Planning An Australia Trip Help

How much money have you got/will you have? Oz is not cheap..even hostels.''Decent hotels'' even less so......

How long do you want to go for?

Where exactly in Oz are you interested in?

Have you got/read a guidebook to the country?

Hi Chelseaent,

I am an Aussie and I traveled across USA with Contiki in 2009 and LOVED THEM!

I have had many friends who have traveled with Contiki through Europe and were also very happy. The thing with Contiki is they usually draw a younger crowd of 18 - 25 yearolds. There was a lot of drinking and partying on the tour that I did, and I assume that the Australian tours would be very similar as you are coming to a country that will happily drink with any tourist. However when I was with them across USA we saw soooo many places/attractions/random stuff and some of the best friends I have I met on that trip.

Yes the included meals were sometimes very average (but that may be a USA restaurant trying to feed 40 people at once) and we certainly stayed in some 'budget' accommodation, but the quality of the tour was awesome and I would have no hesitation in recommending Contiki to someone who has never been overseas.

Hope that helps!

Carly

You could always try couch surfing or airbnb.com as alternatives to hostels. They are generally cheaper than hotels and most of the time you get to meet the local who owns the place. Australia isn't one of the cheapest countries to visit but it is a beautiful one :)

Hi,

We live in the UK and have just booked a 25 day tour to Australia next August with Contik, they have been very helpful so far! We are not into partying much more about sight seeing so the tour we have chosen doesn't include too much partying and offers various accommodation i.e. "hostel, hotel, surfing club, cattle ranch and Aussie Swag.

We have never used Contiki before but I think they have a lot more to offer than some travel companies and have been very helpful with sorting pre and post night accommodation as well as advising us on flights.

We are now planning a five night break after the tour finishes before flying home but are struggling to find good but cheap hostels to stay in the Sydney area. Would be great to know if you have found any useful websites or could recommend places/areas to stay as we are finding this to be the hardest thing to plan.

How long are you planning to go there for? Is this just a short-term thing or are you looking to use a Working Holiday Visa to stay up to a year?

If it's just a short trip then I wouldn't recommend booking a tour.

If you're going for a long trip.....then I definitely wouldn't recommend a tour.

It's easy enough to sort stuff out when you get there and there's no need to pay someone an extra fee to sort it out for you, especially not from your home country.

That being said, if you did want some kind of tour that will give you a chance to experience a whole lot of different 'cultural' events and see the sights then I'd recommend the Oz Experience. http://www.ozexperience.com/

It's a hop on, hop off service so you can travel to a time that suits you and you won't be forced to drink all the time. The flexibility of the pass means that if you want to see more of a place then you can. Or if you really want to keep travelling with other people you can still see them on the way. It's up to you. An organised tour from home might not give you as much freedom

They provide accommodation on some of the longer trips (for example, at a sheep ranch) but generally you can book your own place in each town/city, as you like.

In reality though, you should be able to sort most of this stuff out for yourself with a bit of time, the internet and some hard work. Look at cheap airlines to travel around (Jetstar etc), buses between cities (Greyhound), which hostels / hotels you want to stay at (Booking.com / Hostelworld etc), read a guidebook about the sights and activities you can do in each place (Lonely Planet ;)) and talk to some other people who have been before.