Melbourne to Cairns via TRAIN

slumped

Hey All

Has anyone ever travelled Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane - Cairns by train?

I know it takes a few days and even more if you stop off in places along the way, but what are people's experiences of the trains in Australia?

Are there beirths/rooms for people? We will be travelling as a couple and want to feel secure etc.

Advice welcomed.

Thanks
S

preddy

I think most people use greyhound buses tbh, hop on and off a more flexiable option then booking train tickets...

Mahatma coat

Oh jaysus dont take the Bus, there is still some sillynotion with people that theBus is the Better and cheaper way to do things, this is only an option if you are 5 foot nothin and dont mind sleepin in a bus seat for a week.

the Train is the only way to go,if my Boss allowed me a bit of leeway with travel times then I would take the train everywhere, there are Sleeper carriages with showers, the train has a buffet car and a Bar, you have the capacity to hop on and hop off if you wish, tho I would check when the next train came past before I did that.

QR even do a Backpacker ticket which is 3/6 months unlimited rail travel,great value if ya ask me.

course the big clincher if I as you would be

You're traveling asa couple

So


Have youever Shagged ona Moving Train???;)

the dee

I have to agree with Mahatma here. I took the train from Sydney to Brisbane (stopping along the way) and then straight from Brisbane to Cairns (about 28 hours) It's sooo much better than the bus. Long distance trains are usually empty so you can stretch out across 3 seats to sleep, there are showers (ever taken a shower on a train before? It's fun) a bar, usable toilets, food and powerpoints to plug in your phone or ipod if it's running low. You can hop out at the stations to strech your legs and have smoke. You can leave your bags on the luggage rack and not have them taking up your legroom and still have easy access to them.

Take it from someone who's done both, the train is the way to go!

preddy

I was planning on getting the greyhound bus while travelling up the east coast but maybe the train would be better for us, cant find that backpackers ticket any idea were u seen it? We have a month of travelling up the coast so there wont be any long trips on the route...

the dee

http://www.railaustralia.com.au/eastCoastDiscovery.php is the ticket I got. They have other ones for other routes but that seems to be the most popular. It goes through all of the major tourist spots and small towns. Where there is no train station most of the time you can get a rail bus at no extra cost.

WindSock

Here's another website. i only see Adelaide to Perth though.
http://www.gsr.com.au/our-trains/indian-pacific/train-fares.php?f=a2p