Today is the day you set off from your chosen airport. You’re bound for Australia with connecting flights on the way.

You’re finally setting foot on Australian soil. You might already have experienced your first “G’day, mate” at the airport.

You’re transported from the airport to your hotel. If your room’s not ready for you when you arrive, you can have your luggage stored and head out into the town.

You cross several time zones when travelling from Europe to Australia, and however difficult it may seem, it’s best to try to stay awake on this first day so that your body clock adjusts to the Australian time zone as quickly as possible. The best cure for jet lag is daylight, fresh air and drinking plenty of water.

Melbourne is a magnificent city, and we highly recommend a stroll along the Yarra River today.

After breakfast – possibly enjoyed at one of the nearby cafés – it’s time to take a closer look at the city. You’ll be going on a guided tour through the city’s narrow laneways and arcades, which form a finely meshed network in the city centre. Along the way, the guide will tell you all about the history and culture of the city. The walls in the narrow streets are adorned with street art, and the whole area may seem a little run down at first glance – but make no mistake, it’s one of the city’s hippest areas! Ask the guide for tips on the best places to have lunch after the tour.

Please note that you have to make your way to the starting point of the guided tour on your own. The address is written on your voucher. You can either walk there or take a taxi.

The rest of the day is yours to explore Melbourne.

You might like to take the tram to the seaside suburb St Kilda. If you’re out here late afternoon, you might be lucky enough to see the small colony of pygmy penguins come ashore at around sunset.

In the Fitzroy district, you’ll find many of the city’s hidden gems. Microbreweries sit alongside hip cafés. Just west of Fitzroy is Carlton – better known as Little Italy.  The food here is almost more authentic than in Italy.

The day is yours to explore what you didn’t get to yesterday.

If you’re interested in history, we highly recommend a visit to Melbourne Old Gaol, where the famous and infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly was hanged in 1880.

And don’t forget to visit Queen Victoria Market, where you can buy almost anything your heart desires.

If you’d like to experience some of the areas outside Melbourne, check out our large selection of excursions. We recommend that you purchase these tours from home when you book the tour, as there is a good chance of them being sold out otherwise.

You’re transported to the airport from which you’ll fly to the red heart of Australia: the Outback. The contrast today will be immense! From the buzzing metropolis to the tiny little town of Yulara, located in the middle of the red desert. There is a free transfer bus from the airport into the small town where your hotel is situated.

If you feel like it and have the time, you have the opportunity to participate in some of the town’s free activities in the afternoon. Ask at your hotel to find out what’s on and when.

At the end of the day, one of the absolute highlights of the tour awaits you: sunset over Uluru. It’s magical to see the enormous rock change colour as the sun goes further and further down, and it’s not hard to understand why the area is so sacred to the Aboriginal people.

And don’t forget to lean your head back and enjoy the starry sky. A huge contrast to all the lights in Melbourne!

You’ve got an early start today, when you’ll be picked up by a bus which brings you out into the darkness. Yesterday, you experienced a sunset over Uluru. Today, you’re going to see the sun rise over Uluru. As we see it, it’s not the same thing at all – and both are an absolute must when in Australia.

It’s fascinating to stand there, shivering a little in the middle of the Australian Outback, waiting for the sun to rise. Even though it gets very hot out here in the desert during the day, the nights are often cold, as there’s nothing to absorb the heat once the sun has set.

When the sun is high in the sky, you’ll continue to the Kata Tjuta rock formations, situated a good 50 km to the west.

The area around Kata Tjuta is also sacred to the Aboriginal people, and there are places that you will never get to visit as a tourist. Thankfully, there are also a lot of places that are accessible, and one of the most popular walks through the beautiful rock formations is the walk through Walpa Gorge. Along the way, the guide will tell you more about the geology of this wonderful place. Perhaps you’ll find out what “Kata Tjuta” actually means?

The rest of the day is yours to spend as you see fit and you can either choose to purchase an extra excursion or try some of the free activities available in Yulara.

It’s time for another change of scenery. Next stop: Sydney, the biggest city in Australia! You take the free transfer from the hotel to the airport. The departures are adapted to fit in with the flight departures – ask at your hotel when the bus departs.

Upon arrival in Sydney, you’ll notice the differences between Melbourne and Sydney right away. Sydney’s wide streets, which lead you down to the Opera House, stand in stark contrast to the narrow, graffiti-adorned laneways of Melbourne.

In Sydney, you’re transported from the airport to your hotel. If your room isn’t ready for you on arrival, you can have your luggage stored while you go out and explore the city.

You might like to start by walking down to Bennelong Point and Sydney Opera House. West of the Opera House is the old quarter, The Rocks, which offers old buildings, cosy cafés and fashionable shops and galleries. You could then continue all the way out to Barangaroo Reserve and see the world’s largest natural harbour, Sydney Harbour, from a completely different angle. If you walk all the way past Barangaroo Wharf, you come to King Street Wharf, where you’ll find some of the city’s best restaurants.

Welcome to Sydney!

Your morning starts with an exciting guided tour of Sydney. There are many highlights, and the tour will give you a good introduction to the city, making it easier for you plan what you want to return to and explore further. The Opera House, the Botanic Garden, the old quarter The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Hyde Park, Chinatown, Bondi Beach, etc., are all on the list today. The tour today gives you a good overview of the city, and the guide provides a good insight into its history.
Please note that you have to make your way to the starting point of the guided tour on your own. The address is written on your voucher.

The rest of the day is yours to do as you please – possibly to return to some of the places from the morning’s guided tour of the city.

It is also possible to purchase a couple of extra excursions in the afternoon.

On one of the days in Sydney, you should be sure to enjoy the sunset from the Botanic Garden overlooking the Opera House.

Over the next couple of days, you are free to enjoy Sydney on your own. And there’s plenty to see and do! Sydney offers a wealth of excellent museums and other exciting activities, but it’s also tempting to just stroll through the city and maybe grab a sandwich for lunch and eat it on a bench in the Botanic Garden overlooking the Opera House.

The beaches are a chapter in themselves. Like suburbs, they just keep coming, and each has its own distinctive character.

The weather is usually good in large parts of Australia, and Australians generally spend a lot of time outdoors. Any self-respecting park has barbecue facilities that anyone can use, and nowhere in the world is the picnic section in the supermarkets as large as it is here. This is also seen on the beaches, where there are generally very good changing and shower facilities. So pop your swimming things in your bag and head to one of the 100+ beaches in and around Sydney.

Perhaps you’d like to go on a guided tour either in or outside the city – there are plenty of options here, too. See below. We recommend that you purchase these excursions when you book the tour, as some of them sell out weeks and months in advance.

You are driven to the airport, where you catch a flight north, to Cairns.

On arrival in Cairns, you will quickly notice that you’ve reached a tropical climate with high temperatures and humidity. It is truly lush as well! Hibiscus, frangipani, heliconia – they’re all here, these exotic plants.

Cairns is a lively city, offering lots of activities, cafés, restaurants and shops. There is no beach here, but to compensate for that, a large artificial lagoon has been built in the middle of the city, where you can both enjoy the sun and swim.

You might like to spend the afternoon here and get used to all the sounds here in the tropics.

The days are your to do as you please. There are so many exciting activities with Cairns as a base that we’ll leave it up to you to find out what you want to do.

It goes without saying that we think a trip to the Great Barrier Reef is a must when you’re on these shores. But you definitely shouldn’t miss the world’s oldest rainforest, Daintree Rainforest, either. It’s also the only place in the world that two UNESCO World Heritage Sites are located side by side. Up here in the north, the Great Barrier Reef is close to the coast. And as the rainforest extends all the way down to the beach, the two actually almost collide.

The train up to the small town of Kuranda in the rainforest is also very charming – or how about rafting on one of the rivers around Cairns?

You have so many options – take your pick!

Your tour to the Highlights of Australia is coming to an end. It’s time to buy those last souvenirs before heading to the airport from which you’ll fly home to the UK with connecting flight(s) on the way.

You land in the UK after a lovely, adventure-packed holiday.