Australia Travel: A 15 day guide from San Francisco to Sydney
Travel regret is a real thing, and because we take the beauty of this world for granted, I live in a constant fear that I won’t be able to see all of it. Around March of 2016, the Great Barrier Reef underwent the worst bleaching event in history. Shortly followed by another bleaching event in 2017. Bleaching is when all the micro-organisms that live in coral and give it its color, leave due to warming ocean temperatures. When bleaching occurs, the coral turn white and eventually die. I knew that I could not live my life without seeing the Great Barrier Reef. So I pivoted from a family trip to Italy, and moved Australia travel up on the bucket list.
Australia was the most expensive and complex trip I have ever had to budget for. It took strict budgeting for almost 2 years, including limited travel, to be able to afford it. Also, Australia is HUGE! You cannot see the entire country in 2 weeks. Want to go camel riding in the outback? Alice Springs. Do you love snorkeling and underwater sports? Cairns, Port Douglas or the Whitsunday Islands. Are you a wine lover? Perth and the West coast.
Parent Travel Tip: Disney films are a great way to “convince” children to visit certain locations. Want to go China? Just show them Mulan several times. Scotland? Brave. Africa? Lion King. You get it.
When I started planning, I knew only two things: that I had to see the Great Barrier Reef and that my kids were coming with me. Thanks to Finding Nemo my kids really wanted to see the Sydney Opera House. Also, my son, wanting to be like Aladdin, really wanted to ride camels, therefore we ended up laying the trip out like this;
- San Francisco – 3 days
- Sydney – 5 days
- Cairns – 3 days
- Alice Springs – 3 days
Days 1 – 3: San Francisco
Per Person Budget: $723
Budget Breakdown: Flight $117, Hotel $178, $100 Car and Parking, $188 Food, $140 activities
Because we were traveling with our children, I knew that trying to fly straight for almost an entire day to Australia would be a mistake. So instead, we decided to stop-over in San Francisco. There are several cities on the West Coast that have direct flights to Australia, but thanks to Inside Out (are you noticing the trend?), the kids really wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge.
There are so many things to do, eat and see in San Francisco that we had a very active, but expensive, three days. We went to an Oakland As game ($69/person), visited the Japanese Tea Garden ($9/adult and $2/child), went over to Sausalito and looked for vista points of the Golden Gate Bridge. From San Francisco the flights to Sydney are all over night, so even though you lose a day, you still leave at night and arrive in the morning. Therefore, on the last day, we hiked Muir Woods National Monument ($20 for the whole family), and wore the kids out. It actually worked and the kids slept 10 of the 14 hour flight to Sydney! Score!
Travel Tip: I don’t proclaim to be an expert on fighting jet lag and surviving long haul flights, but here are a couple tips that have helped me. 1) Stay Hydrated! Drink as much water and as little alcohol as you can on a long haul flight. 2) Wear Compression Socks! All the blood flows to your legs during a flight. Wear compression socks to help with blood flow and swelling. 3) Walk! Going along with #2, try to walk a little bit when landing to help get your circulation back on track.
Travel Tip: Surviving a long haul with kids is a different story. Wear them out to try and make sure they sleep, have plenty of snacks, and let them have as much screen time as they want.
Days 4 – 8: Sydney
Per Person Budget: $1,663
Budget Breakdown: Flight (round trip) $1,246, Airbnb $256, Ubers $36 , $80 Food, $45 activities
The first stop on our Australia travel trip was Sydney. Sydney is one of the world’s best cities. Even though we went in July, which is Australia’s winter, the weather was still sunny and mild. I loved the pace in Sydney too, everything seemed so laid back. We took an extra day in Sydney to help with the jet lag. The first day we made it until about 5 PM local time before all four of us passed out from exhaustion.
Travel Tip: When traveling with kids and arriving before check in, book the night before. Being able to head straight to the Airbnb or hotel is life-changing.
Visiting Sydney, means walking, a lot! We went to the Royal Botanic Gardens (free) and walked all the way through and down to the Sydney Opera House. Then we took the ferry to the Taronga Zoo (AUD 125 for 3 adults) which is one of the best zoos I have ever been too. There are several enclosures that are big open spaces where wallabies are hopping around, and a must include when planning your Australia travel.
This may be a good time to tell you all about Harry. Harry is my husband’s traveling golf clubs carrier. My husband has to take his golf clubs everywhere. That’s right, he refuses to rent golf clubs (insert eye roll). So we have to Harry with us on our trips. Do you guys know how fun it is to have to drop off and pick up bags from oversize baggage at every airport? It’s super fun.
Travel Tip: Pay attention to the baggage allowances, as you can take over-sized baggage as part of the total bag count without paying extra. A lesson we learned the hard way when we had to pay $100 for Harry to fly each way when we went to the UK.
So, while hubby was having a day with Harry, the kids and I went to the Australian Museum and to “The Rocks” district for afternoon tea. The last day we did the Bondi to Coogee beach walk, but I highly recommend that you start at Coogee and do the walk in reverse to Bondi. Walking the Bondi to Coogee beach walk is one of the most beautiful and scene walks you can do. Not to mention you pass the famous Icebergs outdoor pool.
Day 9 – 11: Cairns
Per Person Budget: $454
Budget Breakdown: Flight $133, Ubers $36, $106 Airbnb, $71 Food, $109 Activities
As I mentioned earlier, I had to include Great Barrier Reef in my Australia travel itinerary. We decided to base ourselves in Cairns instead of Port Douglas as there was more to do. Our GBR tour was on The Falla, but lucky us, there was a terrible storm the day of our trip and we had to divert our boat to Fitzroy Island. Not to mention the waves getting to the island was super choppy and my son was so scared he basically screamed the whole boat ride. The team on The Falla more than made up for it with great food and conversation. Sometimes travel isn’t all you wish it could be.
To make up for it, we headed to Kuranda the next day where the kids got to “cuddle a koala.” Kuranda is a very touristy village with all kinds of attractions and shops, but holding the koala ended up being the highlight of the trip. You can also do a full “scenic railway” tour of Kuranda that we skipped because we didn’t want to wake up early.
Travel Tip: You always have to be careful with animal attractions. I asked all kinds of questions about the koalas, in an attempt to make sure that the koalas weren’t being drugged like some of the tiger sanctuaries of Chang Mai.
Days 12 – 15: Alice Springs
Per Person Budget: $1,066
Budget Breakdown: Flights $518, $15 Taxi, $211 Hotel, $136 Food, $202 Activities
Per the demand of my son, riding camels was absolutely necessary during our Australia travel. So we headed to The Outback to be able to do just that. Riding camels was definitely the highlight of my son’s trip. As we were on the tour, he was narrating like he was on a nature show. He would say, “my name is Santiago and THIS is The Outback,” with a wave of his hand to encompass our surroundings :). It was truly a great tour, we saw wild kangaroos hopping through the bush at sunset, like something out of a movie.
Travel Tip: When visiting this part of Australia, everything is pretty expensive. Flights, tours, and food. It will be important to budget accordingly.
We then headed on a tour of Uluru where we got to walk around the base of Uluru and learn about the Aboriginal Culture. The tour ended with a sunset Australian cookout at sunset with a view of Uluru. This was followed (finally!) by a full day of rest.
Phew! That was a long one! Hopefully this helps you in your Australia travel planning! Total trip budget: $3,918.
Did this itinerary inspire you to visit Australia? Let me know in the comments!
