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Copyright & Disclaimers

Copyright

All contents copyright © 2014 – 2016 by Gold-Coast-Australia-Travel-Tips.com. All rights reserved.

Except as permitted by Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of Gold Coast Australia Travel Tips

Travel Planning Sheets Guide (“this travel planning guide”) may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written

permission of the author, Annie Rettie.

You may print a copy for your personal use. If you wish to share with a friend please direct them to

http://planning.gctips.com. Where they can sign up for themselves and receive the latest version and

updates without violating this copyright. Thank You.

Disclaimer

All information in this travel planning guide and associated materials (including emails and website

references) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other

professional advice on any subject matter. This travel planning guide (notes, worksheets and associated

instructional information) is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied,

including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,

or non-infringement.

While the information contained within this travel planner is periodically updated, no guarantee is given

that the information provided is correct, complete, and/or up-to-date. I have made every effort to ensure

the information contained within this travel planner is correct, I do not accept any responsibility for any

loss which may arise from reliance on information contained in this travel planner. It is your

responsibility to confirm the currency, validity and suitability of all the information contained herein.

Some links within this travel planning guide may lead to websites, including those operated and

maintained by third parties. These links are included as a convenience to you, and the presence of such

a link does not imply a responsibility for the linked site or an endorsement of the linked site, its operator,

or its contents (exceptions may apply).

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CONTENTS

WELCOME - START HERE

Welcome To Gold Coast Travel Planning

How To Use The Worksheets & Guide

Travel Planning Cheat Sheets Download

GOLD COAST HOLIDAY PLANNING TIPS

What Type Of Holiday Do You Want?

What's The Best Time To Visit Gold Coast For You?

How Long To Stay In Gold Coast?

How Will You Get To Gold Coast?

Choosing Where To Stay in Gold Coast

Choosing What Type Of Accommodation To Stay In

Travelling Around Gold Coast

Local Facts, Travel Insurance & Australian Visas

Creating Your Holiday Itinerary

Getting Ready To Travel

IMPORTANT INFORMATION If you have these sheets but you didn’t get them directly by subscribing

through our website, be sure to head over to sign up now at

http://planning.gctips.com so you don’t miss out on all the extra

goodies and tips and any updates. We constantly improve and refine

the information and layout to make it easier.

We are very respectful of your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any

time .

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WELCOME - START HERE

Welcome To Gold Coast Travel Planning

This guide steps you through planning a trip to the Gold

Coast. It’s designed to be read and used together with

the Travel Planning Cheat Sheets that are also

available on the download page.

I suggest you download and print out a copy of the sheets so you can work through

and fill them in as you go through this guide.

You can print this guide off, or you can use it from your computer or e-reader, as

there are quite a few links embedded as extra resources. I’ve also included short

links so that you can type them in easily if you have printed this guide off.

My goal with this guide is NOT to OVERWHELM you. I will step you through

the process of planning your Gold Coast holiday. You don’t have to do it all in

one go, in fact I recommend that you take it topic by topic in bite sized chunks!

If you have already organised parts of your trip and are just wanting to make sure

you have everything covered, or you are ready to plan out your ground itinerary,

then just select the topics you want.

And finally, you don’t have to do the topics in order, however, I have made the

order very specific if you are starting from scratch. So, pick and choose what you

will use.

Together, we will be discovering and working through some of the following

topics to help you create an awesome holiday in the Gold Coast.

When To Visit?

How Long To Stay?

How To Get To Gold Coast?

What Location To Stay In?

What Sort Of Accommodation To Choose?

How To Travel Around Gold Coast?

The Boring But Important Stuff! Travel Insurance & Visas

Creating Holiday Itinerary of Things To See, Do & Experience

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Packing, Weather Considerations and Travel Hacks

A Note for Planning

Each topic is a simple format, where you will find instructions for each planning

topic, action steps, extra tips and resources to help you plan out your

holiday using the worksheets.

The sequence has been designed to help

you fill in these worksheets and end up

with a super awesome holiday plan!

Sometimes it might feel like you go back

to things, but I find travel planning is a

process that doesn't just go from A to B in

a straight line.

It evolves as you gather more

information. Some of your first thoughts

can change. It's not always straight

forward and it's okay to change your

mind, or dates, or change what you want to do.

Sometimes, you have to change things due to time limitations or budgets. Change

is a perfectly natural part of a plan. So don't think planning means you cannot

change anything.

I highly recommend you take the time to work through this guide and fill in the

sheets.

Be sure to look out for the emails in your inbox.

Happy Planning!

Annie

EMAILS Over the next few days, you will

receive email reminders for each

of the different topics

There will also be extra

information & tips in the emails,

so don’t forget to read them too!

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How To Use The Worksheets & Guide

There are two parts to this Travel Planning

resource.

Travel Planning Worksheets

Topics for each section of the worksheets

Each of the topics is laid out with an Introduction, Action Steps & Resources

sections.

Take the time to step through the process. It’s your choice whether you do it all

at once, or follow along a day at a time - prompted by the emails.

You may not want to complete all of the steps, or you may want to change the

order in which you do things. You can do that, but the process I have mapped out,

is the one I use.

Some of the steps will only take a few minutes, others might take you a few hours

depending upon how much research you need to do.

Planning a holiday can be FUN!

In fact, I really enjoy planning our trips and vacations away. Knowing what to do

and taking away the stresses and worries that I might have forgotten something,

is definitely worth the effort.

The Travel Planning Cheat Sheets are designed to help you plan out your holiday

and keep a summary in one spot.

It's up to you how much you plan. You can Plan as Much or as Little as you

like – these are just to help give you structure if you want it or a checklist to refer

to.

It is quite simple and that's pretty much all you need to know about getting started.

The first thing to do, is to print off the worksheets (or save them to your computer)

you will find them on the download page. And then you are ready to start the

planning process. Have patience, enjoy your planning, I believe it will be worth

it.

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GOLD COAST HOLIDAY PLANNING

What Type Of Holiday Do You Want?

Here we explore what is possible for a Holiday in the Gold Coast and what you

(and your family or group) are expecting or want to see, do or experience.

What Type Of Holiday Experiences Are You Looking For?

Holidays are different for everyone.

Some people enjoy relaxing at a resort or on the beach,

whilst others want to sight-see and get a taste for the

country or area.

Or maybe you want non-stop fun at the local theme parks and attractions.

The first step in planning an awesome holiday is to...

Work Out What Type Of Holiday Experience

YOU Want

Well that’s not quite true, it may not be just you… in which case you need input

from each person in your family or group who will be travelling with you.

Planning Holidays For Families & Groups

If you are a family or travelling with a group of people it's hard to please

everybody all of the time.

The best way I have found to have a happy and harmonious holiday, is to make

sure that there is something for everyone.

You may have to compromise if you involve everyone in the planning. However,

when everyone gets a say, there's much more chance that you can negotiate a

happy outcome.

Certainly, when we plan our family holidays, the objective is to have a holiday

that everyone enjoys & has happy memories.

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Working Out What You Want To See, Do & Experience On Your Holiday

To get a feel for the things you can see and do on the

Gold Coast one of the best ways is to check out

the Activities, Attractions, Tours & Theme Parks

Suggestions in the Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets.

If you view these on a computer, mobile or tablet that is connected to the internet,

you can simply follow the links to the many resources on our website and tour

desk.

Or you can start at our Main Attractions page and work from there.

This part of the planning and research can be done as an individual, group or

family.

Print off a copy the Holiday Ideas Worksheets - one for each member of your

family or group. That way everyone gets a sheet to fill in and their chance to have

a say in what the holiday will be like.

I used to do this with my children even when they were very small. Sometimes

we forget the needs of the little ones, so it is good to see it through their eyes

when helping them.

Simply write down the top things you want to see, do or experience whilst on the

Gold Coast.

Don’t stress if you don’t put down much, that’s okay! Some holidays I don’t want

to see or do anything and only want to experience the banana chair by the resort

pool!

The point is, this is your opportunity to put down what sort of things YOU want

to get out of your holiday, and see what everyone else wants to get out of theirs.

This is the wish list. It doesn't mean you will do all of what is on this this list, but

it will give you an idea of the types of things that everyone wants to see and do.

If you feel you need to limit the ideas because you are on a shorter holiday, then

you might like to say maximum of 2 x number of days staying. Not all activities

are full days, so it is good to see if you can get a mix of things to do.

This first step is really like brainstorming.

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Once everyone has written down their list of things to do whilst on holiday, you

need to find the most important things.

Rank each item as follows – I put the numbers next to the times and circle them

so they stand out.

Rank 1 – Must Do

Rank 2 – Like to Do

Rank 3 – Maybe Do

And…. Now the FUN begins!

Once the sheets are completed, have a

look at each person’s ideas. You will be

able to see where this are common ideas

– or similar ones. And you will also be

able to identify any individual ideas and

see what are the Must Dos and the Like to

Dos.

If everyone wants to do the same things – for example a Theme Park holiday.

That makes it easy to satisfy everyone.

However, it is likely that there are some unique or individual ideas and maybe

things that other people didn’t think about doing. It’s great to discuss this and

work through some of these other ideas to make it a truly memorable holiday for

everyone.

Only you will be able to work out exactly what ends up in your holiday plan. In

our plans we try to give everyone at least something from their list!

If you want you can either fill in a Holiday Ideas Summary Sheet for everyone so

you can see what everyone wants to do, would like to do and the items that

are maybes much more easily – or you can colour code on each sheet.

Work together to create the family or group’s summary sheet from which you

will plan the rest of your holiday.

Don’t forget to do the same with night-time activities.

POWER TIP Use Coloured Highlighters to

easily show the different

rankings.

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This will give an overall picture of the type of holiday you need to plan. It makes

many of the next steps so much easier.

We will come back to these sheets later in our process, but you will find that

having an idea of the sorts of things you want to see, do and experience whilst in

the Gold Coast will make some of the other decisions you need to make much

easier.

You will find the resources you will need below in the next section. In the next

topic we will be stepping through when to visit.

Holiday Activities Selection

People: Everyone going on the holiday!

Time: 20 minutes to several hours – depending on how

much research you need to do about the activities.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets - You should have printed a copy already. If

not, you can find it in the download section linked to in the emails.

Activities, Attractions, Tours & Theme Parks Suggestions

Holiday Ideas Worksheets – 1 per person

Holiday Ideas Summary Sheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Website: gctips.com

Gold Coast Main Attractions: attractions.gctips.com

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What's The Best Time To Visit Gold Coast For You?

Discover The Best Time To Visit For You

Are you ready to figure out the best time for your visit to the Gold Coast? You

will be finding out the different things to consider and the resources on our

website that can help you find the information to help you make your decision.

You may just have certain dates that you have to visit,

with little or no flexibility. You may be bound to school

holidays or work schedules. In which case use the

following links to have a look at the month or months

you can visit.

January – Summer

February – Summer

March - Autumn

April – Autumn

May - Autumn

June - Winter

July - Winter

August - Winter

September - Spring

October - Spring

November - Spring

December – Summer

IF YOU CAN CHOOSE THE BEST TIME FOR YOU

If you have more flexibility you may want to narrow down the options. Use the

checklist to help identify any other areas you may need to consider in your

planning and narrow down the options.

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DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START LOOKING?

If you don’t know where to start, maybe look at the weather, school

holidays and events (to attend or avoid).

If you haven't already done so, print off the Gold Coast

Holiday Date Options Worksheet and fill in for your

dates or any months you want to compare.

You can highlight it, write on it or circle the options that apply.

Even if your dates are fixed, use this worksheet to highlight any events, school

holidays, public holidays or weather considerations that may need to be worked

around or catered for.

You should end up with a good overall idea of what you can expect during your

visit around those dates.

When you have filled in the information it may be clear which is best for you.

If you still cannot decide, check prices for flights & accommodation during the

times you are trying to compare. Price differences can be due to busy times, or

school holidays and the differences may help you make the decision.

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People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 to 30 minutes – unless you need to research

every month, then it will take a bit longer. Most people have a rough idea of the

months they want to visit.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Gold Coast Holiday Date Options Worksheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Website: gctips.com

Month by Month Guides: months.gctips.com

Weather Information: weather.gctips.com

Events In Gold Coast: events.gctips.com

School Holiday Dates & Info: schoolholidays.gctips.com

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How Long To Stay In Gold Coast?

In this topic we look at how long you will stay and how your arrival and departure

times can influence what you will be able to fit into your holiday. We will even

take a look at budgets if you need to do that...

In the last topic, we looked at when you will visit. By

now, you may have researched the things that affect the

Gold Coast during different times of the year (weather,

school holidays or events) and how they may influence

your holiday.

In this topic, we are going to look at planning out how long you will stay and

what might influence that. We will also look at how your arrival and departure

times can really influence a short holiday.

You may already have the length of your holiday set by school holidays, work

commitments or you may have purchased a travel package for a certain number

of days or nights.

If this is the case, your job is easier. You can simply go to the Daily Activity

Itinerary Summary and fill in your arrival & departure details.

If you are considering packages that include flights & accommodation, check

very carefully the arrival and departure times. The same is true if you are looking

at selecting your own flights.

I often get emails from people who have already booked a hotel & airfare package

and ask me to help plan out their 7 day vacation. When we look at the arrival time

it’s late in the afternoon or at night on the first day and departure time is in the

morning of the last day. What looked like a 7 day holiday, ends up with only 5

days on which we can actually plan to do things.

Don’t get me wrong, in 5 days you can still see and do a lot of things, but you

may feel disappointed if you were expecting 7 days of action packed holiday.

One of the reasons I bring this up, is to encourage you to have an itinerary planned

before you arrive, so that you are aware of these sorts of issues and can make the

most of your time. Time is even more precious when you are on holiday.

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It's worth repeating...

On the opposite side, you can create 4 days of fun with only a 2 night stay. To do

this you can organize an early morning arrival on Day 1, and a late night

departure on your last day. If you do this, remember that you will most likely

need to check out of your accommodation by 10am, but you may be able to leave

your luggage with the reception and pick it up on the way through to the airport.

Another major factor in how long you can stay is your holiday budget.

Airfares will generally be about the same regardless of how long you stay, but the

costs that are directly related to how long you stay are:

Accommodation

Transportation on the Ground

Food & Eating Out

Entertainment & Fun

It’s a good idea to know what your budget is for each of these if you are trying

to work out how long you can stay.

Accommodation rarely starts at less than $80 to $100AUD per night – there are

some places that are lower than that but they are mostly hostels and backpackers.

And on the upside, well the prices go up from there right up to the top suites and

penthouses of the 5 & 6 star hotels.

A really good place to start to see prices is using my favourite accommodation

finder – I’ll talk about that more when we come to select accommodation in the

next section.

Another consideration for this part of your budget is there is often a premium for

staying just one night. There can be deals for stays of 3, 5 or 7 nights – including

bonus deals like stay 3 nights get 1 free. It’s worth having a look at different

lengths of stay to see if you can get a better deal.

Time is even more precious when you

are on holiday.

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Ground transport – the costs depend on which options you choose – and once

again we will be looking at the options in a later topic.

Food & Eating Out – you may choose to stay in an apartment to save some

money on food by having some or all of your meals in your apartment. If you

plan to do this, your budget for this food may be a little higher than at home.

To make it easier, I suggest you budget extra, so that you can make some time

saving and effort-saving choices. You can find cafes and fast food outlets for $10

per meal per person or you can spend right up to $100 per person in some of the

fancier restaurants. You will have an idea of what your range is.

Entertainment & Fun - This is where I tend to spend my holiday budget – unless

I am just having a quiet beach holiday!

For the Gold Coast, then theme parks, attractions & fun are on my agenda and

probably yours too!

There are some awesome combination deals to save you money which we will be

going through when we start creating the holiday plan. It’s hard to set a $ per

person budget for this one, I tend to have a budget for the whole holiday, but this

is where I am most flexible.

Hopefully those gave you some ideas and if you need to work to a budget, then

you have a place to start to work out how long you can stay.

If you have your dates set, then make sure you fill in not

only the dates but the days of the week too, on

the Itinerary Summary Sheet.

We will be using that information later when it comes to planning out what you

will see and do whilst on your holiday.

If you need to create a budget to work out how long you can stay, then use the

categories below to create a basic holiday budget:

Airfares

Transport: Transfers, Car Hire, Petrol, Airport Parking, Parking &

Insurance

Accommodation

Food & Eating Out

Entertainment & Fun

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Shopping – Gifts & Souvenirs

Travel Insurance

Incidentals & Emergencies

Passport & Visa costs for overseas visitors

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 minutes plus – depends if you need to create

a budget.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Daily Activity Itinerary Summary

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Website: gctips.com

Holiday Accommodation Costs: accom.gctips.com

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How Will You Get To Gold Coast?

This topic covers how to get to the Gold Coast, in particular by flying into either

Gold Coast or Brisbane Airports...

We’ve covered quite a lot already!

Hopefully you have researched when you will visit,

worked out how long you will stay as well as starting to

have an idea of what kind of holiday you (and your family or group) want on the

Gold Coast.

In this topic, we are going to look at the options for flying to the Gold Coast.

I know there are other ways to get to the Gold Coast, but flying is the most

popular for interstate and overseas visitors.

If you are driving yourself, coming by bus or by train there’s not much in this

topic for you and you can give yourself the day off! Or head to the next topic

about picking accommodation!

If you are still with me and looking at options for flying to Gold Coast, you have

two main choices :

Gold Coast Airport - also known as Coolangatta Airport

Brisbane Airport

Gold Coast Airport

Gold Coast Airport is closer to the Gold Coast and would be first choice if

possible.

However, not all airlines (especially international airlines) fly into the smaller

Gold Coast airport which is sometimes called Coolangatta.

I’ll try to make this as simple as possible: If cost and availability of flights was

not an issue, then Coolangatta is my first choice.

Why?

It is closer to Surfers Paradise and the rest of the Gold Coast

Transfers from airport to accommodation are generally cheaper and faster

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Use that extra time on arrival and departure days to fit extra things in, or relax

and not have to hurry.

Depending on where you stay and the time of day you travel, you will most likely

not be more than 30 to 45 minutes from the airport.

Brisbane Airport

If you don’t have the choice to use the local airport, then Brisbane Airport

is much larger and has many more choices for flights, especially international.

Getting from Brisbane airport to Gold Coast accommodation can take 1½ to 2

hours depending upon what type of transfer you use, where you are staying and

the time of day.

Transfers from Brisbane Airport generally cost more, due to the distances

covered, but are not always much more – I’ll cover this in more detail when we

do our ground transport plans in a couple of days.

It’s definitely worthwhile checking out the prices of flights to and from both

locations.

And remember, it can sometimes be worth mixing and matching airlines

(especially from within Australia), but if you do, remember that they sometimes

have different baggage allowances.

In this topic, the resources section is the most important

part. The links will guide you around some of the main

resources on the website and help you to start filling out

the Transport & Essentials checklist.

This is where you start looking at options for flights to Gold Coast.

Compare the options for flying to Gold Coast or Brisbane from your destination.

If you are flying from some overseas locations, you may have to broaden your

search for your entry city to Australia. For example, Sydney has many more

international flights, especially to & from USA. If you have to fly into or out of

Sydney, you will then need to take a domestic flight to Gold Coast (or Brisbane,

but Gold Coast would be easier).

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If you can be flexible with dates, then you may be able to select lower fares on

less popular days or dates. You need to balance this with accommodation costs,

availability and your budget.

If you have to stick to specific dates, then you will be looking for the best options

for these dates.

Your aim is to fill in the flight details on Transport & Essentials Checklist. Don’t

worry if you want to go through all the planning topics before you lock in your

dates. You can always come back to this step.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 minutes plus – depends upon how much

research you need to do for flights and bookings.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Transport & Essentials Checklist

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Website: gctips.com

Airports & Flights Centre: flights.gctips.com

Australian Visa Information: visa.gctips.com

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Choosing Where To Stay in Gold Coast

Choosing Your Accommodation Style or Type

In this topic we will be covering the selection of the style of accommodation you

will be looking for, as well as covering some of the important points for finding

and booking the accommodation you want...

In the previous topic, we took a look at the different places you can stay in the

Gold Coast.

It’s really important to narrow down the areas to search,

as once you start looking at hotels or apartments you

will realise there are so many options. It can be overwhelming.

In this topic, we are looking at some of the fine details to help in the selection of

your accommodation. You should be able to go through this fairly quickly.

There are a few different accommodation styles and some brief notes:

Hotels - single or interconnecting rooms without any kitchen facilities, 3

star (★★★) to 6 star (★★★★★★) options. Hotels are mostly found in

Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, although there are also hotels in

Sanctuary Cove, Hinterland and Coolangatta areas. Be careful not to

confuse the Australian use of the word Hotel (which can also mean Pub,

Bar or Public House) with your perception of a hotel! There are some

pubs/hotels that have accommodation too.

Holiday Apartments - very popular and many choices in Gold Coast, 3

star ★★★ to 4½ ★★★★☆ star, studio to 3 bedroom. By far the most

common type of accommodation in Gold Coast. Many are very similar to

hotels with many facilities and even concierges. Many people prefer to stay

in apartments so they can save money on some of the meals, or to enable

them to keep to their dietary requirements.

Motels - similar to hotels, with limited facilities, usually low-rise, drive up

3 star ★★★ or lower. Most motels are conveniently located near to main

roads, which can make them quite noisy. If you are just looking for

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somewhere to sleep and not wanting resort facilities, then motels can offer

a lower cost than hotels. Motels can be good for shorter holidays or if you

will be moving around and are hiring a car or bringing your own.

Bed & Breakfasts - mostly in the hinterland areas, some welcome

families, others are for couples and adults only. Most likely will need a car

to get to these as they are often away from the main tourist zones.

Holiday Homes - usually best for a minimum 1 week stay or longer. Very

hard to book in peak periods, you need to book ahead. Lack the amenities

of a holiday apartment complex or hotel eg. no local pick ups for tours and

shuttles. If you decide on a holiday home, you are best to hire a car, as they

are usually further away from the public transport and out of the main

tourist zone.

On the Accommodation Selection worksheet the aim is to start filling in the

details, so that when it comes to the search, you will be able to use this

information to get the best results and make it easier to select accommodation to

book or compare.

It is very important to put in the correct number of adults and children (including

their ages) when searching for accommodation.

There are very strict rules about room maximums and it would be terrible to be

turned away because you had booked too many people into one room.

It’s also worth thinking about how you will distribute members of your family or

group between rooms.

This is particularly important if you are staying in hotel and cannot get a family

or interconnecting room. There needs to be at least one adult staying with children

in an apartment or hotel.

If you are going as a group but sharing an apartment, then check the bed

configurations (eg. 1 King, 1 double, 2 doubles, 2 singles etc) so it will work for

you.

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It’s also good to have an idea of your budget per night for your accommodation,

so that when you start searching you can quickly check what is in your budget

and what is not.

Once you have some refinements for your searching, you can head over to

the hotel comparison tool and start searching.

Select the location, number of people and rooms - and if you have dates you can

put those in too.

Once the results are shown, you can narrow the search using the filters on the left

hand column – based on the information you put on the worksheet earlier.

I tend to only filter a couple of my most important choices –

usually price and star ratings first.

Later, if the search is still showing me too many choices, I will use some of the

other refinements.

Results can be sorted by price, guest ratings or distance from a location.

The hotel comparison tool makes it so easy! You can easily see the prices each

of the different booking sites has including the basic terms and conditions, and

then select which one you want without having to search each site.

You will be using the hotel comparison tool to narrow down your search.

Click or type into your browser: accom.gctips.com to

open up a session.

Use the information and selections you made yesterday

on the Accommodation Selection Worksheet to narrow down accommodation

options to the location you are wanting to stay.

Add in the refinements you selected today - eg. hotel, apartment, number of

rooms, number of adults & children, dates etc.

It can take a little time to find:

what suits you;

what is available on the dates you want;

and is within your budget…

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Patience and perseverance should get you a result.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 minutes to decide on the selections. 30

minutes or more to review the accommodation options.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Accommodation Selection Worksheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Hotel Comparisons: accom.gctips.com

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Choosing What Type Of Accommodation To Stay In

Where To Stay - Choosing Your Location

In this topic we will be looking at some of the options for where to stay in the

Gold Coast. We will be focusing on the best options for first time visitors...

Choosing where to stay, can be the most frustrating and time consuming part of

planning a holiday in a new location.

I'll try to make it easier for you with my

recommendations below.

For first time visitors, by far the easiest choice used to be Surfers Paradise.

The main reason for this, is that Surfers is the centre of the tourist zone.

You can stay in Surfers and not have to leave. There’s the beach, plenty of places

to eat, places to shop, tourist attractions and entertainment.

Looking at it from another angle, Surfers Paradise can be loud, fast and not very

family friendly, at times.

I am referring to Schoolies Week (or 3 weeks really) – late November to early

December and GC600 time in late October.

If you noticed above, I said Surfers Paradise USED to be the easiest choice for

first time visitors... so why has that changed (in my opinion, anyway)?

It all comes down to ease of transport. The G:Link trams connect Southport

through Main Beach, Surfers Paradise and down through to the centre of

Broadbeach. If you do choose Main Beach or Broadbeach, be sure to stay close

to the light rail/tram lines so you can take advantage of this new way of getting

around this area.

In my opinion, the G:Link gives many more people, who don't hire cars (and those

who do, don't have to find parking or pay for it!), more opportunities to stay out

of the Surfers Paradise main centre and still have quick and easy access to all that

Surfers has to offer.

I still recommend that first time visitors limit themselves to looking for

accommodation in the three top locations.

Broadbeach: broadbeach.gctips.com

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Main Beach: mainbeach.gctips.com

Surfers Paradise: surfers.gctips.com

Check out those links to the main pages about those

locations. You should easily find which one suits you

best.

If you are after a specific type of holiday, then check out the other links in the

resources area below for more information.

Narrowing down the search for accommodation can be made by first selecting

the location you want to stay in.

Use the links in the resources or on the Accommodation Selection Worksheet to

narrow down location or type of accommodation you are looking for.

You can make notes on the sheet ready for the next step - selecting the type or

style of accommodation.

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People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 30 minutes plus

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Accommodation Selection Worksheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Website: gctips.com

Broadbeach: broadbeach.gctips.com

Main Beach: mainbeach.gctips.com

Surfers Paradise: surfers.gctips.com

Romantic & Honeymoon Ideas: romantic.gctips.com

Family Friendly Resorts: kids.gctips.com

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Travelling Around Gold Coast

Getting Around Gold Coast - Hire Cars, Shuttles & Public Transport

We will be looking at the options for getting around the Gold Coast. Most

importantly, we will be exploring the idea that you don't have to just pick one

method, sometimes a combination works really well...

In this topic, we will be looking at the options for getting

around the Gold Coast.

Most importantly, we will be exploring the idea

that you don't have to just pick one method, sometimes a combination works

really well...

I estimate that about 30 to 40% of visitors who I have worked with end up hiring

a car whilst at the Gold Coast for all or part of their holiday.

About 50% to 60% get a transport package including airport and attractions

shuttles.

About 10% end up trying to use only public transport.

When we start our conversations about getting around, about 50% of the

conversations start with the idea of using public transport, and in the end very few

actually rely on it for all their ground transport.

Choosing how you will travel around the Gold Coast is

a compromise between cost, flexibility and time spent travelling.

You will find information about all the different transport options, plus links to

other information on the transport page – so I won’t replicate it here.

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Use the Transport Options worksheet to record what

transport you will need, information and prices as you

research.

Review the information about transport options on the main website.

Fill in the selections, information and quotes on the Transport Options worksheet.

Remember, you can use a combination of transport options.

Some visitors use the airport & attraction shuttle packages, tours that include door

to door transport, hire a car for a day or two to explore by themselves and hop on

the G:Link tram or catch a taxi to go out at night without worrying about parking

a car.

You may not be quite ready to lock in the details for this, however, it is important

to have an idea of how you will travel around and what is within your budget, so

that when we come to plan your holiday fun & entertainment, you will know what

will is possible.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 to 30 minutes

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Transport Options Worksheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

General Gold Coast Transport Information: transport.gctips.com

Gold Coast Car Rental Information: carrental.gctips.com

Hire Car Rental Quotes: carhirequotes.gctips.com

Gold Coast Airport Transport Info: goldcoasttransfers.gctips.com

Brisbane Airport Transport Info: brisbanetransfers.gctips.com

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Local Facts, Travel Insurance & Australian Visas

Boring BUT Important Stuff! Travel Insurance, Visas and General Travel Facts

Some of the more boring topics are covered today, but are VERY important.

Please make sure you have these covered if you need them...

The topics in this section are a little boring, but they

really should NOT be overlooked.

Rather than replicate information on the website, I’m

going to point you in the direction of more detailed information about some of

these “boring” but important areas of planning a trip.

For example, for overseas visitors, information about visas, currency,

passports, money and electrical sockets are VERY important topics.

For everyone going on a holiday, regardless of whether they are travelling within

Australia or visiting from overseas, I cannot recommend highly enough travel

insurance.

I’m not going to recommend a particular company or policy, because everyone

has different needs and there’s certainly no “one-size” fits all when it comes to

insurance.

I do suggest that you take out a policy, make sure it covers you for what you need,

and especially for medical costs in the event of illness or injury.

In addition travel insurance may cover your personal belongings, lost luggage or

even car insurance excesses - it pays to check your policy carefully and choose

wisely. But do choose one.

The Transport & Essentials Checklist is the main sheet to be used today. Here

you can take note of any items you need to check, apply for or research.

In addition to the main pre-travel items of travel insurance, Australian Visa and

passports, you should also review the section on Travel Facts, where you can find

information about local conditions that you might need to take account of.

Items in this section include local customs, electrical requirements, currency and

other information.

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Fill out any notes, or requirements on the Transport &

Essentials Checklist.

Make sure you schedule a time to complete these

important tasks.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 minutes plus – more time if you need to apply

for visas.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Transport & Essentials Worksheet

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Gold Coast Travel Information: travel.gctips.com

Australian Tourist Visas: visa.gctips.com

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Creating Your Holiday Itinerary

Planning Your Itinerary

Oh Joy! This is the part we all look forward to! All the rest of the planning is

about getting to this point. It's time to have some fun and plan out what you will

do on your holiday!

Now it is time to get down to the details of planning out

exactly what you will be doing whilst visiting the Gold

Coast.

Remember back to our first day together planning your holiday? The Holiday

Ideas sheets you filled in? Well now is the time to dust it off and start working

through what it is you will do on your holiday.

The objective is to end up with a plan of what you will do each day.

I know that some people enjoy being spontaneous, and I am all for that. In fact, I

believe that planning helps you be more spontaneous. Because you don't need to

stress about the small stuff, you know that all the important things are covered.

Having a plan doesn’t mean that you have to stick rigidly to every aspect. You

will know what can and cannot be moved around or changed. As you go through

the planning process you can colour code things that cannot be moved.

For example, let's say you plan to purchase a 3x3 Pass – which gives you single

entry to the 3 theme parks Sea World, Movie World and Wet n Wild, but only

over 3 consecutive days.

You can change the order of the theme parks you go to on each of those 3 days,

but you cannot move them out of the block of 3 days you set aside for them.

If you want or need extra flexibility, then you might opt for the pass which gives

you unlimited entry for 7 days and pay $10 more per person.

These are the sorts of things that will become obvious, when you start trying to

plan it all out, day by day.

First order of the day is to fill out the Tours & Activities

Worksheets. At the top of the first sheet there is an

example on how to fill this out.

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Grab your Holiday Ideas sheets.

You did fill those in, didn't you? If not, check back to the first topic and do this

step now - it will make this so much easier!

Your Holiday Ideas Sheets, along with the links in the resources section or on

the Activities, Attractions, Tours & Theme Parks sheets, you should be able to

find the details for each of the different activities you want to see, do and

experience.

On the Tours & Activities Worksheets, fill in the information, including costs

associated with each activity, if applicable. You can find costs and other details

by using the links on the Activities, Attractions, Tours & Theme Park

Suggestions.

Print off extras if you need to.

Search for any packages to group activities, tours or theme parks together to save

money.

Make note of any activities that you might be able to combine in one of the

awesome packages that will save you money or deliver you extra activities at little

or no extra cost.

Some examples (and these can change so you will need to check current options)

are:

Whale Watching + an activity such as SkyPoint Observation

Deck or Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Only available during whale

watching season from June to October inclusive.

Dreamworld, WhiteWater World & SkyPoint Observation Deck

Movie World, Sea World & Wet n Wild – sometimes these

combinations are cheaper than asingle entry to Movie World or Sea World,

so are well worth checking out.

Broadwater Cruise + activity

Hinterland Tour + SkyPoint Observation Deck + Broadwater Cruise

Once you have all these details, you can transfers the ideas to the Daily Activity

Itinerary Summary Sheets.

If you haven't already done so, fill in both the dates and the days of the week.

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The days of the week, are really useful in planning when you will do things,

especially activities that can only be done on certain days of the week.

For example:

some tours only run on certain days

some days are better than others to go on tours or to the theme parks

markets only run on some nights or on weekends.

Pencil in a day for each of the main activities. Fill in the items that CANNOT be

changed first.

Then fill in the other activities – making note of things like the types of theme

park pass you plan to get, or any other restrictions on combination passes.

Don’t forget to add in time at your resort if you are staying at one or time at the

beach. You cannot come to the Gold Coast and not go to the beach even if it is

just for a walk or a photo underneath the Surfers Paradise sign!

Plan a few activities in the evenings – they can be formal or informal, but at least

have an idea of the things you want to do and when you could do them.

Personally, I would organise visiting Surfers Paradise attractions on week days

where possible as weekends get busier with locals. During our own school

holiday periods it is pretty busy most nights.

And voila, your plan should be really coming together now.

You may find you need to move things around a few times to get it right. Planning

is all about being flexible. Don't let this worry you.

When you are happy with your plan and selections, then you can book each

activity.

I recommend you book in any transfers, car hire, tours, whale

watching or cruises, so that you can be sure that you have your places locked in.

It’s also worth taking advantage of online special pricing for theme park

combinations and other attractions.

Many of the deals and packages are not available at the attractions and theme

parks directly, or if they are they cost more at the gate.

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It is highly recommended that you purchase these ahead of time and bring your

printed off vouchers with you.

Wrap Up

During this process, it is quite normal to “change” your mind about what you will

be able to do.

That is the point of this.

What you wanted to do, and what is possible to fit in within the time and

your budget, may be different.

It is much better to work those issues out now. You can then set expectations with

other members of your family or group.

When are finished these actions (and don’t stress, it may take you a little while to

work out the best plan for you), you should have a detailed, planned out

itinerary for your visit to the Gold Coast.

The final step is to organize and book all the remaining items yourself.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour plus.

Holiday Planning Cheat Sheets

Holiday Ideas Worksheets – filled in

Tours & Activities Worksheet

Activities, Attractions, Tours & Theme Park Suggestions

Itinerary Summary Sheets

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Main Attractions: attractions.gctips.com

Gold Coast Tour Desk: tourdesk.gctips.com

Attraction Deals & Combos: combopasses.gctips.com

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Getting Ready To Travel

Getting Ready To Visit

Some of the things you may be interested in as you get closer to travel time...

You’ve planned out your holiday, everything is booked and it’s getting close.

Often this is when you will ask some slightly different

questions.

What’s the weather going to be like next week/when I visit?

What should I pack?

And other questions that often fall into the general facts category – money,

currency, electrical sockets, phones etc

On the Gold Coast website you will find lots of resources to answer these

questions and I am adding extra information all the time.

Check out the links in the resources. And make note of

anything that you may need to bring or buy when you

arrive.

People: Main holiday planner or planners. You, or you

and your partner.

Time: 15 to 30 minutes.

Gold Coast Website Quick Links

Gold Coast Weather Forecasts: forecasts.gctips.com

Packing Suggestions: packing.gctips.com

Local Info & Travel Facts: travel.gctips.com

Final Words

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Thank You for taking the time to work through this process with me. I hope that

you have found it useful and the resources have helped you plan an awesome

holiday on the Gold Coast.

I hope you will keep me updated on your holiday – I love to hear stories of couples

and families enjoying the Gold Coast as much as I have over the years.

You can also catch up with us on Twitter and Facebook. So don’t forget to follow

or like our page and keep up to date with what’s going on around the Gold Coast.

As always, have FUN planning and I look forward to seeing you on the Gold

Coast sometime soon,

Cheers

Annie

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GCTravelTips

Facebook: http://facebook.com/GoldCoastAustraliaTravelTips