Culture, wildlife, and wilderness immerse you in splendor during your 14-day Australia highlights tour for seniors. Koalas will cling to eucalyptus trees and kangaroos will bounce past your view. The Red Centre will glow at sunrise while the alleys of Melbourne brim with lively cafes. Your customizable tour will travel at your preferred pace as you discover the diverse and unparalleled highlights of Australia.
Customizable Itinerary
Day 1
Melbourne - A Cultural Welcome Along the Beach
It is impossible not to feel a little jet-lagged when flying into Australia. For most travelers, this giant cut-off island is as far as you can fly. Melbourne is a relaxed and easy-going city for getting over the switch in time zones. There is life at all hours of the day, from people strolling the beach at sunrise to enclaves of shops and restaurants staying open into the night. Scattered over a vast area, Melbourne is Australia’s most artistic and cultural city, with treasures to find in dozens of contrasting neighborhoods. Most visitors quickly feel at home and dive right into exploring it all. This is also a city with many miles of open beaches, so there is something to suit every mood. On your airport transfer, you will be taken to the southern suburbs, and your hotel will look out over the ocean waves with a long promenade for space to stretch your legs after the flight.
What's Included:
Day 2
Melbourne - Settling Into the Australian Experience
Day 3
Melbourne - Seeing Kangaroos and Koalas in the Wild
Day 4
Uluru - The Great Monolith and the Desert Stars
Day 5
Uluru to Kings Canyon - Exploring Kata Tjuta and Bush Camping
Day 6
Kings Canyon to Alice Springs - Continuing the Wild Desert Adventure
Day 7
Cairns to Port Douglas - Between the Rainforest and the Ocean
Day 8
Port Douglas - Aboriginal Dreaming Day Tour
Day 9
Port Douglas - Discovering the Great Barrier Reef
Day 10
Cairns to Sydney - Cruising the Parramatta River
Day 11
Sydney - Sydney City Tour and the Famous Opera House
Day 12
Sydney - A Day in the Blue Mountains
Day 13
Sydney - Relaxing on Legendary Beaches
Day 14
Sydney - Departure
Trip Highlights
- Find wild kangaroos and koalas in the forests outside Melbourne
- Experience luxury bush camping with a night beneath the southern stars at Kings Canyon
- Explore the opulent and old architecture of Sydney, then end your day tour at the famous opera house
- Spend three nights in Port Douglas, backdropped by thick rainforest and gazing out towards the Great Barrier Reef
- Gain an intimate connection with local culture, the trip including Aboriginal bush-tucker and painting day as well as the sacred sites of Uluru and Kata Tjuta
- Cruise the Parramatta River through Sydney and cruise to a day on the Great Barrier Reef
- Escape to the Blue Mountains for a day of surreal landscapes and stories
- Melbourne is an artistic and relaxed city, perfect for easing into the vacation
- Experience Australia’s wild red center, including the Devils Marbles and Kings Creek
Detailed Description
Australia’s grandest highlight is its diversity in that it is as much a continent as a country with a narrative of nature meeting urban life. Kangaroos still roam in their thousands and stars shimmer evocatively in a desert wilderness far grander than the imagination. Cities delight with their famous highlights, from beaches to the opera house and the iconic harbor bridge. There is thick rainforest to the northeast, tumbling down mountain slopes towards the Great Barrier Reef. Many of the mountains shine with tucked-in secrets, cast in a hazy glow as koala cling onto eucalyptus in the valley below. It seems improbable that all this can be combined in a single vacation, yet this is Australia’s greatest trick. For while there is unbounded wilderness and distant destinations, this is a country with superb transport connections and you can see it all in the time frame that you have.
Handcrafted for senior travelers, this two-week tour is split between four contrasting destinations for the four corners of the Australian experience. Melbourne is the cultural enclave for easing into the tour and overcoming jet lag. You will be based close to water for a quick trip from both the beach and the central city. Wild kangaroos and koalas are found in bucolic parks just beyond the city boundaries and one day is dedicated to these marsupials. By day four, you should be ready for an adventure so you will fly directly to the great red monolith that is Uluru.
Watch how sunset changes everything at the giant rock, before a night of guided stargazing from Ayers Rock Town. It will then be pure adventure as you spend two days and one night driving to Alice Springs, through Kings Canyon and other remarkable feats of nature. That one night is spent glamping with a comfortable and safe experience that connects you to the Australian outback. Alice Springs is a peculiar little town which will more than hold your interest for a night. The next morning you will fly to Cairns, swapping the red center for tropical rainforest and reef.
The next two nights will be spent in Port Douglas, a classic destination an hour north of Cairns. Rainforest provides a surreal backdrop to charming streets and small, quiet beaches, and you can spend the next day exploring local Aboriginal culture, including painting with natural hues, searching for bushtucker, or food, and respecting spirits deep in the forest. There will be a big contrast the following day when you take a cruise onto the Great Barrier Reef and explore the natural feat from a variety of angles. You will not need to be a swimmer or a snorkeler as there is a semi-submersible boat for witnessing all the vivid color.
End your private tour with four nights in Sydney, a cruise along Parramatta River providing an excellent city orientation. With your local guide, you can follow historical stories from Aboriginal past to the colonial arrivals, royal dignitaries and grand period architecture. Much like in Melbourne, wild nature is just an hour from Sydney so you can escape to the Blue Mountains, where the mist swirls and the haze is blue from eucalyptus. The final day is left free, and Sydney is a shopping paradise if that is your thing, or perhaps the final day is best spent on the beaches.
Starting Price
$3,495 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
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