Australia.. my ultimate dream destination! I have had an absolute FIXATION on visiting this incredible country for as long as I can remember. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands from the sky was at the top of my travel bucket list! And you just wait.. after seeing these photos, it will be at the top of your travel bucket list too. 😉
So much so, that my husband was pushing to start a family, but I told him I am not having a baby until he takes me to Australia. Well, long story short, we booked flights almost immediately and I am writing this East coast Australia itinerary pregnant with my baby boy. 🙂
This 14 day Australia itinerary is JAM-PACKED with all of the highlights of Australia. You get to see the tropical east coast where the great barrier reef and Whitsunday islands are, the trendy and foodie city of Melbourne, beautiful wine country of Yara Valley, one of the top road trips in the world (Great Ocean Road), and ending with one of the most iconic cities in the world: Sydney!
You are truly going to LOVE Australia. I had seriously high expectations for this destination, and after 2 weeks in Australia, my expectations were not only met but completely exceeded. I can’t wait to go back!
Let’s get into it!!
14 Day Australia Itinerary Overview
Day 1-6: Hamilton Island, Hill Inlet, Great Barrier Reef
Day 7-10: Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, and Yarra Valley Wine Region
Day 11-14: Sydney, Bondi Beach & Manly Beach
Instagram: @MyPerfectItinerary
Day 1: Travel to Hamilton Island
Hamilton Island is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Nestled off the east coast of Australia, it is a perfect home base for visiting all of the famous spots in the area like the Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, Hill Inlet, and so much more!
There are direct flights to Hamilton Island from most major cities in Australia. From Sydney, the flight is 2.5 hours and there are many flight times / airlines available. My best recommendation is just searching on Google Flights for the dates you are looking at and picking the time that works best for you.
If you are planning on visiting one of the many beach towns along the east coast, you can opt for a ferry ride over to Hamilton Island instead of staying on the actual island. Cruise Whitsundays operates ferry transfers to and from both Port of Airlie and Shute Harbour 7 days a week. Click here for more information on the ferries!
Whether you are arriving by plane or ferry, the island is very small and easy to get around. You will be at your accommodation very quickly! If you are arriving by plane like me, you will grab your bags and take the free airport shuttle right into “town”. They offer drop off at all the major resorts (Whitsunday Apartments, Qualia, Reef View, Beach Club, Palm Bungalows)!
If you are staying at a private accommodation, you can rent a buggy (golf cart) right at the airport. You can also set up transportation right from your accommodation host, so you don’t have to stress about loading up your bags onto a golf cart!
Start your first night off with a BANG and head up to One Tree Hill, which is a small bar on the top of the island, famous for sunset viewing! There are large grass areas around the peak where everyone watches the sun go down.
Day 2: Free day Hamilton Island
Hamilton Island is completely walkable, no cars on the island! There are two free bus / shuttle routes that takes you either to the airport or to the marina from the resort side. Otherwise, you can opt in to rent a buggy to explore the island (HIGHY RECOMMEND!!). And last resort, you can always walk! This island is very small and walkable, with nicely paved walking trails. If you aren’t afraid of a few hills, the walk from the resort side to the marina is easily doable.
You can rent buggies right on the resort side. They will pressure you to reserve in advance on their website, but it seemed there was a lot available when I was there. I doubt you would have an issue just walking up and reserving one unless it was a busy holiday weekend.
I truly can’t explain to you how much we loved Hamilton Island. It was such an adorable, clean, and scenic island. I loved the fact that everything is easily walkable or a short buggy ride away. That makes it easy to cram a few things into a free day!! Here are some of the many things I would recommend doing on your free day in Hamilton Island:
- Grab a coffee and pastry to enjoy with the Koala’s at the Koala Cafe!
- Sunset cocktails at the best viewpoint on the island: One Tree Hill.
- Beach Day at incredibly beautiful Catseye Beach
- Complete one of the many hikes, here is a list of the best ones!
- Golf at Hamilton Island Golf Club (which is on a literal island!!)
Koala cafe
Hamilton Island Golf Club
For dinner, I would highly recommend making all of your dinner reservations in advance. There are limited dinner options on the island and the restaurants fill up fast. Here is a list of restaurants on the island for you to choose from!
TIP: While this is a mainly east coast Australia itinerary, if your goal is to only see the beaches in Australia, you should make a point to check out Perth on the west coast as well!
Day 3: Plane / Helicopter ride over the great barrier reef & Whitsundays
Are you ready for the best day of your life?!
This excursion has been at the top of my travel bucket list for as long as I can remember. Swimming in the Great Barrier Reef I am sure is on most people’s bucket list, but people forget the best part is seeing it from the sky!
Only a short flight or helicopter flight from Hamilton Island you can fly over the Great Barrier Reef, seeing some of the most iconic areas of the reef like Heart Reef, and Hill Inlet. If you are unsure what Hill Inlet is, it is truly the most breathtaking site you will ever see. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves..
If you are afraid of helicopters (like my husband haha), then there are tour options either via sea plane or propeller plane. The helicopter flights are a bit cheaper and more frequent, but whatever suits you best!
Click here for the exact tour we did!
Heart Reef
Whitsunday Islands
Edge of the Great Barrier Reef
These tours are fairly quick since the Great Barrier Reef and Hill Inlet are within minutes from Hamilton Island, you get to spend your entire time in the air taking in the beautiful sites! That means you can still fill your day with other fun activities on the island or just relax at the beach.
**Don’t forget to make your dinner reservations in advance, the island is small, and restaurants book up! 🙂
Day 4: Great Barrier Reef Tour
After you’ve seen the Great Barrier Reef from above, it’s time to see it from the below. The Great Barrier Reef is definitely the top attraction in the area, but I will be honest with you… the area of the reef that is close to Hamilton Island or all of the touristy beach areas is not very clear or scenic. I truly wouldn’t say the snorkeling was “out of this world” or particularity memorable.
Do I regret going? No! Of course not! I got to swim in the Great Barrier Reef at the end of the day!
If you are not prone to sea sickness and seeing the Great Barrier Reef is a big priority for you, I would seriously consider opting in to a longer tour of the reef, one where you stay overnight on a boat and explore deeper into the reef. Most of these “live board” experiences are several days long where you travel deeper into the reef where it is very untouched. Almost all of these tours take off from the town of Cairns, which is farther north than this area. That way you can maximize your chances of getting clear water days and seeing areas that are less populated with boats of tourists so you can actually see some awesome marine life!
I get extremely seasick, so the shortest tour option was the only way I was seeing the Great Barrier Reef at all. This was the exact tour that I did which takes you out to Reef World. I liked this option because again, I get very seasick. Getting to dock onto something that was fairly stable sounded like a MUST for me. I cannot handle being on a boat in open sea and then swimming for 8+ hours without getting sick. Plus, seeing the Whitsunday islands and Hill Inlet was a huge priority during my 14 days in Australia.
Overall, the tour itself was great. The company I booked with was very educational, entertaining, safe, and clean. If swimming in the Great Barrier Reef is something on your travel bucket list, but you only want to do a day trip, then this tour is perfect for you!
Another option if you don’t get seasick and want a once in a lifetime experience?! Book a two night stay on Reef World’s pontoon in their underwater rooms. If I didn’t get seasick, this is 1000000% what I would be doing!
Day 5: Free Day on the Island… Swimming, hiking, koala Cafe, or the pool!
Hamilton island is so walkable and relaxing. Be sure to spend time just walking the island, hanging out at the gorgeous beach, and seeing the wallabies that are all over the island! I always aim to fill my itineraries with some free days, especially after long travel days or all-day excursions.
To spot the Wallabies, they are always grazing in the grass along the main hotel strip. There are tons in the mornings, and then the remainder of the day they are taking a nap in the sun 🙂
For dinner, it is time to treat yourself to the nicest restaurant on the island, Bommie.
This restaurant is definitely on the nicer side in comparison to the other restaurants on the island (oceanfront, white tablecloths, nice wine list, floor to ceiling windows, etc.). My husband is the ultimate foodie and he still talks about the incredible oysters that he had from here.
Before your dinner reservation (which don’t forget to make in advance!!), head to the Bommie deck for a pre-dinner cocktail and sunset viewing.
Bommie Deck
Day 6: Hill Inlet Beach Tour
For your final day in paradise, it is time to see Hill Inlet from ground level, since seeing it from the sky just wasn’t enough!
There are several boat cruises that will take you to see Hill Inlet from Hamilton Island. The specific tour I took was this one (Hill Inlet half day afternoon tour), which I highly recommend! I did the afternoon tour that departed at 12:30pm, to have more of a relaxing start to my morning. Plus, the viewpoint is supposed to be significantly more scenic at low tide, which the time of year I was traveling was in the afternoon. 🙂
Is taking a boat cruise to Hill Inlet really worth it even though you saw it from the sky?! Honestly, if you are short on days then I would recommend skipping this tour over the other tours mentioned. However, if you have the days and money to spare, I would definitely opt in to doing this tour. The boat will take you to Whitsunday Island where you can walk the scenic trails that have tons of viewpoints of Hill Inlet and you also get to spend some time on the actual beach of Hill Inlet (Whitehaven Beach)!
For me, the entire reason I flew from Las Vegas to Australia was to check Hill Inlet off my bucket list, so I of course wanted to see as much of it as I could!
After your tour, head back to your hotel and pack up your things because tomorrow.. we are off to see one of the trendiest and food-loving cities in the world, Melbourne!
Day 7: Travel to Melbourne
There are many direct flights from Hamilton Island to Melbourne, which are just under 3 hours long. Planning a long trip like this, you want to avoid connections and frustrating travel experiences. I chose the three destinations on this list because there are direct flights between the destinations and many flight time options… leaving less room for error!
Melbourne is such a fascinating city. I am usually not a city-loving traveler, but Melbourne truly has my heart! It was clean, easily walkable, INCREDIBLE food, and just felt very calm in comparison to other busy cities.
When researching which area to stay in, there was not really a “right or wrong” area to stay in. We chose the Docklands neighborhood because it was rated a safe area, easily walkable to major areas, food and bars nearby, and nice accommodation options.
TIP: I would recommend staying at an Airbnb that has a washer and dryer for this stop on your trip so you can do laundry! This travel hack saves me SO much room in my suitcase because I am practically just packing for a 1 week trip instead of a 2 week trip!
After checking into your hotel or AirBnb, freshen up and head to dinner at my FAVORITE spot ever!! Pinchy’s is an all pink, rooftop, lobster & champagne bar that is so delicious and so adorable. It seriously started off our time in Melbourne with a bang!
Day 8: Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is pretty much the biggest reason you go to the Melbourne area, it is one of the best road trips in the world! The start of the Great Ocean Road is just under 2 hours from Melbourne, making it a doable day trip. Keep in mind, if you want to see all the stops along the Great Ocean Road and head back to Melbourne, it will be a LONG day (but worth it of course!!)
On this itinerary, I give you a brief overview of the Great Ocean Road stops. If you want a more detailed itinerary with more photography inspo, be sure to check out my full Great Ocean Road Day Trip itinerary!
If you plan to self drive the Great Ocean Road, you will want to make sure you put the following stops into your map:
- Breakfast at Anglesea Golf Course (famous for kangaroos all over the course)
- Memorial Arch (The famous Great Ocean Road Sign)
- Kennett River Nature Walk to see so many Koalas!
- Loch Ard Gorge
- Razorback
- Island Archway
- Twelve Apostles
CLICK HERE FOR MY GOOGLE MAP WITH ALL OF THESE SPOTS LISTED!
Unless you are renting a car, you will need to sign up for a tour. And honestly, if you are day tripping from Melbourne, it will be nice to sign up for a tour because it is a LONG day. The exact tour I signed up for was this one from GoWest! 🙂
All of the tours are ultimately the same, but some miss out on the best and last stop, The 12 Apostles. For me, I am passionate about photography so I opted in for the 12 Apostles sunset tour, so you got to watch sunset over the viewpoint (truly could not recommend it enough!!).
Day 9: Free day in Melbourne
Like I mentioned before, Melbourne is such an incredible city. The food is some of the best we had during our time in Australia. I always like to break up our big activity days with a chill free day and get to really just wander the city I am traveling to. The Great Ocean Road trip will be a long and exhausting day, so it is nice to have nothing to do the next day 🙂
For your free day, you can either just wander the city and do some souvenir shopping or sign up for another tour. There are really amazing animal encounters just outside of Melbourne, so if you are an animal lover.. these are for you!
Phillip Island Tour to see the Penguins!
Day 10: Yarra Valley Wine Tasting
We planned our 14 day Australia itinerary in May, which is PRIME fall foliage time in East coast Australia. I am not sure if you have ever been to a wine region during the fall, but it is truly the most magical experience!
Yarra Valley is a renowned wine region only 1 hour from Melbourne, making it the perfect day trip (click here to read my full Yarra Valley Day Trip Itinerary)! This wine region is known for their Chardonnay (my favorite) and their Pinot Noir, but produces a large variety of wines.
If you are planning to have a full wine tasting experience, I always recommend a tour guide. Not only because you should never drink and drive, but also because they can recommend the lesser known / hidden gem wineries in the area. We booked with Dancing Kangaroo Tours and were BLOWN away! They are a husband and wife team that knows the Yarra Valley wine region like the back of their hands and created the most amazing itinerary for us..
Stop 1: We visited a family owned winery, Helen & Joey’s Estate, for a standard wine tasting where we got to try our first ORANGE wine! The views from their tasting deck were truly out of this world. While we were there, we got a private tour of the property where they showed us the hotel and wedding venue they are building on-site!
Stop 2: Our second stop was a second winery for a full lunch and wine pairing at Soumah Winery. Their restaurant is adorable with floor to ceiling windows and 10/10 food!
Stop 3: Third stop was Yering Station, which is the oldest winery in the area! It is a massive winery that we saw on almost every wine list during our 14 days in Australia.
Stop 4: Lastly we visited a gin distillery to try out some gin at Four Pillars! If you are not a big gin drinker, there are breweries in the area or obviously more wineries. Australia is one of the leading producers of gin and it is growing rapidly every year.
Stop 5: Ice cream & chocolate at Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery. Ice cream and chocolate just hit differently after a day filled with drinking and this place did not disappoint! 😉
After you get back from Yarra Valley to your accommodations it is time to pack and get ready for your last stop of the trip! 🙂
PSSST.. Don’t forget to read my in-depth guide on a Day Trip To Yarra Valley here!
Day 11: Fly to Sydney in the Morning
Last stop of the trip and might I say the best stop?!
Like I mentioned before, I always aim to find direct flights between destinations to avoid any stressful travel days. The flight from Sydney to Melbourne is direct and only 1.5 hours!
From what I researched, most areas of Sydney are very safe. I have a more detailed “where to stay” section at the bottom of this guide, but pretty much you can either stay in the city or at Bondi Beach!
Personally, we already had our beach fix in Hamilton Island and wanted to stay walking distance to all the sites, so we opted for staying in the city! Specifically, we stayed HERE! You are walking distance to great restaurants, view of the opera house from your room, and the best breakfast buffet in the city that comes with your hotel stay!
Day 12: Sydney Sight Seeing, Dinner in Barangaroo
Remember my rule? Always a relaxing day after a travel day!!
If you are taking my recommendation to stay at the Shangri-La, be sure to get the buffet breakfast on the top floor. The breakfast is phenomenal and the views are even better! There are floor to ceiling windows that overlook the Sydney harbor, bridge and opera house!
Some fun things to do in Sydney:
- Go to the Sydney Aquarium to see all the finding Nemo stars up close!
- Go to the Sydney Zoo (you can buy a pass for both the zoo and aquarium). This is a very small zoo with amazing animals you would never see back in the USA.
- Famous Sydney bridge climb!
- Wale Watching tour (May – November)
- See a show at the Opera House!
Sydney Zoo
Sydney Aquarium
For nighttime, I would recommend exploring the area of Barangaroo! It is a newer area right on the water with fantastic restaurants. We ate dinner in this area a few times since we were within walking distance, and all of our meals were a 10/10!
Day 13: Bondi Beach v. Manly
There are two beach towns near Sydney that are a very easy day trip. More popular is Bondi Beach which is a very famous beach town. Manly is also quite popular, but more with the locals.
Lucky for you, I spent a day at both of them so I can give you my honest opinion for your beach day in Sydney!
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is extremely picturesque and beautiful! It has incredible shopping and restaurants and lots of stuff to do. The beach itself is very beautiful because it is nestled into a cove with hundreds of surfers dotting the coast line.
My favorite part about Bondi Beach was the beautiful coastal walk that goes from the beach area up and along the coast. The only downside I would say to Bondi is that it is CROWDED!! As beautiful as the coastal walk was, it was hard to enjoy it because the large amount of crowds trying to take photos.
If you visit Bondi Beach, I would highly recommend going in the morning and doing the coastal walk with some coffee, shopping and having lunch. Then head back to the city before the crowds take over!
Manly Beach
Manly beach was a pleasant surprise! I didn’t hear much about manly beach online, only Bondi Beach, but it was a wonderful day trip!
What makes Manly beach so fun is you take the ferry over to it. It is a gorgeous ride since you go right by the opera house for half the ride.
Manly beach has a very large sandy beach and also a very beautiful coastal walk to another smaller, hidden beach. But the best part?! WAY less crowds! The walking trail was about 3x wider than the one at Bondi, so that also contributes to it not feeling so cramped, but it was a much more pleasant walk!
Overall?!
You truly can’t go wrong with either day trip, they are both beautiful areas to see! I would say if you really want to do some shopping, Bondi is 100% the better choice! They have really nice boutiques, not just tourist shops.
If you want a scenic ferry ride and a more relaxed afternoon, I would choose Manly Beach!
Day 14: Opera Bar & Dinner near Opera House
**Cue looking into how much it would cost to extend your trip ;)**
The last day in the most beautiful country, time to end on high note! I always like to start packing up my bag first thing in the morning so it doesn’t stress me out on my last day! So spend the morning ordering room service, packing up most of your things, and getting any last souvenirs before your flight home!
Your last night will be spent at the most iconic landmark in Australia, the Opera House!
In front of the Opera house is a bar (called the Opera Bar) that stretches along the side of the opera house and along the water. You even get to enjoy your drink with another famous landmark as your view, the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
TIP: I recommend going to the Opera bar just before sunset (golden hour) to get beautiful photos of these amazing landmarks.
After your happy hour cocktail at the best bar in Australia, just wander around the Opera house. There are steps that begin right outside the bar that let you get up close and personal with the Opera House!
For dinner, walk a little ways to 6Head for dinner with your jaw dropping view of the Opera house. Watch the sun light up the Opera House as the sun goes down!
If you are not a huge steakhouse fan, or just want something at a different price point, there are so many amazing options that still have a view of the Opera House. 🙂
Where to stay during your time in Australia
Hamilton Island
$ I would recommend checking out Airbnb for small apartments for rent. Some even come with free Buggy rentals!
$$ Whitsunday Apartments (Where we stayed!) or Reef View for more of a resort feel
$$$ Beach Club or Qualia
Melbourne
$ The Victoria Hotel & Space Hotel
$$ The W & The One Hotel
$$$ Ritz Carlton
The exact Airbnb we rented: Airbnb in Docklands!
Sydney
$$ Quest North
$$$ Shangrai La (where we stayed), Sebel Quay West Suites, & The Fullerton
Australia Q&A’s
Best time to go?
I think the absolute best time of year to go to Australia based off of these destinations is March – June (USA folks spring time). This is Australia’s fall time, which lines up at the perfect time for all of these spots. In the great barrier reef area, it is the end of jelly fish season and the crowds are minimal. In Yarra Valley wine country, it is beautiful fall colors and cool temperatures. In Sydney, it was the perfect temperature to walk around and even go to the beach!
What currency?
Australia uses the Australian Dollar, which for the USA residents it is in our favor as of 2025.
Are credit cards accepted at most places?
Yes, credit cards are widely accepted. Even at the smallest local shops we never saw an issue. Just make sure you use a credit card that has no international fees.
Tipping rules?
Tipping rules in Australia are similar to Europe. Most locals just round up on their meals or 10% if service is great. Tips are not expected considering Australia has one of the highest minimum wages in the world.
Should I not go because of deadly animals?
NO, you should absolutely visit this incredible country! Yes, there are many scary animals that are home to Australia, but still with that being said, it is rare to run into one. Just ask the locals! Of course, do your research and only do what you feel comfortable, but while Australia is home to dangerous animals, they are also home to rare and beautiful animals’ worth seeing too (Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallaby, Wombats, and more!
Okay, that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this detailed 14 day Australia itinerary and it helps you plan your dream trip to this amazing country. Like I said before, Australia was at the top of my bucket list and for good reason… it reached and surpassed all expectations! This 2 week Australia itinerary is jam packed with all the best sites on the east coast, which are all the most famous areas of the country.
This was my first trip to Australia but definitely won’t be my last. Maybe next time will be as a family of three! 😉
More travel guides on Australia I think you will love:
Like this guide!? PIN IT HERE!
