Tour Description

Picture Australia: the Coral Sea’s turquoise, the intense rainforest green, powdery white sand, the Red Centre’s ochre soil. These are your palette on this Melbourne to Sydney tour, spanning glittering cities and the outback, World Heritage Sites – Uluru-Kata Tjuta and the Great Barrier Reef. Whether Melbourne’s cafes or a barbecue, food is a focus, because this is Australia; eating well is in our DNA.

Priced From:

$ 12721pp ^*

From: 2024-12-22

To: 2025-03-23

Start Location: Melbourne (VIC), Australia

End Location: Sydney, Australia

Trip Type: Country Explorer

Tour Advisors

Tiffany McCrea-Lennon

Managing Director

Michelle Baldwin

Travel Specialist

Gaylyn Murdoch

Administration Manager

Russell Mein

Travel Specialist

Holly Skene

Travel Co-ordinator

Kim Thomas

Broker

Itinerary

Welcome to Melbourne

Day 1

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne

Settle into your hotel on the banks of the Yarra River and meet your Travel Director for a welcome reception and dinner at the South Wharf riverside pub, The General Assembly restaurant. It's a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Melbourne Sightseeing and Free Time

Day 2

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne

Join your Travel Director for a city sights tour that includes a private walk through Melbourne's famous hidden laneways. You'll discover the city's eclectic little lanes, arcades, café society and fascinating street art. There's time afterwards to explore the city on your own, enjoy an optional experience to Phillip Island to see the nightly ritual of the Penguin Parade (own expense) or simply relax and watch the world go by.

Melbourne Free Time

Day 3

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne

If you're still getting your bearings in Melbourne, take your time to wander through the city, exploring its boutiques, galleries, and eclectic suburbs. Or, perhaps exploring the city on foot with a History and Donuts Walking Tour is more your thing. However, if you're ready to explore beyond the city limits, consider embarking on a journey along the Great Ocean Road. This legendary stretch of coastline truly lives up to its reputation as one of the most breathtaking touring routes globally. As you wind your way along this scenic route, be prepared to encounter breathtaking views at every turn, making it an unforgettable journey that truly showcases the natural beauty of Australia.

Melbourne - Alice Springs

Day 4

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Mercure Alice Springs Resort

Some parts of Australia are so remote that the only way kids can get an education is remotely via the School of the Air. Your next stop is the birthplace of the Alice Springs township, the historic Telegraph Station. Being this far flung also means there’s no light pollution from cars or skyscrapers. The result? Unrivalled stargazing (and a BBQ feast) with the Falzon family at their eco-oriented Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre.

Alice Springs - Uluru

Day 5

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Desert Gardens

Travel from Alice Springs to Uluru, experiencing the rugged desert landscapes while learning about the geological history of Australia. Stopping at the Mt. Conner lookout before arriving at Ayers Rock Resort. In the heart of Australia, Uluru has been home to the Anangu for millennia. You will discover their connection to the land when you arrive in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park at sunset to watch the shifting colours transform the desert. Not ready to go home yet? Discuss with your Travel Director the option to elevate your evening with the exclusive Uluru Barbecue Dinner.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Day 6

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Desert Gardens

If there’s one thing worth getting out of bed early for, it’s sunrise over Uluru. Incredibly, the Rock’s base caves are home to First Nations art that dates tens of thousands of years. What an honour to glimpse it. The ochres and silvery greens of the NT outback follow you to Kata Tjuta, where Walpa Gorge humbles with its soaring cliffs. Wander through the tallest domes before yet another sparkling sunset (and sparkling wine).

Uluru - Cairns

Day 7

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Hilton Hotel Cairns

Ok, so the other reason to get up early is to view artist Bruce Munro’s installation Field of Light at dawn – 50,000 glowing spindles of light blanketing the desert. Clamber to the top of a sand dune to marvel in the morning unfolding over this very special part of the world. Later, an Anangu artist will explain just what makes it so spiritual over an introduction to Western Desert art, introducing totems and symbols important to the region and represented in paintings and installations, another MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Head to your next stop in tropical Cairns.

Cairns Free Time

Day 8

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Hilton Hotel Cairns

If you’re in the habit of getting up early now, you may wish to begin your day with an optional horizon-bending hot-air-balloon ride over the Atherton Tablelands. Prefer to stay grounded? Sign up for a guided walk through the Daintree Rainforest, or surround yourself with nature riding the Scenic Railway to Kuranda returning on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway – perhaps with a side visit to Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures for wetlands cruise? Tonight, celebrate the end of an incredible day at dinner on Cairns’ waterfront at Salt House for regional seafood plucked straight from the ocean, highlighting fresh, local ingredients, and prepared on their custom-built Argentinian wood fired grill.

Great Barrier Reef

Day 9

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Hilton Hotel Cairns

The world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, never fails to dazzle. Set out on a catamaran to explore this natural wonder of over 1,500 species of fish, 215 different birds, 3,000 molluscs, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and 30 species of dolphins and whales are residents. Strap on a snorkel or visit an underwater observatory and semi-submersible craft to take in the menagerie without getting your hair wet. A tropical buffet lunch is served on board before returning to Cairns.

Cairns - Sydney

Day 10

Duration: 1

Accommodation: InterContinental Hotel Sydney

Touch down in Australia’s largest city, with a harbour you could gaze at all day long. And all night. Spend time at leisure in the buzzing metropolis of Sydney. Take a stroll along the iconic harbour, visit one of the city’s many bars, pubs, or restaurants, or simply while away the day at the beach. You decide how best to enjoy this bustling city of delights.

Sydney

Day 11

Duration: 1

Accommodation: InterContinental Hotel Sydney

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go on a tour of the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. If these sails could talk. Then see the city from the water on a Sydney Harbour Highlight Lunch Cruise enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine. See Circular Quay and Shark Island as well as magnificent waterfront homes, beaches, parklands, the Opera House's grand sails and the Harbour Bridge. One icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this afternoon, with your chance to pad along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people.

Sydney Free Time

Day 12

Duration: 1

Accommodation: InterContinental Hotel Sydney

The hardest decision you have to make today: explore more of Sydney, or head to the Blue Mountains, 11,400 square kilometres of World Heritage listed wilderness, a place where sandstone escarpments appear to cleave off the edge of the Earth and waterfall-cooled valleys of rainforest slip dreamily from the pages of a fairytale. Or why not linger around the harbour – perhaps it’s time to glimpse it from above on a Sydney BridgeClimb? This bird’s-eye view certainly puts things in perspective. Back at ground level, you’re in the heart of the Rocks, the city’s original colonial settlement and a place of cobbled alleys and private galleries. This evening, celebrate your holiday at a Farewell Dinner at Midden restaurant at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about ending on a high.

Farewell from Sydney

Day 13

Duration: 1

What an epic journey, with so many destinations explored in less than two weeks. Now you just have to sort through the photos…

Dates & prices

Start Date: 2025-01-12

End Date: 2025-01-24

twin

Child Price: 13242

Adult Price: 14272

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 14272

single

Child Price: 11475

Adult Price: 17832

Start Date: 2025-01-26

End Date: 2025-02-07

twin

Child Price: 11691

Adult Price: 12721

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 12721

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 15772

Start Date: 2025-02-09

End Date: 2025-02-21

twin

Child Price: 12725

Adult Price: 13755

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13755

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17145

Start Date: 2025-03-02

End Date: 2025-03-14

twin

Child Price: 13242

Adult Price: 14272

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 14272

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17832

Start Date: 2025-03-16

End Date: 2025-03-28

twin

Child Price: 12725

Adult Price: 13755

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13755

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17145

Australian Highlights

Tour Advisors

Itinerary

Dates & prices