Holiday to Australia

amarno

Hi,

Myself and my boyfriend are hoping to travel around Australia in January 2014. We were hoping to stay for approx. 8 weeks but we do not know if this would be enough time to visit the major cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Cairnes,Brisbane and Canberra. Following this we were hoping to visit a friend in New Zealand for maybe two weeks but would we have time to do all of this in 8 weeks?

I was just wondering if anyone has done a trip like this even across Australia and approx how much did it cost? I have heard that Australia is very expensive but we were hoping to only spend maybe 3,000 each max.

Would this be possible and what route would you recommend?

Thanks,

amarno

Batgurl

amarno wrote: »

we were hoping to only spend maybe 3,000 each max.

Would this be possible and what route would you recommend?

In a word, no.

Three grand would get you three, maybe four weeks tops. Hostels are about $30 per night each. That alone would eat up almost two thirds of your budget so then ud be left with no money to actually DO anything...

NinjaK

Batgurl wrote: »

In a word, no.

Three grand would get you three, maybe four weeks tops. Hostels are about $30 per night each. That alone would eat up almost two thirds of your budget so then ud be left with no money to actually DO anything...

a grand a week? wtf

Batgurl

Yes NinjaK, it is that expensive - prepare yourself.

Like I explained, hostels are $30 each per night, then if you budget $50 per day for activities (if you think that's expensive, just check out any of the activities here

Then transport, food, incidentals etc

And that's before you even take alcohol into account. A beer will set you back about $5-$6 and spirits about $6-$8 and I'm sure we both know how many an Irish person can consume in one night alone?

If you're working, the cost of living balances it out but there is a reason Australia's tourism industry is dying a death. It's actually cheaper for Aussies to holiday abroad than domestically!!!

PS Armano - flights from Sydney to NZ will cost you minimum $200-$300. It's not like Ireland where you can get a cheapy Ryanair flight for E50 return

Lucifer-0

OP - if money is a concern, and Oz isn't some sort of a must do, dream destination go somewhere else that your money will go further.

8 weeks in Oz is gonna hurt the pocket.

catbear

Spend less time in OZ and more time in NZ, value for money NZ is the winner. Just to put things in perspective, 10 years ago there wasn't one Australian city in the top 50 most expensive cities list in the world, now there's three in the top ten!

Rubadubchub

Sound advice thus far. 6000 Euro is $7423 at today’s exchange rate. I have recently travelled to Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns and it was a very expensive trip.

Accommodation-
I am going to assume that you and your partner want to sleep in the same bed and therefore want a private room in a hostel opposed to sleeping in bunk beds with 4-10 other people for 8 weeks? Private room in a hostel will set you back about $100 a night in Sydney and Melbourne and prob about $50-$70 in cairns.

Cost of Living –
Fast food meal for two would cost around $30ish in Sydney/ Melbourne. Cost of a sit down meal is around $100. If you plan to eat out every night this will definitely eat into your saving.

Add drinking on top of that – When me and the mrs go out in Sydney I bring about $300 for a proper night out. Few drinks would prob cost you about $100

Cost of living in Cairns is definitely the highest I have seen in Australia. Eating out and drinking is pretty expensive up there.

Transport –
You will need to get cheap flights to each different place. Although Tiger airways offer really cheap flights you have to add taxes and baggage on to that. So for example they offer a $69 flight from Sydney to Melbourne or wherever. Add $17.50 each for baggage and add another $9 for charges. Add $15 for other taxes and fees and you get a grand total of - $192 for this one flight. You will likely have to fly to each city so that is roughly 7 flights including your return to Sydney + your flights to and from NZ which will be more expensive.

Add to this transfers to and from airports and train fares for each city which can be surprisingly expensive.

Stuff to Do –
Cairns is expensive. You cant just jump into the water and go have a look at the great barrier reef. You have to get a boat trip out to an island. Think when we done it cost around $80-100 each.

Great Ocean road in Melbourne seems to be the thing to do down there. Renting a car to do it will set you back a couple of hundred dollars. Melbourne is famous for the food so you will prob want to eat out a good bit as well.

Sydney is one of the dearest cities in the world. Think its $25 or something to get into the museum for example. That’s $50 or 40 euro for the museum! I went to Toronga zoo last week and it was over $100 for the both of us and we brought our own food. This isn’t expensive when you are earning $30 or $40 an hour but if your not it has the makings of a very expensive holiday.

My advice would be to save your trip to Australia until the exchange rate is a lot more favourable and really save your ass off at home to make it a brilliant holiday. It is one of the best countries on the planet and there is so much to do and see. Every person I have met over here has been taken back by the prices when they arrive. You might be able to survive on 6k but you will be slumming it.