10 fun filled days in Australia
Australia | May 26 - Jun 4, 2025

Gina L.

Ashburn, VA | Reviewed on Jun 06, 2025

My family spent 10 fun filled days in Australia. Siena and Greg were amazing at booking activities that meet all of our requests and kept us active. We started in Brisbane touring with Steve from Croc Tours out to Australia Zoo then visited a surf club for local prawns and beer. Then to Cairns for rainforest touring and tubing with our private guide Jordy. All of our guides were so friendly and patient with our kids. We spent time at the Great Barrier Reef then wrapped up in Melbourne with the historic Puffing Billy Steam Train and snuck in a wine country and chocolate factory visit with our guide Dylan. Everyone we meet went above and beyond to make our trip memorable. The hotels selected for us met all our needs and desires and were conveniently located within the cities. Many meals were included with our activities so we didn’t have to spend a fortune in country on meals. Siena’s suggestions for self guided exploration were spot on to satisfy my desire to see local wildlife and the sights and sounds of eastern Australia. We were able to do and see so much!

Hotel Reviews

Rydges Melbourne Hotel

Melbourne

This was by far my favorite hotel of our trip. The breakfast is phenomenal for visitors from all over the world. The location is great, near theaters, shopping and great dining. Hotel is gorgeous, rooms are spacious and the roof top pool really was a great convenience to have traveling with children.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Convenient to so much of the city, historic buildings, culture centers, botanic gardens.

Staff

Everyone was happy to help with everything from check in to meal services.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Incredibly clean, well maintained.

Amora Hotel Brisbane

Spring Hill

Conveniently located near Central station with access to the whole city. Beautiful parks near by and great dining options.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Staff was attentive and always happy to help with questions and requests.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Whole hotel was very clean and well kept.

Mantra Esplanade

Cairns

This hotel is a little older but a nice place to stay due to location and generous room size plus laundry machines in suite. This allowed us to clean up after our rainforest trekking and reef adventure. Very short walk to some great sites.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Short walk to reef tours and exceptional dining options. Also right in front of a local grocery store which is a great money saver due to fridge and cooking appliances in room.

Staff

Hotel is very self-serve, no room cleaning during stay, but all staff were friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel is a little older and there was a wall leak that opened during our stay in the hallway to our room. Looking at other accommodations in the area and given what was available in rooms it would not stop me from staying here again. Everything was very clean at check in.

Activity Reviews

Tangalooma Island Resort Full Day Marine Discovery Day Cruise

Brisbane

Visiting in winter it was cold and windy and many activities were initially canceled then resumed later in the day. Not much to see on the glass bottom boat maybe due to season… we ended up booking an ATV tour which was not planned but filled time.

Quality of Experience

Food

Good variety of options. Reasonable prices, great bar.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Really enjoyed the ferry to the island and back. The captains were friendly and humorous.

Australia Zoo & Mooloolaba Beach Day Trip

Brisbane

Australia Zoo is a place I have wanted to see for decades. It did not disappoint. Beautiful spacious facility. Had a great time with a private guide for Mooloolaba area. Surf Club was a really great chance to learn more about local culture.

Quality of Experience

Beautiful place to visit.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Drivers were entertaining and asked questions to ensure we enjoyed our experience.

Transport

Nice clean vehicles, but 1.5 hours on a bus was a little tough.

Mossman Gorge Day Trip with River Drift Experience

Port Douglas

This was one of the most amazing experiences of our trip. Absolutely beautiful forest and wonderful guide Jordy.

Quality of Experience

Food

The restaurant we visited during this trip was the absolute best meal of our trip. It was a little diner with a lot of food options. We had burgers, and a wrap. Not sure if it was just the amount of physical activity before lunch but I swear the food was incredible.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Reef & Fitzroy Island Day Tour

Australia

The reef was worth every second of the bumpy boat ride ( we had a bad weather day) not normally like that. We saw thousands of first and corals, giant clams and sea turtles. Breathtaking experience for the kids.

Quality of Experience

Food

The food variety was very simple and catered it seemed towards middle eastern or Indian foods. As adults we found things we could enjoy but our children just ate rolls and fruit.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport