A chubby travel itinerary, in case anyone is thinking of a trip!

Hi everyone! We are not reddit users, but we came across and relied heavily on this group when planning our recent three-week trip to AUS, so we wanted to share a rough itinerary in case it helps anyone else! (If this isn't allowed to be posted here, apologies and feel free to take it down 😄 )

We’d say it classified as chubby travel - we splurged a bit on experiences and nice hotels (using Amex Plat FHR), but we kept a pretty light food budget and booked economy tickets from North America.

• Day 1: Arriving in Sydney, exploring the city, and sleeping!
• Day 2: Katoomba and the Blue Mountains
• Day 3: Exploring the city / botanical gardens, Coogee to Bondi walk (recommend starting in Coogee), and a jet boat tour of the harbor
• Day 4: Taronga Zoo and exploring Manly
• Day 5: A little more city exploration and flying to Melbourne
• Day 6: Walking Fitzroy and the Botanical Gardens, visiting the National Gallery Victoria, then exploring the Laneways for dinner.
• Day 7: Phillip Island. It’s absolutely worth the trip from Melbourne (we rented a car and drove). We had such a blast hiking around the Island, and we splurged for the Ultimate Adventure Tour at the Penguin Parade. It was honestly a highlight of the trip and one of the most magical experiences we’ve ever had.
• Day 8: Literally just walking the city! It was really fun to explore.
• Day 9: More exploring, walking several gardens, and an AFL game.
• Day 10: Fly to Hobart. Visiting Salamanca Market, sailing the harbor on the Lady Nelson replica tall ship, visiting the Tasmanian Art and Science Museum (recommend, it’s free and fun).
• Day 11: We spent most of the day at MONA, and then walked around Hobart
• Day 12: Port Arthur Historic Sight + Cape Raoul boat tour. We went with Pennicott Wilderness Tours and had a great experience. We also had a pod of about 30 dolphins swimming alongside the boat and jumping out of the water AND we saw seals, so that was awesome.
• Day 13: Bonarong Wildlife Sanctuary. We paid extra for the Feeding Frenzy Tour and it was 100% worth it. We were the only people on the tour and we had a lovely guide who spent SO much time taking us around. We got to feed and/or play with /pet almost every animal (including a baby wombat and several Tassie Devils). Plus, as a sanctuary they are doing really important work so we were happy to support them! And we also explored Hobart a bit more.
• Day 14: Flight to Brisbane, then walking around the city
• Day 15: Flight to Cairns, getting a car to Port Douglas
• Day 16: Daintree Rain Forest with Daintree Discovery Tour. We had a great time with our tour guide (he was super knowledgeable) and we got to see all the highlights of the rain forest. We honestly passed a lot of other tour groups and ours was by far the smallest (6 people) which really enhanced the experience.
• Day 17: Exploring Port Douglas and swimming at the hotel
• Day 18: Snorkeling the outer reef with ABC Tours. Another more expensive outing, but ABC tours did a great job despite some pretty crazy weather. They also had prescription snorkels which was a huge plus.
• Day 19-21: Chill days in PD
• Day 21: Flight to Sydney and walking Sydney
• Day 22: Sea Life Aquarium, Sydney Botanical Gardens, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
• Day 23: Flight home

We really felt like we had enough time to at least get a sense of each city (excluding Brisbane), but we would’ve loved to stay longer if we could have! We could’ve also stayed fewer days in Port Douglas, but a) we wanted flexibility for rain forest / reef tours given the changeable weather and b) it was nice to have some more “relaxing” vacation days since we had a pretty full itinerary.

*We also padded our days with pool / spa time at most of the hotels!

Hotels

The Four Seasons, Sydney - lovely hotel, amazing views, wonderful service, and the best breakfast of the trip. 9/10

The Park Hyatt, Melbourne - great location, nice service, and a very cool aesthetic. 8.5/10

The Ritz Carlton, Melbourne - the standout of the trip. The atmosphere, amenities, room, and service were truly exceptional. It’s a real 5-star hotel. That said, given its location, if you’re keen to walk the city, I’d recommend staying at the Park Hyatt. But if you can stay here for a night or two just to enjoy the hotel and the staff, highly, highly recommend. 12/10

The Tasman, Hobart - would not recommend. It was fine, but the staff, the experience, and the food were the same as staying at a regular Hilton, with a slightly nicer room. Not worth the money for us, and not sure why it’s an FHR with Amex. 1/10

The W, Brisbane - fun hotel with a great location and really nice rooms, plus good food. We only did one night, but we’d go back next time we visit. 8/10

Shantara, Port Douglas - nice hotel within walking distance of Port Douglas. We rarely saw anyone else so it was like having a gorgeous pool to ourselves, and the rooms and people were nice. For this trip, it was also nice that it’s an adults-only spot. 7/10

The Intercontinental, Sydney - overall, it was really nice and the staff were pretty solid. Excellent rooftop bar. Breakfast was just okay. We’ll be sticking to the Four Seasons on our next trip. 7/10