The Online Way to Plan a Holiday Down Under

Many major airlines fly in and out of Queensland. Often flights will come via Sydney or Melbourne, then connect on to Brisbane (Gold Coast) or Cairns (further north). Domestic flights are fairly relaxed, although the same rules apply nowadays regarding what you can take onto the plane and so on. The website webjet has good information comparing airfares for all the airlines between destinations.

Australia is a massive country, so get a good understanding of the scale of any maps you look at before you plan to drive anywhere. Sydney to Melbourne is around 10 hours drive or one hour flight time. Melbourne to Perth on the West Coast is about three to four days to drive! All the major Aussie cities are great and very different from each other. Sydney has the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, Melbourne has the penguins and a passionate love of food and football, Cairns has the Barrier Reef, and Alice Springs is where you head to see Uluru (Ayers Rock). There is good tourist information via government sites about all the major cities and regions. When you're there, look for the blue and white 'i' symbol.

There is the full range in Queensland, from bed and breakfasts to youth hostels and five star hotel chains. For mid range, check out Rainforest Grove in Cairns, or Mariners Gables in Trinity Beach. Both have websites which give you a good picture of what is on offer.

Other options include looking at the Youth Hostels Association website, or doing a search using keywords such as 'mid range accommodation + city / region name' or searching directly through a hotel chain you know and trust. Most cities and towns have one or more tourist information centres which provide information on accommodation in their region, although they may favour certain providers over others for a variety of reasons.

Another good option for where to stay is a site like 'Last Minute' which offers deals for last minute travel.

The website Trip Advisor is a good starting point for unbiased information about accommodation, with photos and candid reports from visitors.

Online, the best place for reliable information is websites run by other visitors - these give the least biased information. There is a mass of information online, so spend some time filtering through the options and making a short list based on your research, and first hand reports from others. Check out:

Tropical Australia

And this site, Tourism Queensland as well, for information on traveling

Look for sites which offer first hand reports from visitors rather than just photos taken from the best angle of a room that was refurbished just for the shot and a pool that was cleaned the day before! Think about location too - a hotel situated 'close to all the shops and major attractions' may also be very close to a major highway! And if it seems too good to be true, it may be!

With so much information around, it is important to plan your own trip rather than doing the trip that everyone else thinks you should do. By all means check out websites and read blogs by other travelers, but ultimately set your own agenda and make a list of what is important for you to see and do. If the Barrier Reef is your passion, set aside a few days to do it well. If big cities are more your thing, then head for a major center like Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane. If you prefer the outback, head inland to central Australia, outback Queensland or New South Wales (note that at the moment this will also give you a true appreciation of what 'drought' really means - many places haven't seen a drop for months, or any real rain for years).