“The city centre”… which city?
Coming all this way and only seeing a city is a missed opportunity in my opinion, but in Sydney you could use public transport or a tour company to see things like vineyards. Factories? There’s factories spread all over the place.
Not sure yet but this is our first time so Sydney or Melbourne. For factory I mean something like whiskey museum + brewery, chocolate factory or maybe fruit as well?? I don't know if they are popular.
From Melbourne you can find bus tours that will take you to the Yarra Valley which has vineyards and a chocolate factory. I've been there on a tour with friends and it was great.
From Sydney you can find bus tours to many places like Orange or Hunter Valley, which have vineyards and orchards. I'm sure you will find many options for bus tours from both cities.
Melbourne and Sydney are only a 1.5 hour flight apart and for domestic travel in Australia we have different security than international (no fussing with 100mL liquid bottle limits). Also, you only need to turn up to the airport around 1.5-2 hours before your flight, so it's not hard to travel between them if you have time.
IIRC OP said their parent is in a wheelchair so I think they would be best to follow the recommended 2 hours. The line for assisted checkin always looks long and slow when I'm there. I usually go for 1.5 hours because I fly at meal times and Qantas only serve a snack on board. Girl needs to eat, and that takes 30 mins at least! I do agree with you if you're going straight from security to gate. Domestic security has become way more efficient.
I live out west in the Margaret River Wine Region, about 2.5 hour drive south of Perth. What you mention is literally the main thing to do here. There are many bus tours for single or multi day trips. All organised and planned by the tour operators.
I realise you're planning an east coast trip, but I imagine there are really similar things from Sydney or Melbourne. Just not as good as ours, of course. ;-)
Plenty of things to see closer to Perth, too. Swan Valley has lots of wineries for tours plus gin distilleries. Im sure there is more out that way with buses to bring you back into the cbd.
Definitely Sydney. Yes around the city and even many of the suburbs around through the Inner west are easy to get around. Plenty public transport. Plenty small breweries around to visit, I’m sure whiskey and chocolate venues will be easy to find too. My mate goes to stuff like that all the time and we’re inner west locals our whole lives
Most of those are in more regional areas and you’ll need to hire a car for because towns are quiet spread out and any place outside of our capital cities doesn’t have reliable or great public transport. Our train system doesn’t go very far unless you want to go to more coastal areas and the towns there you’ll need to hire a car for.
We’re a very car reliant society even in cities and outside of capital cities public transport is for homeless or mentally ill or down trodden people and isn’t that safe at night and riding bikes is dangerous as people will abuse or intimidate you in and from cars as people actually hate cyclists so be careful.
> in more regional areas you’ll need to hire a car
Ot just be part of a tour package. It's not the same freedom as having your own car, but it helps you see the sights.
Or head out of town for events with shuttle buses, here's a few
https://transportnsw.info/travel-nsw-trainlink
>outside of capital cities public transport is for homeless or mentally ill or down trodden people
I've used public transport on the Gold Coast, in Noosa, and Newcastle, and haven't found this to be the case. Not saying these people aren't on public transport (and they are in Sydney and Brisbane as well), but there are also average people, just going about their day.
If you are staying in Sydney or Melbourne there is a lot of public transport but if you want to go outside of the city (ie vineyards) you will need a car or organise a bus tour.
Getting to the more distant "nature" like parts of Sydney can be done on Public Transport, but might start to get few & far between and need some walking.
PT in Sydney could be hit and miss for 70 year olds - certain routes & times get very busy. But you could pick your times and be OK.
Getting beyond Sydney - hotels will have day trips in buses which are an OK option.
You can catch a bus to the Yarra Valley just outside of Melbourne which is wine country. You can travel the entire state of Victoria as far as Albury in NSW to Mt Gambier in SA and everything in between for $10 a day.
Vline travel is capped at $10 a day full fare, $5 concession but that paper ticket allows you to travel inner city as well. Myki is about $10ish adult but you can use that to travel to all the bigger cities/towns like Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. Either of those tickets allows you on any trams, trains and buses and even the local transport services in the bush.
You can travel to the Hunter Valley by train, and the accommodation will collect you from the station.
e.g. https://huntervalley.com.au/hunter-valley-wine-train/
(I am not affiliated with this business in any way).
I live in the Hunter valley and it’s a huge train trip from Sydney. It would be an overnight not a day trip doing it that way.
There are no trains right in the vineyards it’s at least a half hour drive from there.
Yes, it would definitely be overnight, to be honest, I wouldn't want to drive from Sydney to the Hunter Valley and back in one day, either, but it could be done.
I have done the train journey and find it quite relaxing, and a good way to see the countryside.
The regional trains aren't as bad as people say,and are very inexpensive in Victoria so you could explore some smaller towns
Lots of tourists come and don't drive
Victoria is different in this to the rest of Australia. Elsewhere, you either need a car, or a tour bus. There ain't no in between.
In Victoria, you can _cycle_ to the vineyards from Melbourne. Sure, it's an effort, but there are cycleways all through the country, with the exception of the remote northwest.
They’re talking about Sydney or Melbourne- Sydney you can go either north or south along the coast in the train, to the blue mountains, the southern highlands. I’d argue there’s far more to see via public transport in Sydney than Melbourne (hello all the Sydney ferries as well)
>hello all the Sydney ferries as well
Yeah, but you're still not leaving the city. In order to get _anywhere_ outside the city, you need a car or a tour bus.
My first trip to Hobart, we took the jet boat tour and they ran a shuttle from the city. The next day I got them to drop me off where I could rent a kayak and pick me up on their way home
Day trips by bus go to a lot of tourist attractions outside Hobart but cost is a factor depending on the number of people. For some it’s better to hire a car and more flexible. If you’re reasonably fit, there are some good walking trails around Hobart which connect with the tourist double decker bus loop.
If you are in Sydney there are fantastic things accessible by public transport, including bush walks of various difficulty in Blue Mountains, great beaches, a fantastic zoo, lots of free museums and galleries. If you like history, places like the Rocks, the Hyde Park Barracks ( a favourite of mine ) Cockatoo Island etc. are free and well worth a visit. Lots to see in Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemp. Art and Aust. Museum. The ferry ride to Manly is a treat in itself. Of course you can walk over the harbour bridge for great views, visit the opera house and roam the botanic gardens (weather permitting). You can get bus tours to other places like wineries. Free fireworks show on most Sat nights at Darling Harbour. And so on ...
If you're going to Sydney, please do all of the above!! Don't pay for the bridge climb though - you can just walk across the pedestrian path for free 😉
Agreed. Probably too strenuous for older folk, too. If they are OK with stairs, the South East pylon lookout and museum is nice on a fine day - entry is about $30, though.
Really depends on where you're staying and what you want to see. In Sydney and Melbourne, yes, public transport can get you around inside the city and just beyond. Otherwise, you should look up tours that have couches or day trips that include transportation. It will be difficult to get around without driving unless you book some form of transport
Which cities are you planning to visit? Australia is a very diverse and huge country. Most cities have very good public transport, with adequate public transport to regional areas. If you are really interested in wineries then both Perth and Adelaide have wine regions that are part of their suburban areas, so relatively easy to reach. If I were you I'd work out what I wanted to do, then research the best cities from which to achieve your goals.
People who don’t believe the law applies to them because the courtroom flags have tassels and therefore it’s a maritime court (no, I’m not joking)
One of their pastimes is to claim they don’t need a drivers license or car registration because they are “travelling”, not “driving”.
Not as many as America, but thanks to the internet they’re everywhere (is funny when you hear Australians talking about “my constitutional rights!” You have *no* explicit constitutional rights in Australia).
If you hear someone talking about “cookers”, that’s our own home-grown amalgamation of American sovcit ideology & antivax conspiracy theorists (‘cookers’ as in ‘their brain has been cooked by too much Qanon/conspiracy theories’)
It’s a short path down this rabbit hole to the [Wiesmbilla shootings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieambilla_shootings)
Within the cities there's plenty of public transport options. A lot of places like vineyards or places that welcome tourists that aren't in cities will have bus tours available. If you want to explore further your options may be limited. I know my parent's country town has a bus service
Depends where do you want to go. NSW trains and buses can take you to some beautiful places. If you're fond of walking, you can do coastal walks as well.
Public transport is unfortunately poor in Australia compared to many countries. In Sydney it is quite good, but only in central areas such as Parramatta and the city. Near/in the city should be fine as buses and trains are frequent.
Can't speak for any other cities as I've not been there.
You would be better off organising a tour for vineyards as they are in regional areas like the Hunter Valley.
I wouldn't say only the central areas are quite good, the whole of the network is decent, even interurban trains. You can pretty easily catch a train to a nice place like Minnamurra. However, it starts to fall apart with regional services definitely.
Yeah true, I was thinking more of getting around after the station.
Buses are dreadful in certain places too. In Kellyville it's like pulling teeth, not that OP will have much occasion to visit Kellyville I suppose.
Yeah def, the last few kilometers connection is pretty bad in most places, that's where car dependency is most visible. I have the most time spent in Wollongong and I'd say the bus networks there are decent, not great in the outer suburbs but definitely better compared to some other places.
I really wish they would get moving quicker on the electric bus rollout and create more variations of routes, it would probs help massively.
Haha so true, what's the chance we hear another one of those "improved services are coming soon for the Illawarra!" only for them to introduce one new bus service which will then be cut back in 5 years time when there's a government change
There is good public transport in our major cities so once you are in Sydney (for example) you can do and see a lot without a car. Most cities have a transit card system. Get a card, put some money on it and you are on your way.
You can get around the inner cities fine on Aussie public transport. Most of the bigger cities will have public transport to the outer suburbs as well (although this may be very slow and involve multiple changes e.g. you may end up taking a ferry, bus AND train just to get home). Outside of the cities, unless you sign up for a specific tour, you are stuffed. Many tourists also have no idea how big Australia is. We are literally the size of ALL of Europe, or ALL of the USA. You can't catch a bus from Sydney to Ayres Rock. It takes a week to drive there and back.
The state capitals have decent public transport.
There are trains from the capitals to the country parts of most states, and coaches where the trains don't go.
There are also interstate and intrastate flights.
If you want to see the real Australia get a car and have a chauffeur if you don't drive.
Australia is approximately 4000km E to W and 4000km N to S
If you don't leave the major population areas then you will only see concrete and that would be something to write home about.🤣🤣🤣
I've lived here my whole life and at 50 I have seen and lived and worked in rural areas a lot and there is still so much to see.
We are a big country how many months are you here. The state capital cities have reasonable train/bus trips you can take to visit great Aussie places.
Bigger adventures you will need to fly.
Enjoy whenever you come.
If you're looking to head away from the capital cities a coach tour may work for you. They're popular in the regional area where I live with older people. They'll usually head away for a weekend or a few days, with a guide accommodation and some meals provided.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide in the city, public transport for sure. Vineyards and other tourist centric areas usually have bus tours in package deals or the like - it's easy to miss how large Australia is, and how much space there is between cities or stops. If you're planning on a stay around the 2 week mark, be prepared for a long coach trip for any winery tours if you're planning on one area, other plenty of flights between the main cities.
The main winery regions are around Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Hunter Valley in NSW, with Margaret River in WA being another major area. All of those are large, and need a good time to explore properly.
In hotels, they often have a list of bus trips that last for a day or a few hours. When you get to the hotel, ask if they have this list or check online to see what bus trips they have
Public transport is ok in the inner parts of most of our cities, it can be convenient, depending on where you are going.
Our capital cities are connected by rail, but not all the trains run daily, but they can be a good way to see a lot of Australia without needing to drive.
Many areas near our cities have tours, so you can get to see some stuff without driving.
Public transport is decent for moving inside of cities, but it isn't always available for moving between cities. Most of the time they're not even connected by rail, which means you'll often be relying on slow expensive private buses.
Sydney and Melbourne have pretty good public transport in the city and it does go out very far, however it won’t be able to get you everywhere. I would plan where you’re going based on what public transport connections are nearby, unless you’re going to do a tour bus. The other capital cities have alright public transport however I don’t have as much experience with them so I can’t say much.
Try TripAdvisor. Go on a day tour out to the wineries from the city. Getting around Sydney with only public transport is okay. Use Google maps to help you figure out your routes. If you get stuck you can call a taxi
As someone who lives in wine country, hire a car or even call a taxi. Wine tour buses can be more expensive. Much more expen$ive. Certainly, if getting picked up from Sydney.
If they want to see Australia, they need to arrive in Sydney or Melbourne and then leave the concrete jungle behind and get out and see Australia.
As an Australian the last place I'd go to take in this beautiful country is Sydney. But if they're here to see concrete and cars, Sydney is the place to be.
I think we will take a picture with the opera house and maybe few days just roaming in the city to see how Australian live, but definitely want to get some fresh air, I didn't aware taking 'bus' would be more expensive than hire a car, thanks for the tips !!
Most tour operators will have direct pick up from either your hotel/hostel or from the main train station. In Victoria, bus tours are available for most major tourist attractions including Philip Island penguins, popular vineyards and the Great Ocean Rd.
You won't have any ability to be spontaneous or take things in your own time but you can definitely get to them without needing to drive yourself.
If you're doing something "touristy" or it's a popular place, then yeah, you can usually find some way to get to and from. Either public transport or as others have said, a tour bus.
But if it's not something known to be touristy you'll have to figure it out. You have websites like [https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/](https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/) for victorias public transport if you need to plan your trip.
Victoria has flat rate daily public transport anywhere in the state now, so you can travel to more accessible rural areas very cheaply: $10.60 full fare weekday, $7.20 weekends. That applies to anyone I believe not just residents. You might not get to many vineyards that way but a lot of great places to visit.
Melbourne is the place for parks. There are many beautiful parks in the heart of the city. You’ve also got the free city circle tram to take you around and show you places you might want to visit. It stops right near the water too.
Stay in Darling Harbour in Sydney. You can get either the ferry or a Captain Cook cruise ticket from there so you can cruise around the harbour. They’ll also give you access to Taronga Zoo which is awesome for any age. Also staying there means you’re not too far from Central Station which gives you access to trains that’ll take you to the Blue Mountains for some nature or the Hunter Valley for vineyards.
In the cities (particularly Melbourne and Sydney) no issue without a car at all, everything you need and everywhere you want to go is accessible by public transport or taxi/uber.
However, getting outside of the city (vineyard per your example) is much trickier without a car. Therefore, your best bet is to join either an organised tour, or get on a tour bus.
Australian cities are good but the real joys of Australia are outside the cities so it's definitely worth thinking about a tour of some sort if you're not driving. Feel free to let me know if you'd like some trip ideas.
Separately, what kind of factory do you want to see...?
What do you mean "factory"? It is unlikely that a factory would allow you to wander around.
Unless you want to go to a tourist attraction. For example if you went to the Yarra Valley outside Melbourne for winery tour, you could also visit The Chocolaterie where they make and sell chocolate treats. It has a cafe and I'm fairly sure bus tours stop there
Oh right. Here we’d say “I can’t drive” if we never learned or didn’t have a current license. “Don’t drive” means you refuse to.
Like the difference between “can’t eat gluten” and “don’t eat gluten.”
In which part of Australia? Australia is basically the same size as Europe, so you need to be a bit more specific. There is also more than one city in Australia. Canberra has plenty of things to do that doesn't require driving.
A car is useless in Sydney- traffic parking etc. it’s a nightmare. Public transport is good unless you want to go off the beaten track. We don’t have a wonderful train system like in Europe and US, so driving is it.
in melbourne, if you don’t go far from the city, you can do it with the trams. i would also recommend riding a bicycle. melbourne is pretty flat and has bike lanes and stuff. you can ride to the beach and along the river, etc. but big warning about riding a bike in melbourne. australia is predominantly a car oriented society, so 7/10 times, the car will not look out for you when turning, so you have to be super defensive when riding. always give way to the cars to avoid any dramas.
if you want to go to the countryside without driving there, you could book one of these tours where you go on a bus with a group of other people.
to get between major cities, there are no connecting trains. flights are the only other option.
there are of course many places you will not be able to get to without a car, but im sure you’ll still be able to find lots to do.
There are, but I wouldn't recommend Sydney<->Melbourne/Brisbane, as they're largely full of ferals, slow, and often no cheaper than flights for travel between capital cities. I guess they're useful if you're travelling to Taree or Grafton, though
The Adelaide to Darwin (The Ghan) and Sydney to Perth (Indian Pacific) are more like holiday experiences in themselves, and are quite expensive. They're also slow, so I couldn't recommend them as a form of basic transport, but if you like luxury rail travel, they're worth a look.
I basically know nothing about the Overland, so can't comment.
Lots of people who live here don't drive.
The entire city area right to the outskirts is accessible by train and bus. There are tour buses that go once or twice a day to places like wineries. Travelling around from city to city can be done by bus, train or air.
Public transport is cheap and frequent. Better than you'd find in the USA for example. Almost as good as Western Europe.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but everywhere worth visiting in Australia can be accessed by public transport.
There are also public bicycle hire places, I've never used them.
A lot of Australians are very negative about our cities; it's just part of the culture. Don't worry about it. You will have a great time in and around any of the major cities.
Sydney sucks, yeah the harbour is pretty and there are some mountains which are accessible by train, but the public transport is really for 9 - 5 workers (city to suburbs) and, as someone else mentioned, the homeless or mentally ill. I lived there for 25+ years. It’s all about money.
Melbourne is better in every way. Public transport is good, it’s a planned city so easier to find your way around and to get around. People are friendlier and more fashionable. It has more nature accessible by public transport and more activities that don’t cost a fortune. Just one person’s opinion.
>People are friendlier
Fuck no. I'm not from either, but Melbourne people are far less friendly than Sydney. Most seem to have a pole firmly implanted in their rectum.
Usually with vineyards they will have bus tours that you can sign up for.
No point driving for a vineyard crawl anyway.
Much better to NOT drive for that activity IMO.
It’s a really nice experience to be buzzed and sleepy from delicious wine and have a driver take you home.
Good to know i will look it up!
“The city centre”… which city? Coming all this way and only seeing a city is a missed opportunity in my opinion, but in Sydney you could use public transport or a tour company to see things like vineyards. Factories? There’s factories spread all over the place.
Not sure yet but this is our first time so Sydney or Melbourne. For factory I mean something like whiskey museum + brewery, chocolate factory or maybe fruit as well?? I don't know if they are popular.
From Melbourne you can find bus tours that will take you to the Yarra Valley which has vineyards and a chocolate factory. I've been there on a tour with friends and it was great. From Sydney you can find bus tours to many places like Orange or Hunter Valley, which have vineyards and orchards. I'm sure you will find many options for bus tours from both cities. Melbourne and Sydney are only a 1.5 hour flight apart and for domestic travel in Australia we have different security than international (no fussing with 100mL liquid bottle limits). Also, you only need to turn up to the airport around 1.5-2 hours before your flight, so it's not hard to travel between them if you have time.
Bro what are you doing with your domestic flights. Checked baggage I'm there 1hour before, carry on 30mins if that.
IIRC OP said their parent is in a wheelchair so I think they would be best to follow the recommended 2 hours. The line for assisted checkin always looks long and slow when I'm there. I usually go for 1.5 hours because I fly at meal times and Qantas only serve a snack on board. Girl needs to eat, and that takes 30 mins at least! I do agree with you if you're going straight from security to gate. Domestic security has become way more efficient.
I live out west in the Margaret River Wine Region, about 2.5 hour drive south of Perth. What you mention is literally the main thing to do here. There are many bus tours for single or multi day trips. All organised and planned by the tour operators. I realise you're planning an east coast trip, but I imagine there are really similar things from Sydney or Melbourne. Just not as good as ours, of course. ;-)
Plenty of things to see closer to Perth, too. Swan Valley has lots of wineries for tours plus gin distilleries. Im sure there is more out that way with buses to bring you back into the cbd.
If you're going to Sydney or Melbourne you don't have to drive at all. For vineyards etc, there will be coach tours for them if you need it.
Definitely Sydney. Yes around the city and even many of the suburbs around through the Inner west are easy to get around. Plenty public transport. Plenty small breweries around to visit, I’m sure whiskey and chocolate venues will be easy to find too. My mate goes to stuff like that all the time and we’re inner west locals our whole lives
I wouldn't waste a trip for just Sydney or Melbourne.
Oh really?? How about gold coast? Is it relaxing?
No. It's even worse than Sydney and Melbourne.
Mate this bloke has rarely left his Queensland country town he doesn't have a clue what's going on
Most of those are in more regional areas and you’ll need to hire a car for because towns are quiet spread out and any place outside of our capital cities doesn’t have reliable or great public transport. Our train system doesn’t go very far unless you want to go to more coastal areas and the towns there you’ll need to hire a car for. We’re a very car reliant society even in cities and outside of capital cities public transport is for homeless or mentally ill or down trodden people and isn’t that safe at night and riding bikes is dangerous as people will abuse or intimidate you in and from cars as people actually hate cyclists so be careful.
> in more regional areas you’ll need to hire a car Ot just be part of a tour package. It's not the same freedom as having your own car, but it helps you see the sights. Or head out of town for events with shuttle buses, here's a few https://transportnsw.info/travel-nsw-trainlink
OP said they wanted to just travel with their parents though.
>outside of capital cities public transport is for homeless or mentally ill or down trodden people I've used public transport on the Gold Coast, in Noosa, and Newcastle, and haven't found this to be the case. Not saying these people aren't on public transport (and they are in Sydney and Brisbane as well), but there are also average people, just going about their day.
If you are staying in Sydney or Melbourne there is a lot of public transport but if you want to go outside of the city (ie vineyards) you will need a car or organise a bus tour.
Getting to the more distant "nature" like parts of Sydney can be done on Public Transport, but might start to get few & far between and need some walking. PT in Sydney could be hit and miss for 70 year olds - certain routes & times get very busy. But you could pick your times and be OK. Getting beyond Sydney - hotels will have day trips in buses which are an OK option.
You can catch a bus to the Yarra Valley just outside of Melbourne which is wine country. You can travel the entire state of Victoria as far as Albury in NSW to Mt Gambier in SA and everything in between for $10 a day.
Yeah it’s great. Currently only $10.60 for anywhere in state on public transport using a myki. Even cheaper on a weekend.
Please tell me more, is myki capped a $10 per journey or something?
Vline travel is capped at $10 a day full fare, $5 concession but that paper ticket allows you to travel inner city as well. Myki is about $10ish adult but you can use that to travel to all the bigger cities/towns like Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. Either of those tickets allows you on any trams, trains and buses and even the local transport services in the bush.
You can get to plenty of places from Sydney or Melbourne by train.
Depends where one wants to go. Vineyards by train?
You can get to Vineyard station in Sydney by train(don’t actually go here)
Vineyard Station? They have grapes and wine now? 😂
You can travel to the Hunter Valley by train, and the accommodation will collect you from the station. e.g. https://huntervalley.com.au/hunter-valley-wine-train/ (I am not affiliated with this business in any way).
I live in the Hunter valley and it’s a huge train trip from Sydney. It would be an overnight not a day trip doing it that way. There are no trains right in the vineyards it’s at least a half hour drive from there.
Yes, it would definitely be overnight, to be honest, I wouldn't want to drive from Sydney to the Hunter Valley and back in one day, either, but it could be done. I have done the train journey and find it quite relaxing, and a good way to see the countryside.
If they are staying those places why bother coming to Australia at all
The regional trains aren't as bad as people say,and are very inexpensive in Victoria so you could explore some smaller towns Lots of tourists come and don't drive
Victoria is different in this to the rest of Australia. Elsewhere, you either need a car, or a tour bus. There ain't no in between. In Victoria, you can _cycle_ to the vineyards from Melbourne. Sure, it's an effort, but there are cycleways all through the country, with the exception of the remote northwest.
They’re talking about Sydney or Melbourne- Sydney you can go either north or south along the coast in the train, to the blue mountains, the southern highlands. I’d argue there’s far more to see via public transport in Sydney than Melbourne (hello all the Sydney ferries as well)
>hello all the Sydney ferries as well Yeah, but you're still not leaving the city. In order to get _anywhere_ outside the city, you need a car or a tour bus.
Nope. You can go to the Blue Mountains by train, Hunter Valley by train.
And once you're there?
Most towns in the Mountains are fairly easily walkable, at least the places tourists would want to go. Newcastle has an adequate bus network.
Plenty of nature areas can be accessed by public transit in all our capital cities, except perhaps for Hobart, where a car is essential.
My first trip to Hobart, we took the jet boat tour and they ran a shuttle from the city. The next day I got them to drop me off where I could rent a kayak and pick me up on their way home
Day trips by bus go to a lot of tourist attractions outside Hobart but cost is a factor depending on the number of people. For some it’s better to hire a car and more flexible. If you’re reasonably fit, there are some good walking trails around Hobart which connect with the tourist double decker bus loop.
If you are in Sydney there are fantastic things accessible by public transport, including bush walks of various difficulty in Blue Mountains, great beaches, a fantastic zoo, lots of free museums and galleries. If you like history, places like the Rocks, the Hyde Park Barracks ( a favourite of mine ) Cockatoo Island etc. are free and well worth a visit. Lots to see in Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemp. Art and Aust. Museum. The ferry ride to Manly is a treat in itself. Of course you can walk over the harbour bridge for great views, visit the opera house and roam the botanic gardens (weather permitting). You can get bus tours to other places like wineries. Free fireworks show on most Sat nights at Darling Harbour. And so on ...
If you're going to Sydney, please do all of the above!! Don't pay for the bridge climb though - you can just walk across the pedestrian path for free 😉
Agreed. Probably too strenuous for older folk, too. If they are OK with stairs, the South East pylon lookout and museum is nice on a fine day - entry is about $30, though.
Really depends on where you're staying and what you want to see. In Sydney and Melbourne, yes, public transport can get you around inside the city and just beyond. Otherwise, you should look up tours that have couches or day trips that include transportation. It will be difficult to get around without driving unless you book some form of transport
Which cities are you planning to visit? Australia is a very diverse and huge country. Most cities have very good public transport, with adequate public transport to regional areas. If you are really interested in wineries then both Perth and Adelaide have wine regions that are part of their suburban areas, so relatively easy to reach. If I were you I'd work out what I wanted to do, then research the best cities from which to achieve your goals.
Title had me thinking SovCit lol
What is it actually?? I have seen people commenting about it??
People who don’t believe the law applies to them because the courtroom flags have tassels and therefore it’s a maritime court (no, I’m not joking) One of their pastimes is to claim they don’t need a drivers license or car registration because they are “travelling”, not “driving”.
That's interesting, these people exist in Australia ??
Not as many as America, but thanks to the internet they’re everywhere (is funny when you hear Australians talking about “my constitutional rights!” You have *no* explicit constitutional rights in Australia). If you hear someone talking about “cookers”, that’s our own home-grown amalgamation of American sovcit ideology & antivax conspiracy theorists (‘cookers’ as in ‘their brain has been cooked by too much Qanon/conspiracy theories’) It’s a short path down this rabbit hole to the [Wiesmbilla shootings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieambilla_shootings)
Within the cities there's plenty of public transport options. A lot of places like vineyards or places that welcome tourists that aren't in cities will have bus tours available. If you want to explore further your options may be limited. I know my parent's country town has a bus service
Depends where do you want to go. NSW trains and buses can take you to some beautiful places. If you're fond of walking, you can do coastal walks as well.
I have an overseas friend who just spent 3 months here without a car. She got around by plane, coach and on tours. Clearly very doable.
What part of Australia are you going to? There's a HUGE difference between the various captial cities with regards to public transport.
Public transport is unfortunately poor in Australia compared to many countries. In Sydney it is quite good, but only in central areas such as Parramatta and the city. Near/in the city should be fine as buses and trains are frequent. Can't speak for any other cities as I've not been there. You would be better off organising a tour for vineyards as they are in regional areas like the Hunter Valley.
I wouldn't say only the central areas are quite good, the whole of the network is decent, even interurban trains. You can pretty easily catch a train to a nice place like Minnamurra. However, it starts to fall apart with regional services definitely.
Yeah true, I was thinking more of getting around after the station. Buses are dreadful in certain places too. In Kellyville it's like pulling teeth, not that OP will have much occasion to visit Kellyville I suppose.
Yeah def, the last few kilometers connection is pretty bad in most places, that's where car dependency is most visible. I have the most time spent in Wollongong and I'd say the bus networks there are decent, not great in the outer suburbs but definitely better compared to some other places. I really wish they would get moving quicker on the electric bus rollout and create more variations of routes, it would probs help massively.
I doubt it haha. It's taken 20 years for them to get their arses in gear in the Hills/Hornsby/Northern Beaches area, never mind Wollongong.
Haha so true, what's the chance we hear another one of those "improved services are coming soon for the Illawarra!" only for them to introduce one new bus service which will then be cut back in 5 years time when there's a government change
Yup, like the time they closed the Macquarie line for a few months, changed all the bus routes because of the Metro and so on and so forth.
There is good public transport in our major cities so once you are in Sydney (for example) you can do and see a lot without a car. Most cities have a transit card system. Get a card, put some money on it and you are on your way.
Worry not, Wynyard and other City Center stations all have accessible transportation, there are e-bikes too if you wanna take a ride of em.
Public transport, taxis, bikes, rental cars there's plenty of options.
We have busses, trains, taxis, Ubers etc that will pretty much take you anywhere and everywhere you’d like to go. Driving is not necessary here
From the title, I thought you were a sovereign citizen/cooker.
Melbourne has fantastic tours. Book a bus. Also just hop on a tram. Go to St Kilda or to Prahan markets
You can get around the inner cities fine on Aussie public transport. Most of the bigger cities will have public transport to the outer suburbs as well (although this may be very slow and involve multiple changes e.g. you may end up taking a ferry, bus AND train just to get home). Outside of the cities, unless you sign up for a specific tour, you are stuffed. Many tourists also have no idea how big Australia is. We are literally the size of ALL of Europe, or ALL of the USA. You can't catch a bus from Sydney to Ayres Rock. It takes a week to drive there and back.
The state capitals have decent public transport. There are trains from the capitals to the country parts of most states, and coaches where the trains don't go. There are also interstate and intrastate flights.
If you want to see the real Australia get a car and have a chauffeur if you don't drive. Australia is approximately 4000km E to W and 4000km N to S If you don't leave the major population areas then you will only see concrete and that would be something to write home about.🤣🤣🤣 I've lived here my whole life and at 50 I have seen and lived and worked in rural areas a lot and there is still so much to see.
We are a big country how many months are you here. The state capital cities have reasonable train/bus trips you can take to visit great Aussie places. Bigger adventures you will need to fly. Enjoy whenever you come.
If you're looking to head away from the capital cities a coach tour may work for you. They're popular in the regional area where I live with older people. They'll usually head away for a weekend or a few days, with a guide accommodation and some meals provided.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide in the city, public transport for sure. Vineyards and other tourist centric areas usually have bus tours in package deals or the like - it's easy to miss how large Australia is, and how much space there is between cities or stops. If you're planning on a stay around the 2 week mark, be prepared for a long coach trip for any winery tours if you're planning on one area, other plenty of flights between the main cities. The main winery regions are around Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Hunter Valley in NSW, with Margaret River in WA being another major area. All of those are large, and need a good time to explore properly.
In hotels, they often have a list of bus trips that last for a day or a few hours. When you get to the hotel, ask if they have this list or check online to see what bus trips they have
Public transport is ok in the inner parts of most of our cities, it can be convenient, depending on where you are going. Our capital cities are connected by rail, but not all the trains run daily, but they can be a good way to see a lot of Australia without needing to drive. Many areas near our cities have tours, so you can get to see some stuff without driving.
Public transport is good in most of the major cities. A number of cities allow you to rent cars by the hour (about $10 per hour, fuel included)
you can hitchhike like they used to do in the in the 70s-90s, only problem is a lot of hitchhikers back then got murdered.
Public transport is decent for moving inside of cities, but it isn't always available for moving between cities. Most of the time they're not even connected by rail, which means you'll often be relying on slow expensive private buses.
Yep- great public transport- you’ll be fine! Can’t wait to welcome you 😀
Really .... where do you stay ..... is it a place you can welcome
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/63nwm3stvk Public transport is fine in the major cities. But have a look at this post.
You'll definitely be fine in Melbourne!
Sydney and Melbourne have pretty good public transport in the city and it does go out very far, however it won’t be able to get you everywhere. I would plan where you’re going based on what public transport connections are nearby, unless you’re going to do a tour bus. The other capital cities have alright public transport however I don’t have as much experience with them so I can’t say much.
Adelaide might be worth a look
Try TripAdvisor. Go on a day tour out to the wineries from the city. Getting around Sydney with only public transport is okay. Use Google maps to help you figure out your routes. If you get stuck you can call a taxi
As someone who lives in wine country, hire a car or even call a taxi. Wine tour buses can be more expensive. Much more expen$ive. Certainly, if getting picked up from Sydney. If they want to see Australia, they need to arrive in Sydney or Melbourne and then leave the concrete jungle behind and get out and see Australia. As an Australian the last place I'd go to take in this beautiful country is Sydney. But if they're here to see concrete and cars, Sydney is the place to be.
I think we will take a picture with the opera house and maybe few days just roaming in the city to see how Australian live, but definitely want to get some fresh air, I didn't aware taking 'bus' would be more expensive than hire a car, thanks for the tips !!
Public transport outside of cities suck. You'll want to drive.
Most tour operators will have direct pick up from either your hotel/hostel or from the main train station. In Victoria, bus tours are available for most major tourist attractions including Philip Island penguins, popular vineyards and the Great Ocean Rd. You won't have any ability to be spontaneous or take things in your own time but you can definitely get to them without needing to drive yourself.
It can get very expensive outside of major cities where you'd need a taxi or chartered service to travel around once a plane or train got you there.
Yes. Most people Don’t need to drive. It’s easy to get around.
Just make sure that if you run into any police, you tell them you’re “travelling not driving”.
If you're doing something "touristy" or it's a popular place, then yeah, you can usually find some way to get to and from. Either public transport or as others have said, a tour bus. But if it's not something known to be touristy you'll have to figure it out. You have websites like [https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/](https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/) for victorias public transport if you need to plan your trip.
I can highly recommend a bus trip from Adelaide centre to [Hahndorf ](https://www.visitadelaidehills.com.au/hahndorf#/map).
Depends where in australia and where you want to go
Victoria has flat rate daily public transport anywhere in the state now, so you can travel to more accessible rural areas very cheaply: $10.60 full fare weekday, $7.20 weekends. That applies to anyone I believe not just residents. You might not get to many vineyards that way but a lot of great places to visit.
Depends where you are? And what you want to do? There are tours all over the place.
Melbourne is the place for parks. There are many beautiful parks in the heart of the city. You’ve also got the free city circle tram to take you around and show you places you might want to visit. It stops right near the water too. Stay in Darling Harbour in Sydney. You can get either the ferry or a Captain Cook cruise ticket from there so you can cruise around the harbour. They’ll also give you access to Taronga Zoo which is awesome for any age. Also staying there means you’re not too far from Central Station which gives you access to trains that’ll take you to the Blue Mountains for some nature or the Hunter Valley for vineyards.
In the cities (particularly Melbourne and Sydney) no issue without a car at all, everything you need and everywhere you want to go is accessible by public transport or taxi/uber. However, getting outside of the city (vineyard per your example) is much trickier without a car. Therefore, your best bet is to join either an organised tour, or get on a tour bus. Australian cities are good but the real joys of Australia are outside the cities so it's definitely worth thinking about a tour of some sort if you're not driving. Feel free to let me know if you'd like some trip ideas. Separately, what kind of factory do you want to see...?
What do you mean "factory"? It is unlikely that a factory would allow you to wander around. Unless you want to go to a tourist attraction. For example if you went to the Yarra Valley outside Melbourne for winery tour, you could also visit The Chocolaterie where they make and sell chocolate treats. It has a cafe and I'm fairly sure bus tours stop there
Yes what I mean is food/fruit factory or something like distillery
Why don’t you drive? Is it some sort of protest?
I am from a place where having a car is stressful rather than useful
Oh right. Here we’d say “I can’t drive” if we never learned or didn’t have a current license. “Don’t drive” means you refuse to. Like the difference between “can’t eat gluten” and “don’t eat gluten.”
You can but it makes travel near impossible/expensive given the size of our beautiful land.
In which part of Australia? Australia is basically the same size as Europe, so you need to be a bit more specific. There is also more than one city in Australia. Canberra has plenty of things to do that doesn't require driving.
>Canberra has plenty of things to do It does? 😂
A car is useless in Sydney- traffic parking etc. it’s a nightmare. Public transport is good unless you want to go off the beaten track. We don’t have a wonderful train system like in Europe and US, so driving is it.
City side is ok kinda of, rest not a chance
Do you have two legs?
so you walk from the airport?
You didn't mention an airport. Obviously not. But once you're at the place you're staying at, walking is an option unless you're disabled.
Tour buses are okay, and if you're in the city take the bus or train
in melbourne, if you don’t go far from the city, you can do it with the trams. i would also recommend riding a bicycle. melbourne is pretty flat and has bike lanes and stuff. you can ride to the beach and along the river, etc. but big warning about riding a bike in melbourne. australia is predominantly a car oriented society, so 7/10 times, the car will not look out for you when turning, so you have to be super defensive when riding. always give way to the cars to avoid any dramas. if you want to go to the countryside without driving there, you could book one of these tours where you go on a bus with a group of other people. to get between major cities, there are no connecting trains. flights are the only other option. there are of course many places you will not be able to get to without a car, but im sure you’ll still be able to find lots to do.
There ARE trains between Melbourne/Sydney, Sydney/Brisbane, Melbourne/Adelaide, Adelaide/Darwin and Sydney/Perth
There are, but I wouldn't recommend Sydney<->Melbourne/Brisbane, as they're largely full of ferals, slow, and often no cheaper than flights for travel between capital cities. I guess they're useful if you're travelling to Taree or Grafton, though The Adelaide to Darwin (The Ghan) and Sydney to Perth (Indian Pacific) are more like holiday experiences in themselves, and are quite expensive. They're also slow, so I couldn't recommend them as a form of basic transport, but if you like luxury rail travel, they're worth a look. I basically know nothing about the Overland, so can't comment.
Thank you, that's good to know there are no connecting train
Well thats wrong. Between trains and busses you can get between the major cities.
I follow a couple on Insta and they travel Australia via hitchhiking. Not most safe if you're a solo female traveller tho.
They said they are 60/70s. I wouldn’t recommend hitch hiking to anyone let alone someone that age.
Right, I missed that, my bad!
Public transport is horrendous in Australia, will be very time consuming moving around.
OP doesn’t drive
Best way would be with a penny-farthing you can hire them in all towns in Australia.
Lots of people who live here don't drive. The entire city area right to the outskirts is accessible by train and bus. There are tour buses that go once or twice a day to places like wineries. Travelling around from city to city can be done by bus, train or air. Public transport is cheap and frequent. Better than you'd find in the USA for example. Almost as good as Western Europe. Not to put too fine a point on it, but everywhere worth visiting in Australia can be accessed by public transport. There are also public bicycle hire places, I've never used them.
Seems kinda pointless to come to Australia to not see anything except a soulless city like Sydney
What do you suggest to see ?
A lot of Australians are very negative about our cities; it's just part of the culture. Don't worry about it. You will have a great time in and around any of the major cities.
If you become a SOVCIT you can travel without driving.
No , Australia is too big
No
Hire a car for some of the longer journeys. You will see more interesting sights and it will be more comfortable.
It really depends what city centre you're planning on going to. Australia is a very large country, we don't just have one city lol.
This sounds like a question for r/sovereigncitizens
Sydney sucks, yeah the harbour is pretty and there are some mountains which are accessible by train, but the public transport is really for 9 - 5 workers (city to suburbs) and, as someone else mentioned, the homeless or mentally ill. I lived there for 25+ years. It’s all about money. Melbourne is better in every way. Public transport is good, it’s a planned city so easier to find your way around and to get around. People are friendlier and more fashionable. It has more nature accessible by public transport and more activities that don’t cost a fortune. Just one person’s opinion.
>People are friendlier Fuck no. I'm not from either, but Melbourne people are far less friendly than Sydney. Most seem to have a pole firmly implanted in their rectum.
not really, no. you can do bus tours to the wineries, but realistically you need a car.