Need Help choosing which trip and when
We are torn between two great sounding trips and are asking for you input.
the two trips are: Grand Australia and New Zealand and Kingdom and Dragons, Singapore to Bali.
If you could only choose one of the two, which one would you suggest AND what is the best timeframe for it. We are looking at 2026
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Comments
For me, it's a no-brainer.
I did Aus/NZ and it was a great trip.
I will NOT be doing the Singapore/Bali trip because I don't like intolerably hot/humid weather.
Humidity is a big factor. Singapore trip is so different, Australia and NZ are more like the US for culture
I've done both. I enjoyed both a lot, but I believe that the Australia/NZ trip had more 'Epic' sights for me. My background is European, but if your background is more Asian then the Singapore/Bali trip might be more memorable.
The Singapore to Bali trip focuses on totally different things - Hindu and Buddhist temples and culture, Komodo dragons and monkeys, etc.
Aus/NZ - kangaroos, wallabys, koala bears, geysers, glaciers, waterfalls, etc.
Singapore and Sydney are similar in their vibrancy and wow.
Weather wise you have more options to find a temperature profile more to your liking with the Aus/NZ trip. The Singapore/Bali trip takes place a few degrees on each side of the equator. From a temperature perspective that means there is very little variance throughout the year.
The weather profile windows that I selected because I felt they fit my preferences the best were:
Aus/NZ - first three weeks of November
Singapore/Bali - Second half of August
To some degree, you can see when an area thinks they have the best weather because they will schedule major events during that period. One example would be the Melbourne Cup, the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby in Australia. It is in November.
They do similar scheduling in the US:
Masters Golf tournament in Georgia - April
Kentucky Derby in Kentucky - May
Grand Australia and New Zealand is my favorite of 18 Tauck trips. I did it in October-November (and added 3 days in Tasmania before the tour and 2 in Auckland -- doing day trips out of the city -- after the tour). I I have not done the Singapore to Bali trip. I don't like animals and I saw lots of temples on the Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos trip, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
We’ve done both, and I’m with MCD - Grand Australia and New Zealand is my very fave Tauck tour. Both tours are outstanding and I absolutely loved them. But there’s just something about the Land Down Under! Plus, those charter flights can’t be beat! I agree about the iconic sights in Australia/NZ. We went mid to late September into early October for both tours and I felt that was a good time to go. It’s early spring in Aus/NZ, and there were tiny newborn lambs 🐑 all over New Zealand! So adorable! Friends of ours went to Australia in February when there are stingers in the water (it’s also cyclone season) and the flies in Uluru were nasty. We didn’t have any trouble with that and the weather in Australia was great. It was cooler in NZ, though, but I think no matter when you go, you’re going to have a weather differential between the two countries. The Aussies and Kiwis are so friendly and fun! Of course, the people of Singapore and Indonesia were lovely as well, so polite, and very welcoming. Both trips are well worth it and very memorable! It also depends on your interests and what you’d like to see and do. But given the choice, I’d pick Australia/NZ. Either way - you can’t lose!
We did the Tauck Australia and New Zealand (a different tour than the Grand Australia and New Zealand and no longer offered) back in 2019 and it was a very good tour. I'm kind of like BKMD about Singapore because I'm concerned about how hot it might be. Singapore is about one degree above the equator. But I'm curious about Singapore and maybe one day we'll go see it.
While it's not the Grand Australia and New Zealand tour, here's our blog of what we did - https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2019-1Australia-NewZealand-01.htm
Can someone weigh in on the charter flights? How were they? What percentage of the trip would you say is spent going to and from airports and flying from location to location? Is a cruise better?
I did this trip almost 10 years ago, so don't know if anything has changed since then. That said, the charter flights were SUPERB. It will spoil you for all future trips because no other trips operate this way (that I'm aware of).
With one exception, we didn't go through the terminals, security, etc. Get on the bus at the hotel, drive through a back gate at the airport right up to the plane, walk up the steps, and away we went. The flight attendants even learned everyone's name after a couple of flights. The plane had about a 60 seat capacity, so plenty of room.
Let's see. A cruise ship travel maybe 15-20 mph. A plane about 500 mph. If you like wasting time getting from place to place, do a cruise