aglassofwinehelps

Hi, Ok, so it's like this......

We are doing a validation trip on 30th Nov to 8th Jan and it'll soon be upon us! We are booking a car on 8th Dec to travel from Sydney to Melbourne and are returning to Sydney on 19th Dec via Virgin Blue. So far have sorted the car and the flights with advice taken from this brilliant site. We need help with the rest!

Would it be advisable to pre-book hotels/accommodation for our time in Melbourne and the three days we are on the road on the way there. My dilemma is that we won't know exactly where we are until we get there. At this point we have no itinery, we only know we are leaving Sydney and heading towards Melbourne. As it is the holiday season in Oz I am worried that we may end up sleeping in the car unless we book? So with that in mind can anyone recommend places to stay/how to stagger the journey inc 'must do,see' places/ and where to stay in Melbourne? We are doing the coastal route from Sydney to Melbourne.

We have 2 children, 17 and 9. We don't want basic accomm but don't want to break the bank. In Melbourne we are visiting friends in Williamstown.

If anyone has any advice regarding anything I have mentioned above it will be greatly appreciated. At this point we are driving to/flying back from Melbourne but can be changed. Thanks in advance

POW148

Try the following webiste for your accomodation. You get fantastic cheap rates.

www.wotiff.com.au

Regards

Barney

aglassofwinehelps

Thanks to Barney, that's a start mate, anyone else want to chip in?

quoll

You should be fine for the road trip - I doubt you would have any trouble finding accommodation at the end of November (shame you arent planning on a side trip to Canberra though, of course) especially if you plan on travelling during the week rather than at the weekends.

Definitely book somewhere in Melbourne though - you will have a pretty good idea of how long you want to spend driving along the coast road and so should be able to guess within a day or two of when you will be arriving in Melbourne.

Wotif is excellent but you wont be able to book for the end of November for a few weeks yet - they were up to the end of October when I checked the other day. Also www.stayz.com.au also has some holiday lets if you fancy being more self contained and less hotellish.

aglassofwinehelps

Thanks Quoll

Canberra may be an option. Have looked at Stayz and have found some lovely little places,a very reasonable. May book this weekend. We are leaving Sydney on Mon 8th and booking accommodation for Thurs 11th. What would you recommend in Canberra?

aglassofwinehelps

We found a lovely serviced apartment in Melbourne Docklands and have now booked. If anyone knows the area or has stayed there then would love to hear more. Thanks Quoll, we found it through Stayz.

quoll

Sorry, only just got back to this - do you mean hotels? All depends on your budget but the Hyatt is a once a year splurge type place (with once a year splurge type prices!), very nice though! The Waldorf is right in the centre of town and it isnt outrageously expensive, the Lakeside has nice views but is getting a bit worn now, the Pavilion on Northborne is one of the cheaper ones and just out of the town centre but not too bad. Wotif is definitely the place to check out good deals and you can leave booking just that bit later because you will only be after one night.

Touristy wise - the War Memorial (outstanding), the view from the top of Mt Ainslie (behind the War Memorial) or Black Mountain Tower (stands out like a sore thumb), Parliament House (old and new), Questacon (if you have kids), a boat trip on the lake (from Yarralumla) or walk around the lake - the High Court building and National Art Gallery are side by side on the lake too. The National Museum is interesting - also on the lakeside.

Enjoy!!!

aglassofwinehelps

Thanks for that, I was thinking things to do/see but great info re the hotels. Will look at all you've suggested and let you know what whether we manage to reach Canberra.

aglassofwinehelps

Bumping to see if anyone else can suggest 'must do/see' attractions on the Sydney/Melbourne coastal route or have any info on Melbourne Docklands.

ponyrama

Jervis Bay is beautiful (whiter than white sand), as are Huskisson, Green Patch and Cave Beach. Its only about 3 or 4 hours south of Sydney and in the middle of the National Park. Lots of Roos at dusk by Cave Beach.

A bit further south is Lake Conjola which is also nice, and further south still by the Victoria border is Merimbula - I havent been but my sister says its lovely there.

So thats your first stop sorted - where next?

aglassofwinehelps

How funny - we had finally decided on Jervis Bay as our first port of call and I came on here to see if I could find anything about it. So thank you. Lots of accommodation available but finding it hard to book 1 nights stay, most want 2 nights min, I'm sure we'll find something though so as you say......where to go next. Cheers for the reply.

vickys

Jervis bay is gorgeous, we have just got back yesterday and we visited there a couple of times. When you leave Sydney all the beaches are gorgeous going down the south coast. Kiama blohole is really nice and is about 1 1/2 south of Sydney, Shell Harbour has nice shopping centre, there is a nice little town called Berry where you can pick up a gorgeous fishermans basket in the pub with the boats on the roof too. 7 mile beach is gorgeous too and there is the minnimura rain forest tree top walk which is good. Jamberoo is ok if you want to go to a water park for a load of fun and isn't too bad price wise. We didn't vernture much further south but i'm sure loads of people will offer more info on other places.
Hope it goes as well as ours did and looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back

take care and dont forget the sun tan lotion it's gorgeous weather at the moment in NSW
Vic's x

aglassofwinehelps

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