So many places so little time & money

Daisydee

Hoping to take 3 mts off late next year to do RTW Trip, but not sure where to start.

Looked on the USIT website and the following is my preferred route€1436 + taxes: Dublin Singapore Hong Kong Perth Alice Springs Cairns Sydney Auckland Fiji Los Angeles New York Dublin

Are there any cheaper options for a similiar route?
What would additional costs be like? visa, vac's etc?
Would a budget after flights of €4000 be adequate?
Is it doable in 3 mths?

Sorry as I say dont have a clue where to start. All advice appreciated :cool:

Empire o de Sun

Maybe you are trying to do too much. I dunno. Three months will pass very fast.

Are you only going to stay in cities?

From my experience

Two or three days in Sydney is enough, Perth is nice too, but I'd go to places north and south of Perth.

For Australia have you thought of flying to one place and traveling over land to another city and flying from there?

Distances in Australia could take some time, if you intend to stop at some places along the way.

One option you could do is fly into Cairns, and make your own way to Brisbane, and then fly to Sydney.

Qantas have a cool round the world ticket calculator on their website, maybe cheaper than USIT, worth checking

If you say how long you intend to stay in places, then maybe I can give you more tips.

Daisydee

Hi thanks for your reply, still in the vv early stages but trying to get a taste of as mush as possible as its my last chance before becomming a Desperate housewife!

Dep: Singapore Hong Kong - 2 wks
Mainstay: Perth - 2wks Alice Springs1wk Cairns 1wk Sydney 1wk, Misc 1wk
Exiting OZ: Auckland Fiji - 2 wks
Return Trip: Los Angeles New York Dublin- 2 wks

With the time I have will prob just stick to the usual tourist attractions.

Any tips or any must see's please let me know:)

Empire o de Sun

Perth is a lovely city, and one that many people skip. It is probably an add for the perfect suburban life, family life etc.

But, I stayed there a good few years ago, if you feel like Hosteling it, stay in Rainbow Lodge
http://www.rainbowlodge.com.au/
http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-31.945337,115.873489&spn=0.001234,0.00284&z=19

We had a fantastic time there and met loads of people. It's close to the city centre and beside the Railway. This train is like the Dart but better. You can take the train to Fremantle.

Go to Kingspark for sunset, get there like an hour before. And the sunset looks really cool against the city skyline.

Perths coast is like one long beach, though I can't remember where to go it's been so long. You'll have to ask locally,

Rottnest Island, is off the coast, I never got there, but I know people who did go there. It's supposed to be deadly, car free, you cycle around. Deffo do it, I regret not doing it.

If you can, rent a car and head down to the south coast, Denmark (town) or Esperance (that is probably too far). There are cool national parks and beaches.

Fantastic Beaches and Walks. I'd give you more details but i can't remember.

Look out for the free (or maybe just $1) Barbecues on beaches, they are really cool, just go to the local supermarket and volia.

..

Sydney, get the ferry up the river, it's like a cheap cruse, but really nice, just go up and back. Olympic Park (2000 Olympics) is not worth a visit, it's along the ferry route. And get it to Manly Beach by ferry.

The Bridge, everyone wants to Climb it. it's expensive, it was $150 when I was there. You can't bring your camera when you climb the bridge.

But, you can pay about $10 and go up one of the Pylons (pillar) of the Bridge. This has a Museum that shows how they built it. Ans it's history, such as when it had Trams on it etc. On the top of it has cool views of the Bridge and city and opera house.
Also, just walk across the bridge, you just have to go half way, it's really cool too.

Paddy's Market is cool to, you can get loads of stuff there.

There is also the other usual stuff that you probably know about.

Cairns is nice too, if you can Dive, do it, but if you can't go snorkeling, I find it better sometimes, allot of the reef is shallow, and the colours are better.. When you get deeper everything looks green/blue (cos red gets filtered out).

Or go to Cape Tribulation if you rent a car. Again, I didn't get there, and heard mixed reports about it, but mostly positive.

Alice is Alice, not much to do there, town centre is small, you just go there to see Uluru, which is about 400 k's away :rolleyes:, but that's just something you have to get used to in Australia, distances are just different there. I went on a tour that had camping, I did the Mulga tour,

http://www.anniesplace.com.au/anniesplace/HTML/mulgas.html

http://www.anniesplace.com.au/anniesplace/HTML/alice.html

the Hostel is grand, nothing to rave on about, but grand for one or two nights, as that's all you'll stay in Alice for. but the tour is really good. I don't know your age, but it's perfect if you are backpacking 20's early 30's

Auckland, nice city, I didn't do too much there, was bit exhausted from sightseeing by the time I go there.

That's it really. have a cool time.

Empire o de Sun

Empire o de Sun wrote: »

Alice is Alice, not much to do there, town centre is small, you just go there to see Uluru, which is about 400 k's away :rolleyes:, but that's just something you have to get used to in Australia, distances are just different there.

Just checked, it's 450 k's

Just to put that into perspective, it's like flying to Belfast, to visit Cork.