6 adults? Driving yourself would be more flexible because you determine what time you want to start your day. If you follow tour, usually about 20 people in a group, then you have to follow the group time, would have shorter time for each location.
I have a contact which I used when I am in GC recently, the price is not too bad since the driver is also a Malaysian. PM me if you want more details

I need some help
I m going to Gold Coast for 7 nights (3 till 9 sept)
can draft me an itinerary?
Prefer to spend some time in Brisbane, probably day trip
Thank u

It would be good to stay about one or two nights in brisbane if you have not booked your accomodation, because you can explore sunshine coast also.
Cause all 7 nights in Gold Coast can be quite boring unless you aiming to visit all theme park.
Or another option would be to spend about 3 days in Sydney

At Brisbane if money not an issue then can consider stay at Tangalooma island and enroll "Tangalooma Dolphin Adventure Tour with Whale Watching" package.
Feeding Wild Dolphin and Whale Watching activity.
http://www.tangalooma.com/info/day_trips/d...rwhalewatching/
Harbour Town Outlet Shopping Centre - Shopping Time (1 day) *Depend your wallet limit


Gold Coast
Get a VIP pass from here. (http://themeparks.com.au/)
You can visit Movie World and Sea World. (2 days)

If money is not an issue can consider Hot Balloon activity to catch the sunrise and beautiful scenery. (half day)
http://www.hotair.com.au/goldcoast/

Go to Q1 http://www.skypoint.com.au/ and Surfers Paradise Beach/Any Beach (half day)

Currumbin wildlife sanctuary/Paradise Country Aussie Farm Tour (feed kangaroon and hug koala bear) - 1 day
http://www.cws.org.au/ , http://paradisecountry.com.au/

there are also some decent outlet shopping at Gold Coast; Harbour Town.

I will be flying to brisbane with my family this coming monday. Staying in brisbane for 2 nights n then will drive to gold coast. Staying in gold coast for 6 nights. I still have not planned any of my itineraries yet. Can anyone recommend?

Thanks in advance..

6 nights are quite long in Gold Coast. Anyway, you can always try one of the many themeparks there - Movie World, Dream World, Sea World. Or visit Currumbin Wildlife Santuary or Paradise Country Farm to check out koalas, kangaroos, etc. A day trip to Mt Tambourine for wine tasting; A half day or day trip to Harbour Town for some retail therapy.
Spend the morning at the beach, people watching or catch the view of Surfers Paradise at Q1 tower. As it is still winter, you can always take a tour for whale watching.
I was only in Brisbane for a day during my trip so I didnt manage to see much except for some retail therapy in the CBD and Kangeroo Point for the lookout point of the city.
Hope this help, anyway enjoy your trip

What other things can do at Mt Tambourine? We are muslim family..so..will skip wine tasting

This post has been edited by asciii: Aug 9 2013, 10:13 PM

There is a fudge shop there plus you can try a cheese platter at one of the brewary on the gallery walk. Or I heard some of them will visit the glow worm cave or the rainforest from there, not very sure on this as I was there for the wine tasting

Is there a train station nearby Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary? Thinking of driving to Lone Pine from Surfers Paradise then taking the nearest train to Queen Street Mall. Heard parking is very expensive in Brisbane CBD and wondered this option was doable

Good apartment choice right in the middle of Brisbane CBD: Macarthur Chambers Apartment. Queen St mall is just right across the street. Its kitchen is fully equipped with microwave, oven, dishwasher, big fridge and there's a laundry room with washing machine and dryer. Guess these are standard if you are staying in an apartment. But they do not provide housekeeping service though unless you are staying for more than a week.

Walking up the street (slight uphill) you will reach the Brisbane Central station and the opposite direction leads you to King George Square station which is just outside the city hall. The Brisbane river is nearby. You can have a glass or 2 at The Groove Train and sit outdoor to enjoy the weather. They have a lot of main course varieties, which are all good (and big) except for the sweet nasi goreng.

If you have a day to spare (and nothing much to do) in Brisbane, take the CityCat and tour along the Brisbane river.

guys need some input here.

going to GC next week and the plan is to go whale watching, movieworld, wildlife tour, beach and some shopping for local stuff (not nike and what not)

problem is my flight arrive early in the morning and hotel check in only at 2pm. unless hotel allow us to drop our bags then i have no idea what do to other than rent a car to go around for the 5d4n trip. since i will be at surfer paraside mainly, driving might not be necessary unless the places i wanted to go is not serviceable by public transport.

ps: not decided on hotel yet due to the above.

Most hotel will allow you to leave your luggage with them although check in is only at 2pm.
It would be good to be based at surfers paradise because most tours will run from here and you can always take public transport to the theme parks. At times, you can consider taking a cab depending on how many people you have because the cost work out to be almost the same and you get to save on traveling time.

thanks! it will be only 2 of us so car was out of the picture. but then again i would pay for convenient. maybe rent a bike for coastal ride. any reasonable hotel to recommend? i found a lot offer for apartment but i dont really need to cook since it was only for few nights and we tent to eat out, try on local restaurant. breakfast should be manageable on our own.

The last time I also stayed in an apartment since there was 6 of us. What is your budget for the hotel? If the price of the apartment is not much difference than the hotel, it would be good to take the apartment although you dont plan to cook but the kitchen do come in handy.

it depends on where is your hotel. If it is located right in the middle of surfer's paradise then you can just walk around. Go to the beach or walk around and survey restaurants and so on. If it's far from surfer's paradise then you can just take a cab or bus to surfer's paradise.

If you have not done your buying of tickets and so on, this would be a good time t o start buying all the packages for going to theme parks and so on.

surfer paradise is such a vast area. kinda hard to pinpoint one good location. still looking. thanks.

the main location at surfer's paradise is not that big. I guess you can call that the "town" center of surfer's paradise. This is the main location where you can go to the beach easily. Surrounding have lots of food and pubs frequented by the locals. There is also some sort of night market there during one of the week days. That is the location I am talking about. Or yeah..the last time I went, there were building some sort of ferris wheel. So it's easy to spot.

I was lucky to be staying at the hotel where the it is right above a shopping center. So buying stuffs are very convenient. then just 2 minutes walk to the beach to enjoy the smooth sand under the feet. I forgot that hotel's name. But the whole free and easy trip was booked through reliance.

leaning towards Vibe hotel at the moment. found some good package combination. going to visit just one theme park so wont be getting any saving for that.

i found this http://www.gcshuttle.com.au/sit_gcs_freedom_gold_passes.htm since it cover airport transfer and unlimited bus ride. worth to get or just taxi for airport transfer and Go card for everything else.

My sis just found out that she was pregnant for 5 weeks but she is flying to gold coast end of september. Can you guys recommend any travel itinerary for pregnant lady?