Im travelling round australia soon and wonered which is best, greyhound, oz experience or other?

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ammie

How long you gonna be there? You'll meet people and then a car would be heaps of fun and practical. You'll see places you'd never go by bus.

West - lots to see. Kununurra, Purnululu NP (Bungle Bungles), Broome, Karijini NP, Exmouth, Coral Bay, Monkey Mia, Kalbarri, The Pinnacles, Perth, the whole of the Southwest and then there's Kalgoorlie and Esperance. That takes you through beaches, amazing national parks, snorkelling, kayaking, fantastic scenery as well as a taste of outback life in a mining town.

I took some buses (MacCaffertys), got lifts here and there, borrowed a car for a bit, flew some (when work paid), some train. It's possible to share petrol as people with cars are often looking for passengers. I'd get there first and see how it goes, provided you have enough time and aren't on a month schedule or something.

Oh yeah, and the best way around Fraser Island on the East Coast is to walk...

Penfold

I travelled around Oz using a combination of trains, Greyhound buses, cars and planes back in 1996.

I bought a Greyhound bus pass from Sydney to Cairns. I considered the Oz Experience. Oz Experience is a hop on hop off bus. it would also take you around and organise various tours and events for you along the route. However, it also felt too much like a party bus. This is fine if you have the personality for it but I don't. I didn't like the idea of being in a continual party like atmosphere - all I wanted was a bus that would take me from point A to point B. So I chose Greyhound.

What I did was choose one of their passes so it would take me up the East Coast. It allowed me to break up the journey with stopovers along the route. If I wanted to deviate off the route slightly, I would merely stop off somewhere close to what I wanted to see and then either hire a car for the day or buy another bus ticket.

Buying a car, as you have considered, offers more flexibility when travelling. It has a high upfront and cost of petrol needs to be considered. This needs to be outweighed against the cost of other modes of travel. However, you do have to maintain the car. The distances you have to travel can be enormous. However, you will meet backpackers along the way who would be more than willing to share the cost of petrol and provide company along the way.

bluebell

First time, I got the greyhound timetables and made a rough itinerary before I arrived in Oz. I reckoned I wouldn't see much except bush and empty places between destinations, so I chose evening buses and slept on the way. I wouldn't see anything at night anyway. Arrived in daylight, had the whole day (or days if I chose) to play with. Sleeping on the way is fine for a couple of nights in a row, and from time to time I stayed longer in one place and slept in a proper bed in a backpackers before continuing.

Second time I hired a car which gave more freedom to find off-the-beaten-track places, but too much time was spent behind the steering wheel. I also had a hefty surcharge when I returned the car for "excess mileage" which hadn't been mentioned in the hire paperwork.

Next time I will decide on specific destinations and fly there, and take local buses to see all I want to see. With limited holidays, I want to make the most of my time.

I was on my own. Enjoy your trip !!

sunnycoastcraig

Hi Ben...do you really have your heart set on a coach?

Personally I think you are better to spend that little bit extra and fly between major cities, as the distance can be quite large sometimes. Often, it can be more economical to fly as well, depending on the destination, taking into consideration food/drinks etc on the coach.

For example, this week Greyhound was quoting on their website (www.greyhound.com.au) Brisbane to Cairns (Great Barrier reef) $A219 one way, and that involves a drive of approx 20 hours on a bus (yikes!) or you could fly in 2 hours and 20 minutes on Qantas for $A189 (www.qantas.com.au)

So, I guess it comes down to what do you desire...to see heaps of the countryside as you travel (which you may or may not find interesting...you can only see so many trees and dead kangaroos on the side of the road) or do you want to be able to spend qaulity time in your destinations?

Good luck, by the way, Qantas also offers overseas residents an Airpass, perhaps Virgin Blue do as well. Maybe worth checking out.

yuvalakshat

i personaly had a car while travelling australia, it is so much better. for what it's worth.. keep that under consideration.

if it's coaches you want to choose from, each company has it's character. in new zealand the "kiwi expereince" are full with young people, noise and everything that comes with it. so i would imaging they're heading toward that crowd in oz too.
if you're too old for that, i'd say greyhound.

Lemon Twist

You haven't said how long you're going to be here! If its months then the 3 days on the bus to Perth (and then 3 back) might be worth it. If it's weeks - there's a week gone! (Of course you could always fly to Perth but that's expensive about $A600 last time I tried.)

Guided fun tours could be good.

There's a price war on for Airfares at the moment. Check out virginblue.com.au, jetstar.com.au and qantas.com.au. Occasionally the prices get cheaper than bussing it!

And Mate - hitch-hiking is daft. I know - I gave a tourist a lift once and a few weeks later read in the paper how he'd disappeared - last seen 500 miles from where I dropped him. (Yes and I've done the 'giving a statement to police' thing etc before anyone asks)

john m

Hi, greyhound is good but be prepared to be bored if you're going between major cities, for example Sydney to Brisbane by road is about 15 hours.
In the West there is a bit to see but it depends on what you want.
If you're only going to "see" Perth, by road from the east (Sydney, Melbourne) it's about 3 days and not worth it, if you want to see some of the other places in the west it may be worth it for you.
Unfortunately Oz is a very big place and there's not much in between the major centres except endless beautiful "bush", but you won't experience much of that from a bus.
If you can afford it flying is definitely the best way to get around.
Take a look at http://www.the-discount-travel-guide.com/
you might get some ideas.
Have a great trip,
John m.

jon b

hi

did the asia and oz tour in 1991

hitched all way up the east coast from sydney to cairns over 6 weeks , stopping off on way , stayed at two houses of the people that i hitched with , it was excellent , i was 22 yr old then

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