plan my trip australia

The PERFECT 1, 2 or 3 Week Australia Itinerary [2024]

• Last Updated: January 30, 2024

Whether you have 1, 2, or 3 weeks in Australia, here are some suggestions for an Australia itinerary that will help you make the most of this huge, diverse, and stunning country!

Planning a trip to Australia can be quite difficult, simply because the country is so huge. 

Lots of its best attractions, cities, and natural landmarks are very spread out, so it’s impossible to see everything in a short amount of time. 

Australia is also an expensive country to visit, so most backpackers and average travellers won’t be able to visit every single point of interest without spending a lot. 

Despite these challenges, planning an epic trip to Australia is definitely possible. 

You just have to be smart about your Australia itinerary, sticking to one or two major areas and picking travel routes that are logical. 

For example, you won’t be able to fit Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, Uluru, Tasmania, and beaches and national parks of Western Australia and the Northern Territory into a 1 week Australia itinerary. 

To see all those incredible places, you’d need at least one month, and even then you’d be rushing to get everywhere. 

What you can do, is pick the areas that appeal to you the most and plan your trip accordingly. 

READ MORE: Check out our comprehensive guide with everything you need to know about travelling in Australia !

So you’d be better off picking either the east coast or the west coast and hanging around there if you only have 1 or 2 weeks in Australia. 

In this article, I’ll provide a few sample Australia travel itineraries. 

Each Australia itinerary will include a few of the country’s best places to visit, while maintaining reasonable travel times.

Whether it’s your first trip to Australia or you’ve been here for a while, there is always something incredible to see!

Table of Contents

How to Get Around Australia

Days 1-2: sydney, days 3-5: brisbane , days 6-7: airlie beach and the whitsundays, days 1-3: sydney, days 3-6: melbourne , day 7-8: the great ocean road, day 9-10: adelaide, day 11: kangaroo island, day 12-14: perth, days 3-4: byron bay, days 5-6: the gold coast, days 7-8: cairns, days 9-10: port douglas and the great barrier reef, days 11-13: cape tribulation and the daintree rainforest, day 14: darwin, days 15-17: kakadu national park, days 18-20: uluru and the red centre, the ultimate australia itinerary travel guide.

Having travelled all around the country, we’re excited to share these epic 1, 2 and 3 week Australian itineraries that’ll cover the best places around.

But first, a tip…

It’s also important to consider how you’ll get around Australia during your visit. 

As I mentioned, the country is huge and public transport like buses or trains is expensive. 

If you’re staying in one area, it’s worth renting a car for a few days so you can explore and do day trips, but driving from one city to the next may take 12+ hours of driving. 

The best way to get around is to rent a car and explore on your own! We recommend Rental Cars , which has the largest range of vehicles for the best value on the market.

Catching cheap domestic flights is the best way to jump from one state to the next, and you can take public transport or drive within smaller areas. 

Though every traveller will have their own unique preferences and modify these itineraries as necessary, here are some sample Australia itineraries that will hopefully help you plan your dream trip!

7 Day Australia Itinerary

One week in Australia goes by quickly, but some people can’t afford to take much longer off of work or their other responsibilities. 

You can still manage to experience some of the Aussie culture and natural beauty in one week. 

In this 7 day Australia itinerary, you’ll be sticking to the middle east coast. 

You’ll begin in Sydney, then head up to Queensland to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef. 

This plan is perfect for 7 days in Australia because it doesn’t require huge amounts of travel time. 

READ NEXT: 25 Amazing Things to Do in Australia

After arriving in  Sydney  and getting settled, you have two days to enjoy the city. 

You can spend one day visiting all the popular tourist attractions, like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower Eye, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and maybe some of the museums. 

Another day can be spent swimming and sunbathing on one of the city’s main beaches. 

The northern beaches around Manly, or the western beaches around Bondi and Bronte are great options for a fun day in Sydney.

Bondi Beach has a very strong health and fitness scene, so they have lots of incredible healthy cafes where all the locals like to fuel up. 

Visit  Berri Bar Bondi Beach  for a refreshing Acai bowl,  Porch and Parlour  for a healthy breakfast on homemade bread, or  Umu  for some nourishing organic lunch bowls. 

After 2 days in Sydney, you can catch a quick, 1-hour flight up to Brisbane. 

Check out this post on how to spend one day in Sydney if that’s all the time you have.

Brisbane is another incredible city to visit in Australia. 

After 2 days in Sydney, however, you may be sick of the crowded city streets. 

Luckily, Brisbane makes a great gateway for exploring more peaceful areas of Queensland. 

There are tons of amazing day trips from Brisbane that allow you to explore nature and see more of Australia, including:

• Burleigh Heads:  a charming coastal town with a massive beach and national park
• Hervey Bay:  one of the best spots in Australia for whale-watching
• Lamington National Park:  full of hiking trails and waterfalls
• Stradbroke Island:  a beautiful location that’s great for kayaking, paddleboarding, and trying other water sports
• Fraser Island:  the world’s largest sand island

After exploring Brisbane and the surrounding areas, catch another cheap domestic flight from the city up to Airlie Beach. 

Read our list of the best things to do in Brisbane for more inspiration!

Airlie Beach is known as one of Australia’s most stunning beaches, complete with soft white sand and clear turquoise water. 

From here, you can soak in the postcard-worthy views in the Whitsundays Islands and do a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef and the famous Whitehaven Beach. 

Book an  ocean rafting day tour  that include all your snorkelling gear and takes you to Whitehaven Beach and the best locations in the Whitsundays.

BONUS –  Booking ahead of time ensures you won’t miss out on the tour, and get the best price too! And just for NOMADasaurus readers, if you use the Klook discount code  “NOMADS10”  on the website when checking out, you’ll get $10 off your first booking!

Snorkelling, scuba diving, and sailing through the Great Barrier Reef will make an unforgettable ending to your 7 day Australia itinerary.

At the end of your week in Australia, you can fly from Airlie Beach back to Sydney for your departing flight. 

2 Week Australia Itinerary

Two weeks in Australia allows you a bit more time to see different areas of the country. 

This two week Australia itinerary will start in Sydney, move down to Victoria to explore Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road , and will then curve up to Adelaide in South Australia and end in Perth in Western Australia. 

So with two weeks in Australia, you can still manage to visit 4 states! If you’d prefer to spend more time in one place rather than jumping around so much, you can always modify this. 

For example, you could skip Perth and spend a few more days exploring New South Wales, Victoria, or South Australia. 

But here is a sample two weeks in Australia itinerary. 

Once again, you’ll fly into Sydney and begin your Australian adventure in the capital city of New South Wales. 

In addition to all the touristy stuff like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House and touring a local art gallery, you could spend one of your days in the lush nature surrounding the city. 

Two perfect day trips from Sydney are:

The Blue Mountains:  Full of waterfalls, scenic lookouts and hiking trails, connected to Sydney by train so you don’t even need a car. Here’s what you should do there .

The Royal National Park:  Dramatic coastal scenery with rugged cliffs and secluded beaches. Check out these awesome Royal National Park walks .

After 3 days in Sydney, hop on a plane for a 1-hour flight down to Melbourne.

As one of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities in Australia,  Melbourne  is a favourite among travellers and locals alike. 

Spend your days in Melbourne visiting street markets, sipping cocktails from rooftop bars, checking out all the cool cafes and restaurants, and experiencing the wild nightlife. 

You can also visit St. Kilda Beach in the south of Melbourne, or head to Brighton Beach to photograph the colourful Brighton Bathing Boxes.

Or take a day trip to Phillip Island or tour the Melbourne Cricket Ground .

After you visit Melbourne, continue on to the famous Great Ocean Road.

One of the highlights of Victoria is the natural wonders of the Great Ocean Road. 

This coastal road runs for 243 kilometers in total and is full of Australian wildlife, quaint little towns, surfing spots, picturesque viewpoints, campgrounds, and overall gorgeous scenery.  

Be sure to see the Twelve Apostles, Split Point Lighthouse, Port Campbell National Park, Apollo Bay, Loch Ard Gorge, and other stunning landscapes along the way.

You can either rent a car from Melbourne and drive the road on your own, or  book a day tour . 

It only takes one day to see all the best spots along the road, but you’ll need to save some time to make your way back to Melbourne and you don’t want to rush. 

You can also stop by the Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay at the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Fly from Melbourne to Adelaide. 

Spend the next days of your two weeks in Australia itinerary soaking in the culture of  Adelaide . 

Enjoy the delicious food, the museums and galleries, and the laid-back charm of South Australia’s capital. 

One of your 2 days in Adelaide should definitely be spent touring a vineyard and wine tasting in the Barossa Valley. 

Again, you can either rent a car in the city and drive yourself around the vineyards (make sure you don’t drink too much!), or you can book a day trip. 

As one of the most unique places in South Australia, Kangaroo Island makes a super fun day trip from Adelaide. 

Take photos of the interesting rock formations in Flinders Chase National Park , stroll along the pristine golden beaches, or search for some local animals like wallabies, koalas, and of course, kangaroos. 

Head back to Adelaide after Kangaroo Island and hop on another quick flight to Perth to finish up this two week Australia trip.

Read next: 8 Amazing Things to Do in Kangaroo Island, Australia

Your last few days of visiting Australia will be well-spent in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. 

Enjoy the beaches, explore the Fremantle Markets, visit wineries and wildlife parks, and more.

You could also treat yourself to one last epic adventure in Australia by taking a day trip to Rottnest Island . 

This island is full of fun activities, natural wonders, beautiful views, and cute little quokkas, which are small, native Australian marsupials similar to wallabies. 

After a few days in Perth, either catch your departing flight from here or fly back to Sydney if your flight leaves from there. 

You could also consider a day trip to Margaret River , one of the top wine and surfing regions in Western Australia.

It’s a 3 hour drive from Perth to Margaret River, so only make the trek if you feel like you have time.

3 Week Australia Itinerary

3 weeks in Australia allows you to visit some big cities and tourist spots, but it also allows you to venture out to more remote and isolated areas. 

In this 3 week Australia Itinerary, you’ll visit Sydney and Byron Bay at the start. 

Then you’ll head up to The Gold Coast, and tropical north Queensland to the Daintree Rainforest. 

Continue your journey up north by travelling to Darwin and Kakadu National Park, and then venture inland to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). 

Again, spend your first couple days in Australia checking out Sydney and maybe doing a day trip to the Blue Mountains of the Hunter Valley Wine Region.

Be sure to visit Sydney Harbour, Darling Harbour, and the famous Bondi Beach during your time in Australia’s largest city.

Then fly to Ballina, a small airport 30 minutes away from Byron Bay. 

Check out our Sydney to Brisbane road trip guide if you’d prefer to rent a car and drive up the east coast.

Byron Bay  is a hub for backpackers, and it is a very fun place to experience when you visit Australia. 

From bar crawls and drum circles on the beach, to night markets and street art, to coastal walks and lovely beaches, a couple days in Byron Bay will feel like bliss. 

Even if you aren’t on a strict backpacker budget, Byron Bay has so many great hostels that it’s worth immersing yourself in the backpacker scene. 

Some of the best hostels in Byron Bay include Wake Up! Byron Bay and Byron Bay Beach hostel. 

Both of these have hundreds of great reviews from travellers cost around $30 per night, which is pretty cheap for Australia. 

If you want to meet other cool people and take part in all the fun social activities of Byron Bay, you may want to stay in one of these fun hostels instead of a hotel!

You can choose to hang out in Byron Bay for a few more days, or catch a flight from Ballina to the Gold Coast for a taste of the Sunshine Coast surf vibes. 

The  Gold Coast  is one of the best places to learn how surfing when you visit Australia. 

You can take a surf lesson from an experienced local and ride the waves, or just relax on the beach, eat some great food, and hit the bars and nightclubs in the evening. 

The Gold Coast combines the excitement of the city with the salty air and water sports of a beachside town, so it’s a diverse and fun place to visit. 

Fly from the Gold Coast up to Cairns. 

The next few days of your 3 week Australia Itinerary will take you up along the coast of Tropical North Queensland. 

This corner of Australia is hot, humid, and jam-packed with rich jungles, Aboriginal culture, waterfalls and the marine life of the Great Barrier Reef. 

Keep in mind that during the rainy season, from October to April, you can’t swim in the ocean here because there may be crocodiles and jellyfish. 

Cairns  is the gateway to tropical north Queensland. 

The real beauty lies outside the city, but spend a couple days adjusting to the heat, partying with the many backpackers, shopping at Rusty’s Fruit Market, and swimming in the big public swimming pool called the Lagoon. 

Also check out Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and the nearby Barron Gorge National Park near Kuranda.

Then you’ll take the local bus up to Port Douglas. You can buy your bus ticket from any tourism agency or from the main bus station, and take the Cairns to Cooktown route. 

Only about an hour north of Cairns is Port Douglas, a small, relaxed town with one backpacker hostel, a few amazing restaurants, and a nice park lined with palm trees for viewing the sunset. 

This is one of the best places to book a Great Barrier Reef  snorkelling or diving tour  because up here, the reef isn’t as crowded as near Cairns. A snorkelling reef trip is one of the most popular Australia tours and shouldn’t be missed!

So spend one of your days in Port Douglas swimming in the crisp, blue waters of the reef and seeing some incredible, colourful marine life. 

From here, get back on Cairns to Cooktown bus and continue north up to Cape Tribulation in the Daintree Rainforest. 

Located in the midst of the jungle, Cape Tribulation is the perfect place to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature. 

There is only one main road running through the town, if you can even call it a town. 

Cape Tribulation has a few resorts and hostels, a couple tourism companies and about two shops, and that’s it. 

But the powerful presence of the rainforest is more than enough to entertain you for a couple days.

The Daintree is the oldest rainforest in the world, and is one of the true natural wonders of Australia.

Go hiking, ride horses on the beach, book an ATV sightseeing tour, do an exotic fruit tasting at Cape Trib Farm, visit the Daintree Discovery Center, or take a boat cruise on the Daintree River to spot some crocodiles. 

Try to avoid visiting Tropical North Queensland in December through February, however. This is the wet season and many roads may be flooded and tours will be closed.

On your third day, take the bus back to Cairns then fly to Darwin. 

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, and it is a convenient starting point for a trip into Central Australia and Ayers Rock, in the south of the state.

Use this day to walk around and sightsee a bit, relax and unwind, and plan your journey into Kakadu National Park. 

Check out our guide for the best things to do in Darwin!

Rent a car in Darwin and spend the next couple days exploring the largest national park in Australia!

You can swim in waterfalls, find ancient Aboriginal rock art, and go hiking through some incredible landscapes. 

If you have a van or a tent, you can camp at one of the park’s campgrounds. Otherwise there is a handful of resorts where you can stay overnight in Kakadu. 

Most of the accommodation in Kakadu is located in Jabiru, the main town of the park. 

You could also  book a guided tour  to Kakadu as a day trip from Darwin. This is a good option for those who want to take a break from planning and driving. A tour will take you right to the best spots in the park, which is handy because the park is so huge.

After exploring the national park, drive back to Darwin and then fly to Alice Springs at the heart of Australia’s Red Centre. 

(Alternatively if you don’t want to keep travelling so much, you could stay in the Northern Territory and explore more natural wonders like Nitmiluk National Park.)

From Alice Springs in the center of the Northern Territory, it’s time to begin your journey to Uluru!

The Red Centre is the central desert area of Australia, consisting of Alice Springs and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park.

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a sacred monolith and it one of the most famous places to see on a trip to Australia.

You have two options for getting to Uluru. 

Option 1:  Rent a car in Alice Springs and complete the 5-hour drive on your own. Keep in mind it’s also 5 hours to get back, so that’s a 10 hour road trip in total. You should also have your own camping gear and pack enough food and water for the road trip.

Option 2:  Book a tour from Alice Springs if you are tired of driving. You can  choose a straightforward day trip . It’s a bit pricier to do a guided tour, but it takes away a lot of the effort on your part. 

Either way, watching the sunrise and sunset bathe Uluru in soft, natural hues is a sight you’ll never forget, so the journey is worth it. 

If you are renting a car and doing your own road trip, consider also heading out to Watarrka National Park and Kings Canyon. This amazing spot is a 3 hour drive from Ayers Rock, which is a short drive for the Outback!

READ MORE: Check out all the incredible things to do in Uluru !

Your final day of the 3 week Australia itinerary will mostly be spent travelling. 

Drive back to Alice Springs, then fly back to Sydney for your flight home.

I just want to add that there are many other natural wonders that I didn’t get to mention!

Australia is massive so it’s hard to fit in so many cool places in a short time.

For example, the north of Western Australia is stunning, but it’s very remote and not convenient to add to a few weeks in Australia.

Few Australians even make it out here on holiday.

But riding a camel on Cable Beach , snorkelling with Whale Sharks in Exmouth , or camping in Cape Range National Park are amazing experiences that you can have if you have the time to venture out there.

Tasmania is also one of the most gorgeous places in Australia. The island is home to some of the best hiking and camping in the country , but it requires lots of prior planning and preparation and gear.

You could also road trip around Australia, taking more time to see all the attractions and not having to rush.

But it would take you months or even years to road trip all of Australia!

Regardless of how much time you spend here, don’t stress about seeing everything!

It’s impossible to see everything, and no matter where you go, you’re sure to have an epic time.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means if you book accommodation, tours or buy a product, we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions help us keep creating more free travel content to help people plan their holidays and adventures. We only recommend the best accommodations, tours and products that ourselves or our fantastic editorial team have personally experienced, and regularly review these. Thanks for your support, kind friend!

Gabby Boucher

Hi, We’re Alesha and Jarryd!

We’ve been traveling the world together since 2008, searching for the planet’s best destinations and adventures.

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Have you got any info/tips about Central Australia? Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Alice Springs to Darwin (Stuart Hwy).

Would like more information on all inclusive 3 wk itinerary for family of about 12.

All the best with your research. Have a great trip.

Terrific article. Thanks so much for the insight!

Thank you so much. Glad the article was helpful 🙂

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Your Perfect Australia Itinerary For 1-4 Weeks

• Post last modified: January 3, 2024
• Post category: 10+ Days / Australia / Itineraries

Australia is huge! Like the size of the continental U.S. huge. So don’t assume you can see it all in a few days. You need a month or more to travel to all of the territories in Australia. And Australia can be expensive. However, Australia is also the most amazing place we’ve ever been! And we want you to have an amazing Australian vacation too. So we’ve put together our three week Australia itinerary that includes all the best stops along the Eastern coast. We’ve also included plenty of suggestions to help you plan a 1, 2, 3, or 4 week Australia itinerary that is perfect for you.

Stuff In This Post

How Many Days In Australia Is Enough?

You need at least one week to see just one or two regions of Australia. If you want to see all the main tourism areas you’ll need at least one month.

How To Plan Your Perfect Australia Itinerary?

First, you need to decide how much time you have. Next, you need to decide what you really want to see. Sure Cairns has the Great Barrier Reef , but if you don’t like snorkeling or scuba diving, do you really want to spend time there? So what is important to you?

We’ve broken down popular travel regions and listed how many days we think you need to visit that location. You can easily piece together your own itinerary with all of these mini itineraries.  

New South Wales – 1 week

• Sydney – 3 days
• Sydney Day Trips – 1-2 days
• Pacific Coast road trip – 3-4 days

Northern Territory – 4 days

• Alice Springs – 1 day
• Uluru – 3 days

Queensland – 1+ week

• Cairns – 4 days ( Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest)
• Brisbane – 1 day
• The Queensland Coast   – 4-5 days

South Australia – 3 days

• Adelaide – 2 days
• Kangaroo Island – 1 day

Tasmania – 5 days

Victoria – 5 days

• Melbourne – 2 days
• Phillip Island – 1 day
• Great Ocean Road – 2 days

Western Australia – 9+ days

• Perth – 2 days
• Western Coast Road Trip – 1+ week

How To Get Around Australia?

First, several areas of Australia are perfect for the road trip! And traveling by car in Australia is easy to do. It’s also much cheaper to rent a car in Australia than in the US – something about insurance – which was really nice. Road trips are an affordable way to get around Australia. However, gas can be expensive so make sure you get a vehicle that has good gas milage.  

However, Australia is HUGE – did we mention that already. So you can’t drive everywhere unless you have unlimited time. And quite honestly there are some places that you wouldn’t enjoy the drive either. This is where domestic Australian flights come in. Those are also really cheap compared with domestic flights in the US.  

By buying from the links below, we'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read the full Terms and Conditions here.

So using a combination of domestic Australian flights and scenic road trips you’ll be able to see all of Australia without breaking the budget.  

Three Week Australia Itinerary  

This is the three week Australia itinerary that we followed. It was our favorite vacation we’ve ever taken and also one of the cheapest per day. Feel free to use the entire vacation or pick and choose days to make your own perfect Australia itinerary.

Day 1 – Arrive in Australia

A big portion of your morning will likely be spent arriving in Australia and getting your rental car. Most international Australian flights from the U.S. arrive in Sydney so you’ll likely have to take a connecting flight to Melbourne to start this Australia itinerary. We arrived in Melbourne around 11 AM and started this itinerary from there.

First things first, listen to Down Under by Men At Work to start your vacation right!

Then drive straight through Melbourne and on to Phillip Island.  

Stay overnight on Phillip Island in a cute home rental.

Day 2 – Phillip Island

On our first day in Australia, we took it easy as we adjusted to the time difference. And what is more relaxing than seeing Australian critters and walking the beach?

While you await the nightly Penguin Parade, consider walking along the beaches or visiting the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit . We would have liked to visit the Grand Prix for a tour but there was an actual event happening when we visited so we walked the beaches instead. However, we did notice that most beaches in the area were beautiful but the waves were too aggressive for swimming when we visited.  

Next, head to the Phillip Island Nature Park . Here you’ll get great views of the ocean and you’ll probably spot your first kangaroo/wallaby.

PS: We asked several Australians how to tell the difference between kangaroos and wallabies and the answer was size. When we asked how to tell the difference between a big wallaby and a small kangaroo, no one could tell us.

Grab a quick dinner before it gets dark.

Once it gets dark, the Penguin Parade begins. Grab your tickets ahead of time and come ready to spot the cute tiny penguins as they go to their burrows from the ocean at the end of the day.

Stay overnight on Phillip Island again.

Day 3 – Melbourne

First, wake up early to start your journey back into Melbourne .  

Spend the day exploring Melbourne. Keep in mind that there is a free tram that goes through the Central Business District of Melbourne that you can use for all of your transportation needs. So find somewhere to park your car for the day. We chose Melbourne accommodations that had free parking.

For a full list of fun things to do in Melbourne, check out our post here.

Our most highly recommended piece of Melbourne advice for your day is to visit the Queen Victoria Market for lunch. This farmers market meets flea market is a great place to sample some of the local Australian fare. We bought little snacks throughout the market to make up our lunch.

Next, spend your evening enjoying a game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are games almost every night and any game is impressive in this stadium.  

Stay overnight in Melbourne.

Day 4 – The Great Ocean Road

First, drive west of Melbourne to take the greatest road trip of all time, The Great Ocean Road . This is one of the best road trips we’ve ever been on. The views are gorgeous.  

For this part of your Australia itinerary, you’ll drive as far west as you can get in the day along the coast. The Twelve Apostles are the show stopper along this road trip so plan to spend most of your time enjoying these viewpoints.

For more information on visiting the Twelve Apostles, check out the guide here.

Stay overnight along the Great Ocean Road; we stayed in a home rental in Port Campbell .

Day 5 – The Great Ocean Road

You may be able to spend a bit of your day continuing west to finish up any Twelve Apostle sights that   you weren’t able to see yesterday.

Then, head back east to Melbourne along the inland road.  

Here, you’ll want to spend plenty of time exploring the oldest rainforest and looking for koalas in the wild.  

For more details on this two day Great Ocean Road Trip, check out our complete itinerary here.

**Alternative transportation option** We like driving ourselves around and the freedom that gives us. However, if you don’t, you could forgo the self drive options here and ditch the rental car. There are Phillip Island half-day trips and Great Ocean road overnight trips that you can take with tour companies from Melbourne. By buying from this link , we’ll earn a commission at no extra cost to you so we can afford to keep this blog up and running. 

Head back into Melbourne and stay overnight near the airport .

Day 6 – Travel and Kuranda

First, catch an early morning flight from Melbourne to Cairns. This flight, with airport and travel time, took about 6 hours. You’ll need an early morning flight if you want to have time to visit Kuranda.

Next, take a taxi from the airport to your accommodations and get your bags stored before heading to Kuranda . You will not need a rental car in Cairns as you can rely on tours to get you around. Take the tram car up to the mountain to explore Kuranda before taking the railroad back down.  

Finally, spend the evening walking along the Esplanade Boardwalk and exploring the town of Cairns. Most shops along the boardwalk stay open late.

For more ideas on things to do in Cairns, check out our post here.

Lastly, eat at Prawn Stars . Period. The coolest seafood restaurant we’ve ever been to.  

Stay overnight in Cairns . Try to stay somewhere with free luggage storage so you can leave extra luggage on land when you explore the Great Barrier Reef. Lots of hotels in the area offer this as reef tours here are popular. 

Day 7 & 8 – The Great Barrier Reef

Next, spend two days on a live aboard dive trip or an overnight snorkeling trip exploring the Great Barrier Reef . This is a bucket list worthy adventure and you need two days to do it. This is because most of the best dive sites are farther out and take several hours to get to. Two days exploring the Great Barrier Reef is totally worth the extra money this overnight tour will cost you. Read more about our tour here.  

Return to Cairns in the evening and stay another night there.  

Day 9 – Daintree National Park

Take a day tour into the Daintree National Park . Most day trips include visits to Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and plenty of time in the rainforest.  

Stay overnight in Cairns.

Day 10 – Brisbane

First, get another early morning flight from Cairns to Brisbane for the final leg of your trip. We caught another early flight and were in Brisbane before lunch. Once in Brisbane, rent a car as you’ll be driving the Pacific Coast from Brisbane to Sydney.

You’ll likely arrive in the afternoon and there are two great options. First, you can drive a few hours to the Australia Zoo .   Alternatively, you can drive a little less for an amazing beach just outside of Brisbane. Some of the best beaches are along this stretch of the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Whatever you choose to do it will be fabulous.

Stay overnight in Brisbane.

Day 11 – Brisbane

Next, spend the day exploring Brisbane.

For a full list of activities, check out the things to do in Brisbane here.

Whatever you end of doing, make sure to check out the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary . This is one of the best zoos we’ve ever been to and the opportunity to interact with Australian critters here is amazing.  

Check out our full post on what to expect at Lone Pine here.

Day 12-15 – Australia’s Pacific Coast

Spend 4 days making your way down the sunshine coast as you drive one of Australia’s best road trips.  

Want more information on all of the stops, we wrote all about our road trip here.

One the end of day 14 of this Australia itinerary, stay overnight in Newcastle .  

Day 16 – The Blue Mountains

Start early in the morning so you can spend one full day exploring the Blue Mountains . Additionally, don’t forget to take a tour of the Jeolan Caves as well.  

To learn more about our one day Blue Mountain itinerary, check out our post here.

Stay overnight in a home stay in Katoomba.

Day 17 – Bondi Beach

First, spend the morning driving to Sydney, specifically Bondi Beach . Spend a few hours here relaxing and soaking up the sun. After you’re done at the beach, do all or part of the Bondi to Coogee Coastal walk .

Next, return your rental car. You won’t need it to get around Sydney if you are staying near public transport so this will save you a bit of money. Then head to your Sydney accommodations to get checked in a drop off luggage.  

Stay overnight near public transportation in Sydney .

Day 18 – Sydney Sights

Spend the first day in Sydney doing a hop-on-hop-off tour of Sydney . We love these types of tours in large cities as it gives us an opportunity to learn about everything but only focus time on the things that interest us.  

However, there are two sights that every Sydney visitor needs to see and that is the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera house .  

For the breakdown of how we spent our time in Sydney, check out our detailed Sydney itinerary here.

Day 19 – More Sydney

Spend the final day of your Australia itinerary, exploring more of Sydney. There is plenty of history and nature to explore in Sydney. Don’t forget to stop in at the Australian Museum to learn all about the country you’ve been tramping around for the past three weeks of this Australian itinerary.  

For a full list of popular things to do in Sydney, check out our list here.

Day 20 – travel home.

Finally, wake up and enjoy your last breakfast in Australia on this final day of your Australia itinerary. Catch a flight home.  

Want To Adjust the Australia Itinerary?

One australia itinerary.

With one week in Australia, most people stick to New South Wales. Honestly, this wasn’t our favorite area in Australia . However, it is the region with the most to do packed into the smallest area, which makes it a great spot if you are short on time. It also makes it cheaper as you have to spend less on transportation costs.

• Day 1-3 – Sydney – follow Days 17-19 above
• Day 4 – Blue Mountains – follow Day 16 above
• Day 5-7 – Drive Australia’s Pacific Coast from Sydney to Brisbane, make sure to stop at least one night in Byron Bay

Additionally, with one week in Australia, you could pick two cities to base yourself in and then explore farther afield with days trips.

Our suggestion would be Melbourne and Cairns, our two favorite cities in Australia.

• Day 1 – Melbourne
• Day 2-3 – Great Ocean Road trip
• Day 4 – fly to Cairns, see Cairns
• Day 5-6 – Great Barrier Reef liveaboard
• Day 7 – Daintree Rainforest tour

However, we understand that most people want to see Sydney on a Australian vacation . So this one week in Australia itinerary includes Cairns and Sydney.

• Day 1-2 – Sydney – follow Days 17-18 above
• Day 3 – Blue Mountain day trip

Two Week Australia Itinerary

Two weeks in Australia is possibly the hardest Australia itinerary to decide upon. Because you can see a ton of different things OR you can really delve in to a few areas and do some road trips. We would recommend visiting Cairns, Sydney and Melbourne and doing short trips from those areas.

• Day 1-2 – Melbourne, with a day trip (or half day trip) to Phillip island
• Day 3-4 – Great Ocean Road trip
• Day 5 – fly to Cairns, see Cairns
• Day 6-7 – Great Barrier Reef liveaboard
• Day 8 – Daintree Rainforest tour
• Day 9 – fly to Sydney
• Day 10-12 – Sydney , follow days 17-19 above
• Day 13-14 – Blue Mountains

Four Week Australia Itinerary

With four weeks in Australia, you can add in a visit to Uluru. Honestly, most three week Australia itineraries include a visit to Uluru and skip Victoria. However, when we visited Australia, we’d just got done spending a lot of time in Arizona, so we were kinda desert rock-ed out. However, with four weeks in Australia, you can visit Victoria, then South Australia, the Northern Territory, then Queensland and lastly New South Wales.

• Days 1-5 – Victoria – follow the Day 1-5 itinerary above
• Day 6 – Continue driving the Great Ocean Road on to Adelaide
• Day 7 – Take a day trip to Kangaroo Island
• Day 8 – Explore Adelaide in the morning, Fly to Alice Springs in the afternoon
• Day 9 – Explore Alice Springs
• Day 10-13 – Explore Uluru , including Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon
• Day 14-17 – Queensland – follow the Day 6-9 itinerary above
• Day 18-28 – New South Wales – follow the Day 10-20 itinerary above

We hope that this three week Australian itinerary has helped you to plan your own Australia vacation. If you need more inspiration for planing your Australian vacation, check out all of our Australia posts here.  

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Plan Your Trip to Australia: 7 Top Itineraries

Written by Karen Hastings Updated Jul 26, 2022

Australia is a land of staggering contrasts spread out over a landmass almost as big as the continental US, so planning the perfect itinerary entails pinpointing your preferences. Coral reefs, islands, rainforests, and ravishing beaches rim the coast, and rugged canyons and red deserts of haunting beauty stretch across the interior.

To get the most out of your visit to Australia, it's best to fly between the top places to visit and concentrate on a particular area of the country. If it's your first visit to the Land Down Under, you might want to start with a version of the top Australia itinerary on our trip planner: Sydney, Rainforest, & Reef, highlighting the east coast's most popular tourist attractions. Then, depending on your interests and time constraints, you can use the other Australia itineraries, organized by region, as building blocks to customize your adventures.

Travel to Australia can require some long flights — especially if you're visiting from the Northern Hemisphere. A week to 10 days is the minimum recommended time to visit Australia, as distances are vast, and jet lag can take a couple of days to pass. Note that if you're planning to see the highlights of both the east coast and the west coast, it takes about five hours to fly from Sydney to Perth.

Wherever and whenever you decide to go, Australia is one of the world's most rewarding places to visit, with spectacular scenery, incredible wildlife, and some of the friendliest people on the planet.

Plan your trip with these top Australia itineraries.

1. Sydney, Rainforest & Reef

2. the northern territory: the top end & the red centre, 3. queensland: the sunshine coast, fraser island, & the whitsunday islands, 4. melbourne and the great ocean road, 5. western australia: perth, coral reefs, broome, and the kimberley, 6. south australia: adelaide, the barossa & clare valleys, and kangaroo island, 7. tasmania: the apple isle loop, map of australia: top itineraries, when is the best time to visit australia.

East Coast Itinerary Highlights : Sydney, Blue Mountains, Cairns/Port Douglas, Daintree Rainforest, Kuranda, the Great Barrier Reef

Visiting Australia for the first time? This itinerary is ideal if you only have about a week to 10 days to see the highlights. It offers a quintessential slice of the stunning east coast.

Start in Sydney and visit all the iconic attractions such as the Sydney Opera House , the Sydney Harbour Bridge , Bondi Beach , and the Rocks . After exploring the top attractions in the city , choose from an alluring line-up of day trips from Sydney . The Blue Mountains is one of the most popular.

From Sydney, fly up to Cairns , the most popular gateway to Far North Queensland's top tropical attractions, including the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest ; the quaint rainforest village of Kuranda ; and Cape Tribulation , where two of the world's richest ecosystems (rainforest and reef) merge in a sublime mingling of blues and greens.

Alternatively, you can base yourself in the sleepy tropical town of Port Douglas (about 60 minutes' drive north of Cairns). It lies a little closer to the reef, and charms visitors with its relaxed tropical feel and friendly locals. If you have more time, consider adding on some of the itineraries below.

Read More: Top-Rated Beaches in Sydney, Australia

Northern Territory Itinerary Highlights : Darwin, Kakadu National Park, Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge), Alice Springs, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon)

The Northern Territory offers a taste of the Australian Outback. Stark red deserts, magnificent rock formations, and spectacular wilderness areas are some of the top things to see here.

Fly into Darwin, the main gateway for the tropical Top End, as it's called in Australia. Stay a night or two here soaking up all the fun attraction in Darwin , such as the famous Mindil Beach Sunset Market , the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory , and Stokes Hill Wharf. Thrill seekers can cage-dive with saltwater crocodiles at Crocosaurus Cove .

From Darwin, rent a car and drive about 255 kilometers to World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park , Australia's largest national park and one of the planet's most awe-inspiring wilderness areas. Take a Yellow Water or Guluyambi boat cruise to see crocodiles and water birds, or hike to ancient Aboriginal cave paintings.

From Kakadu, you can drive about 180 kilometers to Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park , with its series of 13 stunning steep-walled gorges. Explore the area on a scenic cruise, hike the trails, or paddle along the Katherine River in a kayak or canoe.

From the nearby town of Katherine, fly to Alice Springs in Australia's Red Centre. This is the gateway to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park , where Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock), one of Australia's top tourist attractions, rises 348 meters above the red-hued desert. About 40 kilometers from here, you can explore the dome-shaped rocks called Kata Tjuta (the Olgas).

If you have time, drive about 290 kilometers from Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon) for more breathtaking outback scenery and one of Australia's top hiking trails : Kings Canyon Rim Walk .

• Read More: Top-Rated Things to Do in Australia's Northern Territory

Central & Southeast Queensland Coastal Itinerary Highlights : Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Fraser Island, Hervey Bay, Airlie Beach, the Whitsunday Islands

Sun, sea, sand, and sailing are the top attractions of this tour through Southeast and Central Queensland. Fly into the Sunshine Coast airport in Marcoola (one hour and 35 minutes flight time from Sydney), and explore some of the Sunshine Coast's surf-lapped beach towns and gorgeous beaches .

Soak up the scene with a stroll along the Mooloolaba Boardwalk, one of the top things to do in Mooloolaba ; surf some waves at Coolum Beach ; or bask on the beaches of Caloundra . Traveling on a budget? Take your pick from some of the best campgrounds on the Sunshine Coast .

If you're looking for a stylish base, stay in the beautiful beach resort of Noosa Heads . You can rest your head at some of the Sunshine Coast's top resorts. While you're here, hike through Noosa National Park ; spend an afternoon on magnificent Main Beach , swimming, surfing, or sunning; and stroll along Hastings Street , with its fantastic restaurants and boutique shops.

From Noosa, you can take day trips to explore all the top things to do on the Sunshine Coast . Save time, too, for a visit to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Here, you can visit cute country towns like Maleny and nearby Montville.

You can also join a tour to K'Gari (Fraser Island ), the world's largest sand island, or rent a 4WD and embark on a self-drive tour of this stunning UNESCO World Heritage site. Stay a night or two exploring the sparkling freshwater lakes, sweeping beaches, dunes, shipwrecks, and rainforests.

Hervey Bay , the gateway to Fraser Island, is also worth a visit. Whale watching is one of the most popular activities here, as well as fishing, sailing, and a range of other water sports.

From Marcoola, fly to Whitsunday Coast Airport in Proserpine (PPP). It's about 25 kilometers from Airlie Beach , the gateway to the idyllic Whitsunday Islands . From here, charter a boat and sail around these sun-soaked islands strung along the southern stretches of the Great Barrier Reef, or hop aboard a multi-island cruise.

Popular islands include family-friendly Daydream Island , Hamilton Island (the only Whitsunday island with its own airport), Long Island , and Hook Island . For a luxury island hideaway, hop aboard a helicopter to Hayman Island . With its silky soft silica sand, Whitehaven Beach is one of the top beaches in Australia and a must-see destination on your island-hopping adventure.

• Read More: Top Tourist Attractions in Queensland

Victoria Itinerary Highlights : Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island Penguin Parade, Mornington Peninsula, Grampians National Park, Wilsons Promontory, the Yarra Valley, and Dandenong Ranges

Australia's rugged south coast is home to one of the country's most staggeringly beautiful stretches of coastline. Fly into Melbourne, the vibrant capital of Victoria , and explore all the fantastic restaurants, shops, museums, galleries, and other attractions.

From here, you can choose from an adventure-filled list of Melbourne day trips . The most famous is a self-drive or guided tour along The Great Ocean Road , one of Australia's most breathtaking scenic drives. In Port Campbell National Park , gape at the Twelve Apostles , the wind-sculpted rock formations rising from the thrashing surf. Hike the Great Ocean Walk or, for a bird's-eye view, fly over the coast in a helicopter. In Torquay , surfers can ride the legendary swells of Bells Beach or visit the Australian National Surfing Museum .

In the hinterland, lush forests, zipline adventures, and treetop walking tours await. Other popular day trips from Melbourne include the Phillip Island Penguin Parade and the golden beaches of the Mornington Peninsula .

For fantastic hiking and bushland scenery, venture to Grampians National Park (260 kilometers from Melbourne), Wilsons Promontory (200 kilometers from Melbourne), or the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges (25 kilometers from Melbourne).

Western Australia Itinerary Highlights : Perth, the Margaret River, Ningaloo Reef, Broome, the Kimberley

About a five-hour flight from Australia's east coast, Western Australia is a wonderland of wilderness areas, wildlife, coral reefs, and beautiful beaches. This diverse and sparsely populated state is often overlooked by international travelers due to its distance from Sydney, but it delivers jaw-dropping beauty without the crowds.

Look at a map of Australia, and you'll see the ebullient state capital of Perth flung in the southwestern corner of this vast state. Start your tour here, and spend a day or two exploring all the attractions in the city .

Save time to venture out of the city, too. Day trips from Perth are particularly appealing. Take a cruise up the winding Swan River to the Swan Valley , or down river to Fremantle , Perth's vibrant port city. From Fremantle, you can also catch a ferry to ravishing Rottnest Island , rimmed by beautiful white-sand beaches and turquoise shallows.

Spend a few days at the Margaret River , about a three-hour drive from Perth. This prime grape-growing district offers great surf breaks, beautiful beaches, scenic coastal hikes, and a bounty of fresh produce and artisan foods.

After a taste of the city and surrounds, fly from Perth to Broome (flight time 2.5 hours) and ride a camel at sunset along the sweeping sands of Cable Beach . Want to get your heart pumping? Head to Horizontal Falls. One of Australia's top outdoor adventures , this exhilarating experience usually includes a seaplane flight over the falls and the rugged red cliffs of the northwest coast to Cape Leveque . Then you touch down for a succulent seafood lunch on the water, and a jet boat ride through the falls.

If you have more time, venture deep into the rugged Kimberley to see spectacular Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park , a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Mitchell Falls, or plan a rugged 4WD adventure along the Gibb River Road . Return to Perth.

Still more time? Fly from Perth to Exmouth (a two-and-a-half-hour flight to Learmonth airport) and explore nearby World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef , the world's largest fringing reef. Easily accessible from shore, this rich ecosystem is famous for the whale sharks that swim here from March through October, and you can swim with these gentle giants on an organized tour.

With more than 500 species of fish and 300 species of coral, the marine reserve is also a prime diving, snorkeling, and fishing destination . From here, drive 50 minutes to Cape Range National Park with its red-hued gorges and rugged canyons.

• Read More: Top-Rated Tourist Attractions & Places to Visit in Western Australia

South Australia Itinerary Highlights : Adelaide, the Barossa & Clare Valleys, Kangaroo Island, Flinders Ranges National Park

Sophisticated yet refreshingly slow paced, Adelaide is one of Australia's underrated cities and the gateway to the top places to visit in South Australia .

Spend a day or two in this gracious state capital exploring the many museums, galleries, and gardens. Then rent a car and drive about an hour from the city to the beautiful Barossa Valley (about 60 kilometers north of Adelaide) and the Clare Valley . These fertile lands are prime grape-growing regions and favorite foodie destinations, thanks to their bounty of fresh produce and fantastic restaurants.

From Adelaide, you can also drive about 45 minutes south to the pretty Fleurieu Peninsula. This scenic region offers golden beaches, great surf, farms, and more fabulous restaurants.

From the Fleurieu Peninsula, catch a ferry to Kangaroo Island, one of the state's top tourist destinations. You can also fly here in about 30 minutes from Adelaide. The island is famous for its pristine beaches and abundant wildlife. Fresh local produce is also a highlight — among the many gourmet delights are fresh seafood, free-range eggs, and Ligurian honey.

Close-up wildlife viewing is one of the top things to do on Kangaroo Island . In addition to the island's namesake marsupials, you can also see koalas, seal lions, New Zealand fur seals, echidnas, penguins, whales, and many species of birds. Save time to visit Flinders Chase National Park, with its strangely contorted rock formations and scenic hiking trails, as well as the fascinating limestone caves of Kelly Hill Conservation Park .

If you have more time, consider adding a safari to your itinerary and plan a road trip to Flinders Ranges National Park. About a five-hour drive from Adelaide, it's a favorite haunt of artists and photographers who appreciate the rich hues of shifting light on the arid landscapes.

Highlights : Hobart, Port Arthur Historic Site, Freycinet National Park, Launceston, Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Mount Field National Park

Tasmania (affectionately called "Tassie" by the Aussies) is a nirvana for nature lovers. The island is Australia's smallest state and an ideal destination for a self-drive tour. Almost half of its landmass is protected by national parks and World Heritage Areas, providing a pristine playground of wild rivers, misty peaks, lakes, and densely wooded forests. It's also called "the Apple Isle" because it was once one of the world's major apple producers.

Today, the state is famous for its fabulous fresh produce and artisan foods. No matter where you go, save time to savor some succulent seafood, fresh fruits, and creamy cheeses along the way. This loop through some of Tasmania's top attractions takes about five or six days plus a night or two in Hobart at each end.

Fly into Hobart, the state capital, and drive or hike to the top of kunanyi (Mount Wellington) for spectacular views over the city. Browse the shops and galleries at Salamanca Place and see cutting edge art at MONA.

After exploring Hobart , drive about an hour southeast of Hobart and tour the Port Arthur Historic Site , a former penal colony and one of the top things to do in Tasmania . After this sobering dose of convict history, explore the rugged sea cliffs and sheltered coves of nearby Tasman National Park . About 55 minutes from Hobart by car and ferry, Bruny Island is also worth a visit. Take a tasting tour of the island's gourmet treats and artisan produce, or explore the natural beauty of South Bruny National Park .

From Hobart, drive 2.5 hours northeast to World Heritage-listed Freycinet National Park for superb scenery and the perfect slice of white-sand beach at dazzling Wineglass Bay . You can explore the park on scenic drives and hiking trails — the Wineglass Bay Circuit is one of the top hikes in Australia .

From Freycinet National Park , drive about two hours to charming Launceston , Tasmania's second largest town. Here, you can admire the elegant Victorian architecture on heritage trails, visit beautiful Cataract Gorge, and tour World Heritage-listed country estates not far from the city.

From Launceston, drive south to Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park and explore stunning landscapes featuring alpine heathland, glacier-carved crags, sparkling lakes, and ancient forests. From here, drive about two hours to Strahan , a great base to explore the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park . Cruise along the Gordon River, or raft the whitewater rapids of the mighty Franklin River, one of Australia's top outdoor adventures.

From Strahan, drive 300 kilometers back to Hobart through Tasmania's World Heritage-listed wilderness areas. If you have time, stop by Mount Field National Park on the way. Hike the beautiful nature trails and see triple-tiered waterfalls.

The best time to visit Australia depends on where you want to go. To maximize your sightseeing, it's a good idea to avoid the tropics in the wet season (December to April), but every season offers unique experiences.

Winter (June through August) is a wonderful time to visit the Red Centre, when desert temperatures are milder during the day. Winter is also the dry season in Far North Queensland and the Whitsundays, which typically means sunny days and comfortable temperatures for swimming and island hopping. And of course, winter is a prime time to play in Australia's best ski resorts .

Summer (December through February) is a great time to visit the southern states, especially Tasmania. At this time of year, the warm, sunny days are perfect for basking on some of Australia's best beaches .

Planning to visit several destinations? Spring and autumn in Australia are usually good times to visit most parts of the country.

More Related Articles on PlanetWare.com

More Australia Travel Itinerary Ideas : If you're planning a trip around Australia and you're looking for some thrills, check out our article on the Top Outdoor Adventures in Australia , from snorkeling with whale sharks to four-wheel driving on the golden beaches of Fraser Island.

Anglers will find some fantastic fishing. Discover the top spots with our list of the best fishing destinations in Australia . You can fly fish for trout, hook a marlin, or cast to cobia on crystal-clear flats.

Is trekking more your style? Add some of the top hikes Down Under to your Australia itinerary. Tackle the rugged Kings Canyon Rim Walk in the Northern Territory or climb to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest peak.

More on Australia

Best Road Trip Planner Australia

Planning a Road Trip? Introducing the All Around Oz Road Trip Planner – your perfect co-traveller! Whether you’re planning your first roadtrip or are a seasoned road tripper, this free resource is designed to make your road trip more effortless, enjoyable, and memorable.

Designed by a caravanner and camper for caravanners and campers to plan a road trip, this tool lets you create, customise, and print your unique road trip itineraries.

How To Use the Australian Road Trip Planner

Plan your road trip itinerary using our road trip planner below to track each stop.

To use our free Road Trip Planner, add your starting location and finishing location in the marked boxes below.

Need to add some stops along the way? Add your stops to your road trip by using the box supplied.

To add extra stops simply click on the plus sign and if you want to remove any stops, click on the minus sign.

Click on the “Plan My Trip” button when complete and your map, complete with instructions will be provided.

To print your map and instructions for your road trip, simply click the “Print” button situated at the end beneath the map once you have used the “Plan My Trip” button.

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Planning a Trip to Australia: Where to Start, When to Go, What to See

By Author Jurga

Posted on Last updated: November 10, 2023

Planning a trip to Australia , but not sure where to start with the preparations for your dream vacation? This article is for you!

Australia is one of those countries that everybody dreams of going to one day. But then the day is finally there and you have not the slightest idea on where to start. Don’t rush to the travel agency just yet! First, figure out what YOU want so that your dream trip becomes a reality!

Below you can find some advice on how to plan Australia trip and make a good trip itinerary. Find out!

How to Plan a Trip to Australia – Our Experience & Tips

We were lucky to have had an opportunity to travel to Australia twice: once as a couple, and ten years later, with our three kids of 3, 3, and 5 years old.

Our first trip to Australia and New Zealand ten years ago was also our first road trip, and there were lots of things we didn’t know . We just booked the most popular road trip itinerary and relied on the road book we got from our travel agent. We saw many amazing places, yet we were disappointed. We went to New Zealand on the same trip as well, and we loved every single day there. So what went wrong in Australia?

We knew that Australia is huge and that driving times can be very long. What we didn’t know is that it is really boring on the road most of the time. Often, there is not much to see in between the places which are well worth visiting.

We saw so many dead kangaroos on the road and black, burned forests that it was even depressing with moments… We visited quite some towns along the Eastern Coast which were really not worth it – at least not for someone who only has 3 weeks in Australia.

So when we were preparing our second Australia trip with kids, we knew that we had to make an itinerary in such a way that it would be fun for the whole family. We were not going to make the same mistake twice!

So here are some general tips and recommendations to help you plan your dream Australia vacation. Read on!

Planning Australia trip – what you need to know in advance

Below you can find some essential tips that will help you plan a trip to Australia. Not just any trip, but a really well-thought-of bucket-list trip that you always dreamt of. Take a look!

How to prepare a good travel plan for Australia

Before you start planning your Australian trip itinerary, you have to figure out the following:

• What are your INTERESTS ? If traveling with kids, make sure to take their interests into account as well.
• WHEN do you want to go?
• HOW MUCH TIME do you have?
• WHERE – which places do you definitely want to see?

1. What do you want to see and do in Australia

The very first thing you have to figure out is what you expect from your trip to Australia. Do you want to see the beaches, go diving or snorkeling? Do you want to visit some cities, or maybe none at all? Or maybe you are mostly interested in beautiful nature and diverse wildlife?

For most people, it’s a combination of all. Still, you have to set priorities.

When we were preparing our trip to Australia with children, we were also struggling to come up with a good plan. We wanted to see as much as possible, but also had to try to estimate how much sightseeing a three- or a five-year-old can actually handle.

In the end, we chose nature destinations and limited city visits to just two days in Sydney and one day in Melbourne . Wildlife and nature are the most important factors for us when traveling with kids, and so we added Kangaroo Island , Tasmania, Great Ocean Road , and some other locations to our itinerary.

We also visited a few wildlife sanctuaries so that the kids could cuddle a koala, feed a kangaroo, and touch a Tasmanian Devil. We didn’t go to a zoo or a theme park as it was not in our interest and also didn’t fit our itinerary. But it might be something you as a family wants to consider, especially if you are passing near such a place anyway.

You are the one who knows your family and their interests best. So make sure that your Australia vacation is fun for everybody!

2. What is the best time to travel to Australia?

You can travel to Australia at any time of the year as long as you choose the right places in the right season. You can either decide on what you want to see and then find out when it’s the best time to go there OR you can select the places to fit your holidays. Just do some research before you book!

Remember that the best times are also the busiest times, so book early and be prepared to pay more. If possible, avoid Christmas and Easter vacations.

Here is a short destination guide to help you decide where to go in Australia and when:

• Sydney can be visited all year round. See our 1-day Sydney itinerary for the must-sees.
• North Australia (Darwin area) is not a good idea in Australian summer as it is also the wet season and the roads are often impassible. The best time to visit is May to October. Here you can find our suggested Darwin itinerary .
• Southern Australia ( Melbourne area, Adelaide, Great Ocean Road , Kangaroo Island …) is probably best visited in the warmer months. By the way, we absolutely loved Kangaroo Island! Here you can read more about our visit to Kangaroo Island .
• Tasmania is a summer destination unless you don’t mind the cold and the wind, or want to go skiing. The best time to visit Tasmania is between November and March. Here you can find more info about things to do in Hobart, Tasmania .
• Red Centre (Alice Springs, Uluru) – can be visited all year round, but it’s VERY HOT and can be very wet in the Australian summer months. It’s a good destination in winter when Europe and the US have long summer holidays, but it will be much busier as well. Here you can find more information about visiting Australia’s Red Centre . The best time to visit the Red Center is from May to September.
• Queensland (The Great Barrier Reef and the East coast between Cairns and Brisbane) is warm all year round, but the summer months are also the wettest. Tropics can be beautiful when it rains. The best time to travel to Queensland is from May to October.
• South-Western Australia (Perth area) is probably best in spring or autumn. Summers are hot and winters – wet. Locals say that August and September are the best months to visit Perth.

3. How much time do you need in Australia?

It’s very important to understand that you cannot see everything in Australia unless you have unlimited time and budget. So be selective when you choose where to go.

The first time we traveled to Australia we had 3,5 weeks and we did a road trip from Cairns to Sydney. Despite the fact that this tour is presented as the most popular way to see Australia by most of the travel agencies, I wouldn’t do it again. I know more people who had a similar trip itinerary and they were all disappointed. Driving time is much too long on this trip, you spend hours in the car, and it’s not like you see the most amazing landscapes or landmarks every day.

In 3-4 weeks time, you can see the Great Barrier Reef, some of the Eastern coast, Sydney and the Blue Mountains, plus some other places like, for example, the Red Centre or the Great Ocean Road. That means you have to fly instead of driving , and that you have to be more selective as to where you go.

TIP: Domestic flights are not necessarily the more expensive option. In fact, it can be cheaper to fly than to spend days on the road. The costs of car rental, fuel, accommodation, and food for the extra days will quickly add up, not to mention the precious time you save.

When you travel to the other side of the world for just a few weeks and you want to actually see some of this diverse continent, you better go to fewer places that are really worth it than to many places which are not as worthwhile . Spend fewer hours driving and more sightseeing!

4. Top places you shouldn’t miss in Australia

In my opinion, you really should try to see Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru (Ayers Rock), and the Great Ocean Road. These are the very best places to keep in mind when planning a trip to Australia.

However, these places are also very far from each other. So it’s not really feasible to see them all if you only have a week or two. Try to pick at least two of these top spots – that way you at least get a taste of what Australia has to offer.

If I had to choose just one place to go to in Australia, I would recommend the Red Centre (Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park, the Kings Canyon, West MacDonnell Ranges …). It is so very different from all the rest and it’s also what makes Australia so unique. Of course, it’s just my personal opinion, but you really have to experience it in order to understand how special it is. Uluru is not ‘just a rock’.

So, these are our main tips for planning a trip to Australia. To summarize: good trip itinerary stands or falls with these four factors: WHAT, WHEN, HOW LONG, and WHERE. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy.

It goes without saying that the budget is a very important factor as well, but leave the money worries for later, after you figure out your trip itinerary.

Whether you’ll love Australia depends so much on how well you’ll prepare your trip. This is the most important step, so take your time and plan well!

TIP: If you are looking for ideas on where to go in Australia, check this post with our 5-week Australia itinerary . It covers some of the most beautiful regions, some of the must-see places in Australia. Even if you don’t have as much time in Australia, you will get a good idea of what there is to see and how much time you need for each region.

TIP: If you are planning to visit Australia with a family, check out our tips for traveling to Australia with kids .

READ ALSO: Top Places to See on the Great Ocean Road

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Thursday 18th of April 2024

Hi! I planning a trip to Australia, and I only have 10 days total. We're planning to fly into Sydney. But also want to go to Melbourne. I was wondering if I should book a roundtrip to Sydney (with a roundtrip to Melbourne in between)? Or should book a one-way, and then fly home from Melbourne? What's the best way to go about this? I will add that we are looking to fly with Jetstar since it’s the cheapest.

Hi Denise, unless you have a very good reason to do a round-trip to/from the same city, I would definitely fly in and out of different airports (with a domestic flight in-between). That way, you can spend more time sightseeing instead of at the airports and on the planes. Have a great trip!

Adrian Crowson

Wednesday 21st of February 2024

Hopefully when we've sold our business we plan to have 5-6 weeks over there, I take it there's more to see over the east side?

Friday 23rd of February 2024

Hi Adrian, Australia is huge and there's a lot to see all over the country. But the best-known and most popular places are indeed more to the east side, plus also the Red Center, Darwin, Adelaide - Melbourne, Tasmania. I hear good things about Perth, on the west coast, as well. However, the distances are huge so you have to make choices and 5-6 weeks isn't much for such a big country. Trying to see 'everything' will just result in more time spent on planes and in the car than exploring, so pick several areas that interest you the most and spend more time there. Good luck!

michelle battaglio

Monday 8th of January 2024

Hi interested in doing Australia next December I have 13 days to do this. Where do I start and please help me plan an itineray. thank you

Hi Michelle, as you can imagine, there are hundreds of different ways how one could spend two weeks in Australia. Unfortunately, helping craft a truly good itinerary that suits our readers' interests, budget, and travel style would take up much too much of our time. Therefore, we do not offer this service. I suggest that you take a look at our 5-week Australia itinerary. It covers several different regions all over the country. Pick the ones that interest you and you can easily plan your own trip using our detailed suggestions in that article. If you read previous comments under that article, you may find some additional suggestions in there as well. Good luck and have a great time in Australia!

Saturday 30th of December 2023

Hi did you pre-book all your hotels and car rentals and flight before you got to the land of Oz?

Hi Maureen, yes, we always prebook car rentals and accommodations in advance. Usually, we also book tours/excursions before the trip, especially those that we absolutely want to do. It saves you a lot of hassle and is usually much cheaper too. Plus, if you are visiting remote places, there may be very limited options to start with. If you are traveling on your own, in the low season, in popular places with lots of facilities, and have complete flexibility, you can probably just wing it. But otherwise, I would definitely book ahead.

Monday 28th of August 2023

Hi, I’m wanting to go to Australia for the first time for my 60th! It will be for 3 weeks. Would like to go to Sydney but where else should my husband and I visit. We love history, culture, nature! Just don’t know where to start! Please could you advise? Regards Gail

Wednesday 30th of August 2023

Hi Gail, I have covered this info in the article. A lot depends on the season when you visit, your personal preferences, etc. On the first trip, most people visit Sydney (+Blue Mountains), Melbourne (+Great Ocean Road), Red Centre (Uluru), and the area around Cairns (Great Barrier Reef). You may want to take a look at our Australia itinerary for more info, it will give you an idea of what can be done in different parts of Australia. Unfortunately, I really have no time to help our readers with individual trip planning. Good luck with the planning!

Road Trips Australia

Travel made easy.

Epic Adventures: The Ultimate Road Trip Planner Australia

Welcome to Road Trips Australia, the road trip planner Australia where passion for exploration meets meticulous planning! I’m Felecia, a devoted travel enthusiast, and I’ve curated detailed, adventurous and achievable road trips from every capital city in Australia. Join me on a journey through the diverse landscapes, iconic landmarks, and hidden gems that make road-tripping through Australia an unforgettable experience. Your road trip of a lifetime begins here!

Best Road Trip Planner Australia: Crafting Unforgettable Journeys

Capturing coastal splendour:, into the heart of the outback, mountain escapes, township chronicles, historical and cultural exploration, discover regional produce, iconic australian landscapes and national parks, free road trip planner australia: unlocking affordable adventures, caravan trip planner australia: unveiling the nomadic wonders, tailor-made road trip planner australia: your personalized adventure, conclusion: your road trip adventure awaits.

Curating the best road trips requires an understanding of the diverse landscapes Australia offers. Our Road Trip Planner Australia is a collection of carefully crafted itineraries that capture the essence of each region. The Best Road Trip Planner Australia is more than just a helpful guide; it’s an initation to explore the diverse regions that define this vast continent.

What do I get with my Road Trip Planner Australia?

• Choose a 7 – 14-day crafted itinerary for your chosen state.
• Achievable daily driving distances averaging 300 km per day.
• Suggested things to do and places to see.
• Suggested places to stay to suit accommodation seekers, RV’s (Recreational Vehicles), and camping.
• Each road trip planner has a map you can share with your device.

Further, we make trip planning easy: check out our meal planning guide , packing list , and the best navigation and travel apps to assist in a successful journey!

Road Trip Planner Australia: Marvelous Driving Holidays

Escape the ordinary and embrace extraordinary adventures with our Road Trip Planner Australia for driving holidays tailored for 7 and 14-day journeys ideal for annual leave and school holidays. Unfold the ideal roadmap to explore unique pockets of Australia, piece by piece. Extend your trip to discover a new region of Australia: Perhaps fly-and-drive WA, Tasmania, or the Northern Territory, the possibilities are endless.

For those enchanted by the allure of the sea, dive into road trips along the mesmerising coastlines. Wind your way along the iconic Great Ocean Road , Victoria, be amazed by South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula or discover hidden coves, the peaceful beaches of North Queensland and charming seaside towns that dot the Australian coastline.

Venture into the heart of Australia with road trips that traverse the rugged beauty of the Outback. Feel the red earth beneath your feet at the Simpson Desert , witness the surreal landscapes of the Red Centre , and camp under a blanket of stars that illuminate the vast, open sky in Outback Queensland . The Best Road Trip Planner Australia unveils the secrets of the outback and the stories etched into its ancient rocks.

Escape to the tranquillity of the mountains with road trips that lead to the high country. Explore the peak of Mount Kosciuszko National Park , the iconic Blue Mountains, or the Alpine region of Tasmania at Cradle Mountain , a haven for hikers and nature enthusiasts. Continue your journey through elevated vistas and charming mountain villages.

Each town becomes a chapter in Australia’s story. From historic pubs to the coastal charm of Port Fairy, the Best Road Trip Planner Australia invites you to wander through towns that have preserved the essence of Australia’s past. Explore heritage-listed buildings and local museum s , and engage with the stories that define these unique regional areas.

Venture beyond urban confines to discover the heart of Australian heritage in regional areas. The road trip planner beckons you to explore the remnants of the gold rush in Victoria , trace the convict history etched in the landscapes of Tasmania , and feel the ancient pulse of Aboriginal heritage in the windswept terrains of the Red Centre .

For the connoisseurs of life’s pleasures, our road trip planner journeys by wine, distillery and food opportunities through Australia’s renowned regions. Taste the exquisite drops of the Coonawarra , savour fresh local produce along roadside stalls, and indulge in culinary delights across Tasmania or South Australia’s Coffin Bay Oysters . Discover a journey that excites your palate and elevates your senses.

Discover the breathtaking beauty of Australia’s iconic landscapes and national parks on our journeys. From the remote gorges of North Queensland’s Savannah Way to the Alpine National Park , our road trip planner directs you to these natural marvels. Immerse yourself in the pristine environments of national parks, where Australia’s unique flora and fauna come to life. Experience the awe-inspiring landscapes that define the continent, ensuring your journey is not only affordable but also rich in the unparalleled beauty of the Australian wilderness.

Embark on explorations with our Free Road Trip Planner Australia, tailored for all kinds of travellers, from those seeking accommodations to RV enthusiasts and budget-conscious wanderers. This planner is not just a guide; it’s a key to unlocking affordable adventures across the diverse landscapes of Australia. Whether you’re chasing sunsets in the Outback, navigating coastal roads, or seeking serenity in the mountains, this free planner ensures that the thrill of the open road is accessible to everyone. Let your journey be a testament to the idea that adventure knows no price tag and the beauty of Australia awaits.

For those seeking the freedom of the open road with your RV (Recreational Vehicle), Road Trip Planner Australia is your gateway to nomadic wonders. Explore the vastness of the Outback, coastal retreats, and lush hinterlands while enjoying the comforts of your caravan or RV. From the sun-kissed beaches of Queensland to the rugged beauty of Western Australia, our road trip planner is your roadmap to caravan adventures that redefine travel. Should you have the luxury of time, join the road trips together for an extended adventure.

Helping you discover Australia piece by piece with Road Trip Planner Australia!

So, no two travellers are the same, nor should their road trips be. Our Tailor-Made Road Trip Planner Australia presents the opportunity to have a customised adventure. Choose your departure destination and preferred places of interest, choose activities that align with your interests, and we can create a road trip that reflects your unique travel identity. It’s your journey, your way.

Contact us for the creation of your tailor-made road trip Australia!

At Road Trips Australia, we believe that every journey should be an exploration of self and surroundings. Whether you’re drawn to the coastal allure of the Great Ocean Road or the vast beauty of Australia’s Outback, our road trip planner Australia is created to inspire and guide. Start your engines, pack your sense of adventure, and let the roads of Australia unfold before you. The ultimate road trip adventure awaits – are you ready?

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Australia Road Trip Planner: How To Plan The Perfect Road Trip In Australia

Posted on Last updated: January 4, 2024

So you’ve sorted your visa and have booked flights for Australia, and you’re now getting ready and planning the perfect road trip in Australia.

Australia is an extremely popular backpacker destination and road trips along the stunning coastline of the land down under are almost a rite of passage for many.

In this Australia road trip planner I’ve tried including everything you might need to know about planning your own Australia road trip, including how to find the perfect vehicle, when to visit, where to go, what to pack and more.

So start reading and planning your ideal Australia road trip!

• 1 Best time to road trip Australia
• 2 Finding the right road trip vehicle
• 3 How long do you need for the perfect Australia road trip?
• 4.1 Great Ocean Road
• 4.2 Australia East Coast: Pacific Coast Way
• 5.1 Car entertainment
• 5.2 Kitchen utensils
• 5.3 Practical extras
• 6 Where to stay in Australia

The Milky Way seen from somewhere along the Pacific Coast Way, Australia

Best time to road trip Australia

Australia is a huge country (bigger than the whole of Europe!) and is characterised by a wide variety of climates and landscapes.

As such there isn’t really a specific time of year that is better than another to visit, it all depends on where in Australia you are going.

Queensland and the northern parts of the country have an almost tropical weather and you can expect high temperatures all year round, if you head south to Melbourne and surroundings you can expect to find all four seasons like in Europe.

Just remember that the seasons are opposite compared to Europe and that when it’s summer in Europe it’s actually winter in Australia.

Befriending the locals at Cape Hillsborough Beach in Australia

Finding the right road trip vehicle

This one largely depends on how long you are planning on being in Australia for.

For a short road trip the easiest things to do is rent a car, however if you’re looking to spend a long time on the road in Australia you might want to consider purchasing a vehicle.

There is a big working holiday and road trip culture in Australia, which makes it very easy to buy and sell used cars. A good place to look for your perfect vehicle is Gumtree ; a site where people buy and sell used things.

You can also check out backpacker Facebook groups for the city you are staying in or the noticeboards of your hostel, chances are that other backpackers who are done with their Australia road trips are looking to sell their vehicles.

| READ MORE: 15 AUSSIE ADVENTURES YOU CAN’T MISS |

Driving on the beach on Fraser Island, Australia

Before purchasing your vehicle just make sure you take into account everything you want and need it to do. For example; will you be staying in hostels along the way or do you want to camp?

Where do you want to road trip and what are the roads like? What is your budget? These and others are all things to take into account that will help you narrow your search and find the ideal vehicle for your trip.

If you’re just looking to get from A to B and will be sleeping in hostels you might be happy with a simple and efficient hatchback, if you want to camp you might be looking for an iconic Aussie van, if you’re going into the outback you might want a 4×4.

Make sure to take everything into account and search for a car that ticks all the boxes.

Driving on the Great Ocean Road

How long do you need for the perfect Australia road trip?

Lots of young backpackers visit Australia on a 1-year working holiday visa, and often extend it to 2 years after doing 3 months of farm work.

If you don’t have months or years to spend in Australia don’t fret or feel like you’re not getting the real experience.

Australia is a huge country and you need time to see it, but you can have the perfect Aussie road trip even on a 2-week vacation from work.

I spent just over a month in Australia, during which I did two main road trips; on the Australian East Coast for 2 weeks and on the Great Ocean Road for a long weekend, plus other trips to Uluru , Melbourne and Sydney .

Regardless of how long you have in Australia make sure to take into account for long driving times.

View over Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour from Pylon Lookout

Sample Australia road trip itineraries

We’ve gone through all the essential road trip information like how to find the right vehicle, when to visit Australia and what to pack, so by now you might be wondering where should you even be road tripping in Australia?

There are a number of iconic road trips in Australia that you should consider adding to your travel bucket list.

Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is one of the most famous and iconic road trips in the world. Characterised by its stunning coastline in 2017 it received 5 million visitors. The road itself is only 244 km and can be driven in 8 hours.

You need to adapt your itinerary depending on how much time you have and how much of the Great Ocean Road you want to see.

We started in Melbourne and spent 2 days on the Great Ocean Road and found it a good amount of time that allowed us to see all the main landmarks without rushing.

From sunset at the Twelve Apostles and the Bay of Islands, to chasing waterfalls in the Great Otway National Park, our weekend itinerary covered it all.

Obviously if you have longer you can spend more time at every stop and see more of the Great Ocean Road.

| READ MORE: 14 MUST SEE PLACES ON THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD |

Sunset at the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell National Park, Australia

Australia East Coast: Pacific Coast Way

The Australian East Coast road trip seems to be a rite of passage for all backpackers in Australia.

We spent two weeks road tripping from Cairns to Brisbane but some travellers go as far south as Sydney   and Blue Mountains (and then all the way round to Melbourne if you really have lots of time available)!

The wide variety of landscapes and climates makes this a truly unique road trip.

In the same trip you can scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef , you can see the Daintree Rainforest (the oldest rainforest in the world), the crystal clear water and white sand beaches of the Whitsunday Islands , the dingoes in Fraser Island and the rock pools of Noosa .

We found two weeks was a good amount of time for this road trip, any less would have felt very rushed with too much driving time, but if you’re not in a rush you can take it slower and spend longer at every stop.

| READ MORE: PACIFIC COAST WAY ROAD TRIP IN 2 WEEKS |

The view of Whitehaven Beach from Cape Hinlet in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia

There are plenty of other road trips you can do in Australia, I mean you could even drive around the whole country if you wanted to!

Check out these guides on the ultimate Australia bucket list and the best road trips in Australia to give you some more inspiration on where to go during your Australian road trip.

Kangaroos on the beach at sunrise at Cape Hillsborough, Australia

What to pack for an Australian road trip

What to bring on an Australian road trip largely depends on how long you plan to be on the road for.

I won’t get in the nitty gritty of how many pairs of socks or underwear you are going to need (I hope you can figure that one without my help!) but you can get some inspiration from my Australian outback packing list or my rainy season packing list  (it’s based on my trip to Thailand but still relevant for any destination that experiences tropical weather).

The items I’ve listed here are more specific to things you might need on the road if you plan to camp or spend very long periods of time driving.

Car entertainment

This one is a pretty essential part of any road trip packing list. Especially if you’re travelling with children, it’s essential to have some road trip games for kids ready.

During our Cairns to Brisbane road trip on some days we spent up to 8 hours driving and if we didn’t have some games to entertain us, we would have probably gone a bit crazy.

It doesn’t have to be anything complex, but simple things like an AUX chord to plug in your phone to the car stereo and put on some music when there’s no radio reception can be a life changer.

Even if you don’t have the space to play cards a deck of cards can be used for magic tricks and all sorts of higher vs lower games while you’re on the road. If you don’t want to add any weight to your bags, check out these 14 road trip games .

Getting up close to Hopetoun Falls, Great Otway National Park, Australia

Kitchen utensils

If you’re buying or renting a camper van odds are that it will already come equipped with all the necessary gear to eat on the road.

If it doesn’t however you will have to purchase everything from plates to cutlery , chopping boards , pots and pans , bowls , washing products , sponges or cloths and even gas stoves .

If you’re planning on staying in hostels or apartments these usually come with fully equipped kitchens that you can use so you won’t need to purchase all the above.

However if you think you might stop for a barbecue somewhere along the way it’s a good idea to pack at least the essentials to make sure you’re ready for a meal on the road.

A very Aussie barbecue

Practical extras

Regardless of whether you’re planning on camping or sleeping in hotels, apartments or hostels there are some practical extras you might find useful on the road.

For example toilet roll (might seem obvious I know!) so if a sudden need strikes in the middle of the outback you’re ready.

You need a tank of extra fuel in the booth, since you don’t know how far the next gas station will be.

Blanket and pillows as appropriate if you’re planning on sleeping on the road or just want to take really great naps while someone else drives (you can add ear plugs and sleeping masks to the mix if you want to take it to the next level).

Bin bags so you can put together all the trash you accumulate in the car. These are just suggestions to help guide you in the right direction, think of the kind of road trip you’re planning and what you will need and pack accordingly.

Views over the ocean from the Daintree Rainforest, Australia

Where to stay in Australia

If you’re purchasing a van or camper van I’m guessing you want to camp during your Australia road trip.

However occasionally if you want to sleep in an actual room with walls around you, there are plenty of hostels, hotels and apartments both in big cities and smaller towns in Australia.

Especially in the main stops along famous road trip routes the local destinations are used to seeing lots of backpackers passing through.

I personally found hostels to be rather expensive, especially in trendy areas like Bondi , with some of them starting at 30 AUD per night for a bed in a shared dorm.

Comparatively when there was 5 of us road tripping on the East Coast we sometimes spent less than that per person for a nice apartment with more than one bathroom and kitchen.

Make sure to check all accommodation options online before booking (if you’ve never used AirBnb before, get $30 off here )!

Inside Loch Ard Gorge, Great Ocean Road, Australia

Final thoughts on planning a road trip in Australia

Have you been on a road trip in Australia before? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments below!

If you’ve been on an epic road trip in Australia and want to add anything to this guide let me know, I’d love to include your input to make it even more complete!

I compiled this guide based on my own road trip experience in Australia, however I haven’t been on a prolonged camper van or camping trip, so I might be lacking some insight on that aspect.

I hope you find this Australia road trip planner useful in planning the perfect Australia road trip!

Enjoyed reading my Australia road trip planner? Pin it!

Disclaimer:  This post was written in collaboration with Gumtree Australia. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For those who are planning their first visit to Australia, here’s just a taste of what awaits on this vast continent.

Picture this awesome combination of sights –tanned surfers chasing the perfect wave on endless golden beaches, some of the world’s oldest, lushest, and most spectacular rainforests, and, towering above, snow-covered mountainous peaks. Where else in the world do you meet people who are so friendly and full of zest for life that they’ve adopted the slogan, "No worries mate!" as their approach to life? And the language… so full of charming slang that no one else will understand, and the accent…so incredibly delightful. This is Australia, my friends!

Melbourne is a cosmopolitan, trendy city with an exceptional blend of culture, nature, arts, sports, and cuisine.

Sydney, Australia, invites visitors to indulge in experiences that blend natural beauty, historical landmarks, and a lively cultural scene. 

Alice Springs

Alice Springs, or "Alice" as it’s called by the locals, is a remote town in Australia’s Northern Territory and the heart of Australia’s Red

Fraser Island

Port Douglas

Surfers Paradise

Trip planner - australia, create your perfect trip to melbourne, australia.

Easily plan your trip based on your preferences, budget, and style

Plan your trip with RoutePerfect’s AI and optimize it by using RoutePerfect’s crowdsourced database, based on proven and enjoyable, well-crafted itineraries of thousands of travelers.

For those who are planning their first visit to Australia, what do you need to know? There are countless outstanding experiences to be had– here’s just a taste of what awaits on this vast continent with its extraordinary variety of landscapes and cultures.

Nature lovers, don’t miss the opportunity to dive among the endless colorful corals and tropical fish in the Great Barrier Reef – the longest coral strip in the world- off the coast of Queensland or to hike in the dramatic Blue Mountains, a preserved site, whose name derives from the bluish hue which rises from its cover of eucalyptus leaves. Speaking of hikes, visit Kakadu National Park in the northern part of Australia’s Northern Territory with its canyons, swamps, and lagoons, and tour Nambung National Park in Western Australia which contains the Pinnacles Desert – a unique area with the surreal site of thousands of tall limestone formations -as well as beautiful beaches and flowering plants. And don’t leave out a stop in Tasmania, the island off the coast of the continent with unspoiled landscapes and outstanding treks.

You can also experience Australia’s spectacular beauty on a ride on the winding scenic train of Kuranda through the world’s oldest rainforest, and by driving on the Great Ocean Road , one of the most picturesque roads in the world winding along the southeast coast of Australia. A visit to the Outback, the unpopulated, red heart of Australia is an unforgettable experience, especially seeing Uluru, the giant red monolith and the most sacred place of the Aborigines. Visit the country’s wild life parks and watch the koalas, jumping kangaroos, and other animals which are endemic to Australia.

Spend a few days in Sydney , Australia’s largest city, which is the cradle of European settlement on the continent and among the world’s most beautiful cities. The iconic Sydney Opera House is a must-see – in fact, for the full experience, we recommend that you visit at sunset and sit in one of the many local bars, beer in hand, watching the incredible views. The Bay Bridge- another Sydney icon- is stunning, and a visit to Darling Harbor, surrounded by lively, fun-loving Australians is a unique, enjoyable way to spend an evening. Be sure to wander around Sydney's Chinatown and taste the delicious local food.

Visit Melbourne , with its charming Victorian buildings, spectacular botanical gardens, widely diverse cuisine, and fascinating multiculturalism. Enjoy a rich ethnic meal after a stop at the huge Victoria Market . Spend the late afternoon on the incredible Phillip Island watching the penguins marching from the sea back to their lairs.

And, last but not least, a visit to Australia wouldn’t be complete without touring a local winery and sipping the finest wines.

Here are some fun facts about Australia… The entire continent is located south of the equator and south of most of the countries of the world – hence its nickname “Down Under.” Australia was the home of the native Aborigines for at least 50,000 years before being settled as a penal colony by the British. It later became a welcoming home for many immigrants, initially Europeans and then migrants from around the world.

Yet, even today, there are no more than 26 million inhabitants living on this vast continent, most of them in its coastal regions, while its center is largely void of people. Australia's name comes from the ancient Latin term, "Terra Australis Incognita," which means "the unknown southern land,” and implies its very late discovery. Captain Cook arrived here in 1770, declaring it as a British colony – though, in truth, he was preceded by Dutch and British sailors. In 1901, Australia transitioned from a British colony to an independent country, though it does maintain a symbolic connection with the British Crown.

And now? Time to start planning your trip to this fascinating continent.

Regions in Australia

Attractions in australia, popular itineraries in australia.

How To Plan A Trip To Australia

Michela Australia Travel Planning 17

Planning a trip to Australia can be an overwhelming experience. Not only because you are going to the other side of the world, but because a cost-effective Australia Trip plan requires time and effort that can get out of your control. Australia is (in) famous for being an expensive destination, and a thoughtful travel plan is key to keep the overall costs within the budget you have for Australia. I have been travelling Australia for many years and have planned all kinds of trips, from bus and train rides to flights and road trips around the country. In +15 years, I have gathered a lot of experience while planning my Australian solo trips, and with this guide put I want to help you plan a trip to Australia on a budget.

Table of Contents

What you need to know before planning a trip to Australia

Travelling around Australia can become the most significant expense if you are not timely budgeting for it and exactly know what impacts the overall travel expenses. Once you know what things not to do in Australia, you will soon realise that travelling on a budget in Australia is possible without breaking the bank. Many things work differently in the Land Down Under, and without a thought-out trip plan, you are bound to overspend and exceed your budget very quickly. These are the main reasons why an accurate travel plan for Australia is necessary. Here are the things you must know:

1. You cannot make changes to your travel plan at the last minute.

Making changes to your Australian trip will increase the cost of your trip by 100% and even more. In Australia, distances are enormous; it takes a long time to move from A to B. You must book cheap flights and internal transportation well ahead to save 30-100% on regular rates. Last-minute bookings of airfares, car rentals will cost you at least up to 100% more than a normal price.

2. Don’t waste time with further trip planning when in Australia

You’re there to discover places and experience a new country, not to plan and revise the itinerary all the time. Most of your trip planning must be completed before leaving home. And you must stick to it.

3. Have a clear focus on what you want to do in Australia

Your trip requires a goal, a purpose. It’s easier to identify areas and destinations to include in your itinerary with a clear focus, making planning a trip more accurate. So, I suggest making a list of the places you want to see in Australia and match the time frame you have set, and then go through them and whittle it down to a maximum of four to five destinations for 20 to 30 days of vacation.

Learn the basics of how to Plan a Trip to Australia

The first things you should consider when making a trip plan are the following:

How much time do you have for your Australia Trip?

If you have one week, focus on one region or city only, with a few nearby attractions. If you have two weeks, you can plan two or three destinations. And the more time you have, the more you can plan. Don’t overdo it. I know it’s easy said than done, but in Australia, good timing is crucial.

Where do you want to go to Australia?

Choosing your destinations in Australia is the hardest part of any trip itinerary. To make it a little bit easier, think back to this question: What is the reason you travel to Australia?

Please make a list of, let’s say 10 places and narrow it down to half of them, according to the time of year you plan to go and how much time you have. Then pull out a map and work out the time frame and transportation options. If you plan a road trip, time varies depending on the destination: if it is in the Outback it will require more time than what Google Maps tells you, so plan in ample time for planning a road trip journey .

How much time do you need to visit the destinations you want to see?

This is one important thing to factor in and a big challenge for first-time travellers to Australia too. Especially when you want to explore Australia on road trips . What looks like a short distance often turns out to be a several-day trip. Australia is a great country for road trips, but you must figure out how much time you need each road trip to pace yourself.

The hardest part about creating a good Australia itinerary is balancing your time frame with the places you want to see and the distances you have to travel.

How much time do you need to visit places in Australia?

As said, whether your trip to Australia is two weeks or three months, the allocated time is vital. It is the most critical element in crafting the perfect Australia Itinerary . You need to know the minimum time you’re going to allocate to each place. On the one hand, you don’t want to miss out on essential things, but on the other hand, you don’t want to stay too long in one place and waste precious time. The key is to optimise your time when travelling around Australia.

Most people do underestimate this critical issue and think two weeks will be enough to visit Australia. But in reality Australia is a vast country with largely deserted areas. If you are travelling to Australia for the first time, I recommend going for at least three to four weeks. If you only have one week to spend in Australia, you should first consider whether the long journey is worth such a short stay. Anyways, keeping the focus on one specific region of Australia is the way to go.

Why Travel Distances in Australia matter when planning a trip

Australia it’s twice as big as Europe and about the same size of the US. Travel distances are vast and often underestimated, and challenging for first-time travellers. By looking at this map, you’ll realise that you cannot put the whole of Australia on an itinerary of a few weeks. That’s why it’s essential first to get a feel for the country’s vastness, then choose a region that most suits your travel style and allows enough time to visit the desired destinations at a slow pace.

A few examples of travel distances in Australia

The distance from Perth to Adelaide is over 2,500km. The best way to get there is to fly. With the GHAN train from Adelaide to Perth , it takes two days two nights. If you plan to drive, you need at least 8-12 days. It means that driving is doable on long-term trips only. From Darwin to Cairns , the fastest way is to fly.

The same for Sydney to Cairns . If you’re on a long journey, driving can be fun; the best approach is to hire a camper van and plan for three weeks on the road. With nearly 3,000km from Adelaide to Darwin , you need between 12-16 days on a road trip or a four-hour flight.

How to make a travel plan – when and where to go

Australia is a vast country with different climates and time zones ranging from tropical to temperate. Depending on which time of the year you plan to visit Australia , you can choose the areas accordingly. If you wish to spend most of your time in the Australian Outback and the tropical regions, May through October will be the best time.

If your trip includes the southern areas of the country, like Victoria and Tasmania , South Australia and Western Australia , then the ideal time is to visit between November through March (Spring to Summer in Australia). Australia’s tropical wet season in Australia’s northern tropical regions is between Nov and Feb, and it’s best to avoid travelling to North West Australia during the wet season. The best time to visit is between May through September (winter in Australia).

Places not to miss in Australia: Where To Start

There are many places in Australia , and this may be challenging for you in your choice. When I went on my first trip to Australia in 2004, I chose a classic round-trip itinerary.

From Sydney to Melbourne along the South East Coast , then a 3-day trip to the Great Ocean Road , on a guided tour over to Adelaide to then fly into Alice Springs and visit Uluru and the Red Centre to end my trip with a visit of the North Tropical Queensland and coming back by bus back to Sydney. And I spent 9 weeks seeing all of these destinations. Here are the top destinations I recommend having in your trip itinerary plan of Australia:

What to add to your Australia trip itinerary

• Sydney is a unique city that offers you places that stand out, like the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Bondi Beach. I will start your trip from Sydney and build your itinerary from there.
• Cairns in Tropical North Queensland is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkelling and scuba-diving and many more attractions like the Daintree Rainforest. They both belong to World Heritage Sites, and they should be on your plan when visiting Australia for the first time.
• Whitsundays , the Gold Coast , and Fraser Island are unique places where you can experience dunes adventures, sailing and snorkelling, as well as hiking in the forests. If you love water sports, then Queensland should be on your bucket list for Australia.
• Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a must-see place, as it is an icon of the Outback and a rewarding experience for a fantastic road trip in the Australian Outback.
• South Australia , with Adelaide , offers excellent vineyards and a beautiful coastline. You can plan a trip to Barossa Valley for wine tastings. Or cross over to Kangaroo Island for natural attractions, wildlife and isolation at its best.
• Tasmania is a place that also fascinates local and international visitors alike with its many national parks, abundant walking trails, stunningly beautiful beaches, great food and the freshest air in the world. I love Tassie and have been 3 times on my trips. I recommend it if you love hiking.
• The Top End is where you love tropical national parks and indigenous heritage in the Northern Territory with Kakadu National Park . Darwin is a place not to miss out if you love adventure and enjoy the typical Australian lay-back lifestyle.

Planning Road Trips around Australia

Driving in Australia for tourists isn’t an issue, and anyone can drive, even if you drive on the left-hand side. I recommend going on a road trip at least once. Choose your self-drive destinations based on your level of driving experience. Keep in mind that four-wheel drive can be challenging, especially if you have no experience. Anyone can go on an Outback road trip on sealed roads with no problems – even if you’re travelling alone, you can enjoy self-driving in Australia. And I’m the living example, with over 15 road trips, of which 10 completely alone.

You can check what to know before hiring a rental car in Australia.

If you are thinking of going on a greater adventure and travel around the country by campervan .

Things To Know About Road Trip Planning in Australia

Before creating a road trip plan for Australia, answer these questions:

1. What distances can you drive to on your own ?

2. What alternative ways of transportation can you consider ?

3. How much time do you need to visit a place or an area ?

Once you’ve done that, cross some destinations off your list and shape more Australia Itinerary Ideas .

If you have three or four weeks for your trip, reduce the list to four or five places. Once you have the rough itinerary set, you’re halfway there. The next important step is to make a travel plan for Australia that perfectly fits your budget and time frame.

Here are my best tips on how to plan a road trip in Australia .

Let a book help you plan your trip itinerary to Australia

That’s the reason I have created a handy Australia guidebook to take you through all the above steps of planning a trip to Australia. It shows how much time you need for each place, what you can and can’t do, how to maximise your time and make cost-effective choices with destinations, transportation and finally, set up the right itinerary for you. The first part focuses on the how-to. The second part outlines five detailed itineraries around Australia that you can extend or shorten with suggested places to visit and things to do in Australia.

Now you won’t need six months or even six weeks to create your itinerary. With this book in hand, you’ll need one hour to read it, plus a week to make your choices and put together a detailed travel plan.

A well thought out itinerary allows you to see the best places of Australia without having to make changes last-minute. It means you’ll maximise your time and potentially save up hundreds if not thousands of Australian dollars on your trip. The guidebook stretches from iconic landmarks to less-visited small towns and regions of Australia, and it is the reflection of +15 years of my explorations of the country.

I wrote this book from my experience as a solo female traveller in Australia to help women travel to Australia safely and with a perfect travel plan. Over the past 5 years, the guidebook has helped thousands of travellers planning their Australian Adventures.

Check out our Australia Itinerary Guide Book

Australia Trip Preparation

This easy step-by-step trip planning guide helps you quickly go through all those crucial things you need to do when your travel plan for Australia is ready, and you want to move to the next stage: from the planning to arranging and preparing for your trip. You don’t need an over-detailed trip plan. What you need now is making all necessary travel arrangements before going to Australia.

Here is the list of what you need to prepare at home for your Australia Trip.

• Find the best flight deal to Australia. The first thing to do when you have a fixed plan, book your return flight to Australia. Book your flight between 2 and 3 months for low-season and 6-8 months for high season (Christmas in December and January, and Easter time). On this page to read how to find the best flight deals . And here you can read my flight review with Emirates Australia Ecomony Class .
• Book All your Internal Flights I recommend booking all your internal flights that are the frame and backbone of your travel plan soon after booking your flight to Australia. Read my tips on how to book domestic flights .
• Browse through all accommodation options There is no need to book all accommodation before going to Australia, but you should have a rough idea of where you want to stay. I would book the first 3-4 nights if you travel in the shoulders months, but if you travel during the peak season, book all accommodation in Australia and use a site that allows cancellations and changes with no fee, like booking.com .
• Get your Passport and Travel Visa for Australia Make sure your passport is valid for at least 6 months after the date of your return ticket. And apply for an Online Visa for Australia . It’s easy and uncomplicated, and you do it online in 1o minute.
• Buy Travel Insurance I’d buy travel insurance for Australia soon after having purchased the flight tickets. If you plan outdoor activities, make sure that your plan covers all activities you plan to do in Australia.
• Check Baggage Allowances for Australia And also what you can take into the country and what you can’t take on the plane. In this article, I thoroughly explain how much weight you can carry in your luggage and cabin bags with all airlines, plus Australia’s baggage rules and restrictions .
• Get an international driving license If you plan to drive in Australia as a tourist and rent a car, you need an English driving license. If your driving license is not in English, then you need a translation that you can provide from the local transport authority in your home country.
• Packing for Australia Packing for Australia isn’t something to take for granted. The weather is, most of the time, not really what you expect. The myth that Australia has warm and sunny weather all the time isn’t a rule of thumb. Before packing for Australia, read about what to wear when in Australia .
• How to exchange money in Australia I recommend using debit cards and credit cards with low fees. Do not exchange money in your home country. Use the local ATMs instead to withdraw Australian dollars. All over the country, Mastercard and Visa have widely accepted debit/credit cards.

Pin it for later

Resources for planning your trip to Australia

Here is a list of popular articles and guides that will help you plan a trip to Australia .

All Travel Destinations in Australia

The Complete Travel Guide for Australia

Tips for Travelling Solo in Australia

Trip Planning Services for Australia

Back To Rocky Travel

This article was first published in March 2017 – last updated in May 2023

If you find this article helpful for your trip, I’d appreciate it if you could support Rocky Travel and book your accommodation, rental car, or purchase my book using the links in the box below. Thank you!

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Travel with peace of mind:  👉   Compare and Buy Travel Insurance . 

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Michela Fantinel

→ Michela Fantinel

Related Posts

Australia Travel Planning

A Review of Australia Public Transport Cards

How To Travel to Australia on a Budget

A Guide to Long Term Travel in Australia

17 comments.

Cndemi June 5, 2017 @ 12:28 pm

Hoping and trusting to visit Australia before this year ends!

rockytravel June 10, 2017 @ 3:52 pm

I hope you can visit Australia soon! You can get the free chapter of the book for free!

Mary Joyce June 6, 2017 @ 6:18 pm

Great tips you got here. And I totally agree with you that planning is an essential element if you want to travel successfully on a shoe-string budget.

Gordon June 9, 2017 @ 10:37 am

Exactly what I was looking for. We are off to Australia later this year for the first time so thanks for the tips.

rockytravel June 10, 2017 @ 3:53 pm

Glad you liked it, Gordon! Get my book here: https://www.rockytravel.net/australia-guide-book/

Bryan Kelvin June 15, 2017 @ 10:12 am

This is the most comprehensive and informative travel article I have ever seen. Fabulous job! You haven’t missed a thing.

rockytravel June 24, 2017 @ 4:46 pm

Thanks Bryan! Glad you liked my guide on how to travel around Australia! 🙂

Glen - Eastcoast Sailing June 19, 2017 @ 2:04 pm

Awesome tips, Michela. I agree on not doing extra research. If possible, have everything planned and stick to it so you don’t need to waste some time doing research on where to dine, etc. I bet your book would be very helpful for those planning to travel around Australia.

Rocky Travel June 24, 2017 @ 4:49 pm

Hi Glen, yes my guide is a must-have for an Australian adventure! Here is the link: https://www.rockytravel.net/australia-guide-book/ ! 😉

Richard June 24, 2017 @ 3:04 am

What a great article and tips for Visiting Australia. Extra research is always the best way to plan trips. I like to know everything about any country I visit including history. This is helpful especially if you are visiting a country with a different culture, knowing the history can explain that culture, and avoid any cultural faux pas.

Australia is a beautiful country (my home) and we love showing the new visitors what we have to offer. From amazing beaches to the vast inland deserts. As the well know poem says “I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains”

We love your blog and have included you in the Best Female Travel Bloggers.

Stephen Robert April 11, 2018 @ 1:26 pm

This is a great blog very helpful for me! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

rockytravel October 10, 2017 @ 3:22 pm

Thanks Richard for stopping by and the shout-out on your top10 travel, much appreciated. I’ve shared it! 🙂

Andy April 13, 2018 @ 10:58 pm

Great tips Michela! Any thoughts on our initial plan? The-big-trip-aussie-aussie-aussie-part-1

Mukul April 20, 2018 @ 1:20 pm

Hi Rocky Travel, this is a great article! Helpful for my trip to Australia. Keep updating more about Australia trip plan and destinations where i want to visit.

James January 2, 2021 @ 1:04 pm

Michela, these are great tips! Thanks for doing your research and writing this article! I’ve always traveled only on tourist tours. And last year I wanted to organize a trip myself. It’s great that you can plan your own route, choose the place where you want to stay, and the prices that you like. I used to feel a little discomfort communicating with tour operators, as I asked a lot of questions and it seemed to me that I annoy the tour operators. Your advice will be very useful to me. I am just planning my next trip with my family. Do you have any articles on traveling with pets? Best regards, James.

Anne-Marie November 14, 2021 @ 10:48 am

We are going to Australia next year so this is just what I was searching for. I think I will also invest in your Australia Guidebook.

Michela @RockyTravelBlog November 19, 2021 @ 12:00 pm

That’s great to hear, Anne-Marie! 🙂

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• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Plan a Trip to Australia

Last Updated: April 21, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Alison Hotchkiss . Alison Hotchkiss is an Event Planner and the Founder of Alison Events Planning, Design, and Travel based in Sausalito, California. With over 21 years of experience, she specializes in planning luxury travel for clients in both the honeymoon and leisure travel sectors. Alison Events Planning, Design, and Travel was named as one of Vogue’s best wedding planners around the world and is at the top of the list of wedding planners for Goop, Brides, and Martha Stewart Weddings. Alison received a Bachelors degree from Colorado State University. There are 46 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 27,825 times.

Australia is known for its great cities, spectacular wildlife, and beautiful beaches. [1] X Research source [2] X Research source It is the sixth largest country in the world, and the only country that is also a continent. [3] X Research source Australia is home to over 22 million people, the majority of whom speak English, and the climate ranges from arid and semi-arid in the center, temperate in the south and east, and tropical in the north. Australia is a huge country and there is a lot to see and do. Make the most out your trip to Australia by beginning planning and preparations, including applying for a passport and visa, making an itinerary, and booking flights and hotels at least 4 to 6 months in advance.

Planning for Your Trip

• Canberra is the capital of Australia and location of Parliament and the Central Government. Australia includes 6 states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia), each with their own capital, and 10 territories (Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Jervis Bay Territory, and Heard and McDonald Islands).
• Major Australian cities and their locations include: Sydney (New South Wales), Melbourne (Victoria), Brisbane (Queensland), Adelaide (South Australia), Perth (Western Australia), Darwin (the Northern Territory), and Hobart (Tasmania).
• Australia is divided into six climate zones characterized by differences in average seasonal temperatures, rainfall, humidity, and vegetation: tropical (north), equatorial (far north), subtropical (east coast), desert (southern coast and most of the center), grassland (surrounding desert in the center), and temperate (southeast and southwest coasts). [4] X Research source
• Purchase or check out from a library a guide book of Australia. General guide books include Lonely Planet's Australia and East Coast Australia ; the Rough Guide to Australia offers personal and candid accounts of experiences in Australia and is recommended for experienced travelers; and Insight Guide Australia includes information on Australian history, culture, and customs. [5] X Research source

• Most of the major tourist destinations, such as the Great Barrier Reef, and largest cities, including Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, are in the eastern part of the country along the coast.
• Australia is home to 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Opera House, and Ayers Rock in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. [6] X Research source
• Australia was first inhabited by the the Indigenous Aboriginal community over 40,000 years ago. Australian Aboriginal culture is incredibly diverse. In the 18th century, over 1 million Aboriginal people occupied Australia, organized into 300 clans and speaking over 250 languages. Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory is one of the best sites to visit Aboriginal art and culture sites. [7] X Research source The National Gallery in Canberra showcases 13 galleries devoted to Aboriginal art. [8] X Research source
• History buffs can learn about Australia's history as a penal colony for Great Britain at Fremantly Prison near Perth. The Historic Port of Echuca on the banks of the Murray River in Victoria offers living history related to 19th century life, trade, and shipbuilding in southwest Australia. [9] X Research source
• Australia is home to some of the best beaches in the world, such as the Twelve Apostles beach in Victoria, [10] X Research source You can also swim with rays at Dolphin Bay in South Australia, take a break from Sydney at Bronte Beach, or visit Aireys lighthouse at Eastern View beach in Victoria. [11] X Research source You can also rent a car and leisurely stop at beaches and destinations along Victoria's Great Ocean Road. [12] X Research source
• Wildlife and nature buffs can experience Australia's unique flora and fauna by catching a glimpse of crocodiles in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, [13] X Research source searching for wombats and platypus in southeast Australia, [14] X Research source or swim with whale sharks in Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. [15] X Research source
• For wine and food aficionados, South Australia is home to Australia's world-famous wine region. You can tour wineries throughout the Yarra Valley, located a short drive from Melbourne.

• Air travel: airfare, check baggage fee, airport parking (per day), and airport transfers.
• Transportation: travel within Australia (airfare, buses, trains), car rental, gas, and public transportation.
• Accommodation and meals: hotel or hostel (per person per night), breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and tips.
• Sightseeing, tour and entrance fees, souvenirs and shopping, and entertainment.
• Other expenses such as travel insurance, passports, visa, currency exchange fees, and luggage.
• A good rule of thumb is to add $25 to $50 per person per day for miscellaneous travel expenses.

• You can start by downloading a travel planning app, such as Tripit.com or NileGuide.com. [20] X Research source
• Be realistic and do not cram in too much into a single day. Schedule down time during the day, make sure you get 8 hours of sleep per night, and give yourself enough time to travel between places.
• Make an itinerary that is flexible. Being able to make adjustments will help you deal with any unexpected travel delays.

• To find an authorized passport acceptance facility, go to travel.state.gov and click on "U.S. Passport". Under the "Your U.S. Passport" tab in the upper left corner, click on "Where to Apply". This will bring you to a page that lets you search for authorized facilities by state, city, or zip code.
• When applying for a passport, you will need: proof of U.S. citizenship such as your birth certificate, previous U.S. passport, certificate of naturalization, or consular proof of birth abroad (original documents only, photocopies will not be accepted); photo identification (valid driver's license, valid government ID, valid military ID, or undamaged U.S. passport issued in the past 15 years); and two copies of a 2x2 inch color photo taken within the past 6 months, printed on photo-quality paper, and which meet additional requirements outlined on the travel.state.gov website. [22] X Research source
• Passport fees must be paid at the time of application. You can pay using personal checks, money, or cash. [23] X Research source Basic fees include $110 for an adult passport book, and a $25 processing charge. Additional fees include $60 for expedited service, $14.85 for overnight delivery, and $30 for an adult passport card.

• U.S. citizens with a valid passport can apply for and purchase an Electronic Travel Authority, or ETA, online for $20. [25] X Research source An ETA allows you to enter and leave Australia at anytime during a 12-month period and remain in the country for no longer than 3 months at a time. [26] X Research source Most ETAs take less than 12 hours to process.
• Certain individuals are ineligible for an ETA, including those who have tested positive for tuberculosis or been convicted of a crime and served a 12-month or longer sentence are ineligible. [27] X Research source HIV/AIDS positive visitors may also encounter certain restrictions or be required to undergo a medical exam prior to entering Australia.

Booking Your Trip

• Keep your travel dates flexible to take advantage of reduced airfares. In general, flights are cheaper midweek (Tuesday or Wednesday) or on Saturdays. [28] X Research source
• Flights are usually 10% to 20% cheaper during the off-season, which in Australia is between early May to early June, and late July to late September. [29] X Research source
• Because of its size, the best way to travel within Australia is by airplane. Australia has several domestic airlines that offer regular, affordable flights between its major cities. Major domestic carriers include: Jetstar, Qantas Domestic, Rex, Virgin Australia, and Tiger Airways. [30] X Research source

• Most plane tickets are non-refundable once purchased. It is always a good idea to purchase insurance in case you need to cancel or reschedule your trip. Plans are usually offered for an additional fee at the time of purchase.
• Read through all ticket information, including possible additional fees for luggage, seat location, meals, etc.

• Booking in advance is especially important if you are planning to travel to a city during a major festival, or during peak travel seasons.
• Print out and bring any receipts with you, as well as the credit card you used to make the booking. In case the hotel loses your booking or overbooks for that night, you have proof of your reservation and can demand a refund or alternative accommodations.

• Before purchasing travel insurance from a third party, check and see if you current medical or life insurance policies will cover you when outside the U.S.

• If you plan on eating out at a popular restaurant, try calling or emailing to make reservations in advanced.
• Make arrangements for things back home, such as childcare, pet sitting, or house sitting, at least one month in advance.

Preparing for Your Trip

• Maximize space by rolling items such as shirts, skirts, pants, and shorts or folding clothes together. [32] X Research source
• Save space in your suitcase by purchasing toiletries (e.g. soap, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, bug spray, etc.) in Australia. Discard these items at the end of your trip.
• Purchase durable luggage, especially if you will be traveling a lot within the country. Cheap luggage cannot withstand the wear and tear of international travel, and you might be stuck needing to buy a new suitcase in Australia.

• Summer (December to February) ranges from hot and humid in the north, hot and dry in the center and much of the east and west coasts, and mild/warm in the south. Average temperatures range from 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit to the north, center, and west, and are cooler (70 to 90 degrees) to the south and east. Many sporting events and outdoor festivals in east and southwest Australia occur during the summer months.
• Winters (June to August) are mild to the north, but cold throughout the rest of the country. Average winter temperatures range from around 26.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the southwest to 75 degrees in the far north. Skiing and snowboarding is popular this time of year in Victoria. [37] X Research source
• Spring (September to November) and Fall (March to May) are transition seasons, and the weather can be highly variable. However, the dry season from May to October is the best time to experience clear skies in the tropical regions of northern Australia. [38] X Research source

• Examples of restricted or prohibited imports include: firearms, endangered animal and plant species, certain dog breeds, laser pointers, electric fly-swatters or mosquito bats, pornographic material, and certain antibiotics. [41] X Research source

• In emergency situations, most American cell phones work in Australia. Contact you cell phone service provider prior to leaving to ask about international plans or costs and fees associated with calls outside of the U.S. or Canada.
• Be aware of time differences when attempting to call family or friends back home. Australia is divided into three separate time zones. [42] X Research source The East Coast of the U.S. is 13 hours behind Western Australia and 16 hours behind New South Wales and Sydney. Add three hours for places on the West Coast of the U.S.

• Examples of important or necessary documents for traveling to Australia include: passport, visas, credit card you used to book hotels or airfare, credit and ATM cards, cash (USD and AUD), E-tickets, hotel information and reservations, driver's license, guidebooks, and prescription drug information. [43] X Research source
• Make copies of all important documents and keep them together in a folder in your checked luggage (take the originals with you on your carry-on).

• Check airport and airline restrictions on carry-on items, such as liquids and gels, or items such as pocket knives or nail clippers. [46] X Trustworthy Source U.S. Transportation Security Administration U.S. government agency responsible for ensuring safety by setting and enforcing travel protocols Go to source

• Text or email updates.
• Check airport website for flight updates.

Expert Q&A

• The best time to go snorkeling or diving in the Great Barrier Reef is in June during the Mink Whale migration. [47] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Popular festivals in Australia include the Perth International Arts Festival (February to March), Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (February to March), Vivid Sydney (May to June), Sydney Festival (January), Darwin Festival (June), and Woolgoolga Curryfest (September). [48] X Research source [49] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Exchange rates frequently change. Historically, the U.S. dollar (USD) has been slightly stronger than the Australian dollar (AUD). However, most banks, exchange places, and ATMs will charge you a fee for withdrawing or exchanging currency. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If possible, do not travel alone. Traveling is always more fun and safer when you have a travel companion. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Never leave luggage or personal items unattended. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Do not approach wildlife and always keep a safe distance. If bitten, seek medical attention immediately. Australia is home to several species of poisonous snakes and spiders, and keep an eye out for jellyfish when swimming, snorkeling, or diving in the ocean. [50] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Dry conditions coupled with hot winds during the spring months make southeast Australia prone to brush fires and forest fires. If traveling during the dry season, keep an eye on local weather and news reports and avoid areas with active wild fires. [51] X Research source [52] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/25-places-to-visit-in-australia-2013-3
• ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/minube/18-reasons-why-australia_b_5396680.html
• ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
• ↑ http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-classifications/index.jsp?maptype=kpngrp#maps
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/mid-atlantic/guidebook-guide
• ↑ http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/&search=australia&searchSites=&search_by_country=&region=&search_yearinscribed=&themes=&criteria_restrication=&type=&media=&description=&&order=country
• ↑ http://www.australia.com/en/places/kakadu.html
• ↑ http://www.australia.com/en/things-to-do/aboriginal-australia.html
• ↑ http://www.portofechuca.org.au/
• ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/25-places-to-visit-in-australia-2013-3#drive-by-the-12-apostles--a-collection-of-limestone-stacks--on-a-trip-along-great-ocean-road-in-victoria-3
• ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/dec/02/top-10-beaches-australia
• ↑ http://www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/
• ↑ http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2012/02/10-of-the-best-australian-wildlife-experiences
• ↑ http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/06/ningaloo-given-world-heritage-status/
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/troubleshooting/five-worst-trip-planning-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-budget-calculator
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/troubleshooting/how-to-create-the-perfect-itinerary
• ↑ http://travel-made-simple.com/simple-australia-itinerary/
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/travelers-ed/cool-tools-for-planning-complicated-trips
• ↑ http://www.iie.org/Students/Tabs/US/Get-a-Passport
• ↑ https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/requirements/fees.html
• ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/03/how-to-get-a-visa_n_4373745.html
• ↑ https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Australia.html
• ↑ https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas
• ↑ http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/5-ways-to-save-on-airline-tickets-3.aspx
• ↑ http://www.aboutaustralia.com/travel-tips/best-time-to-travel-to-australia/
• ↑ http://www.webjet.com.au/airlines/domestic/
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/packing
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/packing-and-accessories/packing-tips
• ↑ http://www.australia.com/en/facts/australias-seasons.html
• ↑ http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/climate-classifications/index.jsp?maptype=tmp_zones#maps
• ↑ http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/seasons.shtml
• ↑ http://www.australia.com/en/facts/australias-seasons/winter.html
• ↑ http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/temperature/index.jsp?maptype=6&period=dry#maps
• ↑ http://www.customs.gov.au/
• ↑ http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4264.asp
• ↑ http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page4369.asp
• ↑ http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/time
• ↑ http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/travelers-ed/10-simple-tips-for-a-smoother-trip
• ↑ http://www.airsafe.com/issues/baggage/carryon.htm
• ↑ http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/3-1-1-liquids-rule
• ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/australia/ten-top-australian-festivals-worth-taking-a-road-trip-for-in-2014/story-fnjjuyvc-1226800907016
• ↑ http://www.curryfest.com.au/
• ↑ http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/australias-dangerous-animals-the-top-30/
• ↑ http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2014/02/11/forest-fires-plague-australia-s-south-east
• ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/world/asia/australia-bushfires/

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How to Plan an Unforgettable Trip to Australia: A Guide

P lanning a trip to Australia can be the adventure of a lifetime, offering diverse landscapes, unique wildlife, and vibrant cities. Whether you’re drawn to the iconic Sydney Opera House, the breathtaking Great Barrier Reef, or the vast Outback, Australia has something to captivate every traveler. However, to truly make the most of your journey, it’s essential to plan carefully. This guide will walk you through key steps and tips to ensure your trip to the Land Down Under is both memorable and smooth. From choosing the best time to visit to must-see attractions and practical travel advice, we’ve got you covered. Let’s dive in and start planning your unforgettable Australian adventure!

Best Time to Visit

Australia is a vast country with varying climates, so the best time to visit largely depends on your planned activities and destinations. For instance, the summer months from December to February are perfect for exploring the southern regions, such as Melbourne and Sydney, where the weather is warm and conducive to outdoor events and festivals. Additionally, the winter months from June to August are ideal for visiting the northern territories like Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef, offering mild temperatures and less humidity.

It's also worth considering the shoulder seasons, such as spring (September to November) and autumn (March to May), which offer pleasant weather and fewer tourists. During these times, you can enjoy the vibrant landscapes and wildlife without the peak season crowds. Timing your visit based on these factors can make a significant difference in your overall travel experience, ensuring a more enjoyable and comfortable exploration of Australia's diverse regions. Whether it’s Tours & Trips of Australia with Cooee Tours or self-guided adventures, choosing the best time to visit will greatly enhance your trip. It’s also important to note that Australia’s seasons are the opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere, so keep this in mind when planning your trip.

Must-See Attractions

Australia boasts an array of must-see attractions, each offering a unique glimpse into the country’s rich natural beauty and vibrant culture. The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge are iconic landmarks that define Sydney’s skyline and are must-visits for any traveler. Additionally, Bondi Beach offers a quintessential Aussie beach experience with its golden sands and pristine waves, perfect for surfing and sunbathing.

Further north, the Great Barrier Reef awaits, offering breathtaking underwater scenery that is a paradise for snorkelers and divers. Don't miss the chance to explore the Outback; Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the heart of the Northern Territory is not just a spectacular natural wonder, but also a sacred site for the indigenous Anangu people. Each of these locations provides a distinct adventure, contributing to the unforgettable experience of your Australian journey.

Practical Travel Advice

When planning your trip, don't forget to arrange your visa well in advance. Australia requires most international travelers to have a valid visa, which can be easily applied for online. Healthcare is another important aspect to consider; while Australia has excellent medical facilities, it's a good idea to have travel insurance that covers any unexpected medical needs.

Transportation is key to navigating this expansive country. Renting a car can offer flexibility, particularly in remote areas, but Australia also has an extensive public transport system in cities and major towns. Familiarize yourself with local driving laws if you plan to drive, and always stay updated on weather conditions, especially if you're venturing into more isolated regions.

Accommodation Options

Australia provides a wide range of accommodation options, catering to all budgets and preferences. From five-star luxury hotels in metropolitan areas to cozy bed and breakfasts in rural towns, there is something for everyone. For a more unique experience, consider staying in one of Australia’s renowned eco-lodges or boutique hotels, which offer personalized service and a touch of local charm.

If you’re looking for a more adventurous stay, camping and caravan parks are abundant, especially along coastal routes and national parks. They provide a more immersive way to experience the country's natural beauty. Booking your accommodation in advance, especially during peak seasons, ensures you have the best spots reserved, adding further comfort and enjoyment to your trip.

Planning an unforgettable trip to Australia requires careful consideration of factors such as timing, itinerary, and practicalities. However, with proper research and preparation, you can create a truly memorable and enriching experience in this beautiful country. Whether you’re traveling solo or with loved ones, using this guide as a starting point will help set the foundation for an incredible journey filled with unforgettable moments.

The post How to Plan an Unforgettable Trip to Australia: A Guide appeared first on Malorie's Adventures .

Road trip Australia: 6 of the best routes

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Pack your stuff, throw it in a camper van along with a surfboard and don’t look back… This might be an old cliché but it’s one for good reason: Australia really is one of the best places on Earth for a road trip.

1. Coastal views on the Great Ocean Road

2. adventure along the way from perth to exmouth, 3. the home strait on the nullarbor plain, 4. the blissful beaches of fraser island.

• 5. Wineries along Tasmania’s Great Eastern Drive

6. Exploring Victoria along the Great Alpine Road

Whether you’re living the dream in your camper van, or making do with a less romantic form of transport, Australia’s well-kept, open roads beckon and will lead you through astonishing landscapes. There are many great road trips in Australia, but here are our favourites.

Travel ideas for Australia, created by local experts

Explore Western Australia from Perth to Broome

Western Australia is the country's largest state, covering more than a third of Australia. This self drive itinerary allows you to explore sunny Perth, stunning national parks and waterfalls, the remote wild west outback, empty beaches and much more.

Explore South Australia and the Northern Territory

Explore South Australia and the Northern Territory on this self-drive adventure. Start in Adelaide and make your way over the Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, and Alice Springs to the Kakadu National Park and ultimately Darwin.

Cross Western Australia to Darwin

Western Australia offers wonderfully remote outback experiences: from spectacular national parks to sandy deserts, pristine beaches to working cattle stations. This itinerary allows you to explore the way from Perth to Darwin in depth and at your own pace, in your own rental car.

Classic Australia - Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast

Explore the best of Australia's cities and nature! From Sydney and Melbourne's urban charm to the scenic wonders of the Great Ocean Road, Cairns' reef adventures, to the lush rainforests of Kuranda. End with nature's embrace at Burleigh Head and Lamington National Parks on the Gold Coast.

The Best of Australia

Discover Australia's allure through this tour! You'll witness Sydney's iconic landmarks and explore the beauty of the Blue Mountains. Dive into Cairns' reef and rainforest wonders before marveling at the breathtaking beauty of the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne.

Staggering ocean views and easy access from Melbourne make this one of Australia’s best-loved road trips. Pack an overnight bag and follow the dramatic coastline, stopping to view a series of coastal rock formations, holding their ground in the surf.

The magnificent Twelve Apostles – eight giant sea stacks – appear otherworldly at sunset, guarding the limestone cliffs. Among the other rocky highlights include London Bridge arch, the Bay of Islands and Loch Ard Gorge.

At Bells Beach, grab a wetsuit and do your best Keanu Reeves’ impression. This was the famous surf setting for his film Point Break , but it was actually filmed in California.

If you’re not a surfer you can hike in Great Otway National Park, say hello to the koalas at Kennett River or kayak out into Apollo Bay to observe a seal colony. Otherwise, take it easy at a beach restaurant in the seaside town of Lorne.

Best for: Weekenders seeking surf and sea stacks.

How long: 2 days.

Need to know: Starts at Torquay, a 1.5-hour drive from Melbourne, and ends at Warrnambool.

© Photoholgic/Shutterstock

Driving north from Perth, you may expect nothing of the Outback landscape but scorched earth and straight roads all the way up the west coast. While these certainly exist, a road trip here is also punctuated with remarkable geological features, some of the best beaches in Australia and kangaroos hopping alongside your camper van.

First, a bit of fun at Lancelin where you can go sand boarding in the dunes or off-roading in a truck-sized 4x4. Then on to the Pinnacles Desert where bizarre pillars protrude from the desert like ancient monoliths.

In Kalbarri National Park, see Nature’s Window and the Z-Bend Lookout, abseil Murchison Gorge and ride on horseback around the scenic estuary at Big River Ranch.

A five-hour drive north brings you to Shark Bay, home of weird stromatolites – the oldest fossils on Earth – and the brilliant-white Shell Beach. Stop at Monkey Mia to meet the dolphins before heading on to Coral Bay, where another pristine white beach greets you. From here you can wade out 50m to the Ningaloo Reef – the second-largest reef in Australia – to snorkel with dazzling fish, turtles, reef sharks and whale sharks.

Best for: Desert adventurers.

How long: 5 days.

Need to know: To extend the trip, keep going all the way to Broome, via Karijini National Park.

© Cloudsrest Images/Shutterstock

The Nullabor is not for the faint-hearted. The mesmerising Eyre Highway runs through a vast, treeless plain, from Port Augusta in South Australia to Norseman in Western Australia .

With an almost 150km stretch that’s the world’s longest straight road, it’s no surprise that it’s known as “Nullaboring”. But many travellers love it for the beauty of the desert and the on-the-road camaraderie. There’s a strong sense of community at the roadhouses, which appear roughly every 200km – with nothing in between.

Venture away from the main road to see some of South Australia’s geological highlights, including Pildappa Rock – a 100m-long wave of red sandstone – or the peculiar rocks at Ucontitchie Hill and Murphy's Hay Stacks.

From Denial Bay, the Eyre Highway clings to the coast all the way to Western Australia. At the Head of Bight, you’ve a good chance of spotting Southern Right Whales between June and October. Then there are the empty beaches, towering cliffs, the magnificent blow-holes – and the oddities... Eucla features the ghostly remains of a telegraph station protruding from the encroaching dunes, while Balladonia (population: 9) commemorates the spot where the Skylab space station fell to Earth in 1979.

Best for: Adventurers up for trying anything, loners and Nullarbor addicts.

How long: 7–10 days.

Need to know: Be prepared with a serviced car, and enough food and water to last between roadhouses. Daytime temperatures can reach 50°C and nights can be freezing. Be careful of wildlife and passing road-trains.

Animal warning signs along the Nullarbor Plain © UnkbownLatitude Images/Shutterstock

If there’s one side trip on the east coast you mustn’t miss, it’s Fraser Island , a 123-km World-Heritage-listed sand island. Here, off-roaders may roam but the dingo is king.

The beach that runs the full length of the island functions as the main highway and an airstrip for small planes, so keep an eye on the air too while you bomb along the strand. Halfway down the beach, you can’t fail to notice the eerie remains of the shipwrecked SS Maheno appearing silhouetted against the raging surf.

Take a side road into the interior and suddenly you’re in another world – specifically, you’re in a subtropical rainforest growing on 200m-high sand dunes. Stop for a swim in the sparklingly clear Lake McKenzie, one of forty freshwater lakes perched high on the dunes. It’s like nowhere else on Earth.

You can pitch your tent at any of the 35 designated grounds – just you, the campfire, the rumble of surf and the sense of beady canine eyes watching from the darkness.

Best for: Beach bums who tidy up after themselves.

Need to know: Arrange your trip at Hervey Bay, where you can hire 4X4 and buy vehicle access permits.

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5. Wineries along Tasmania ’s Great Eastern Drive

Drive northeast from the capital Hobart to start the Great Eastern Drive at Orford. You can catch a ferry from Triabunna to Maria Island National Park and spend the day hiking, wildlife watching and visiting the World-Heritage-listed Darlington Probation Station, a kind of reform school for convicts in the nineteenth century.

Back on the coast road, the views over Great Oyster Bay are overwhelming. Recover in Swansea with a plate of seafood washed down with a glass of wine from the East Coast Wine Trail .

Don’t drink it all at once; you’ll be passing the vineyards on the next leg to the Freycinet Peninsula. This is one of Australia’s top beauty spots, not least Wineglass Bay, a perfect curve of sand around an azure bay, best seen from a lookout after a steep hike.

They say the devil is in the detail, but here it’s actually in Bicheno. If Tasmanian devils are on your must-see list, then plan a visit to the Natureworld Wildlife Sanctuary.

From Bicheno, the Surf Coast leads you to Scamander, beyond which lie Binalong Bay and the heavenly Bay of Fires . Despite the rusty orange glow from the lichen-coated boulders, there’s not a devil in sight on these pristine beaches.

Best for: Hikers who enjoy devilishly good scenery.

How long: 3 days.

Need to know: You can drive the whole route in a day, but you’ll want to take a few days. The Great Eastern Drive can easily be incorporated into a loop around the whole island state.

Wineglass Bay Freycinet, Tasmania @ Shutterstock

This mountain road crosses one of Australia’s main ski regions and some of the highest altitudes in the country, which just scrape above 2000m – so don’t expect anything too extreme.

Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful drive through a gentle region, a world away from Victoria’s lawless past. From Wangarratta, the road passes vineyards and farmland as far as the pretty town of Bright.

But take a short detour and you’ll reach Beechworth and Glenrowan, land of the nineteenth-century outlaw Ned Kelly, where you can learn about the life of this national folk hero.

Back on the Great Alpine Road, continue to Mount Buffalo National Park and climb its granite tors or explore on horseback, like Ned himself would have done. As you cross the Ovens River Valley, snowy peaks come into view.

Beyond Harrietville, the road gets tougher, as it winds steeply up through snow gum forests to Mount Hotham, Victoria's highest alpine resort. This is a starker landscape with deep valleys and panoramas across the Australian Alps. It’s well worth hiking the Razorback Trail to the summit of Mount Feathertop, Victoria’s second-highest mountain.

After this, the road descends to Dinner Plain and on to historic Omeo, a former gold-mining town. Then down through forests at Tambo to Metung, the Gippsland lakes and the ocean beyond.

Best for: Mountain-lovers, who don’t mind that Australia’s alps are somewhat vertically-challenged.

How long: 1 day.

Need to know: If you drive from Melbourne, take the M31 to Wangaratta, and on the coastal journey back, stop at Wilson’s Promontory and Phillip Island.

View of the coastline at Nobbies Centre in Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia © Javen/Shutterstock

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In an ever-evolving world, emergency medical and evacuation travel insurance coverage is essential, especially if you're traveling internationally. However, sports equipment coverage, pet protection, and cancel for any reason coverage are among the increasingly popular coverage options that are changing the way we travel. We've gathered the best cheap travel insurance plans to help you protect your trip while on a budget.

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The best travel insurance meets your needs at a price you're willing to pay. Sometimes, you're just not willing to pay that much. The following companies offer decent coverage for low prices. To determine which companies made this list, we compared quotes across the travel insurance industry for the same trip, making a note of which companies offered particularly good coverage in certain areas and which companies were well reviewed.

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Hth worldwide travel insurance.

The HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance Economy plan offers the most comprehensive coverage across major categories of all the providers in this guide.

You'll have some peace of mind with up to $75,000 of financial protection for eligible medical emergencies, and up to $500,000 per person for medical evacuation costs. For more everyday expenses, you can also relax with baggage loss and delay, trip interruption, cancellation and delay coverage that will help you recoup many, if not all, of your costs.

However, this plan falls short on missed connection benefits and accidental death coverage, both of which are not available under most circumstances (missed connection coverage only applies to cruises, and will only cover up to $500 per person after a three-hour delay).

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Aegis general travel insurance.

The Aegis Trip Cancellation Plan is exactly that: a cost-effective plan that offers protection in the event that your trip is canceled for a covered reason. The plan we priced out for our hypothetical trip cost just 1.16% of our total travel expenses — a very small amount of money to pay for the guarantee of our money back in the right circumstances.

The benefit is that this plan can supplement other coverage you already have, or give you a little bit of protection for a trip where you might not otherwise have opted for insurance altogether. On the downside, you won't get any protection for medical emergencies, trip interruption or delays or lost bags from this plan.

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Best Affordable Travel Insurance for Medical Coverage

Geoblue travel insurance.

GeoBlue is a travel insurance provider that specializes in travel medical insurance. Because it doesn't offer much trip protection or travel inconvenience coverage, it can charge cheaper premiums. A 30-year-old from California would pay as low as $20.55 for a policy that covers a two-week trip. 

GeoBlue plans can cover medical expenses up to $1 million with several multi-trip annual plans available. It offers coinsurance plans for trips within the U.S. and 100% coverage for international trips. It also has a network of clinics in 180 countries, streamlining the claims process. It's worth noting that coverage for pre-existing conditions comes with additional costs.

Read our GeoBlue travel insurance review .

Best Affordable Travel Insurance for Value

Nationwide travel insurance.

Nationwide  is a well-rounded alternative to HTH Worldwide Trip Protector Economy. This plan offers solid protection for both travel-related snafus as well as situations that might call for emergency medical and evacuation, making it a good choice for trips where you have cause to worry about potential interruptions or delays. However, it does not offer protection for missed connections or accidental death.

Read our Nationwide Travel Insurance review .

Best Affordable Travel Insurance for Reputation

Trawick international travel insurance.

The Trawick Safe Travels Explorer plan has been purchased by more than 36,000 travelers since 2020, and it has great reviews to boot. And no wonder: Trawick offers generous trip delay coverage of up to $2,000 per person, although hopefully you won't need to reach that reimbursement amount because the daily limit is $150.

You'll also be able to rely on a $200 reimbursement per person for lost baggage - one of the higher amounts amongst these affordable plans, although this amount pales in comparison to the baggage loss coverage offered through the best travel credit cards .

Read our Trawick Travel Insurance review .

Types of Affordable Travel Insurance

Comprehensive coverage.

This type of insurance offers extensive protection, covering everything from medical issues to trip cancellations. While it's more expensive up front, it can save you a lot in the long run.

Medical-Only Coverage

As the name suggests, this policy focuses solely on medical emergencies, dropping trip cancellation coverage and travel inconvenience coverage. It's a cost-effective option for travelers who are primarily concerned about health-related expenses.

Evacuation and Repatriation

In extreme cases where you need to be evacuated due to a medical emergency or a natural disaster, this coverage ensures that you can return home safely without incurring huge costs.

Benefits of Opting for Cheap Travel Insurance

Cost savings.

Cheap travel insurance can significantly reduce your travel expenses, ensuring that you're not overpaying for coverage you might not need.

Adequate Coverage for Less

Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's lacking. Many affordable policies offer substantial coverage, giving you peace of mind without breaking the bank.

How to Pick The Best Cheap Travel Insurance Plan for You

No single travel insurance plan will meet the needs of every single traveler. By nature, we are diverse and evolving meaning travel insurance should be equally so. Travel insurance for a week-long trip to a big city shouldn't be the same as the coverage for a backpacking expedition in the mountains. A splurge to purchase comprehensive insurance coverage may also be worth it for international ventures or other large expenditures.

In most cases, the cost difference between a basic and comprehensive travel insurance plan isn't as significant as you might think. Regardless, it's generally a good idea to choose a trusted travel insurance provider known for exceptional customer service and coverage. (For this roundup, we looked at traveler reviews shared through the travel insurance aggregator SquareMouth .)

• Assessing Your Travel Needs: Consider the nature of your trip, the destination, and your own personal needs when choosing a policy. This ensures that you're not over-insured or underinsured.
• Comparing Different Policies: Don't settle for the first policy you find. Compare different options, looking at their coverage and prices, to find the best fit for your budget and needs.
• Reading the Fine Print: Always read the terms and conditions carefully to understand what's covered, what's not, and the process for making a claim.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Cheap Travel Insurance

To determine the best insurance plan for travelers on a budget, we evaluated dozens of products using a hypothetical trip to Australia for a single traveler, age 26, with a total cost of $2,500 for flight, hotel and other incidentals. We then compiled the plans that covered the essentials at the lowest costs.

Of note: All of these plans include COVID-related medical coverage and 24-hour assistance, and pay at least 100% of your trip cost for eligible trip cancellations. None include rental car coverage.

The four winning plans cost between $29 to $74 — significantly below the average cost of comprehensive travel insurance , which can range between 4%-8% of total travel expenses, according to the US Travel Insurance Association. But these affordable plans also come with comparably low ceilings for various aspects of coverage such as emergency medical, trip cancellation, or delay — and do not include rental car or " cancel for any reason" (CFAR) protection . So if you think you might need these benefits, it may well be worth upgrading to a comprehensive travel insurance plan for a few more dollars, just for the peace of mind.

Convenience and Flexibility

Each of the plans in this list include 24-hour assistance worldwide from reputable insurance providers. And despite being on the lower end of insurance plans, each of these options includes refunds for up to 100% of your total trip cost for eligible reasons. Each of these plans also includes medical coverage for COVID-related issues that may arise during your travels, which may come in handy as the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide.

Sufficient Coverage in Essential Categories

The cheapest travel insurance plan will rarely cover every scenario that could go awry on your trip. However, each of these plans can at least help you get your money back in the event that your travel is canceled for an eligible reason, and most of them include travel medical insurance if you incur emergency medical bills while traveling. We also factor in what travelers are most concerned about now. 

You can read more about how Business Insider rates insurance here.

Best Cheap Travel Insurance FAQs

You can reduce the cost of travel insurance by opting for simpler coverage or choosing higher deductibles on travel medical insurance. You can also consider annual travel insurance , which will save you money in the long run if you take multiple trips over one year.

Yes, many affordable policies offer comprehensive coverage suitable for international travel. It's crucial to compare policies and understand your needs. You can find our guide on the best international travel insurance here.

Travel insurance is relatively cheap because it only covers you for a set period of time, and depending on your plan, the level of coverage you get may not be particularly high. However, even with high coverage limits and extras like cancel for any reason coverage , travel insurance is relatively affordable. 

The average cost of travel insurance is 4%-8% of your trip's cost. This usually translates into a premium between $89 to $399. That said, many companies offer premiums far below average costs.

If you just want trip cancellation protection, go with the Aegis Trip Cancellation plan. For more robust coverage that won't break the bank, consider HTH Worldwide's TripProtector Economy, Trawick's Safe Travels Explorer, or Nationwide's Essentials plan.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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