Another one of those questions where it really just truly comes down to your travel style. Which style you would prefer, the amount of time you have and what sort of budget you have in your pocket. What’s the best way to see Australia? That’s up to you. Let’s dive into the options you have and see which one works best for you and then I’ll leave you to take it from there.
Car / Accommodation
This is usually the most popular choice of all of them. Renting a car is easy in Australia from either downtown depots or airport depots. As long as you are out of the major cities you are unlikely to find accommodation with high parking charges. Even with the downtown depots you can drop off and pick up a car right in the middle of the city to avoid the parking charges while you are exploring that particular city. The accommodation you choose can vary depending on your style and budget. You could stay at unique lodges of Australia or you could choose to use hostels to rest your head. A huge range of choice and lots of flexibility when it comes to your route as well. Decide when you want to set off and where you are wanting to stop on the way. The only thing to consider with this is to think about a route plan if you are travelling in peak season as downtown locations in areas will be the most popular and likely to be booked up the quickest.
Bus / Accommodation
If you have a huge amount of time you can always look at the Greyhound bus option. This gives you a ticket to get you up the East Coast with the flexibility of staying in any place as long as you like, before getting your next bus. The most cost-effective option and usually the more popular choice for younger travellers who don’t mind so much about comfort as they do about price. If you don’t fancy driving this is another option you could bear in mind. Accommodation stays the same as above with the flexibility of price and standard.
Motorhome / Campervan
Perfect for all travellers; families, couples, friends. Motorhomes and campers will come in a range of sizes and prices, again depending on your budget. Remember thought it’s accommodation, food and travel in one! High in the ranks regarding flexibility. Keeps your overall spending down.Yes you will have to pay more in fuel than a car, but you don’t have the cooking equipment with a car (unless camping). Nor do you have a bed to sleep (unless you really want to sleep in a car, I’ve done this and wouldn’t recommend).
Tours
Same principle, don’t like the sound of driving the East Coast? Or perhaps don’t know how to drive? Or you don’t have much time on this holiday? Or maybe you don’t want to think about what you are doing and where you are trying to get to, you just want someone else to do this for you? Touring is huge in Australia and again you can use companies such as G Adventures, Intrepid, Contiki who will give the most cost-effective prices and tours. On these you spend most of your money on the things you do and what you will see rather than where you will be staying. For those who want to see and do it all but with more comfort and have a larger budget to spend use someone like APT Touring or AAT Kings for your travel operator. Make sure you are checking the style of the trip, as you don’t want to be stuck with the wrong age group for you.
Camping
A slightly mad but adventurous option. Like the mad hatter would say; we are all mad here. Camping is very budget friendly; you can rent or purchase a car to take you up the coast. Purchase everything you need from an ALDI or Aussie camping equivalent, off you go. Flexibility, freedom, not necessarily the easiest to control be it weather conditions or parking areas. You make do though. Apps such as ‘Campermate’ are great to use to find all the bits and pieces you need throughout your journey.
So what’s it going to be? Is there a particular option which stands out to you? Which would be the one that would suit you the best? Is there an option which perhaps you hadn’t even considered before, but you now like the sound of?
If you need any further advice or help choosing one, head over to my contact me page to ask a question I would be happy to help steer you in the right direction (no pun intended).
LEAH HANCOX 