Verndownunder

Hi All

I am so undecided on where to holiday in Queensland.

Flying to Brisbane International - on to either Goldcoast or Sunshine coast ???

Hiring a car.

Family (2 Adults and 3 children) 4,8,10)

Want to stay somewhere with a little entertainment for children, or nice hotel suitable for children (swimming pool, bar, close to beach nice accom)

Any recommendations??

We like to take evening strolls to i.e. restaurant, bar, shops, etc so not in middle of no-where.

Have looked at Chioricourt, springhill garden apartments, ashmore palms holiday village, paradise resort.

Any top tips?????

Thankyou

markandgill

How long are you staying for?

We are heading to Queensland for our validation trip in March and are staying in Surfers for 3 days and then in Maroochydore for 7 days, really depends what you want to do, I love Surfers. Walking along the sea front at night, Sea World for the kids and great for shopping. Sunshine Coast is great too, Mooloolaba is lovely, and there are loads of places to go there aswell.

Gill

jad n rich

Both have all of that, main difference is GC has some theme parks if thats your thing, ( not florida standard but OK - dreamworld is probably the better one. )

SC has Austraila Zoo and a theme park is planned.

I see you mentioned paradise resort, it hasnt received the best reviews on this forum, we won a night there, all I can say is glad we didnt pay for it, grotty at best. Look on wotif.com they give fairly good info on places to stay.

helena39

Hi,

Can I join in here please. Flights booked April 3rd for 3 weeks and need somewhere in GC for 7 nights. My brother in the SC said there are tons of places. We are also validating with 2 kids 8 & 5.

Helena

DONOVAN

Hiya check this link out maybe of help to you

www.goldcoastinformation.com.au

Hope this helps

Sarah x

DadAgain

I'd say best family spot for a validation trip in SE Qld woudl be Mooloolaba. Sea world is fun - but low-key and the beach is fab. You're also just a short trip from Australia zoo which is well worth a trip.

If you're heading to the Gold Coast I'd suggest heading south on the strip to Coolangatta/ Kirra beach. Its quieter than Surfers Paradise and theres an ENORMOUS expanse of sand to play on! (much to the anoyance of surfers who feel like their 'best wave' has been destroyed)

plenty of accomodation options to fit most budgets in either place, worth checking www.wotif.com close to the time.

Brisben

I say try Corrumbin, nice hotels away from the bright lights but close enough to visit and plenty to do, sunshine coast is great for a beach holiday but as for anything else it is quite limited.

Noosa is a nice spot also for a holiday if you want a beach holiday.

Verndownunder

Thanks everyone

Some great info.

I will have a good look at all your recommendations and see what we find.

If anyone visits somewhere that they just love, be sure to tell us about it.

And hope all of you about to validate, have a great time.

Tracey

Verndownunder

Hi

We are staying for 2 weeks, would be good to see a couple of places, if not to much messing with 3 kids.

How far apart are all these places??

It may be a good idea to have a week at one place then the 2nd week somewhere else!

Got me thinking!!!!


Tracey

jad n rich

You could easily do gold and sunshine coasts, they are only a 2 hour drive apart, as long as you dont set off in peak hour traffic.

myrtle1

We did the Sunshine Coast for two weeks last Oct/Nov as we were having a reccie around the Brisbane and surrounding area.

We stayed in Mooloolaba and really loved the place - we also went up to Noosa for a few days and it was great there too.

We found plenty to do during the day but were taken aback when we were the only ones still eating in restaurants after half nine. There seemed to be a mass exodus before this point

But, since reading on this forum - I gather this isn't unusual

markandgill

Hi Tracey

If I were you I would spend a week in the Gold Coast and then a week on Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast isnt really that big, and there is plenty to see. Especially for kids, Click here for info on Gold Coast. Also you could stay in the Moololaba area in Sunshine Coast and use it as a base too, Click here for a bit of info.
Hope this helps

Gill

Verndownunder

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I think that sounds perfect.

Thankyou

Tracey

viviennef

I like the gold coast for a break. I think although its commercialised, theres plenty to do, the beach is lovely and it feels like a holiday.

we stayed at paradise the other day - it was ok. Quite cheap and my kids had never done the benidorm type thing so they had a ball - doing the kids games by the pool etc. It wasnt my sort of place, but we were taking them as a treat and they loved it.

Viv

ABCDiamond

With people getting up at daybreak (5am), then 9pm is getting late for a good sleep

Many Queenslanders live by the Sunrise and Sunset times. I actually got up about 5am today and it was fantastic, really bright, but not too hot.
Problem was I was still awake at 2am last night !!!

I live in between the two coasts, which I like. Non of the bussle, but easy to get to the CBD, Gold or Sunshine coasts.