Australia, planned around the flights, because that is what decides the trip
Almost every disappointing Australia trip we have been asked to fix had the same cause. The traveller looked at a map, saw one country, and planned it like one country. Sydney to Uluru is three hours in the air. Uluru to Cairns is often not a direct flight at all.
Plan my Australia trip Read the complete guide
- Best time to go
- April to June, September to November
- How many days
- 14 to 21
- Entry
- Advance authorisation, always
- The reef
- June to November, from the right port
Australia is close to 2,500 miles (4,000 km) across. Two weeks covers two or three regions properly, not five. The first thing we do on an Australia file is take things out.
How we run Australia, plainly
Australia is not one of our own offices. Our own offices are in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Australia runs through long-standing local partners: an operator in Sydney, reef operators in Cairns and Port Douglas we chose boat by boat, and ground people in the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
Australia and New Zealand sit furthest from our own footprint, and most Australia files we build are either the second half of an Asia trip, or they come from travellers who already know us and want this one planned by someone they know.
Why plan Australia with us
We plan the internal flights first, not last. The route is decided by which legs exist and which will eat a day. We build around that, then hang the good days off it.
We will tell you which reef trip is worth the money. Day boats out of Cairns range from genuinely excellent to a crowded pontoon over tired coral. We say which is which.
A named specialist, not a queue. One person owns your file from first email to landing home, and our Head of Consulting Mai Est signs off the long routes.
The first proposal is free and it is not a template. Actual hotels, actual flight numbers, actual reef operators, including the days we deliberately left empty.
A WhatsApp group while you travel. Your specialist here, our partners there. Our rating is 4.9 from 93 reviews.
The short answers
| Question | Short answer | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Best time to go | April to June, September to November | The only windows when the tropics, the desert and the southern cities all behave at once. |
| How many days | 14 to 21 | Under 12 means Sydney plus one region. Three weeks opens Tasmania. |
| Entry | Advance authorisation, always | An ETA or an eVisitor, before boarding. We confirm the rule and fee for your passport. |
| The reef | June to November, from the right port | Port Douglas and the outer reef beat a cheap Cairns day boat by a wide margin. |
| The red centre | April to September | December and January pass 104°F (40°C) and the walks close from mid-morning. |
| Typical budget | $220 to $850 per person per day | Land only. Internal flights add roughly $500 to $900 a person over two weeks. |
The full breakdown is in our complete guide →
Eight ways to travel Australia
Every route below is one we build, published day by day. Start from one and we will rebuild it around you.
- Classic Australia, 15 days: Sydney, the red centre, the reef, Melbourne
- Australia with children, 13 days: three bases, short flights, safe water
- Walking and wild Australia, 16 days: Tasmania, the Blue Mountains, the Larapinta
- Romantic Australia, 12 days: a desert lodge, a reef island, three places only
- Food and culture, 12 days: Melbourne, Tasmania, the Barossa, a First Nations day
- Boutique Australia, 13 days: small lodges, private guides, no day boats
- Australia in 14 days: Sydney, the red centre and the reef, tightly built
- Australia in 21 days, the southern half: the Great Ocean Road, Tasmania, the centre
Australia in the magazine
How much does two weeks in Australia really cost? · Which Great Barrier Reef trip is worth it · The red centre, month by month · Combining Asia and Australia
Australia itineraries
Every one of these is a starting point, not a fixed departure. We change the length, the pace and the hotels to fit you.
Classic Australia in 15 days: Sydney, Uluru, the reef and the Great Ocean Road
Four regions in fifteen days is the most we will build without it starting to feel like commuting, and it only works because the…
Australia with children: 13 days, three bases, two flights
The failure mode of a family trip to Australia is airports. A route that looks reasonable on paper turns into five flights in thirteen…
Walking and wild Australia: 16 days across three landscapes
Start with the honest problem. The three best walking regions in Australia do not share a season. The Larapinta in the red centre is…
Romantic Australia in 12 days: harbour, desert, island
Three places, four hotel changes, and a deliberate decision to do less than the map allows. The strongest romantic trips we build in Australia…
Food and culture in Australia: 12 days through the south
Australia's food is in the south, and it is much better than its international reputation. Melbourne has the best coffee culture in the world…
Boutique Australia in 13 days: four places, four very good rooms
Australia at this level is not simply the same trip in better hotels. It is a different trip, because the money buys private access…
Australia in 14 days: Sydney, the red centre and the reef
This is the honest two week Australia trip. Three regions, four internal flights, and a refusal to add a fourth region that people ask…
Australia in 21 days: the southern half, and why we leave the reef out
This is not the fourteen day route with a week added. It is a different country.
What is in every Australia trip we build
- A day-by-day document with flight numbers and driving times, not just city names
- Internal flights routed to survive a delay, and a buffer night before your flight home
- Reef operators named and chosen for the boat and the site, not the brochure
- Hire cars only where driving beats flying, with the wildlife and fuel realities written down
- Your specialist and our partners on WhatsApp for the whole trip
Planning Australia, in detail
What we would skip in Australia
Australia is enormous and almost everything in it is good, which is what makes the editing hard. A two-week itinerary holds about…
What to eat and drink in Australia, and where
Australian food has no single dish you must try and that is the point of it. What Australia has instead is a…
Sydney in four days
Sydney is the arrival city for most Australian trips and it is usually given three days, of which the first is spent…
Australia month by month, starting with the red centre
Australia does not have a season. It has at least three climates running on different calendars, and the reason we keep recommending…
How many days do you need in Australia?
The honest answer is that days are the wrong unit. Count internal flights instead.
Which Great Barrier Reef trip is worth the money
The Great Barrier Reef is not a place. It is about 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of separate reef systems, and the difference…
Frequently asked questions
How many regions can we do in two weeks?
Is the Great Barrier Reef still worth seeing?
Do we need a visa?
Can we combine Australia with Asia?
Tell us roughly what you want. We will tell you honestly what works.
A named consultant in Tel Aviv, our own people on the ground, and a written plan you can argue with before you commit to anything.