AAT Kings: Australian Highlights 25/26

Settle into your hotel on the banks of the Yarra River and meet your Travel Director for a welcome reception and dinner at the South Wharf riverside pub, The General Assembly restaurant. It's a great opportunity to get to know everyone in a unique setting.

Staying in:

• Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne (1 night)

This tour includes a flight from Melbourne to Alice Springs, Uluru to Cairns and Cairns to Sydney. 

Join your Travel Director for a city sights tour that includes a private walk through Melbourne's famous hidden laneways. You'll discover the city's eclectic little lanes, arcades, café society and fascinating street art. There's time afterwards to explore the city on your own, enjoy an optional experience to Phillip Island to see the nightly ritual of the Penguin Parade (own expense) or simply relax and watch the world go by.

Staying in:

• Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne (1 night)

If you're still getting your bearings in Melbourne, take your time to wander through the city, exploring its boutiques, galleries, and eclectic suburbs. Or, perhaps exploring the city on foot with a History and Donuts Walking Tour is more your thing. However, if you're ready to explore beyond the city limits, consider embarking on a journey along the Great Ocean Road. This legendary stretch of coastline truly lives up to its reputation as one of the most breathtaking touring routes globally. As you wind your way along this scenic route, be prepared to encounter breathtaking views at every turn, making it an unforgettable journey that truly showcases the natural beauty of Australia.

Staying in:

• Crowne Plaza Hotel Melbourne (1 night)

The rusty red landscapes of Uluru beckon as you leave Melbourne for Ayers Rock Resort, your backdrop this afternoon is the world’s largest rock monolith. Follow your guide to the perfect perch to capture Uluru as the last of the day disappears, glass of bubbles in hand (of course).

Staying in:

• Desert Gardens (1 night)

The only reason to get out of bed before dawn? For a magical Uluru sunrise. It’s a spiritual place, with stories of the Anangu, caretakers of this remote arid landscape revealed while you tour the base on a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Later, an Anangu artist will explain just what makes it so spiritual over an introduction to Western Desert art, introducing totems and symbols important to the region and represented in paintings and installations, another MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. The red desert follows you to Kata Tjuta, where nature humbles as you walk through the towering domes of this ancient rock formation. Cheers to the end of another amazing day.

Staying in:

• Desert Gardens (1 night)

The only reason to get up before dawn on your last day in Uluru is to glimpse the kaleidoscopic Field of Light art installation of artist Bruce Munro on an Optional Experience. 50,000 glowing spindles of light blanketing the desert. Clamber to the top of a sand dune to marvel in the morning unfolding over this very special part of the world (own expense). Later, head to your next stop in tropical Cairns.

Staying in:

• Hilton Hotel Cairns (1 night)

Cruising with crocs, a scenic railway ride into World Heritage listed rainforest, a wander along the Cairns Esplanade? Take to the skies for a bird’s eye view with a balloon flight over the Atherton Tablelands, the hot air ballooning capital of the southern hemisphere. Or, dive into nature learning traditional hunting and gathering skills as you search for bush tucker of mud crabs, fish, and mussels in the Daintree Rainforest. Taste and share your catch before a guided interpretive walk through the ancient rainforest. Another option is to take a historic rail journey winding across bridges and through tunnels to Kuranda village, nestled in a tropical rainforest to explore its colourful and interesting arts and crafts. Return to the lowlands on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway over and through the some of the oldest rainforest in the world. You can also choose to pair your trip to Kuranda with a visit to Hartley’s Crocodile for a wetlands cruise through the ecologically significant Melaleuca wetlands, the home of the saltwater crocodile. Today the choice is yours. Celebrate the end of an incredible day at dinner on Cairns’ waterfront at Salt House for regional seafood plucked straight from the ocean, highlighting fresh, local ingredients, and prepared on their custom-built Argentinian wood fired grill.

Staying in:

• Hilton Hotel Cairns (1 night)

The world’s largest living organism, the Great Barrier Reef, never fails to dazzle. Set out on a catamaran to explore a kaleidoscope of colour: over 1,500 species of fish, 215 different birds, 3,000 molluscs, six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, and 30 species of dolphins and whales are residents. Strap on a snorkel or visit an underwater observatory and semi-submersible craft to take in the menagerie without getting your hair wet. A tropical buffet lunch is served onboard before you return to Cairns.

Staying in:

• Hilton Hotel Cairns (1 night)

Touch down in Australia’s largest city, and spend time at leisure in the buzzing metropolis of Sydney. Take a stroll along the iconic harbour, visit one of the city’s many bars, pubs, or restaurants, or simply while away the day at the beach. You decide how best to enjoy this bustling city of delights.

Staying in:

• InterContinental Hotel Sydney (1 night)

Bring your stamina: today is one of innumerable highlights. Go on a tour of the Sydney Opera House, discovering its architectural and performance secrets. If these sails could talk. Then see the city from the water on a Sydney Harbour Highlight Lunch Cruise, enjoying a menu focusing on local food and wine. One icon to another: The world’s most famous beach beckons this afternoon, with your chance to pad along the sand at Bondi with Sydney’s beautiful people.

Staying in:

• InterContinental Hotel Sydney (1 night)

The hardest decision you have to make today: explore more of Sydney, or head to the Blue Mountains, 11,400 square kilometres of World Heritage listed wilderness, a place where sandstone escarpments appear to cleave off the edge of the Earth and waterfall-cooled valleys of rainforest slip dreamily from the pages of a fairytale. Or why not linger around the harbour – perhaps it’s time to glimpse it from above on a Sydney BridgeClimb. This bird’s-eye view certainly puts things in perspective (both own expense). Back at ground level, you’re in the heart of the Rocks, the city’s original colonial settlement and a place of cobbled alleys and private galleries. Your Tour Director can assist you with purchasing these additional experiences or point you in the right direction to explore on your own.

Staying in:

• InterContinental Hotel Sydney (1 night)

You could spend weeks exploring Sydney. Months even. But you have today, so get set for a wild ride. Your agenda is completely up to you, but we have more than a few ideas. And ideally a stroll through the Royal Botanic Garden, which offers so many lookouts for sparkling harbour views. This evening, celebrate your tour at a Highlight Dinner at Midden restaurant at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about ending on a high.

Staying in:

• InterContinental Hotel Sydney (1 night)

What an epic journey, with so many destinations explored in less than two weeks. Now you just have to sort through the photos…