Welcome to Melbourne

Welcome to Melbourne: one of the most vibrant 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.

• Meals included: Welcome Dinner
• Overnight in Melbourne

Melbourne – Bike Ride

After breakfast our Mardi Gras Tour group will embark 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.

• Meals included: Breakfast
• Overnight in Melbourne

Yarra Wine Valley and Winery Tour

After breakfast we engage on day trip discovering the Yara 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

• Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
• Overnight in Melbourne

Around Melbourne and Yarra River Cruise

After breakfast, it’s time to see more of Melbourne from a different perspective: we will embark 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 vibrant gay nightlife of Melbourne: it’s Saturday after all!

• Meals Included: Breakfast
• Overnight in Melbourne

Phillip Island – Brighton Beach and the Moonlit Sanctuary Park

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.

• Meals included: Breakfast
• Overnight in Melbourne

From Melbourne to Sydney

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.

• Meals included: Breakfast and Dinner
• Overnight in Sydney

Sydney Tour

After breakfast, we will embark 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.

• Meals included: Breakfast