jmj8778

Everyone says not to visit Brisbane, but my award ticket for a trip goes into that airport and I have 2.5 days until my hotel reservation in Sydney (with plenty of time in Sydney).

Should I stay in Brisbane, go somewhere nearby, or fly somewhere? I have pretty normal tourist interests, including cities, country, nature, etc.

The days I have free are Christmas day and the day after if that changes things.

thadocta

Your problem will be that your days are Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Basically, most of the country will have shut down, particularly this year since those two days are on a Thursday and Friday respectively, creating a four-day long weekend.

What I would be doing is trying to get hold of a camper-van, and generally meandering down the east cost over two nights, to arrive in SYD when you need to be there. This will be a good leisurely way to see a bit of Australia, at a leisurely pace.

There will be some places open en-route to refresh.

One good aspect of touring around Australia is that you can generally always get a good feed at an extremely affordable price at one of the local pubs and clubs, you will find one (or more) in just about every town in Australia that has a population over 100.

Or you can self cater, if you go down the camper-van mode.

But if you opt to stay in Brisbane, I would expect more life in a cemetery, quite frankly, for the days you will be there.

Dave

kcupp95

I would head up to the Sunshine Coast and stay at the beach for a couple of nights. Despite being Christmas there will be restaurants open.

You will need to look now for accommodation though.

Otherwise the road trip idea is also a good one

Crocodile

Another option is to get on the train and go to the Gold Coast - will be relatively cheap, easy and entertaining. As previously said, Brisbane will be a ghost town. At the Gold Coast you will still be able to get some accommodation (price and quality might be a little hard) but there will be plenty of people around and you get to see some nice beaches.

RBH58

Brisbane will be a ghost town...but...accomodation actually in Brisbane should be plentiful and cheap. Be aware though, that if you drive out of Brisbane to the coasts (North or South) on Boxing Day, you could wind up in gridlock as you join all the Brisbanites in the Boxing Day rush to the coasts.