How Much Does It Cost to Travel in Australia?

Australia – home to beer, barbeques, sun, sea and surf. A popular place for any backpacker who is traveling around the Southern hemisphere. Australia has many things to do all around the island, and if you have enough time you could always grab a camper van and work your way around the coast (with a stop off at Uluru inbetween of course).

Australia is not as cheap as most of the South East Asian countries scattered north. However, if you budget and keep your wits about you, you will be able to tour most of Oz without too many qualms.

As we like to try and keep things cheap at Aspiring Backpacker we’ll talk about the cheaper options, so let’s take a look at how much it costs to travel in Australia:

 

ACCOMMODATION:

Most of Australia is similarly priced in terms of accommodation so you’ll be looking at staying in hostels and dorm rooms at that. Typically a dorm room prices are between $17-$30 and this will vary between sharing a room with 4,6,8 or 12 people (obviously the prices will be lower the more people you share with).

If you need your privacy and want a private room you’re looking at spending anywhere from $25 to $70 a night – sometimes this will still mean you have a shared bathroom too. Our advice – go for the dorm.

FOOD

Most hostels will have either a cheapish restaurant or its own kitchen complete with pots and pans to cook your dinners with. You’ll find a Coles or Woolworths (local grocery store) within walking distance of most places you stay so it could be a wise choice.
If you eat at restaurants expect to pay at least $15-20 for a main course, so a better bet would be to get your Subway, or Maccas on and eat at a fast food outlet for between $4-$10.

You can get away with spending $15-$20 a day on food providing you pick your foods wisely.

BOOZE

I feel a common theme arising here when I say pricey days but going out boozing  is no different. Fear not though, as you can get a magical thing called a ‘goon’ bag which is basically boxed wine and you can get this for about $10. Drinking that is like rocket fuel and if you get through a whole bag of goon you won’t be needing much more for the night! If you blow it up after you’ve finished you can use it as a pillow, which can come in pretty handy if you aren’t able to make it out.

When out drinking at bars, we’ve found scooners of beer are cheaper than most drinks and you can get this for $4-$6 depending on the bar. Your cocktails and the lark are going to be more expensive….goon it is then…

TRANSPORT

Australia is a bloody big place – so big you can fit the whole of Europe into it and this reflects in the cost. If you’re strapped for time getting a flight would be a good option with Sydney to Melbourne flights starting from $59 one way (1 and a half hour flight) so it’s worth having a look around.

Getting a bus can cost $60 and takes about 12 hours,  but if you’ve got time and want to check out the scenery along the way this could be for you.

Most cities have good public transport links and depending on how far you venture out of each city you’ll probably look at spending $20 a week.

The other thing which is popular if you have time on your hands is to buy or hire a camper van and get your travel on. This is fun to do if you’re in a couple or group and you can even pick up work along the way if you’re on a working holiday visa (working holiday visa). Prices for these vary greatly but you could find a bargain starting at $38 a day (don’t forget this includes your accommodation too – perhaps another article though)

 

 

TOTAL BUDGET FOR AUSTRALIA

Accommodation:             $17/night
Food:                                          $15
Booze:                                       $45/5
Transport:                            $60/7

Total:                                       $45 per day

#denotes one night on the booze every 5 days and getting some Goon in addition to bars.
*denotes transport being divided by 7 as you’ll probably stay in each city a week before moving on.

If you feel you’re cash supply is quickly dwindling away have a look at our tips for sticking to your budget when traveling in Australia. Australia is a great place to travel around and definitely worth checking out.

Enjoy your Ozzie adventures!

 

Duff