Australia 7 Day Itinerary

Seven days is nowhere near enough to see Australia properly, so the only sane approach is to pick two states and stop pretending you’ll also fit in Kangaroo Island and the Barossa Valley without spending half your trip in airports. This version sticks to Sydney and Melbourne, which is the pairing that actually works on a week’s budget.

Day 1: Sydney

Landing at Sydney Airport, skip the Airport Link train unless time matters more than money: the station access fee alone adds close to AUD 18 on top of the regular fare, pushing a one-way CBD trip past AUD 20. The 420 bus to Mascot Station followed by a regular T8 train costs roughly AUD 6-8 total and only adds about 15 minutes. Tap on with a contactless card or phone rather than buying a paper Opal card; it caps your daily spend automatically and you avoid the top-up counter.

Check in around the CBD or Darling Harbour, then walk to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before the afternoon crowds build. The Rocks is worth an hour for the Saturday market if your dates line up, but skip the ghost-tour operators hawking flyers there; they’re aimed entirely at tourists and add nothing you can’t read on a plaque. Take the ferry to Manly for a sunset beer at one of the pubs along the Corso rather than eating dinner in the CBD; the ferry ride itself, about 18 minutes on the fast boat, is one of the better free views in the city.

Day 2: Blue Mountains

The train to Katoomba from Central takes about two hours and costs under AUD 15 return with a capped weekend fare, which makes the guided coach tours a poor deal unless you specifically want narration. Scenic World’s unlimited day pass covering the Skyway, Railway and Cableway runs around AUD 50-55; buy it online, since the on-site queue in peak season eats 30-40 minutes you don’t have.

Echo Point and the Three Sisters lookout are a five-minute walk from the Katoomba bus stop, not a drive, contrary to what a lot of itineraries imply. Wear real shoes: the Giant Stairway down into Jamison Valley is over 900 steps and genuinely steep, not a stroll. My take: do the Scenic Railway down and walk one of the shorter valley trails back up to the Scenic Cableway rather than riding both cars, since the walk is the actual reason to come.

Day 3: Sydney to Melbourne

Fly rather than drive; Sydney to Melbourne is roughly 900 kilometres and an 8-9 hour drive one way, which no seven-day itinerary should burn on a single transfer. Jetstar and Qantas both run the route dozens of times daily, with a flight time of about 90 minutes and fares from under AUD 100 if booked ahead. Land, drop bags, and spend the afternoon in the Royal Botanic Gardens and along the Yarra, then walk the CBD laneways, Degraves Street and Hosier Lane, for coffee and street art before dinner in Fitzroy.

Day 4: Great Ocean Road

This is the one day worth structuring around a tour rather than self-driving, purely because of time: a full return trip covering the Twelve Apostles is around 12-13 hours from Melbourne CBD, departing by 7-8am, and self-driving means someone doesn’t get to look at the scenery. Day tours run from around AUD 95-130 and typically include Bells Beach, the rainforest at Otway, and a Twelve Apostles stop timed for good light. If you’d rather self-drive, the coastal route alone takes about four hours without stops, so budget the whole day and don’t try to layer in Adelaide or Kangaroo Island afterward, which is a common and unworkable add-on in Great Ocean Road plans that ignore the actual distances involved.

Day 5: Melbourne city and Mornington Peninsula or St Kilda

Recover with a slower day. St Kilda Beach and the Esplanade Market on weekends are an easy tram ride from the CBD. If you’d rather get out of the city, the Mornington Peninsula’s hot springs and wineries are about 90 minutes by car and make a relaxed contrast to the previous day’s long bus ride. Either way, catch the National Gallery of Victoria in the afternoon; general entry is free and the Ian Potter Centre next door covers Australian art specifically, which most visitors skip in favour of the international wing.

Day 6: Melbourne markets and neighbourhoods

Queen Victoria Market in the morning is the real Melbourne food experience, not a tourist trap; go before 11am for the deli hall before the tour groups arrive. Spend the afternoon in Fitzroy or Collingwood for independent shops and a proper flat white, then book dinner somewhere in Carlton’s Lygon Street strip if you want old-school Melbourne Italian, or Chinatown if you’d rather eat well for less. Melbourne’s tram network is free within the Free Tram Zone covering the CBD, so don’t bother tapping on for short hops inside that zone.

Day 7: Departure

Fly out of Melbourne rather than looping back through Sydney; backtracking costs a half-day you don’t have on a one-week trip. If your flight’s in the evening, store bags at the hotel and spend the morning finishing Fitzroy or catching the Shrine of Remembrance, a 15-minute tram from the CBD with genuinely good city views from the balcony, free to enter.

Visa and practical notes

Most passport holders eligible for the ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) apply through the official app or Australian Government website before departure; approval is usually near-instant but budget a day or two in case of manual review, and check your passport has at least six months’ validity remaining. Australia runs on 230V power with the Type I plug, different from both UK and US standards, so bring an adaptor rather than assuming your UK one will work. Tap water is safe everywhere on this route. The one genuine scam gotcha in both cities: unlicensed taxi touts working airport arrival halls quoting flat “tourist” fares well above the metered rate. Use the official taxi rank or a rideshare app instead.