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 days, and by the second one nobody is enjoying themselves. This route has two, both under three and a half hours, and three bases with five, two and five nights.
- Duration
- 13 days
- Pace
- Relaxed
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct
- From
- $4,420 per person
It also assumes something we have learned the hard way: Australian children’s days are outdoors and physical, and the good ones start early. We build mornings and leave afternoons alone.
Who it suits: families with children roughly six and up. Under six, we would cut the red centre and split the time between Sydney and the coast.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Sydney. An apartment rather than a hotel, because a kitchen and a washing machine change a two week trip with children more than any hotel feature does. Nothing scheduled.
Day 2: The harbour. Ferry to Taronga Zoo, which sits on a hillside looking back at the city and is the best introduction to Australian animals you will get, and a chance to see the ones that are nocturnal in the wild. Back by ferry in the late afternoon.
Day 3: Bondi. A group surf lesson at Bondi in the morning, which is where the sea is patrolled and the instructors are used to beginners. Afternoon at Icebergs pool or on the coastal path as far as anyone wants to walk. Swim between the flags, always, and we explain why in your document.
Day 4: The Blue Mountains. A day out of the city with a driver rather than a coach: Scenic World’s railway, which is the steepest passenger railway in the world and reliably the highlight for anyone under twelve, then an easy section of the Wentworth Falls track. Back to Sydney for dinner.
Day 5: Sydney, free. Options in your document rather than a schedule: the Australian Museum, a Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout climb that is a fraction of the price of the bridge climb and open to children, Manly and the beach, or the Sydney Fish Market. Do one.
Day 6: To Uluru. Late morning flight, about three hours. Afternoon in Yulara by the pool, because the arrival day in the desert should not be a walking day. Sunset over the rock with a drink and a camel train going past, which is not staged, they run.
Day 7: Uluru. Sunrise, then a short guided section of the base walk rather than the full 6.6 miles (10.6 km), which is too far for most children in that heat. A dot-painting workshop with Maruku Arts in the middle of the day, run by Anangu artists, which is genuinely the best hour of the trip for a lot of families. Late afternoon at Kata Tjuta’s Walpa Gorge, an easy 1.7 miles (2.7 km) return.
Day 8: To the reef. Fly north to Cairns and transfer to Port Douglas. On dates without a direct service this leg connects through a capital city and takes most of the day, which we tell you before you book rather than after.
Day 9: The inner reef. The Low Isles, a small coral cay about an hour from Port Douglas with a lagoon shallow enough that children snorkel over living coral without a boat drop-off. Far better for a first snorkel than the outer reef, which is deeper, further and rougher.
Day 10: The Daintree. Mossman Gorge with an Indigenous guide and a swim in the river, then the Daintree ferry, a rainforest boardwalk and Cape Tribulation. The afternoon crocodile cruise is short, air-conditioned where it matters and delivers, which is rare in wildlife tourism.
Day 11: Port Douglas, free. Four Mile Beach, the lagoon pool, a half day of sea kayaking for older children, or the Wildlife Habitat in town. Nothing booked.
Day 12: The outer reef, or not. For families with confident swimmers over about ten, a full day to the Agincourt ribbon reefs on a small boat. For everyone else, a second easy day and a pool. We ask rather than assume, and we do not charge for the day you do not take.
Day 13: Departure. Transfer to Cairns. Cairns has some international services, but most families connect through Sydney or Brisbane, and if the long-haul timing is bad we add a night in the gateway city rather than run a same-day connection with children.
What is included
Apartment or family-room accommodation with breakfast, both internal flights, all transfers, the surf lesson, Taronga entry and ferries, the Blue Mountains day with a private driver, the Uluru park pass, the Maruku Arts workshop, the Low Isles day, the Daintree day with an Indigenous guide and the crocodile cruise, a day-by-day document written so the children can read it too, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our partners on the ground.
What we would change, and when
- Children under six? Cut Uluru. It is a lot of flying and heat for an age that will not remember it. Sydney and Port Douglas over thirteen days, with a Blue Mountains overnight, is a better trip.
- Travelling November to May? That is stinger season in tropical Queensland waters. Beach swimming moves inside netted enclosures, boats supply full stinger suits, and we plan around pools and the outer reef instead of assuming the beach.
- Teenagers? Add a second outer reef day and an introductory dive, and swap the Blue Mountains day for a night up there with a canyoning morning.
Related
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