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Hi Julien,
it all depends what you are after, if you come with a family (from your 1st name, you may be French speaking), how much money you have ...etc..

Sydney: I have lived there for 3 years.
* Pros: city with the most job opportunities and highest salaries. Nice weather. Harbour and beaches are very nice. Lots of things to do. A French school, so the largest community of French in Australia, all French people with kids gather around it.
* Cons: the most expensive of all, living by the beach is unaffordable if you do not have 2 good salaries. Transport is not that great especially if you do not live next to a train line. Traffic is awful. So difficult to move around when you are a consultant, having to go to customer locations.

Melbourne: have worked there for 3 months.
* Pros: cultural capital of Australia. If there is an expo coming from abroad, it will be in there. Also strong concerning food culture. Some australian schools have french courses for French kids. The city to choose if you are after an indoor lifestyle.
* Cons: full season in one day, meaning it can change very quicky, going from 30+ degrees to 15. Basically hot/dry in summer, and quite cold and wet in winter. Beaches close to the city (St Kilda) are not that great (meaning not as good as Sydney).

Brisbane: I have lived there for 3 years and still do.
* Pros: wonderful winter/spring/autumn weather, sunny and cool and mostly dry. The city to choose if you like an outdoor lifestyle. I have never closed any windows since I have arrived. The cheapest of the 3 cities I have mentioned. The city is small enough to easily move around while having sufficient amenities (museums, nice restaurants ...). Traffic in the city is OK, public transport is good, the only issue being road traffic coming back from the beaches on Sundays on a sunny summer day.
* Cons: of the 3 cities, the one with less job opportunities (it is half the size of the other 2). The salaries in QLD are lower than in Melbourne or Sydney, but the cost of living (especially housing) compensates for that. No beaches close by, you need to do a drive to get there on the Sunshine (30 km) or Gold coast (50km). Summer weather is hot and often humid (a good number of days are over 30/35 degrees) so it can be difficult if you do not like the heat. Being a tropical climate, the summer is wet, but rain comes as big downpours for a few hours in the evening, leaving the rest of the day very enjoyable.
Personally, it is where I have decided to settle down.


Will not say too much on other cities as I have not lived there. Just a few comments from what I have heard or seen when visiting.
Darwin: very tropical, not many jobs, very expensive. Crocodiles makes it impossible to go to the beach.
Adelaide: same as Melbourne, with better beaches but not as cultural. A place kind of a hidden gem.
Hobart: no jobs, very cold.
Perth: very beautiful, great beaches in the town, but its economy is really slowing down due to downsizing of the mining/mineral industry. And it is far off from everything.
Canberra: very nice city for families, lots of things to do for kids, lots of museums, a lot of space. Very easy to move around town by car, bicycle. very good salaries but most jobs are government related, meaning you need to be Australian. Cold in winter, 3hr drive to go to the beaches in southern NSW. Would not live there as a single or couple.

Hey Julien – I Have lived in Melbourne for over 4 years and Perth Western Australia for a year. Visited Sydney and Brisbane.
Melbourne is my favourite city by far, even before I lived here I knew immediately from visiting it was for me.When I visited Brisbane and Sydney I knew i wouldn't want to live in either, although Sydney is more visually stunning. Perhaps its because Im from Manchester and Melbourne is the most similar in terms of size, European feel etc.. Melbourne does have great beaches too you just have to drive further down the coast. Still all within half an hour (bayside beaches) and for the stunning rugged ocean coastline, surfing beaches etc they are only an hour and a half away. Life in Melbourne is pretty perfect as it has the best of everything; great quirky and cool city, great food, cafes, pretty parks, tons of beaches, amazing nightlife, free festivals all through the year, shows etc. I loved it before I had my daughter and love it even more now, we are outside a lot. Cost of living is expensive but salaries are higher. The workplace here is pretty relaxed too compared with the UK. Never feel I'm in the rat race here. Its very easy to get about too with fantastic public transport and nothing really feels like an effort. Traffic can be bad sometimes so its often easier to get public transport as everywhere is so well connected.

Perth is stunning but small city, more of a town. For me it’s a great holiday destination but it feels isolated, is even more expensive than the East and probably harder to get a job as its so small! Not many of the big companies are there it’s a lot of oil and gas etc. Very very beautiful though. But after a spending year there I don’t feel any burning desire to even visit again! Personal taste though!

Sydney I have visited a couple of times and loved it but its hard to get around and I didn’t really like the feel of the city centre. Places like Paddington and surrey hills though were pretty cool and I imagine living in those places is fab. The beaches are stunning too.
Brisbane – didn’t really like! But was only there for a few days.

Hope this helps

@Nicola: as for my knowledge of Melbourne, it is true that I only lived in the city (so St Kilda was really my southern boundary). Just a few trips to inland Victoria (especially if you like skiiing) and did the great ocean road, which is indeed awesome. It is indeed the most European of them all, which is why I have found it less appealing when I moved across :-).
@Julien: as you see, different advice, depending on your own criteria. Good luck.

That´s a perfect a really accurate description of Australian cities
I also live in Brisbane and wouldn't change it for SYD and MEL.

Cheers

I love melbourne. Just look at my youtube channel dutchtvonline for just arrived tips

Sydney or Melbourne are really the ONLY big international cities in Australia ... if you are not living in Sydney or Melbourne, you are really just camping out! 

Sydney is a stunning city surrounded by water, not just the harbour but also Parramatta River, Nepean, Georges River, Berowra Creek, Salt Pan Creek and the Woronora River - it doesn't matter where you live in Sydney, you are within 10 minutes drive to a river or beach (unless, of course, you are in the far western suburbs but then you are close to the stunning Blue Mountains, a superb world heritage listed area of pristine wilderness).  Sydney is a big, brash city and there is always heaps to do with world class restaurants that are spread right throughout the extensive suburban area;  the best beaches in the world are along the east coast of NSW ranging from the northern coast right down to the staggering beautiful southern coast which has beaches with pure white silicon sand and turquoise waters (Jervis Bay). 

Sydney is surrounded by some of the best national parks in the country, eg the Blue Mountains NP, the second OLDEST NP in the world being the Royal National Park (in the beautiful Cronulla/Sutherland Shire) and many more huge parks and gardens (too plentiful to list here).  Yes, Sydney is expensive but that is because most people who come to live in Australia want to live in its best city and DEMAND exceeds SUPPLY.  There are still bargains to be had, though. If you are young and carefree, the best and coolest suburbs to live are in the inner city area of Darlinghurst, Redfern, Kings Cross, Newtown (with its countless trendy restaurants, bars and clubs), Erskineville, St Peters, Leichhardt (the Italian enclave), Surry Hills, Enmore and Paddington (if you can afford Paddington which is very expensive).  These suburbs are right in the heart of downtown (especially Darlinghurst, Redfern, Kings Cross and minutes away from the CBD by train or bus.

If you have a family and want a decent car parking spot, you can move to the eastern suburb beach areas of Bondi (expensive and with a huge transient tourist population) - personally, the better beach areas are Maroubra (beautiful beach and more kid friendly), Coogee.  The southern beach area of Cronulla and anywhere in the Cronulla/Sutherland Shire is a great area for families but is a 45 minute train trip (one way) to the city.  However, it is close to the Royal National Park and provides a quick getaway point to the magnificent south coast of NSW.  The northern beaches area of Dee Why, Narrabeen or Collaroy are spectacular but also a bit removed from the city without a train line but a reasonable bus service. North Shore of Sydney is too expensive and rather parochial.

Sydney has a really lively pub and Club scene with live bands and entertainment.  Unfortunately, the Nanny State police have introduced new licensing laws whereby you cannot purchase alcohol after 11.00 am in the city/downtown area but the pubs and clubs in the suburbs are a lot less stringent.

Melbourne is a sensational city .. I love it and if I didn't live in Sydney, that would be my next choice. Melbourne has world class museums, art galleries and theatres but without the beachy, laid back feeling of Sydney.  Melbourne also has a fantastic array of brilliant restaurants, some of them themed and very unique, eg the fabulous Colonial Tramway Restaurant where you can eat a sumptuous meal on board a tram travelling around the trendy St Kilda district. 

My suggestion is to give both cities a fair go ... six months in each city.  It takes at least that time to familiarise yourself with a city the size of Sydney or Melbourne.  As for Perth?  Forget it - it is parochial, insular and you can see the place in 20 minutes!  After two days, you will be bored witless!  Darwin is OK but the crocs are so bad there, I was too scared to take a bath, lol!  Brisbane is quite a nice town but does not offer the range of world class restaurants on offer in Sydney or Melbourne.  However, if you have kids, they will LOVE nearby Gold Coast (not far from the NSW/Qld border) that offers children all the excitement of Theme Parks, eg Wet 'n Wild, Dreamworld, Movie World etc. - it is a kid's paradise there with so much to do and great weather (but very hot and sticky in summer).  Queensland does NOT have the glorious change of seasons that Sydney and Melbourne have - there are TWO seasons in Queensland:  hot/dry and very hot/wet!  If you hate the heat, forget it!  If you come from England, you will probably love it up there.

I lived in Sydney i believe its the most beautiful among them but very expensive. I visited Canberra its very calm and well organised.

Melbourne

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@Sky-High21

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