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 for and then regret.
- Duration
- 14 days
- Pace
- Moderate
- Hotel changes
- 4
- Best months
- Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov
- From
- $4,760 per person
It differs from our fifteen day classic route by leaving out Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road entirely and putting those days back into the three regions that remain. The result is a slower trip that covers less ground and is better for it. If you want the southern half, that is a genuinely different journey and we have written it as a twenty-one day route.
Who it suits: first-time visitors with exactly two weeks who would rather do three things well than five things badly.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Sydney. Transfer, a hotel near the harbour or in a neighbourhood, and no plans. Most flights from Europe and Asia land in the morning, so the day is real, but jet lag is too.
Day 2: The harbour. The Royal Botanic Garden and Mrs Macquarie’s Chair on foot in the morning, the Opera House from the inside, and the Manly ferry in the afternoon. Dinner in Manly and the ferry back after dark.
Day 3: The coast. Bondi to Coogee, about 4 miles (6 km), early. Swim in the ocean pools. Afternoon in Surry Hills and Paddington, or the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which is free.
Day 4: The Blue Mountains, overnight. Out of the city and onto the escarpment. The Grand Canyon Track at Blackheath, about 3.7 miles (6 km), which is where the mountains actually are, as opposed to the Three Sisters lookout, which is where the coaches are. Night in Blackheath.
Day 5: Back to Sydney, free afternoon. Morning at Pulpit Rock or Govetts Leap, then back into the city. The afternoon is deliberately unplanned: the Fish Market, a swim, Barangaroo, or nothing.
Day 6: To the red centre. Fly to Ayers Rock Airport, about three hours. Arrive into Yulara in time for sunset over Uluru. Nothing else, because the desert asks for early mornings and this is not one of them.
Day 7: Uluru. Sunrise at Talinguru Nyakunytjaku, then the base walk, about 6.6 miles (10.6 km) and entirely flat, which takes three to four hours with stops. The rock has not been climbable since October 2019, at the request of the Anangu traditional owners. Afternoon out of the sun. An Anangu-guided evening at the rock art.
Day 8: Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta at first light, about 4.6 miles (7.4 km), which is the walk most visitors skip and should not. Then the drive to Kings Canyon, roughly 190 miles (306 km), staying at the canyon so that tomorrow starts at dawn.
Day 9: The Rim Walk, then north. The Kings Canyon Rim Walk at first light, about 3.7 miles (6 km). Back to Ayers Rock Airport and the flight to Cairns. A direct service exists in some seasons and not in others: where it does not, this leg connects through a capital city and takes the day, and we tell you which it is on your dates before you commit. Transfer to Port Douglas.
Day 10: The outer reef. The Agincourt ribbon reefs on a small boat with a marine biologist, two or three sites, a full day. The quality gap between operators on this coast is the widest we see anywhere in our library, and choosing the right one is most of what we do on this day.
Day 11: The Daintree. Mossman Gorge with an Indigenous guide, the Daintree River ferry, a rainforest boardwalk, Cape Tribulation, and a crocodile cruise at the end of the afternoon.
Day 12: Port Douglas, free. Four Mile Beach, a second reef trip, a half day sailing, or a pool. We leave it open and give you options in writing rather than booking something you may not want.
Day 13: To Sydney. Fly south in the afternoon, about three hours, and stay near the airport or back in the city depending on your departure time. This night exists so that a delayed domestic flight cannot cost you an international one.
Day 14: Departure. Morning free if the timing allows, then home.
What is included
Accommodation with breakfast, all four internal flights, all airport and regional transfers, the private vehicle for the Blue Mountains and the red centre driving days, the Uluru and Kata Tjuta and Watarrka park passes, the reef environmental management charge, the outer reef day with equipment, the Anangu-guided evening, the Daintree day with an Indigenous guide, the Opera House tour, a day-by-day document with flight numbers and driving times, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our partners on the ground.
What we would change, and when
- Only interested in the reef and the coast? Cut the red centre, give the Blue Mountains two nights, and add three nights on a southern coral cay. Fewer flights, more water.
- Travelling December or January? We would move the red centre to the front of the trip and shorten it to two nights, and we would say plainly that the desert in that month is a sunrise and sunset destination with an enforced pause in the middle. Walks close from mid-morning at around 97°F (36°C).
- Prone to seasickness? The outer reef from Port Douglas is a ninety minute boat ride each way in conditions that vary. Lady Elliot or Heron in the southern reef are reached by short flight and snorkelled from the beach, and we will suggest that swap before you ask.
Related
Shape this trip around us All Australia, planned around the flights, because that is what decides the trip trips
