AAT Kings - Australian Highlights Sightseeing Itinerary

Get to know your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening at a Welcome Reception and dinner on board Melbourne’s famous Colonial Tramcar Restaurant. Elegant décor and silver-service dining as you glide through city streets in a vintage W-class tram make for a memorable introduction to Melbourne, frequently judged one of the world’s most liveable cities.

Included Meals: Dinner with Wine

Accommodation: Melbourne - 3 Nights

Explore Melbourne on a city sights tour this morning, then discover its gracious arcades, eclectic laneways and vibrant street art on a private walking tour. The rest of the day is at your leisure. You might like to take an optional trip to Phillip Island to see the famous penguin parade, or simply relax, explore the galleries, or experience some of the city’s celebrated eateries.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Today is free for you to further explore the delights of Melbourne. Alternatively you could take an optional journey along the renowned Great Ocean Road to discover a stunning coastline and the towering limestone arches of the Twelve Apostles. In the evening, you might like to take in a production at one of Melbourne’s renowned theatres.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Some parts of Australia are so remote that the only way kids can get an education is remotely via the School of the Air. Your next stop is the birthplace of the Alice Springs township, the historic Telegraph Station. Being this far flung also means there’s no light pollution from cars or skyscrapers. The result? Unrivalled stargazing (and a BBQ feast) with the Falzon family at their eco-oriented Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Be My Guest Dinner

Accommodation: Alice Springs - 2 Night

Spiritual, sacred and spectacular, the world's largest rock monolith will give you goosebumps. In Australia's Red Centre, Uluru has been home to the Anangu people for millennia. Their connection is palpable, as you'll discover when you arrive at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, at sunset watching the shifting colours transform the desert with every last ray (sparkling wine essential).

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Yulara - 2 nights

If there’s one thing worth getting out of bed early for, it’s sunrise over Uluru. Incredibly, the Rock’s base caves are home to First Nations art that dates back tens of thousands of years. What an honour to glimpse it. The ochres and silvery greens of the NT outback follow you to Kata Tjuta, where Walpa Gorge humbles with its soaring cliffs. Wander through the tallest domes before yet another sparkling sunset (and sparkling wine).

Included Meals: Breakfast

Rise early to experience the ethereal Field of Light art installation. Wander through the paths surounding 50,000 hand-crafted frosted glass spheres of light. As the sun rises, join your fellow travelers on top of a sand dune to watch the desert awakening over Uluru. Meet an Indigenous artist for a fun introduction to Western Desert Art. Your Anangu artist will provide you with cultural insights, explaining the meanings of local totems and assisting you to complete your own painting to take home as a memento of your experience. In the afternoon board your flight to tropical Cairns.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Cairns - 3 nights

Today is free for you to pursue your own interests in this vibrant tropical city. You may choose to gain some insights into Indigenous culture at the award-winning Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, or travel to Kuranda, ‘The Village in the Rainforest’ on the historic scenic railway. Alternatively, just relax and enjoy a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

Included Meals: Breakfast

The world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, never fails to dazzle. Set out on a catamaran to explore a kaleidoscope of colour: over 1,500 species of fish, 215 different birds, 3,000 molluscs, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and 30 species of dolphins and whales are residents. Strap on a snorkel or visit an underwater observatory and semi-submersible craft to take in the menagerie without getting your hair wet.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

It’s ‘farewell, Cairns’ and ‘hello, Sydney’ on the last leg of your Australia highlights tour.  
Check into your Sydney hotel before discovering the delightful Sydney Harbour from the water on a Dinner Cruise. Not only will you cruise past the world-famous Opera House and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, you will enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine as you’re rewarded with these stellar views. 

Included Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Sydney - 4 Nights

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go behind the scenes at the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. If these sails could talk. Then see the city from the water on a Sydney Harbour Highlight Lunch Cruise enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine. One icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this afternoon, with your chance to pad along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Highlight Lunch

The bustling city of Sydney is yours to see the sights, or you might choose to venture farther out on an Optional Experience. If you’re looking to get out in nature, join a day trip to the spectacular Blue Mountains. The first stop is at the Sydney Zoo for a fun and fascinating look at Australia’s native animals including wombats, Tasmanian devils, and of course, koalas before the eucalypt haze of the Blue Mountains looming in the distance, for fresh mountain air and breathtaking scenery. Here you’ll visit the famous Three Sisters rock formation—each towering at over 900 metres high—to hear the Aboriginal legend and soak in the views. Wherever you venture, there’s dining options aplenty from the waterfront Circular Quay to Chinatown’s famous yum cha to a rooftop bar for dazzling views of the harbour.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Farewell Dinner

Say farewell to your fellow travelers when your vacation comes to an end this morning after breakfast

Itinerary Variations – the provider strives to improve trip itineraries. If improvements can be made, or if circumstances beyond their control make changes necessary, the provider reserves the right to vary itineraries and to make substitutions. 

Highlights

• Local Connection

Whether you’re exploring vibrant city streets (think, Melbourne’s art-filled alleys) or remote reaches of the Northern Territory under a blaze of stars, you’ll be wowed by local knowledge.

• Cultural Immersion

The Sydney Opera House is the stuff of postcards. You get to go behind the scenes with an expert who not only reveals architectural highlights, but also performance secrets.

• Sustainable Footprints

Some of Australia’s legendary wilderness areas – Uluru, Kakadu and Litchfield – are its most fragile. Your National Parks fees preserve them for posterity.

• Wildlife & Nature

The only living organism you can see from outer space, the Great Barrier Reef is among the world’s most important, and biodiverse, ecosystems. Dive under the surface and see for yourself.

What’s included

• Specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide
• 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Opera House
• Centrally located premium hotels
• Arrival and departure private airport transfers

Dining

• 12 Full Breakfasts
• 1 Lunch
• 1 Be My Guest Lunch
• 2 Dinners with Wine
• 1 Highlight Dinner
• 1 Farewell Dinner

Fitness Requirements

• Moderate level of fitness required for walk at Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Flight Information

• Day 1 – flights to arrive prior to 12 noon into Melbourne Airport
• Day 13 – flights to depart anytime from Sydney Airport
  Internal-holiday flights: Please note that prices include land and internal-holiday airfares, which AAT Kings will book in order to fulfil the holiday itinerary:
  Day 4 – Melbourne to Alice Springs
  Day 7 – Ayers Rock to Cairns
  Day 10 – Cairns to Sydney
  Return airfares from your home port are not included in the price above.
  Return airport to hotel transfers are included in the price above.