While studying abroad, traveling is a undoubtedly a big part of the experience. You want to explore as many places as possible and in the little amount you have. However, being a student, traveling can get quite expensive. This is why, I’ve decided to leave a few tips on how to travel around Australia on a budget.
Unlike in Europe, you can’t be in a totally different country just a train ride away. To get from coast to coast, it’s about an 8 hour flight. Although there are definitely places to see everywhere in Australia that you can get to by train, but to say you got to see the most of Australia, you have to take a few plane rides. Australia has local airlines, such as Qantas, Jetstar, Tiger Airways, and Virgin Australia that offer cheap plane tickets around Australia. Apps like skyscanner and studentuniverse compare all of these to find the cheapest tickets and best offers.
Moreover, one of my favorite ways to save money are hostels. Hostels in Australia have exceeded my expectations every time. Hostels provide a cheap way to have a comfortable stay and also meet other backpackers. In my opinion, you should stay in a hostel at least once while traveling. Hostels usually host activities like BBQs, free breakfast, movie nights, etc. to make it easier for people traveling solo or in small groups to meet each other. At Byron Bay, I stayed in WakeUp Byron. They had free pancakes for all the guests one morning and provided free transportation and surfboards.
In addition, hostels tend to have communal kitchens for the guests to cook in. While traveling, each meal can easily sum up to take away a large part of your budget. For this reason, if you are planning to do week or weekend long trips, it is cheaper to do a little bit of groceries so that you don’t have to eat out for every meal.
Lastly, the best day to go on short day trips is Sundays. I’ve briefly mentioned this before in other posts, but in Australia transportation is only $2.70 total as part of their Sunday Funday campaign. Thanks to this, I have been able to take 2-4 hr long train rides at the cheapest price available. This allows you to go to places like Port Stephens, Anna Bay, Royal National Park, the Blue Mountains, among others at an incredible price. All these tricks have allowed me to travel around Australia at a fairly economical price, and I am excited to keep getting to know more.