Twelve Nights Between Sydney Harbour and the Southern Alps
A long way to go, so the routing has to earn it. One great harbour city, one alpine lake, and enough time in each that the flying is worth doing.
What this document is, and what it is not
This is an illustrative sample. It is not a quote, a held booking, or an offer. Every property named here is one I can book through my affiliation with Fora Travel, but availability, rates, room categories and any partner benefits vary by property, date and rate, and are confirmed only at the time of booking. No pricing appears anywhere in this document on purpose. Your real itinerary would be built around your dates, your pace and your budget, and would look different from this one.
How the nights are shaped
Sydney
Arrival, recovery, harbour, and the best food city on the route.
Queenstown
Three hours across the Tasman. Mountains, lake, and almost nothing scheduled.
Sydney again
A short buffer before the flight home rather than a dash to the airport.
You can book your own flights and still have them in here
Plenty of travelers book their own flights, whether for miles, status, or a fare they already found. That does not put your flights outside the itinerary.
I add your flights myself, and the itinerary pulls in live flight information. If a schedule changes after it is built, the itinerary reflects the change without me having to rebuild it. Everyone traveling sees one document with everything in it, whether I booked that piece or you did.
- You book your own long haul flights if you prefer
- I add them so they sit alongside the hotels and transfers
- I book the internal legs, or you can, and either way they appear here
- Optional. A car from your front door to the departure airport, and one waiting when you land back home
Door to door, if you want it. Most itineraries start at the arrivals hall. This one can start at your driveway. I can arrange a private car from your home to the departure airport, timed to your flight rather than to a guess, and a second car waiting for the return. It is an add on rather than part of the base trip, and I quote it separately so you can take it or leave it.
For hotels, I can send options as a live proposal rather than a flat list. You see current rates, compare the choices side by side, and book the one you want when you are ready. Nothing is held until you decide.
The itinerary in detail
Sydney
- Where you stay. Sydney Harbour Marriott at Circular Quay, which puts the ferries, the Opera House and the Rocks at your feet. InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach is the alternative if you would rather wake up at the ocean, and Pullman Sydney Hyde Park sits between the two on price and position.
- Getting in. Private transfer from Kingsford Smith. You will have crossed the date line and lost a day, so this is not the moment to work out a train.
- Getting around. Ferries and the light rail. The harbour ferries are public transport that happens to be one of the best things in the city.
- Day one. Nothing scheduled. Coming from California you arrive two calendar days after you left. A walk and an early night is the plan.
- What I would arrange. A coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee, early. One long lunch in Surry Hills. A booked table at somewhere that does not take walk ins.
- Why five nights. Because you flew fifteen hours. Three nights here and you spend most of them recovering.
Queenstown
- Where you stay. Rosewood Matakauri, above Lake Wakatipu and away from the town centre. QT Queenstown and The Rees are the alternatives if you want to be closer in or spend differently.
- Getting there. Direct flight Sydney to Queenstown, roughly three hours, and one of the more spectacular approaches anywhere. I book a window seat on purpose.
- Getting around. A car is genuinely useful here, unlike most of this itinerary. Or a driver by the day if you would rather not.
- What I would arrange. A day into Fiordland, which is long but is the reason people come. A morning on the lake. One winery afternoon in Gibbston.
- What I would not. Try to add the North Island. Twelve nights does not stretch to it without the trip becoming airports.
Sydney, the return leg
- Why come back. Flights home leave from Sydney, and connecting the same day after a Queenstown departure is how people miss things.
- Where you stay. Back into the same hotel where possible, which usually means a smoother arrival and occasionally a better room.
- What I would arrange. Almost nothing. This is a buffer, not a leg. Anything you missed the first time goes here.
What I handle on a trip like this
Where a property participates in a preferred partner program through Fora, benefits such as breakfast, a room upgrade when available, a property credit, or early check in and late checkout may apply. These vary by property, rate and date, and I confirm what applies to your specific booking before you commit to anything.
Tell me your dates and I will build the real one
Give me your window and whether you want cities or mountains to lead. I will tell you honestly how many nights this really needs.
This is an illustrative sample itinerary. It is not an offer, a quote, or a held reservation. Properties, availability, rates and any partner benefits vary and are confirmed at the time of booking. KVAS Travel is an independent travel advisor powered by Fora Travel. California Seller of Travel Registration No. 2167654-50. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation ID 710144.