Australia’s Highlights: 8-Day Luxury Tour with Private Charter Qantas Flights, Bespoke Excursions & Gourmet Daily Dining

Covid-19 health and safety practices: Our expert Tours team is working hard to ensure the highest health standards at every point of your journey. Find out more.

Travel by privately chartered Qantas 737 – Relax in ‘superior class’ with extra space, gourmet dining and drinks

Experience travel like never before in a privately chartered Qantas 737, reserved just for you and your tour group (max. 112 guests) . Settle into ‘superior class’, where at least one space between every passenger is guaranteed – meaning you can really make yourself at home as you travel between states. There’s even a seat rotation system, so the ‘best’ locations are fairly distributed.

Meals and drinks on board are included and reflect the destinations you are travelling to. So you can expect to savour gourmet Tassie delights and Barossa Valley wine as you soar across Australia in sky-high style.

Tailor your tour – Unique ‘à la carte’ excursions allow you to make this experience your own

Every discerning traveller has their own unique ideas about what makes a trip special – which is why you’ll have the chance to tailor your tour with ‘à la carte’ excursions.

In Hobart, you’ll have two days of tailormade activities – meaning you can choose two of four incredible options. Sample Tasmania’s gourmet delights on a ‘Taste of the Huon’ excursion; uncover history at Port Arthur; visit Maria Island; or go shopping at Salamanca Markets, followed by a return visit to MONA.

Make the most of the Barossa Valley with one of the following fantastic options: take a sunrise hot air balloon flight (additional cost); visit Seppeltsfield for lunch, wine tasting and shopping at Jam Factory Gallery; make your own wine blend at Penfolds; or enjoy a private cooking demonstration and wine tasting at Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop.

Things get adventurous in Uluru with your choice of one excursion: experience a demonstration of traditional bush skills; take a 45-minute camel ride; soar above the desert on a 15-minute ‘Uluru and Resort Postcard’ helicopter flight; or opt for a 30-minute spin on a Harley.

Unique Dining Experiences — From private dining in Hobart to Uluru’s Field of Light art installation

Savour a special dinner at Hobart’s world-renowned MONA, the quirkiest art museum you’ll ever experience. As a privileged guest of owner David Walsh, you’ll enjoy exclusive after-hours access to this unique Tassie icon. Enjoy private dining at Old Redemption, at the historic Peter Lehmann Winery in Barossa Valley, plus a relaxed BBQ overlooking the vines.

Your tour is rounded off with a spectacular private dining experience amid the Field of Light art installation in Uluru. Watch the desert come alive with countless twinkling lights in a truly unforgettable moment with newfound friends or long-standing travel companions.

Your tour begins and ends at Sydney Airport.

Flights between tour destinations aboard a privately chartered Qantas 737 and transfers to ‘à la carte’ excursions are included throughout.

Transfers and flights between your departure destination and Sydney Airport are not included and must be purchased separately.

Need flights? Our dedicated flights concierge can assist with all your flight requirements, contact sales@luxuryescapes.com.

Day 1: Sydney, New South Wales — Hobart, Tasmania

Welcome aboard your privately chartered Qantas 737, departing Sydney late this morning for Hobart, Tasmania’s beautiful capital. As you taste the enhanced onboard dining accompanied by fine wines and meet your friendly Qantas crew, you’ll realise this is nothing like a standard domestic flight.

On arrival, discover a city that is learning to seamlessly blend the past with the present on an afternoon walking tour around historical Hobart, the waterfront and Salamanca Wharf. This evening, you’re invited to a special dinner at Hobart’s world-renowned MONA, the quirkiest art museum you’ll ever experience. As a privileged guest of owner David Walsh, you’ll also enjoy exclusive after-hours access to this unique Tassie icon.

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hobart, Superior Room

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

Day 2: Hobart

Today and tomorrow, a variety of à la carte’ options enable you to decide how you wish to experience the Hobart region.

Sample Tasmania’s gourmet delights on a ‘Taste of the Huon’ excursion; uncover history at Port Arthur or start your shopping experience at Salamanca Markets, followed by a return visit to MONA (available on Saturdays only). Tasmania is renowned for its apple-based treats (including cider and desserts), local honey and farm-fresh food, making the ‘Taste of Huon’ option a fantastic choice for foodies. If you’re a history buff, you may want to consider Port Arthur. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed, fabulously preserved ruins stand sentinel on the Tasman Peninsula, south of the narrow isthmus of Eaglehawk Neck. For more than 40 years, the Port Arthur penal colony housed British and Australian convicts sentenced to hard labour, before its heavy iron doors clanked shut for the last time in 1877. Today, the historic site has over 30 buildings, ruins and restored period homes set across 100 acres of landscaped grounds. Meanwhile, MONA is a surreal art experience for culture vultures. Try your luck at beer roulette (you could end up with a warm Fosters…), marvel at interactive exhibitions and check on tattooed Tim, who has sat in the museum as a living, breathing art installation since 2011 — with breaks of course, and as a live stream when he’s not on Tassie.

Enjoy a casual dinner at the hotel tonight.

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hobart, Superior Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 3: Hobart

This morning, a special ANZAC Day service is offered to those who wish to partake. Then, another day of ‘à la carte’ options allow you to tailor your discovery of Tasmania – choose between the ‘Taste of the Huon’ tour, Port Arthur and a visit to Maria Island. Just off the east coast of Tasmania, mountainous Maria Island is home to incredible wildlife and unbelievably scenic hiking trails. Discover convict history at Darlington Probation Station, watch birds swoop and dive over the ocean and admire towering cliffs from the island’s sandy beaches.

Choose from a selection of restaurants for dinner tonight.

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Hobart, Superior Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 4: Hobart — Barossa Valley, South Australia

After breakfast, take a late morning flight to Adelaide, South Australia. Lunch aboard will feature some of Tasmania’s premium produce and wines. If weather permits, the captain will fly at low altitude across Victoria’s Great Ocean Road and over the Twelve Apostles. After arriving in Adelaide, head to Hahndorf, a quaint German town, before your first taste of South Australian viticulture at a nearby winery.

Your destination is the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, where a relaxed barbeque dinner will be served.

Accommodation: Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, Studio King Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 5: Barossa Valley

Explore the beauty of the Barossa, choosing the option that best suits you. You could start the day with a sunrise hot air balloon flight over the valley (additional cost and limited availability), soaring over the vines and rolling hills on a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Or maybe you’d like to visit the acclaimed Seppeltsfield for lunch and wine tasting, followed by shopping at the adjacent Jam Factory Gallery, which supports local artists and craftspeople. Alternatively, choose to truly immerse yourself in the local wine culture and make your own blend at Penfolds, using grenache, shiraz and mataro – you’ll even receive a bottle of your blend to take home. Or hone your culinary skills with a private cooking demonstration and wine tasting at Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop, a family-run business serving delicious local produce.

This evening the group comes together for a special dinner at Old Redemption, at the historic Peter Lehmann Winery.

Accommodation: Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, Studio King Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 6: Barossa Valley — Uluru, Northern Territory

Rise early and fit in another winery visit or spend a relaxing morning around the resort, before a late-morning departure to the airport. Onboard, enjoy a gourmet lunch accompanied by Barossa wines en route to Uluru, Northern Territory, also known as Ayers Rock. Your home for the next two nights is the five-star Sails in the Desert, offering contemporary luxury in the midst of Uluru’s natural beauty.

The afternoon is spent on a guided tour of this iconic region in the Northern Territory’s ‘Red Centre’. Visit the spectacular domed rock formations of Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and walk through Walpa Gorge, beneath the temple-like rocks, along a natural creek bed.

This evening, dinner is served al fresco beside the hotel’s shimmering pool.

Accommodation: Sails in the Desert, Superior Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 7: Uluru

Witness the sunrise over Uluru before taking a guided drive around the base of the rock and learning about the Aboriginal rock art, culture and local flora and fauna. Take the Kuniya Walk to the Mutitjulu Waterhole and visit the Uluru Cultural Centre. The Kuniya walk is the site of one of Uluru’s most dramatic creation stories – the deadly battle between Kuniya (the woma python woman) and Liru (the poisonous brown snake man). If you’d prefer, you can sleep in and join your fellow travellers after the morning’s activities.

Return to the resort for lunch before an afternoon of relaxation or your choice from a range of activities. See demonstrations of traditional bush skills; catch the camel train for a 45-minute ride through the desert landscape; take a 15-minute ‘Uluru and Resort Postcard’ helicopter flight; or take a 30-minute spin on the back of a Harley.

Tonight, you are invited to attend a private dining experience and immersion into the Field of Light art installation, where the desert is illuminated with coloured sculptures and shimmering lights. This breathtaking piece of art was created by Bruce Munro, who envisaged ‘an illuminated field of stems that, like the dormant seed in a dry desert, would burst into bloom at dusk with gentle rhythms of light under a blazing blanket of stars.’

Accommodation: Sails in the Desert, Superior Room

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 8: Uluru — Longreach, Queensland — Sydney, New South Wales

Cross the border to Queensland and head to Longreach, the quintessential outback town home to the remarkable Qantas Founders Museum and the iconic Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Visit both before enjoying exclusive private access to the ‘Airpark’, home to a Qantas Boeing 747, Boeing 707 and Super Constellation aircraft. You’ll be treated to drinks, canapés and a sound and light show performed exclusively for your group.

Then, board your private Qantas 737 for an evening flight to Sydney as you celebrate a remarkable eight days of travel with newfound friends.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner