What is the best way to travel around australia?

Question

So many choices! Contiki? Oz experience? Greyhound? To name just a few. I am starting in Sydney and plan to travel up the east coast then across to Uluru, alice spring and kings canyon. Then up to darwin before traveling down the west coast then across the south coast back to Sydney.

Answer 1

The cheapest way would be by bus but get a ticket that allows you to break the journey anywhere you like. Driving yourself is not cheap. Petrol is about $1.30 a litre at the moment and it will be more expensive away from the cities. The route you have chosen will be about 20,000 km. petrol is going to cost between $1500 and $2500 depending on the car you are driving. You will need to take 4-6 weeks for the trip if you are going to see anything. Car hire will be $500+ a week so you are going to need $5000 - $6000 just for transport.

Don't stay in motels, stay in country pubs if you can. They can be remarkably cheap. They are basic but clean and you get to meet lots of locals. Pubs are also reasonably good places to eat although there are a few bad ones - but that applies to service stations too.

If you are driving yourself, carry at least ten litres of water. You can get a ten litre container of water in any supermarket. You probably won't need it but if you do, it's good to have it there.

Answer 2

I have traveled throughout Aus with Greyhound for 3 months. It wasn't bad but the trips from Darwin to Alice Springs/Alice to Adelaide both about 15hours, insanely long. At times the bus was full, made 1 or 2 am connections at truck stops(that happened only once), make sure you bring something warm on because sometimes the air con is on full blast and your freezing. There were times where I took the train or I flew. I bought a Greyhound kilometer pass.......estimate the amount of kilometers you will travel and pay a flat fee. Made a reservation a night or two in advance before I departed from each city. If you have a YHA card you get a discount. I thought it was a good deal. I stayed in hostels.......max I paid a night was about $27 Aus dollars a night. If I had to do it over again I wouldn't change a thing..........I will remember the people and the experiences getting from one destination to another. Good times.

Answer 3

While the tour buses are nice, and they provide a great opportunity to meet other travelers, I prefer the "do it myself" route- rent a car. Driving in Australia is a pleasure. You can stop when and where you want, and you will meet a lot of great local people this way. Pub stays are inexpensive. The food and people are great. If you are a camper, there are thousands of options open to you along the way, and taking a tent in the car is easy and inexpensive. I have been on one tour bus (I will not name the company) found it to be okay, but did not like the regimentation. We hit a lot of truck stops for food. We slept sitting up. We stopped at the tourist traps that were scheduled in the brouchure (for about thirty minutes each...) and met the driver. With all due respect, and with no ill will toward the others on the bus, it would have been nice if someone else on the bus spoke a little bit of English. My Japanese leaves a lot to the imagination. I think the driver was as out of place on this tour as we were. Again, there are a lot of choices, and I am sure our experience was not the way it always is. We only do self drive tours now, when we tour.

Answer 4

best way to travel is drive yourself - explore and stop where you want for as long as you want and enjoy the scenery along the way

and by campervan - welcome to the grey nomads!

Answer 5

By kangaroo of course!

Answer 6

on a trike http://www.trikeabout.org/