Mardi Gras Tour

Welcome to Melbourne: one of the most lively cities in the world, Melbourne is the cultural capital city of Australia. Make your way to your accommodation, smack bang in the centre of the city and settle in. Here you will meet your hosts and get your Mardi Gras Tour welcome pack. Join your fellow Gay Travellers and your tour host, Sergio, in the evening for a Complimentary Welcome Dinner. Here we will all get to meet each other and have a full briefing on the adventure that lies ahead.

After breakfast our Mardi Gras Tour group will set off on a bike tour of Melbourne. Get on the saddle to enjoy a relaxing bicycle ride around Melbourne as you take in the incredible sights of the city. This bike ride is suitable for all levels of fitness: it’s a gentle ride. Gain a great orientation of Melbourne city as you see the key landmarks and learn the interesting facts of the city: Melbourne’s “founding”, the Aboriginals, the Eureka Stockade, the importance of sport to this great city, and much more. We will also make a stop in Fitzroy at one of our favorite bars for lunch. Free time in the afternoon to enjoy a stroll around Melbourne as you wish or take a siesta.

After breakfast we engage on day trip discovering the Yarra Valley wine region, approximately 1-hour drive away from Melbourne. With an expert guide we will visit some of the area’s best-known wineries. During our series of wine tastings and an included vineyard lunch, you’ll find out why the Yarra Valley is one of Australia’s favorite wine regions, loved for its picturesque scenery. Throughout the day, our guide will educate us about the grape varieties that grow in this renowned wine region, while we enjoy the relaxed and serene atmosphere of the Yarra Valley. At the end of the winery tour (probably a bit tipsy), in the late afternoon we will make our way back to Melbourne.

After breakfast, it’s time to see more of Melbourne from a different perspective: we will set off on a cruise along the calm waters of the Yarra River. Back on land we will enjoy a bus ride for a comprehensive tour of Melbourne and its thriving inner suburbs such as Brighton and St Kilda. In the evening we will be ready to explore the lively gay nightlife of Melbourne: it’s Saturday after all!

After breakfast, we will depart from Melbourne to travel to Victoria’s most colorful and well known attraction, Phillip Island. The day will start by heading to the beach: it’s time to pay a visit to Brighton Beach and its iconic bathing boxes, iconic landmarks of the area. Soon after we will make our way to the Moonlit Sanctuary Conservation Park: you’ll learn about a broad range of Australian wildlife. You’ll have a chance to get up close to cuddly koalas and other animals for feeding time. We will then head to the southwestern tip of the island to enjoy panoramic views of the Nobbies, a group of rugged rocks rising from the sea, and Seal Rocks, the home of Australia’s largest fur seals population. The highlight of our Phillip Island experience will begin at dusk as we watch the fairy penguins waddling up the beach into their burrows in the sand dunes: the perfect end of the day, before making our way back to Melbourne.

After breakfast it’s time to pack! From Melbourne we will take a flight, ready to get to the home of the Mardi Gras, Sydney. After checking in to the hotel, the rest of the afternoon is free for you to explore the gay neighborhood at your own pace. But make sure to join the rest of the Mardi Gras Group for a dinner on us.

After breakfast, we will set off on a tour of Sydney. This tour will give us an overview of the main unmissable sights of the city: while traveling past iconic structures, lush gardens and historical landmarks, you will learn insights about the city’s culture and history. After admiring the historical architecture of the Rocks district, the location of Australia’s first European settlement in the 1780s, we will pass by the famous Sydney Opera House and the Conservatory of Music. We will catch a glimpse of Hyde Park and the St Mary’s Cathedral; Parliament House, the park-lands of the Domain, Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Tower, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Campbell’s Cove and Mrs Macquarie’s chair, where views of Sydney Harbour are unmissable. We will explore the bohemian Kings Cross, Sydney’s former red-light district, before heading to the world famous Bondi Beach to walk along its wide stretch of white sand.

After an early breakfast, we will join a group trip to explore the outskirts of Sydney. After one hour bus ride, we reach the start of the Blue Mountain. We will head all the way up to the amazing Three Sisters rock formations. After taking photos of the Three sisters and jaw dropping Jamison Valley we then take you on a bush walk right up to the Three Sisters and even onto one of the rock formations. We then progress further into the mountains to Wentworth Falls where we will start a guided hike to see local fauna, bird life and see several waterfalls until reaching to the base of the immense Wentworth falls. A quick refreshing dip anyone? All that sightseeing you will be hungry! We will move to a nearby area where our guides will cook an authentic Aussie BBQ with veggies and kangaroo on the side (vegetarian/vegan options are available). After lunch we continue the day of fun and head to a local and secluded waterhole where you can go swimming or lay around on the sand in the sun deep within the bush of the Blue Mountains. Then, we head off into the nearby National Park down a long dirt road to say hello to skippy the Kangaroo. The perfect end of an amazing day before heading back to Sydney!

Today is a free day: spend the time as you wish and explore the area at your own pace. Hitting the beach or shopping? You choose! Your host Sergio will be around to offer advice and guidance as needed. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to be back in time for the last dinner together of this amazing Mardi Gras Tour in the lively gay district. Dinner is on us of course!

Today is the big day! Yes the biggest gay celebration down under, the worldwide well-known Mardi Gras Parade, is on us! We will spend the day absorbing the party atmosphere, ready for the parade! Our group will enjoy the Mardi Gras parade from premium grandstand seats: we will be part of a festival with spectacular floats and thousands of participants from all over the world, an event drawing up to half a million of visitors each year! We will finish the night off at one of the many official and unofficial Mardi Gras parties around the city. Party tickets are not included, but we will make sure to spend the night altogether in the best way!

After breakfast it’s time to say goodbye! This amazing Gay Mardi Gras is over. No tears please! You can make your way to the airport or extend your stay in Sydney. We can help you plan your stay. Please email info@italygaytravels.com for more info.