Help us plan our Australia/NZ trip

January 13, 2024 8:51 AM

Spouse and I are planning a ~2 week trip to Australia and New Zealand (from the US) at the end of this year, roughly mid December 2024 through early January 2025. The current plan is to see Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington and Auckland, but the exact itinerary and timeline is still TBD, and we need your help!

I have some general questions and am looking for recommendations. General questions first:
-What is Christmas like in Australia? Are lots of things closed? Would it be better to use that day as a travel day or stay in one city (we don't actually care about Christmas as a holiday)?
-Same thing for New Year's Eve and Day - stay in Australia or use that as travel day to NZ?
-Other tips for travel within and between both countries?

We are looking for recommendations/suggestions for things to do in all of these cities. We like museums, especially history/culture/art; architecture (historic homes, cool walking neighborhoods, etc); some nature (think botanical gardens not hiking) and some beach/ocean (that's more me than my spouse); food/foodie stuff.

Last, I'd love suggestions for other websites/books/resources for travel for both countries. I like research and planning (hence asking this question now).

posted by DiscourseMarker to Travel & Transportation around Australia (15 answers total)

Oh boy, I have heaps of recommendations! I have spent a bunch of time in Sydney and Melbourne, I worked for Tourism Australia for many years, and I had the great good fortune to get "trapped" in NZ during COVID. I notice from looking at your profile that you live near me, and I'm happy to grab a beverage with you and discuss in person if you like.

- General rule of thumb: Christmas to New Year's is a HUGE holiday period in NZ/Aus. Like, on a scale that is really hard for Americans to comprehend - it's closer to the French August vacances than US Fourth of July. They're arguably the two biggest holidays of the year and it's also peak summer. So expect lodgings, experiences, etc. to be crowded and staffing to possibly be a bit light because everyone is on holiday. I worked for an Australian company and it shut down from the Friday before Xmas to the Monday after New Year's. I have a client in NZ that is unreachable from December 24-early January, and they're in retail. My impression is this kind of shutdown is not uncommon.
- Just about everything is closed on Christmas, except maybe in Chinatown. But it's a great day to go to the beach and see some Surfin' Santas! This could be a pretty good day to be in Sydney, esp. in Bondi/Coogee.
- New Year's Eve in Sydney is pretty legendary. You will need to camp out at the harbour all day to get a good place to see the fireworks off the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Auckland and Wellington also do big NYE fireworks but not so big as Sydney.
- Travel within Australia tips: the drive from Sydney to Melbourne is REALLY long and services are spread very widely apart. I would strongly recommend flying. Sydney and Melbourne have really great public transit by US standards (although you will hear a lot of whingeing about it), so you really don't need a car unless you are leaving the city. If you want to see the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney or the Mornington Peninsula / Phillip Island outside of Melbourne, you will need a car if you want to see it at your own pace, although you can also join a bus tour. Also, the ferries are a great way to see a lot of Sydney!
- Travel within NZ trips: the drive from Auckland to Wellington is not that long and is visually pretty interesting – you can see the New Zealand desert! You can also take the Northern Explorer train, which we always wanted to do but it never timed out right for us. Wellington is very walkable and parking in it is pretty miserable, but you will need to rent a car to see stuff outside of the CBD. Public transit in Auckland is...better than the T. The ferry service to the islands is stellar. I see that you don't have the South Island on your itinerary, but you should have it on your itinerary and you should absolutely take the Interislander Ferry there during the day because the trip is breathtaking.
- Travel between the two countries: flying is really the only option. From the USA you can get nonstop flights from LAX to Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney but not to Wellington. You can, however, get nonstop flights to Wellington from Melbourne and Sydney. So consider using that as your port of entry. Also, Air NZ often has flight packages that allow you to stop in NZ for as long as you like if you use them to fly to Australia.

Things to do in each city (this will be quick as I have a cat demanding food but I can go into more depth later!):
- Sydney: Botanical gardens, ferry trip to Manly (much cheaper than a cruise and the views are great), the Bondi to Bronte walk (or even small sections of it) - it's a coastal walk but in a pretty urban area so lots of places to stop off and get coffee or a bite to eat, heaps of museums. I normally have heaps of restaurants to recommend but it's been a couple of years. I have some friends in Sydney that I can ask for the latest updates. But bills for brunch and Gelato Messina for gelato are both must-dos.
- Melbourne: Botanic gardens are so lovely, the National Gallery of Victoria is absolutely spectacular. It's also a great city just for wandering around, exploring and checking out the street art. I highly recommend a laneways tour. This is a self-guided version but with the right tour guide you can get so much more out of it.
- Auckland: The botanic gardens are absolutely delightful, and as someone who took public transit there TAKE A CAR OMG. It's a spectacular pain it the ass to get to by transit. Waiheke Island is one of my favorite places in the world, and if you like nude swimming there's a great beach for it. You've said you are more into botanical gardens than intense hiking. I'd recommend Tiritiri Matangi - it's an island off the coast of New Zealand that is predator-free and has heaps of native birds. It's sort of like a more epic botanic garden or a super-gentle hike. Food: Xi'an Noodle Kitchen has cheap, delicious Xi'an noodles in a space with zero ambiance and I wish there was one in Boston. It's one of my favorite places anywhere. Be prepared for hills: Auckland was formed geologically through a series of volcano farts several thousand years ago and it shows.
- Wellington: OMG. The botanical gardens. Zealandia, which is a giant predator-free park full of New Zealand's native birds and is epic and astounding. The Te Papa Museum, which you can seriously spend days in. Don't miss "Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War," which was done in partnership with Weta Workshop and drives home WWI in a way that nothing else ever really has for me. Food: On Cuba Street, Duck Island for ice cream and 1154 Pastaria for pasta (don't miss pasta happy hour!) Also, so many good Malaysian restaurants, which is one of my favourite cuisines and is basically almost impossible to find here. And beer. So much craft beer. I can give you a list.

Off to feed the cat but I can go into this in more depth however you'd like.
posted by rednikki at 10:01 AM on January 13 [7 favorites]

Many things are closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. As a North American you might be surprised at the scope of New Year’s Day closures.

At least some restaurants will be open on both days. Christmas lunch is popular (as opposed to dinner) and heavily features seafood- chilled prawns, oysters, and the like. Tasty. If you are a foodie you should try to go to the Fish Market, maybe not on Christmas Eve. Go hungry, they have great food for lunch.

I think your itinerary is too busy for two weeks. You’ll lose a day to jet lag, that flight to NZ will take up a good part of a day, you have two other cities on the itinerary, it’s a lot. I’d cut some flights and stay within 3 hours driving distance from Sydney. There’s a lot to see.

Mayfield Garden is amazing, it’s 2.5 hours drive from Sydney through the Blue Mountains national park, highly recommend. You can stay in Blackheath and check out the lookouts and other park sites in the area. Reviews are mixed but I enjoyed my dinner in Katoomba at Echoes Restaurant overlooking the Three Sisters. Rent a car, the drive on Jenolan Caves road is A+.

+1 to New Years Eve in Sydney, it’s iconic. Another Sydney event is the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race on Boxing Day. You can get a ticket to a spectator boat and race along a bit with the other boats on the start of the race. Loved it.
posted by shock muppet at 10:28 AM on January 13 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions so far! One thing I should’ve said in the post: we are almost certainly not going to drive anywhere. My spouse doesn’t really drive at all anymore and I’m not comfortable trying to learn how to drive on the left. But we are up for trains, planes, boats, or buses. I love public transportation!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 10:52 AM on January 13

Just a couple of quick notes:

There's a Qantas Explorer fare that may let you get a bit of a discount on a multi-city air ticket that's all tied to a single booking. Might or might not work for you, but take a look.

For just a taste of the Blue Mountains, I've taken the train from Sydney Central to Katoomba. It's a fairly nice walk to the Three Sisters overlook area, or you can take a local bus. Katoomba itself is a pleasant town, I even stopped at the Lilianfels Resort for afternoon tea on the way back from the overlook. A car might be needed in the Blue Mountains for more in-depth exploring, but for a simple day trip, train is doable.

Generally, Sydney is an awesome city on many levels, and I thought the public transit options were some of the best I've ever experienced. You'll have no trouble getting around and seeing the things you want to visit. And yes, the ferries are an attraction in themselves, as well as being a way to get from place to place.
posted by gimonca at 11:50 AM on January 13 [2 favorites]

I would consider actually travelling between NZ and Australia on Christmas Day. The flights will probably be cheaper and the airports will be dead quiet. I don’t think it will be the same on New Year’s Day.

If you choose to do this though, I would make sure you have somewhere booked to eat though. Very little will be open in NZ due to strict trading laws so know what you’re doing for food. More stuff will be open in Australia, but the supermarkets will be shut as well as most of the restaurants.
posted by poxandplague at 11:51 AM on January 13

In Melbourne, St Kilda is a good neighborhood to have a walk around. Charming architecture and waterfront/beach (including a fairy penguin penguin colony). The beach isn't anything spectacular as a beach, but the neighborhood overall is interesting.

Fitzroy is another good walking neighborhood - lots of great street art.

+1 to rednikki's endorsement of the Melbourne botanic gardens, laneways, and NGV. ACMI is also worth a look, they often have interesting special events and exhibitions. See what's on at The Butterfly Club while you're in town.
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:28 PM on January 13

Within wider Auckland and Wellington a lot of places (shops, cafes etc)are closed around New Years and the one or two weeks after, on the basis that city dwellers are on holiday at the beach.
January is THE peak vacation time in New Zealand so book accommodation as soon as you can. (This may be less of an issue if you’re staying in the cities and say getting a bus tour out to hobbiton etc; the beach towns will be extra expensive and booked out early)
From Auckland, a ferry trip to Tiritiri Matangi is lovely - it’s a nature reserve with so, so many birds. You can get a walking tour or just ramble around. Kawau Island is also very nice. Waiheke is pretty much a suburb with restaurants and vineyards. Rangitoto island is a hot rock of a volcano to hike up! Take lots of water and a picnic - there are no shops or cafes.
posted by slightlybewildered at 12:41 PM on January 13

Christmas in Australia/NZ is a bit like August in France. Like rednikki says, it's Christmas and July 4th rolled into one. Many businesses are closed or have adjusted hours during the 2 week period between roughly the 21 Dec and 5 Jan (depending on which days Christmas and New Years fall on). My company shuts down completely for two weeks, and it's expected that everyone takes annual leave during that time. In the city, there are sufficient restaurants and attractions open, though, so as long as you are flexible and check ahead, you should be fine, but it will definitely be quiet. It's also worth noting that since the holiday break also coincides with summer vacation for school children, it's a time when lots of families are travelling, visiting relatives, camping, and/or staying at the beach. It is therefore an expensive and difficult time of year to book hotels, Airbnbs, and resorts, so you would do well to book far in advance.

Since maximum closures are on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, those might be good days for interstate travel or travel between Australia and New Zealand, but again, dependent on booking ahead, as trains and buses are on reduced schedules.

If you've only got 2 weeks, I'm assuming you'd split your time between NZ and Australia. With one week in each country, I'd consider doing only one Australian city, with day trips out of that location, eg, Sydney + Blue Mountains + maybe Hunter Valley or Central Coast, OR Melbourne + Mornington Peninsula + Great Ocean Road. Or one city + one regional destination, like Sydney + Cairns (if you want to see the Great Barrier Reef, for example). Your choices really have to do with what kind of activities you enjoy. I would make sure that somewhere during your trip you are far enough from the city to take in the nighttime sky, which is amazing in this part of the world.
posted by amusebuche at 4:00 PM on January 13

Also, I don't have specific recommendations for websites and books, but just be aware that Covid and the bushfires of 2019-2020 changed a lot of the tourist landscape in Australia. Many regional hotels have been rebuilt since the fires, but some went out of business, or have had trouble with staffing. Likewise, the restaurant scene is completely different post-covid than pre-, so just be aware when consulting resources that may date from before 2020. There's loads of previous asks here.
posted by amusebuche at 4:16 PM on January 13

In Australia, almost all shops and restaurants are closed on Christmas day (25 December).

Many shops and restaurants are also closed on Boxing Day (26 December).
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:17 PM on January 13

My suggestion would be to START your trip in Australia, and then move to New Zealand - because the closer you get to mid-January in Australia, the greater the chance of heatwaves, bushfires etc whereas New Zealand in mid-January will be cooler.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:19 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

I answered a similarish question about Auckland specifically a few weeks back. It won't all apply to you, but you might find a few things helpful. The links I share for Auckland will also lead to info about Wellington.

One of the difficult things about Aotearoa NZ is that the best parts of it aren't found in the cities and so a lot of advice is to hire a car and go be in nature, but I totally understand why that isn't feasible for a lot of folks.

I spent Christmas day alone so went for a walk around town (I live in Auckland CBD) and I was actually surprised by how many restaurants were open, but this is because a lot of people who originate from other countries of course don't celebrate Christmas so they will still open for business. The touristy stuff is certainly still open over the Christmas and New Year period, like the art gallery and museum etc. just maybe not on Christmas and Boxing Day, and New Year's Day and the day after. Travelling on NYD would probably be a good idea. Not sure what the airport is like but the city feels very empty on that day so I assume it's quiet.

Wellington is dead over this period to another level. Again, definitely still stuff open but it's not unusual for things to be shut until the end of January when schools go back. Parliament is on break until after Waitangi Day, and many public servants take their annual leave in January.

Things to do in Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery. Auckland Museum. Get on a ferry and go to Rangitoto or Tiritiri Matangi, though this is probably closer to hiking than botanical gardens (these places have strict biosecurity rules among other rules, so please be aware!). Get on a ferry and go to Waiheke and get slightly sloppy at a winery. Go explore the tunnels at Maungauika/North Head Historic Reserve in Devonport. Eat an ice cream while walking down Takapuna Beach. We have a tonne of beaches but most of the good ones are a decent drive from the city - Piha is probably the standard suggestion but there is no way to get there without a car and some of it is shut due to the wild ass weather we had here recently.

There is a train called the Northern Explorer that goes between Auckland and Wellington (someone else has probably already mentioned it) but it's expensive and doesn't run every day. You would lose an entire day to it because it's about 12 hours or something but I would still highly recommend it- even as a Kiwi who is used to the landscape, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Things to do in Wellington: Te Papa and Wellington Museum (these are two different places and are an easy walk from each other). Wellington City Gallery. Matui-Somes Island. Zealandia (night tour is cool if you want to see kiwis). Kāpiti Island Nature Reserve. I helped answer a question about Wellington a while back on the green, where you'll see some chat about the city - I think you'll find some of it helpful.
posted by BeeJiddy at 9:13 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]

Couple of quick points. That time period covers the major school holidays in Australia plus so many people travel to spend the holiday period with family. Accommodation is very expensive. Two to 3 times as much as other time periods, it also books out. Some also have complusory minimum night stays. Many people book their January holidays the year before. So I would start looking and booking early. Especially if you plan to spend new years in Sydney.
Secondly, as an Australian, I would say that Sydney and Melbourne are relatively similar. They both have cool things to see, but at their heart they are both two major cities. If you are coming all this way, I would recommend only going to one and spending the other time at another city where you can see more of the diversity that Australia has to offer. For example Cairns (a city in far north Queensland) you can see the great barrier Reef, the rainforest (and fair warning at that time of year -experience some high humidity). You could see Darwin. It is closer to Indonesia then any other Australian capital. Or Hobart - an amazing city (it has a great modern art museum) surrounded by some beautiful nature (easily accessible via tours). All of these cities you could fly between easily. Anyway - just an idea.
posted by daffodil at 3:40 AM on January 14 [1 favorite]

Websites and other resources for both countries:
Australia.com is the tourism site for Australia. It has high quality information and will give you many ideas of where to go and what to see.

NewZealand.com is the tourism site for New Zealand. It's also very high quality.

Broadsheet is a really good guide to what's on (food/wine/entertainment), as is Concrete Playground. CP also has an Auckland edition and Broadsheet has a New Zealand edition.

I do not know how much time you have or if you're trying to build this around school holidays. If you move your trip to February you'll have some advantages. It will still be warm in NZ (although possibly beastly hot and on fire in Australia), and you won't be fighting for space with all of the local families who are on holiday.

As the locals have said, these are two countries with heaps to see and you could easily spend a week in just one city. However, as an American, I know how limited our time is when we travel, and I do not find your itinerary unreasonable. With some really tight planning I think you could get a lot out of your trip.

You have mentioned that you don't plan to drive. I don't know what your budget is, but in NZ my partner and I did a couple of private car tours to wine regions (where someone else drives). It was not too expensive and was a great way to see the wilder parts of the country. You have mentioned that you are a foodie. Are you also into wine? If so, there are some amazing wine regions you can go to near Wellington, Melbourne and Sydney.

Historic homes is an area where you are unlikely to find what you'd hope for. They were colonized by Europeans much later than the US was, and – as in the USA – the Europeans were not kind to the buildings of the people who were already there.
posted by rednikki at 8:09 AM on January 14

I’m not sure if this is still a thing since Peter Jackson sold Weta Digital but they used to have a tour of their Wellington space that we took in 2018 and enjoyed.

We love going to both countries and just got back from NZ on New Years Eve, but most of what I can say is answered above. I do agree with going to Cairnes/Great Barrier Reef instead of one of Sydney/Melbourne. If you do, try to make time for the train up to Kuranda and the rain forest.
posted by billsaysthis at 6:56 PM on January 14