What Is The Best Way To Travel The East Coast of Australia?

Published: June 2024

Updated: June 2024

Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia

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Are you looking to experience the beautiful East Coast of Australia, but you aren’t sure which travel option to choose? Here are some of the most popular and budget-friendly ways to travel the East Coast of Australia for backpackers.

Greyhound Buses

If you are on a tight budget and/or a tight timeline, then Greyhound Australia buses (aka coaches) may be the best option for you. Although I have never been on the Greyhound buses myself, I have spoken to so many backpacker friends of mine who have taken the Greyhound bus along the entire East Coast of Australia, and have found this to be one of the most budget-friendly options.

These buses are very useful and have multiple departures/arrivals from and to each popular town along the East Coast every day, with also providing wi-fi on most buses and air-conditioning. Greyhound Buses allows unlimited travel on any route and in any direction via a pass which you can purchase prior to travelling Australia, or when you arrive. Greyhound has over 180 stops across Australia and there are multiple passes available for different days (for example - 7 days, 30 days) or you can customize your own pass to make your trip more suited to you. All of the information can be found on the Greyhound Australia website.

Greyhound buses also provide overnight buses which can be a great way to save on a night of accommodation, however, from what I have heard it can be quite difficult to get a good nights sleep on overnight buses – much similar to sleeping on flights, as you will be sleeping in recliner chairs only. However if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort, you can save some serious cash by saving on overnight accommodation costs.

Car share / Carpool

Often you will find other fellow minded travellers looking for a lift to a popular travel destination on similar dates as you. Facebook groups such as “Australia Backpackers 2024” are a great example of where you can see other travellers putting up posts looking to join someone else on their travels. Occasionally some people offer a couple of seats to help split the cost of petrol when they are travelling from one city to another (for example: Byron Bay to Sydney), this is a great way to make new travel buddies, however for the best interest in your safety - I would always recommend meeting with these people in a public place beforehand (perhaps for a coffee) to get to know them to make sure you feel safe travelling long distances with them.

Hire a Car or Campervan

If you have the budget for it, I highly recommend driving the East Coast yourself - I may be biased - as I have only ever driven the East Coast in my own car, however it truly does allow you to explore the East Coast in your own time, without the rush.

You can stop off for as many photo-taking opportunities as you like and choose how many days/nights you want to spend in each destination. There are so many hire companies to choose from, however I have found the most loved hire company for backpackers is JUCY, these are easily the most common hire cars and campervans I see all along the East Coast. They offer various different sizes of cars and campervans allowing groups of people to travel together, with the campervans also providing bedding, cooking appliances and more. There are many other popular car companies available in Australia and are often easiest to find at the main airports, a quick google search will allow you to find the best suited car or campervan for you.

Buy a Car or Campervan

If you are going to be in Australia for a much longer period of time and have a larger budget set aside, you could also consider buying a car or campervan, and then sell it again when you come towards the end of your trip. I have found Facebook groups to be especially useful for this – you can find groups on Facebook such as “Backpacker Campervans for Sale Australia” or “Australia Campervans, Cars & Campers”.

My biggest tips when investing in a car or campervan is to always inspect the car before you buy, (and make sure the air conditioner is in great working condition) - Australia is HOT, especially if you are travelling in Summer and in the warmer states (Queensland & New South Wales), so you want to make sure you will have a comfortable and reliable vehicle to get you through. If you have absolutely no idea what you are looking for when inspecting a car, there are services available in Australia where you can pay a mechanic a small fee to inspect the vehicle first and to see if the car is in good working condition – which could save you forking out extra money on repairs later down the track.

A campervan/car can also sometimes double as accommodation, however, always check the rules for each town you are in (this can be found by a quick google search or is often listed on signs around the town and in car parks), as many towns in Australia do not allow free-camping in cars overnight. Wiki-camps is an excellent app to use in Australia that will provide information on free campgrounds – I have more information on this in another blog piece - Top 8 Travel Apps To Use For Road Tripping Around Australia.

Flying By Plane

I have flown to different parts of the East Coast multiple times, when time is limited or driving is not an option distance-wise. If you have never been to Australia before, you may be surprised by how far away cities and towns are, despite how close they look on the map. Flying times are relatively quick to get to major cities along the East Coast, and can be quite cheap especially if you book in advance. I recommend using Sky Scanner to find the cheapest and quickest flights available for your desired destination.

Join a tour group

There are plenty of great tour groups you can join in Australia if you want to take the hassle out of planning an East Coast Trip – tour groups are likely to be a little more expensive than planning the tour yourself, as you are paying for all of the planning to be done for you. Tour groups are also a fantastic way to make friends for your travels, and I often hear other travellers say they have made life-long friends from tour groups. Some popular companies that provide East Coast tour groups in Australia are Contiki, Happy Travels, Real Aussie Adventures, Backpacker Deals, Ultimate Travel - just to name a few. I recommend doing your research to see which tour group suits you best - as each tour group will have a set amount of days, locations, group sizes, and sometimes a specified age range.

Overlooking Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia