Australia Travel Blog

Australia is one of those countries you should take your time for. The distances alone make it clear that you can’t fit everything into a single trip.

What I love most is the variety. In the north there’s tropical rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, inland the red outback awaits, and in the south you’ll find cities like Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, wild coastlines, wine regions and national parks. On top of that, there’s the wildlife with kangaroos, koalas and wombats, and an underwater world you’ll only find here.

For me, a road trip is the best way to discover Australia. You’re flexible, can stop spontaneously along the way and can reach places far from the big cities.

Places to visit

15 eindrucksvolle Sehenswürdigkeiten in Australien

Inspiration

21 Gründe, warum du nach Australien reisen solltest

Tours & activities

Australien Bucket List: 27 Dinge, die du in Australien machen musst

Want to book a trip? For a more complex itinerary in Australia, a specialist can be worth it, especially if you want to combine several domestic flights, rental cars and different regions. But you can also organise an independent road trip very well yourself.

To travel to Australia, you need a valid visa or electronic travel authority before you arrive. For tourist trips, citizens of EU countries and the UK can apply for the free eVisitor visa (subclass 651). It allows multiple entries within twelve months, and you can stay up to three months each time. US and Canadian citizens apply for an ETA (subclass 601) through the official AustralianETA app. Always check the exact requirements directly with the Australian Department of Home Affairs before your trip.

Trip planning

Anleitung: Visum Australien beantragen kostenlos – Schritt für Schritt

Booking flights

To find flights, I use Google Flights and Skyscanner. They give me an overview of connections and prices first. With cheap fares, always check carefully whether checked baggage is included.

Australia is huge. If you want to combine regions that are far apart, domestic flights often make more sense than driving for days. Especially between Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Darwin, Perth and the Red Centre, you save a lot of time.

Getting around by rental car or campervan

In many parts of Australia, a rental car or campervan is the best way to travel flexibly. Especially outside the cities, it makes it much easier to reach national parks, beaches and smaller towns.

Australia drives on the left. Tourism Australia also points out that you should carry a valid International Driving Permit in addition to your national driving licence. You should also check the conditions of your rental company. Especially important: on Magnetic Island we wouldn’t have got a car without an International Driving Permit, and no campervan either. Does your driving licence have an expiry date? Then it might be enough. Licences without an expiry date were the problem for us. I wouldn’t rely on it, though.

Don’t underestimate the distances. Drives of several hundred kilometres in a day add up quickly in Australia. In the outback, there’s also no mobile reception everywhere. That’s why offline maps are always part of my preparation.

Travel tips

Mietwagen Australien Erfahrungen: Tipps zum Autofahren(Mietwagen & Camper)

Travel tips

Camper mieten in Australien – meine Erfahrungen & Tipps

Trip planning

Mit dem Greyhound Bus durch Australien: Meine Erfahrungen mit dem Hop-on-Hop-off Pass

From hostels to apartments and hotels to simple cabins and campsites, Australia has almost everything.

On road trips, I prefer to book particularly popular accommodation and campsites in advance. That applies above all during school holidays and in very popular national parks. Even Parks Australia points out that some campsites book up quickly in peak season.

In national parks, the options vary a lot by region. In Kakadu National Park, for example, you’ll find simple bush camps as well as campsites with showers, toilets and other facilities.

I usually book the rest on Booking.com or directly with the accommodation.

Australia is generally easy to travel. Still, there are a few things you should take more seriously on a road trip than in Europe.

Above all, these are long distances, extreme heat, bushfires, floods and sudden changes in the weather. Bushfires and grass fires are a regular natural hazard in Australia.

In the outback, carry enough water, plan your route in advance and don’t rely on having mobile reception everywhere.

I also try not to drive cross-country at dusk or at night. That’s when kangaroos and other animals are most active and can suddenly appear on the road.

Planning a trip through Australia seems complicated at first, because the distances are so great. My most important tip: focus on one or two regions rather than trying to squeeze as many places as possible into one trip.

For two to three weeks, good options are the east coast between Sydney and Cairns, a combination of Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road, or a road trip through the southwest around Perth. For the Red Centre or the tropical north, I would add domestic flights depending on the itinerary.

Itineraries

Australien Ostküste 3 Wochen: Unsere Route von Cairns bis Brisbane (Reisebericht)

Itineraries

Ostküste Australien in 4 Wochen mit dem Bus: Cairns bis Sydney weiter zur Great Ocean Road

Itineraries

Perth bis Broome Roadtrip: Highlights der Westküste Australiens

Itineraries

Adelaide bis Perth: Highlights beim Roadtrip entlang der Südküste Australien

Show all 5 articles

Itineraries

Roadtrip auf dem Explorer’s Way mit Campervan (Darwin bis Adelaide)

In Australia you pay with the Australian dollar (AUD). You can withdraw cash at ATMs and pay by credit card almost everywhere.

Tipping: Tipping isn’t a must in Australia, but it’s appreciated. For good service, around 10 per cent is usual.