A 2 week itinerary to exploring the East Coast of Australia

By Gemma Tedaldi | Published: 17th April 2020 | Updated: 1st November 2024

So you’re thinking about planning a trip ‘Down Under’ to the land of kangaroos, surfing and BBQ’s, but not sure where to go? Well to start with that’s not all Oz is about, the landscapes are incredible, the people are friendly and best of all the beaches are amazing! So we’ve put together the ultimate 2 week itinerary to exploring the East Coast of Australia, for you to get some ideas from.

Contents

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 1

First port of call – Fly into Sydney.

DAY 1 – Sydney – botanical gardens – Sydney harbour – harbour bridge pylon lookout – Manly Beach – Darling Harbour.

Sydney is a great place to start the adventure, with awesome sights to see and great nightlife. Once you get your bearings head to the botanical gardens, from where we were staying it meant we hadn’t seen the Opera House yet and walking through the gardens lets you walk right up to it. This gives you a real bam, in your face, you are in Australia feeling!

After exploring the Opera House head over to the Harbour Bridge. Most people pay to climb up and over, yet being 1. slightly nervous of heights and 2. budget savvy, we opted to climb our way to the top of the pylon bridge lookout. In all honesty, I think the view is just as good if not better!

From here hop on a ferry out to Manly Beach to soak in the sunset before heading back to Darling Harbour for a drink or two.

DAY 2 – Opera House Cafe – Coastline walk Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach Gordans Bay, Clovelly Beach, Bronte, Tamarama Beach, Bondi Beach, Glenmore in the Rodes

Head to Sydney Opera House Cafe for breakfast, not only is it in the Opera House but you can sit outside and soak up the views of the bridge and harbour too. So after a tummy and eye fulfilling breakfast head out via a beach bus to Coogee Beach. From here follow a coastline walk to Bondi Beach taking in Coogee Beach, Gordans Bay, Clovelly Beach, Bronte, Tamarama Beach and of course Bondi Beach itself.

This walk is incredible. The scenery, the friendly locals and the artwork along the way make for a great day out exploring the beaches even if it is too cold to get in the water! After stopping in Bondi, head to the Icebergs bar/cafe for a rewarding meal overlooking the beach then hop on a bus back to Sydney.

DAY 3 – Tarango Zoo – Australian Bar & Hotel

For a last full day in Sydney catch the ferry over to Tarango Zoo, views to and from the Zoo are well worth a boat ride anyway so why not stop over there and wander through animals as well?

After a day wandering the zoo, (make sure you check out the Australian Walkabout Trail for local species including a Platypus!), and enjoying ferry rides, head into the main eating district of Sydney and find Australian Bar & Hotel. Not only do they have lemon, lime and bitters, (a drink you must try in Oz), but they also serve delicious emu and kangaroo pizza! Seriously this is a must try if you are in the area, they are so good!

Now for something a bit different after staying put for a few nights, hop on board a Greyhound overnight bus to not only save on money on accommodation but also to allow you to arrive in Brisbane the next morning.

DAY 4 – Brisbane

Yay, you made it through your first night on an Aussie overnight bus and you’re in Brisbane! We spent a day exploring the city waterfront as well as just general chilling to recover from the experience of the night bus, (we had a slightly unlucky first trip which lasted longer than it should, but don’t let that put you off, we certainly weren’t!).

DAY 5 – Brisbane – Mount Tamborine – Alpaca Farm – Lamington National Park

After a good nights sleep hop on a tour bus out to Mount Tamborine for a rainforest skywalk and to try some local fresh macadamia nuts. From here stop at an Alpaca Farm on your way to Lamington National Park, purely for some cuddly cuteness of alpacas. There are some good views here too but it all about the alpacas in my view!

Lamington National Park is the next stop of the day with World Heritage status and ancient Gondwana Rainforest it is breathtaking wandering the trails, birdsong in the air and wind whistling through the leaves. From here make your way back via a bus for your final night in Brisbane.

DAY 6 – Brisbane – Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

In the ultimate 2 week itinerary to exploring Australia, how could I not mention Koalas?! Who could come to Australia and not want to feed kangaroos and hold a koala? Well, we certainly didn’t and at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary it was the best spot for us to do both those things. We wandered around for a few hours coming up close to numerous species, including a rather scary looking emu…

Now for the next Greyhound Bus heading overnight to Hervey Bay. Buses may be slightly uncomfortable and noisy at times but they are worth it, I woke up early in the morning on this stretch and found that we were driving through landscapes filled with wild kangaroos!

DAY 7 – Hervey Bay – Ferry to Frazer Island – Maheno Shipwreck – Lake Makenzie

An early start is needed today for a day trip out to Frazer Island! This is the worlds largest sand island and boy did we find that out whilst driving around. Buses that take you out there are 4 wheel drive and even then we still got stuck on sand dunes a couple of times!

Stop off at 75-mile beach to take in pure sand wonder, being mindful to watch out for dingo’s that roam around here. From here find the Maheno Shipwreck for the beautiful, if not slightly eerie ghostlike feel.

Whilst walking along another beach to the Maheno Shipwreck a small 4 seater seaplane landed and offered a short trip up to spot whales that were currently in the bay. We could not refuse! The views from above were incredible and spotting whales was amazing!

From here hop on a Frazer Island bus and head to Lake Makenzie. With is calm, cooling waters and silica sand it is a perfect way to end your day on Frazer Island.

Planning your own trip to Australia? Make sure you check out our Travelling Tedaldi Amazon Store Travel Guides for all your guidebooks and maps. (We’ve done the hard work for you and linked all the things we used to plan our trip!)

WEEK 2

DAY 8 – Hervey Bay – Urangan Pier – Orchid House – Botanical Gardens

So you are now halfway through your Australia 2 week itinerary, (sad face!). After getting a late ferry back to Hervey Bay from Frazer Island, have a relaxing day exploring Hervey. First stop Urangan Pier, where you can walk to the end weaving amongst local fisherman and humungous pelicans for some pure sun and sea views.

After this walk a short distance into town to the Orchid House and Botanical Gardens. You can easily while away a day here just watching the world go by or wandering the endless pathways through gardens.

So after a relaxing day off, you go to hop on your penultimate Greyhound Bus, an overnighter to Airlie Beach…

DAY 9 – Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach has to be my favourite spot that we stayed and it’s easy to see why. Blue skies, white sands, blue waters, pesky cockatoos… When they say don’t feed the birds, DONT FEED THE BIRDS! We ended up trapped in our apartment room with no escape for a few hours after eating a pizza on the balcony and a cockatoo nabbing some…

Anyway, I digressed! Airlie beach is awesome to explore, wander beaches popping in ice cream parlours and multiple beachwear shops along the way, stop for a relaxing dip in a lagoon and watch the boats come in and out the bay. Such a hard life living in Airlie Beach.

DAY 10 – Airlie Beach – Whitsunday Islands of Hamilton Island & Whitehaven Beach

After a fairly relaxing day previously now is for an early start onto a ferry out to where other than the Whitsunday Islands! These incredible islands are surrounded by brilliant blue waters, white silica sand beaches and of course some warming sunshine. We stopped off on Hamilton Island with it’s no car policy before heading out to Whitehaven Beach. Seriously this beach is amazing, but be warned sand being so teeny tiny gets everywhere! My poor GoPro has never fully recovered…

DAY 11 – Airlie Beach

For your last day in Airlie Beach take a stroll around the harbour, watch the world go by from above, (we were in an apartment on the hill will a great pool with a view perfect for doing this!), and eat your heart out. For some reason, we found Airlie had the best breakfast places on the trip.

Now for your final Greyhound Bus! Goodbye Airlie Beach, hello Cairns!

DAY 12 – Cairns – Botanical Gardens – Harbour Esplanade

After another late night / early morning on the bus, head to your hotel/hostel and grab a bike. That is the best way to explore Cairns and we found that even though we couldn’t keep up with one another, (I am super slow compared to Meryl!), cycling around by oneself isn’t that bad. You can cycle through botanical gardens which are more like a mini rainforest and then on out to Cairns Harbour Esplanade for a spot of grub and a cooling drink.

DAY 13 – Cairns – Skyrail – Barron Gorge National Park – Kuranda

From Cairns grab a bus out to the Skyrail. This cable car is a 7.5 km scenic route that runs above the Barron Gorge National Park, in the wet tropics World Heritage area. This cable car itself is a bit wobbly but you soon forgot about it when you see the views. After getting off the Skyrail head out along the trails and boardwalks to Kuranda, watching out for the rainbow lorikeets that fly above you.

Wandering around Kuranda is bizarre. You could honestly be in a different country with the market stands selling street food, incense burning everywhere and brightly coloured flags wafting in the wind. From Kuranda hop on a train painted in aborigine legends back to Cairns following along the scenic railway.

DAY 14 – Green Island – Great Barrier Reef – Cairns

Taking a catamaran out to Green Island for the day is a must. This tropical hideaway an hour by boat from Cairns was the relaxing end to our trip we needed, even if it was windy and you needed a hot chocolate to warm your hands up!

Now here’s the thing. The Great Barrier Reef has been on my, and I’m sure many other peoples bucket lists for a long time. Yet the thrill of actually seeing it first hand was somewhat underwhelming for me. The coral didn’t look as vibrant as I had seen in other countries and the number of tourists in the area just didn’t make it feel special. I’m sorry to say it but it’s true! I would still recommend going there to witness it yourself just be prepared to not love it as much as you thought.

From snorkelling and viewing the reef from a glass-bottomed boat, we headed out on a walk around the entire island, its only small only 1.5km round route, so it was quite nice to get away from the crowds. After this, we hopped back on the catamaran back to Cairns for our final night stay in Australia!

DAY 15 – Goodbye Oz!

And that’s that! Your amazing adventure in Oz has come to an end. I hope the ultimate 2 week itinerary to exploring Australia helps you plan a route for yourself or you even use it! I know Meryl and I had an amazing time exploring along this route so hopefully, you will too.

Check out our top 10 experiences to have in Australia!

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Gemma (i.e The Travelling Tedaldi)

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Gemma Tedaldi

Gemma is the owner and author of The Travelling Tedaldi, a travel blog helping travellers to discover the best road trips and travel itineraries throughout the UK and Europe. When she isn’t writing about her favourite travel destinations, she can often be found out exploring local hikes or planning future trips.