the cities that might be a more fun experience.
Day 6-8: Sydney, NSW
Where we stayed: The Sydney Boulevard Hotel
We spent the next 3 days exploring Sydney, which, by the way, is now our new favorite city! One thing we noticed during our time in Australia is that most restaurants close pretty early and many stop serving food at 8:30pm. Also, reservations are highly recommended anywhere you want to eat.
Top things to do in/near Sydney:
- Head to the Blue Mountains National Park
- We recommend hiking the Grand Canyon Track and Wentworth Falls trail.
- Enjoy a beach day at Bondi Beach, have a drink at the Bondi Icebergs and then walk along the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk (6km) for some amazing ocean views.
- Stop by Bare Naked Bowls for some delicious acai bowls.
- Gordon’s Bay is great for swimming/snorkeling.
- Stop by Harrys Cafe De Wheels for a meat pie, we had one for brekkie and it definitely hit the spot.
- Visit the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden overlooking Sydney Harbor.
- Walk to the Sydney Opera House.
- The Opera Bar is a great spot to have a beer and admire the beautiful surroundings.
- Walk to The Rocks-Sydney’s oldest neighborhood. With the arrival of European settlers in 1788, it was here that the convicts first set up house.
Day 9: Drive to Byron Bay
Time for the next leg of the trip! Grab some road snacks. The drive from Sydney to Byron Bay takes about 8 hours. There are many more places to stop during this portion of the trip. We highly recommend taking a break at Hat Head National Park. Not only is it beautiful but it’s also at about the halfway mark and doesn’t stray too far from the highway.
- Hat Head National Park– We did the Korogoro Walking Track which is a 2.4 mile loop trail that features beautiful views and some wildlife. We even saw a wild roo and her joey.
- If you have the time, we highly suggest spending a day or two at these coastal towns north of Sydney as the surrounding landscape is breathtaking.
Day 10: Byron Bay
Where we stayed: Beach Hotel Resort
After arriving in the evening, we finally made it to our hotel which is conveniently located directly across from Main Beach. The rooms were extremely spacious and the staff were some of the nicest people. They provide each guest with a coupon for the restaurant/bar that the hotel connects to. Also, they let us keep our car there the entire next day so we could walk around.
Top things to do in Byron Bay:
Byron Bay has such a relaxed, chill vibe, we regret not spending more time here. There are so many great food options (and vegetarian!) We initially wanted to spend the whole day here hanging out at the beach and exploring the town but it was pouring rain all day (The only rain we had during our time in Australia). However, we were still able to do a few things.
- Grab a healthy brekkie at Sunday Sustainable Bakery
- Check out the Cape Byron Lighthouse-amazing views
- Do some shopping-there were so many cute boutique stores
- Lunch at Miss Margarita-make sure to grab some of their canned margaritas to go!
Time to finish the drive up to Brisbane! On the way we stopped at Tamborine National Park but, because the waterfall trails were closed, did the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk. The skywalk was nice but was pretty short and since you have to pay to do this activity we probably wouldn’t suggest doing this (but it does seem like a great family activity).
Day 11-12: Brisbane, Queensland
Where we stayed: Airbnb
The Airbnb is located in the Teneriffe neighborhood and is across the street from the ferry you can take into the city. Also within walking distance from the Airbnb is Zero Fox which is a great bar/restaurant that serves Korean/Japanese dishes and craft beer, and has a nice outdoor atmosphere.
One thing we noticed in Brisbane as we were walking through the city at 6:30 pm is that everything closes early on Sundays. However, if you do go into the city another day, we highly recommend checking out the South Bank area.
Top things to do in Brisbane:
- Cuddle with koalas at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (not really cuddle but you can hold one and take a picture!)
- Make sure to get there early. There’s a limited number of people who can hold a koala each day.
- There’s also a big area to feed kangaroos. We suggest doing this right after booking your koala sesh, and buying roo food, as the kangaroos are more active/fresh in the morning and are more likely to interact with you when there are less people around.
- Walk along the Brisbane River – we stumbled upon a free concert by Filastine and Nova who are sailing around the Pacific on the Arka Kinari to promote the world’s transition to greener energy.
- Check out Toohey Forest Park to catch a glimpse of some koalas in the wild.
- If you’re looking for kangaroos, we saw a bunch of wild ones at Tinchi Tamba Wetlands Reserve
Day 13: Drive to Bundaberg
The drive from Brisbane to Bundaberg takes about 4 hours. On the drive up we of course had to stop at the world famous Australia Zoo.
- Make sure you stay for the crocodile show! If you’re not interested in crocodiles, you will have the park to yourselves when everyone else watches.
Day 14: Bundaberg-Trip to the Great Barrier Reef
Where we stayed: Airbnb
We booked this Airbnb for 2 nights which was such a steal at $60/night. We woke up early at 6am and headed to the port to board our boat that would take us out to Lady Musgrave Island for the day, which is located on the Southern Great Barrier Reef.
- We went with Lady Musgrave Experience which we highly recommend.
- The boat ride out to the island takes about 2 hours.
- Although it did not happen to us, many people on the boat got sea sick, so we suggest taking sea sickness medication before you board. (It is a rough journey).
- Once we got to the island, they split you into groups where you’ll alternate snorkeling the reefs, taking a glass kayak to the island, and walking around the island. Since we were just interested in snorkeling, we asked if we could just snorkel the entire time and not stay with our group and they were also fine with that.
- They also serve a healthy lunch and have drinks/alcohol that you can purchase as well.
- The entire day was so amazing, the water was crystal clear and we got to see so much unique sea life.
Day 15: Drive back to Brisbane
Where we stayed: Ibis Brisbane Airport
If you have time, you can stop by Bundaberg Rum Distillery before you go, but we left Bundaberg pretty early and headed south back to Brisbane. We stopped at Rainbow Beach for the day on the way down.
- Before we left to Brisbane we had a great lunch at The Deck @ Sea Salt, this place had amazing views of the ocean with it’s rooftop deck.
This hotel in Brisbane was a 7 min walk to the departure gate of the airport which made for a hassle free morning of catching our flight home.
Conclusion
Australia offers everything for everyone, from delicious food eaten in vibrant/clean cities to the most stunning landscapes containing some of the world’s most iconic animals, there is definitely a lot to see and do. At times it felt like we were in another world and yet, sometimes it felt a lot like a better version of the U.S. We’re so grateful we were able to experience a little bit of it and are confident you will be too. In our honest opinion 2 weeks isn’t enough time to spend in this wonderful country. We feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Australia has to offer so we will definitely be making another trip to explore more soon.