The Ultimate East Coast Of Australia Guide
The aim of this guide is to give you information on everything you need to know to plan and prepare for your east coast trip. Whether your doing a road trip or buses its great either way!
I travelled the East Coast twice while I was in Australia, the first time I got a bus pass with greyhound and the second time me and 4 of my friends hired a camper van.
The first time I used Greyhound, they have different types of Bus passes. I got their East Coast bus pass which costs $289. It sounds steep but it includes all that you’ll need! With this pass you can travel in any direction, Unlimited trips, unlimited distance, hop on hop off, manage the pass online and add extra days. This pass lasts for 90 days which is more than enough. They do have different passes ranging from 90 days, 180 days and 120 days. One thing I didn’t realise before I went to Australia was how long the bus journeys were. They range from 2 hours to 19 hours (being the longest one I did) the longer journeys are usually during the night.
We hired a camper from cruisin motor homes in Brisbane. There was 5 of us and we all paid just under $800 each just for the camper. This was expensive and something I couldn’t afford. If your on a budget definitely go with the bus pass! I enjoyed that more than the camper.
With hiring a camper you are on timeframe which may suit some people but not others. I liked having the bus pass as I could change dates, example if I enjoyed one place and wanted to stay longer I could do that. On top of that $800 we had to pay for campsites, food and fuel.
In saying all of that, being able to drive anywhere to see whatever you want in a camper van is great. You can go off the main routes of the east coast and visit smaller less touristy spots.
When is the best time to do the East Coast?
The Australian winter months are (May to September) and summer months are (November to April). I done the east coast from April-June and then from October-November. I would recommend anytime from April to November. The weather in each city/state is different.
Cairns is in tropical North Queensland and during the winter months it is dry, sunny and there isn’t big crowds of people. Towards in summer Cairns is very humid, hot and lots of rain.
Brisbane is a very humid city, I lived there from October- January and the heat would be between 25 degrees-34 degrees Celsius daily. Queensland in my opinion Is still hot in the summer and always has a higher climate than NSW and Victoria.
Sydney is perfect in the summer, very hot days but mostly sunny.
Melbourne on the other hand reminds me of Ireland, you can get all 4 seasons in one day.
Again if your travelling I would recommend doing so between April-November, the temperatures are bearable and the weather is good.
How long should It take to travel the East Coast?
I took around 4 weeks to do the east coast and this was at a slow pace. If you wanted to do it quicker it would be possible to do in 2 weeks. It’s a personal preference depending on if you want to rush or take it slow! When we did it in the camper it took 1 week but I was extremely rushed and not enjoyable. We didn’t get to do tours or sightsee some of the main events.
Towards when I used my buss pass and wasn’t really on a schedule, I got to take my time. There is so much to do along the east coast in each stop off, which ill go more into detail on below.
Organised tours
If the stress of organising this trip might seem stressful there are tours you can join. I have a few friends who done their east coast trip with Ultimate travel and I’ve heard nothing but good things. Definitely worth checking them out!
Welcome to travel have also got East Coast packages, while I haven’t done the east coast with them. I did do a week in Melbourne with them when I first landed and had the best time. Check out their website for more information.
Doing a tour is such a good way of setting yourself up before setting off on a journey, everyone I done the tour with ended up doing the east coast at the same time. This way you end up bumping into familiar faces and your not completely alone.
Accommodation and where to stay on the east coast?
There are so many different hostels to choose from, check out Hostels I recommend. Always read reviews on hostels before booking and ask other people where they have stayed.
Hostels can be booked directly on their websites, booking.com or Hostel-world. Hostel world is an app you can download, pretty easy to use and good to keep track of past trips or upcoming trips.
What are the food options on the East Coast?
It can be difficult to adjust from having your own meals at home everyday. Eating out for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in Australia will rack up a large bill quick as its not cheap.
There are plenty of supermarkets such as Coles, Aldi and Woolworths which have plenty of pre made/ready to eat meals. If your in a more regional area you can find a supermarket called IGA which is more expensive. Every hostel I stayed in had a fully equipped kitchen to cook meals, a lot of hostels have bbq nights or serve food once a week.
Of course barbecue’s are popular in Australia and you’ll find gas barbecues along beaches and parks all over the country. There free to use and any of them I’ve seen have been clean too! Theres plenty of seating around them and we have often went with friends for a sunset BBQ!
For anyone not on a budget Australia Is full of stunning restaurants.
Going through the route of the East Coast
I’m going to do this in the order that I travelled but it can be changed to suit you of course. You can do the east coast in any order.
Melbourne
I first landed in Melbourne when I went to Australia and I loved it. There is so much to do in this city between seeing street art, visiting the variety of coffee shops, St Kilda beach and taking a walk down the Yarra river.
As I mentioned above I did my first week on a tour with Welcome to travel, they sorted our banks accounts, SIM cards and tax file numbers which was super helpful. We went across different parts of the city everyday and done all the sightseeing.
We took a trip down to Philip island which I would highly recommend if your in Melbourne. The beaches are stunning. Once our tour was done a group of us went on to do the Great Ocean Road trip.
We were unlucky with the weather but nonetheless It was still beautiful. We spent 4 nights and 5 days doing the great ocean road, we hired Jucy car’s and stayed in hostels each night.
Sydney
Leaving Melbourne I got a 10hr bus to Sydney. My favourite city in Australia, I never lived there only visited maybe that’s why. I spent 4 nights in Sydney the first time which I think is more than enough.
Theres a lot to see in Sydney between bondi beach, manly beach, the opera house, darling harbour and then spending time in the city. I stayed in YHA at the rocks and couldn’t recommend it more, the view from the rooftop is outstanding and looking straight across at the opera house.
Public transport is easy to use in the city, there is trams in the centre and then buses and trains go everywhere else. You can get a bus to bondi beach then do the bondi to Coogee walk.
Things to do in Sydney:
- Get a ferry to Manly and do some surfing!
- Have a stroll to the Opera house and take in the views.
- Do the Bondi to Coogee walk and have some food in one of many stunning cafes/restaurants along the way.
- Catch the ferry over to taronga zoo.
- Have some street food in Chinatown.
- Sit back and watch the fireworks in darling harbour.
Byron bay
Then onto another longer bus journey of 13hrs to Byron bay. The one place that makes everyone want to stay. I planned on staying 3 days and ended up doing 6 days as I fell in love with Byron. There isn’t as much to do as there is in city’s, its more of a sit back and relax town.
I stayed in Wake up and couldn’t recommend it more, my favourite hostel on the east coast. The rooms are so spacious and its a very social hostel. You can rent bikes and cycle around the town and the beach is right across the road.
Things to do in Byron bay:
- Go surfing!
- Check out the bars for live music
- Do the hike to Cape Byron lighthouse, which is the most easterly point in Australia.
- Kayak with dolphins!
- Take a trip to Nimbin, a nearby town known as a hippie destination.
The Gold Coast
A short bus journey from Byron to the Gold Coast. A city in Queensland known for surfing and having the best waves. I spent 3 nights in surfers paradise and wouldn’t recommend anymore. You can easily see all you need to see in 1 day if you wanted.
Go for a stroll around Burleigh heads and get amazing 360 views of the city from the sky point observation deck.
I stayed in Budds in, surfers paradise. Was a great hostel and full of likeminded people. They had different events on each night. I feel like surfers paradise is for people who are up for partying, if not maybe you can shorten your stay.
Brisbane
Just an hour away Brisbane was next on the list, I liked Brisbane I lived there for 3 months. In my eyes its just another city. The first time I stayed for 2 nights, I stayed in Brisbane quarters and I wouldn’t recommend this hostel. It was tiny and I know a lot of hostels are but this one was ridiculous. The floor had that little space that I had to sleep with my backpack and belongings on the the top bunk with me.
So we spent as much time out of the hostel as possible, we rented a car and made our way down to Australia zoo which I would highly recommend. You can spend the whole day there as there is so much to see.
You can spend quite a bit of time walking around the city. Take a walk over to the Story bridge, there’s lots of restaurants under the bridge and chill out spots.
Head over to Moreton island and do some snorkelling around the Tangalooma ship wrecks.
Noosa
Another short bus journey north will bring you to Noosa! I ended up staying in Noosa for a week, In my opinion there’s not much to do there. The reason I was there so long was because I had Fraser Island booked for a certain day.
I stayed in nomads and enjoyed it there. I met some incredible people, the staff were great and they had a big bar with different events.
Like Byron bay you can kayak with dolphins, get surfing lessons and visit the noosa Everglades. The Everglades are known as “River of Mirrors”. It’s a stretch of wetlands and lakes. When I did this tour it unfortunately rained and we didn’t get to see anything.
Fraser Island
From start to finish this trip was unbelievable, It was my favourite part of the east coast. Fraser Island is an island just off rainbow beach with long stretches of white sandy beaches. I done my tour with Pippies and couldn’t recommend them more.
We started off by staying in Pippies beach house for 1 night where we met everyone on the tour. The next morning we were split into groups and each group was given a 4×4 vehicle. Then we set off! Check out their website or more information on the 3 day itinerary.
The highlights of the trips for me were visiting lake MacKenzie, the driving and Eli creek.
The price of this tour ranges from $569-$629 and it is more than worth it.
Cairns
Finally moving onto Cairns. Landing in tropical far North Queensland, considered the gateway to the wet tropics rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. There is so much to do and see around Cairns with unlimited tours. I would recommend 5 days in Cairns as that’s plenty of time to get all the tours done and see what it has to offer.
You can relax by the lagoon, take a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, do an Uncle Brian’s tour or take the train to Kuranda scenic railway. You can swim in Cairns beaches but it is extremely dangerous between November-May, it’s recommended to swim in lagoons or lakes to avoid crocodiles, jellyfish and whatever else may be in the ocean.
I spent a day at Green island and had so much fun. I took the ferry from Cairns and was supplied with snorkelling gear, lunch was also included in the tour. The crystal clearwater when you arrive at the island is mesmerising. There is also a crocodile habitat on the island that you can visit.
Working in Cairns also counts towards your 88 days regional work for the second visa, which is something to keep in mind.
That pretty much concludes my East Coast itinerary that I done, as I said above do the east coast in whichever order suits you! There is no right or wrong way. There are a couple of parts of the east coast that I didn’t include only because I didn’t do them. I’ll list them below!
If anyone has any questions on the above or wants more detail please leave a comment or contact me! 🙂
