Stop overs on the way to Oz

[sleep envy]

Will be spending xmas and NYE is Sydney and am looking for a stop over - doing it in one hit pretty much killed me last time

does anyone have any recommendations?

[sleep envy]

pretty much open minded

[Puggit]

Without extra flights, you're limited to the common stop overs of Dubai, Singapore, KL, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Alternative one-stop locations are Mauritius (really), Vancouver, Incheon (S Korea), Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, LA/SF.

For the really adventurous, 2 stop flights via Hawaii and the West Coast US, Santiago and Buenos Aires (last 2 via Auckland) are possible...

[schmalex]

Yo can do the Jo'burg route / Cape Town route. Total travel time is not that much longer (maybe an hour or two max).

I can recommend some good bars in Syd if you need....

[sleep envy]

schmalex said:

I can recommend some good bars in Syd if you need....

shoot!

[P-Jay]

Stopped in Tokyo last time, mostly because it made for a cheap(er) flght, but it was certainly interesting!

[hornetrider]

Bali isn't a stopover on the way to Oz - it's too far. You are looking at KL, HK, Bangkok or Dubai.

Bangkok is fun for a couple of days before it gets too much - I would go for that.

[Condi]

Ive done HK and KL as stop-overs to Oz before, so if you've any questions feel free.

HK is the better of the 2, but KL is interesting enough if you've never been there before. Either are much better than 24 hours on a plane. Very much depends who you fly with - Cathay Pacific do HK, Thai Air do Bangkok, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines do KL, Emirates - Dubai, Ethiad - Abu Dhabi... not entirely sure where Quantas touchdown.

[schmalex]

sleep envy said:

schmalex said:

I can recommend some good bars in Syd if you need....

shoot!

Ivy on George St - big club over 4 floors. A great night out (often celebs who you never had heard of, the beautiful people and lots of coke)
Bar333 on George St - good precursor to Ivy
Some really great pubs at The Rocks (live music, real ales etc)
Disco Inferno (somwgere near Darling Harbour). '80's stuff. Great fun
Jacksons on George. Club with a decent bar upstairs
Opera Bar. Right by the Opera house. A lovely place for sundowners whilst watching the sun set over the bridge
Zeta bar, George St. Nice place
Marble Bar. Sydney Hilton

Whilst out & about, hammered, it's a must to get a pie from Pie Face (there is a good one at the bottom of Pitt St

When hungover the next morning, go to Woolloomooloo & get some scoff at Harry's pies

I'm trying to remember the names of some more, but I don't think I've ever finished a night in Syd sober. Also, somehow, the last I was there, I had 3 nights out where I spent over $AUD1,000 on drinks each night. Sydney is not a cheap place!!!

I did the run to Sydney every 5weeks, spending 10 - 14 days working there each time for close to 2 years. I absolutely love it there & fortunately have a good group of friends there (hence the big bar bills, I guess!!)

If you transit through Singapore, Harry's bar , upstairs & outside by BK n T2 is a very amiable place to grab a cold beer whilst waiting for the connection (it doesn't serve coffee, though, unfortunately.

Edited by schmalex on Friday 9th September 19:44

[sleep envy]

Cheers guys, something mull over

Schmalex - done of a few of them, will check out the rest, ta

[hornetrider]

Actually HK is pretty cool for a few days. On reflection I'd do that ahead of BK.

[CardShark]

I've been to both KL and HK, HK wins hands down for me and was where I stopped over for a few days years back when I did the backpacking thing around Oz. KL is OK and the Petronas Towers are cool but, IMO, it's more of a base for what you can do around the area where as in HK everything is there on your doorstep, so to speak. Check out the HK thread a page or two back from this one for a few ideas as to what you can get up to, I can recommend a good cheap hotel in a great location as well.

Cathay are a pretty good carrier, never had an issue on the few flights I've had with them, Malaysia Airlines weren't really any different.

[Puggit]

CardShark said:

Cathay are a pretty good carrier, never had an issue on the few flights I've had with them, Malaysia Airlines weren't really any different.

Virgin also use HK as their stopover

[Mojooo]

I planned a trip to Aus and took a stopover in Beijing - ended up being as good as my experience in Aus.

easily fill a couple of days and its cheap - good if you wanna look at historical buildings etc.

[egor110]

When we were travelling we stopped at new zealand, fiji then la when we left australia, if you have the option of fiji go for it, it was great.

[Kneetrembler]

Condi said:

Ive done HK and KL as stop-overs to Oz before, so if you've any questions feel free.

HK is the better of the 2, but KL is interesting enough if you've never been there before. Either are much better than 24 hours on a plane. Very much depends who you fly with - Cathay Pacific do HK, Thai Air do Bangkok, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines do KL, Emirates - Dubai, Ethiad - Abu Dhabi... not entirely sure where Quantas touchdown.

With Quantas last Nov we did a few days stopover in HK on the way out and Singapore on the way back, would fly Quantas again as had excellent service ( Business) but would look at alternatives another time, the other reason we went Quantas was that at the time they did the best deal.

[AJS-]

If it's only an overnight stop I would go for Hong Kong. It's a less chaotic and confusing than Bangkok or Shanghai but still way more interesting than Singapore, in my experience.

If you've got a bit more time to play with then Bangkok and surrounds can be a great place.