23 Days in Australia, itinerary help.

hi joe
obviously if you want to cover a lot of places in 23 days, flying from a place to the other will be the best / quickest mode of travel. i dont know what your interests are, what you are looking for etc. so a couple of thoughts from my point of view:
- i guess not matter what you are looking for, 2-3 days (at least) in sydney are a must, as this is an amazing city that pretty much caters to all interests and likings
- cairns is nice enough, but is not a must see place in my opinion. its mostly a gateway for the great barrier reef (to go snorkelling and / or diving), and to spend time in the cape tribulation area. so if you like to snorkel or dive, or are looking for a forest experience, go for it.
- in the red centre, visiting only uluru would really be a shame in my opinion. i would spend at least 3 days in the red centre and also include the olgas and kings canyon (which - besides some places in western australia and kangaroo island, are my personal highlights so far in australia).
. the whitsunday islands are lovely, whitehaven beach is a really beautiful beach, and you could go on a 2-3 days sailing trip in the withsunday islands.

even if you travel fast, i think you might have to do some choices.

A few thoughts
- If you've never been before, Sydney is a must see. Even if only a few days. The harbour, the city, the beaches, it's a stunning city.
- Melbourne is not a spectacularly beautiful city, but is great at ground level to explore the parks, galleries, shops and neighbourhoods. From here there are day trips to Phillip Island, the Dandenongs and Mornington Peninsula, or longer to the Great Ocean Road (2-3 days)
- Cairns, Airlie Beach and Whitsundays are all seeing pretty much the same thing - the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns is further north and a big tourist city, which offers day trips to the Reef and day trips to Port Douglas, Mossman Gorge, Kuranda and the Daintree. Airlie Beach is the coastal jumping off port for the Whitsunday Islands and the Reef so, I'd choose just one of these - Cairns if you also wants to see the Daintree, or Airlie or a Whitsunday Island (such as Hamilton) to see the Reef and the islands and Whitehaven Beach
- Byron is a beach resort a few hours south of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Nice town, and nearby, some lovely rainforest hinterland and villages.
- Uluru is stunning., and well wortha a few days to see the rock, walk around it, see sunset and sunrise viewings, and also nearby Kata Tjuta. Extend this to 4-5 days and also see Kings Canyon and Alice Springs on a tour.

These sites are all separated by massive distances, 3,000 klms each between Cairns, Melbourne and Uluru for example, so yes, flying is a must, though you could factor in one drive for 4-5 days such as from the Whitsundays to Byron (via Brisbane, Gold Coast and Fraser Island?) or Byron to Sydney, or Sydney to Melbourne. All are spectacular coastal drives (though most require lots of diversions off the highway to actually see the sea).

Thank you! Really helpful :)

Hey Harry thanks for all the helpful info. This will be my first time. Just wondering what kind of route would you take? My flight will land in Sydney.

Have 3-4 days in Sydney, then fly to Melbourne, fly to Uluru. and then fly to Cairns or the Whitsundays.
Or reverse this order.
basically do the triangle, but take the best flights - this might involve double back to Melbourne or Sydney from Uluru, or Brisbane - flights to Uluru are pricey, and flights from there to anywhere but the major capitals will be infrequent and pricey.
Just plug in a few options, then maybe work out which bit of coast you want to do.
Things are cooling down in April, so I'd be leaning towards the northern bits.

if you land in Sydney you could do the east coast drive to Brisbane, stopping at Byron Bay, (or fly Sydney to Ballina but you will miss a lot of scenic places) then fly from Brisbane to north Queensland, (Whitsundays and Airlie) go to Cairns and fly to Uluru, from there you can fly to Melbourne, then back to Sydney if that is your point of departure.

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