As you’ve probably noticed, Australia is a HUGE country, with distances covering up to 4000 kilometres across the country from Sydney to Perth. So what is the best way to get from city to city, especially if you are covering a lot of land in the process?
You have a few options. To help you figure out which one is best for where you want to go, we’ve broken it down.
Flying
Obviously flying anywhere will be your quickest mode of transport from city to city, especially if its long distances with a lot of red desert between you and civilisation.
The various airlines in Australia run a pretty competitive pool of flights. So if you do your research you will be able to find a good deal somewhere. Qantas, Virgin, Alliance, Eastern Australia, Jetstar, and more will get you around the major cities, whilst smaller airlines like Rex or Tiger Air will connect you to smaller towns an cities outside of the major capital areas.
Websites like Flight Center or Webjet will help you find the best price.
Driving
Driving around Australia is great fun! Sure it takes a little longer to get from place to place but you get to see so much of this great land along the way, stop at your leisure and arrive at your own time and place. It’s an awesome experience to share with another person, and to share the time behind the wheel is important.
Companies like Herz, Europcar, Apollo or Thrifty will be at most airports and have city offices.
What might get you more excited than your average hire car option, is hiring a Wicked Camper van.
Travel the Great Ocean Road, across the Nullarbor Ranges or through the Red Centre in true backpacker form in these camper vans. Decked out with all you need to drive and sleep, each is individually painted. Pick up and drop off in all major cities and value for money.
Bus/ Coach
The Australian bus and coach network is vast as the country is wide. Coaches run because the cross-country trains don’t reach all the major, and minor, destinations. Therefore, a bus can get you there with not much fuss, and they’re a little cheaper.
The main bus company, Greyhound, go all over the shop and are really affordable. They run specials and multi tickets, all busses have a toilets for the long trips, and best of all, YOU don’t do any of the driving. So you can sit with a book and relax or watch the countryside whizz by.
Rail
Who doesn’t love a train journey? The clickety clack of the tracks, the dining cart, the ease of travel and scheduling: all in all, an excellent way to get around!
Apart from the train experience, you can get some great ticket deals on rail passes and combos so you may find you save some money if you plan well.
- NSW – Countrylink along east coast, covering Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra.
- VIC – V-line covers the whole of Vic.
- QLD – Traveltrain knows where you need to go.
- WA – TransWA will get you through the largest state in Australia.
BUT! If you want a train experience that is a bit more than just about getting from place to place, check out travel on the Ghan or the Indian Pacific. These are essentially old fashioned luxury trains where you can travel the country whilst having an awesome experience living on the train for four days. They run specials for backpackers or early bird bookers. An amazing experience if you have the time and a little extra cash.
The Ghan runs between Adelaide and Darwin
Indian pacific. From Sydney to Perth
Ferries and boats
Ferries and boats = fun, fun, fun!
Within places like Sydney Harbour, Perth’s Swan River or the Brisbane River in Brisbane, you’ll find ferries on operation as a daily means of getting around. So you may as well get on a ferry and sail past the Sydney Harbour Bridge for a good view.
But if you actually want to get to an island off the mainland, you’ll have to catch something a bit bigger.
Sealink ferries will get you from South Australia to Kangaroo Island. Or the Spirit of Tasmania is a wonderful way to travel overnight, (and with your car if you need it) from Melbourne to Australia’s Apple Isle – Tasmania.
You can try one or all of these methods to get around Australia. Whatever you choose, make sure to always travel with your passport and other relevant documents. Have a valid license and remember, we drive in the LEFT side of the road here, but on the right side of the car. Seat belts are compulsory and please follow the speed limits. No autobahns here but a lot of land to cover. So get out and get moving.
