Getting around Australia: trains, buses, driving and domestic flights

Match the mode to the shape of your trip, not to the map. Two weeks on the east coast is a flying trip with one driving loop. A month or more, or a one-state focus, is where a car or campervan earns its cost.

Prices are 2026 estimates and swing with school holidays, Easter and the December–January peak. Book flights and campervans early for those weeks; regional coaches and trains rarely sell out but run once or twice a day.

Start with the flight map. Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar link Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Hobart and Uluru. Fares are cheapest booked weeks ahead and outside school holidays. Budget fares charge for checked bags and seat selection, so compare the total, not the headline. In Sydney, domestic flights leave from a terminal separate from the international one; allow time and a train or taxi between them.

Then decide whether you need a car. You do not need one in central Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth. You do need one for the Great Ocean Road, Tasmania outside Hobart, the coast north of Sydney, and any outback loop. Compare a rental car with a campervan: a campervan saves on motels but costs more per day and is slower on long days. Read the contract for one-way fees and unsealed-road exclusions, and never drive outback tracks your insurer excludes.

For the Sydney–Melbourne run without flying, the XPT train takes about 11 hours and the coach 12 or more. Both are comfortable enough for a day or an overnight, and both are far slower than the flight. Book the train ahead for sleepers and quiet cars.

In cities, tap on and off with a contactless card or phone. Sydney uses Opal, Melbourne myki, Brisbane and Perth their own cards. Melbourne has a free tram zone in the CBD; outside it you need a valid myki, and the tap-to-pay rollout for visitors is worth checking before you arrive. Fines for not tapping on are real.

Sydney Harbour ferries are transport and sightseeing at once, A$8–10 for a hop. The Spirit of Tasmania carries cars and passengers across Bass Strait from Geelong in about 10 hours; the crossing is rough in winter, so book a cabin if you are prone to seasickness.

For the long scenic trains, the Ghan (Adelaide–Alice Springs–Darwin) and the Indian Pacific (Sydney–Perth) are cruises on rails: A$1,500+ and booked out months ahead. Treat them as a trip in themselves, not as transport.

Distances are the trap. Sydney to Cairns is about 2,400 km of driving, and Perth is a four-hour flight from Sydney. A two-week trip that tries to road-trip the east coast and add Perth or Uluru usually spends its days in the car or at airports.

Wildlife and road conditions matter more than traffic. Kangaroos and wombats are active at dusk and dawn on country roads; avoid driving those hours where you can. Fuel stations thin out in the outback, so fill up when you can and carry water. In remote areas, use signed drinking taps.

One-way rentals between cities often carry a drop fee, and some companies restrict where you can take the car, including Tasmania crossings and unsealed roads. Check before you book, not at the counter.

Public holidays change everything: Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day morning close most shops, and many cafés shut by 15:00 even on normal days. Country towns close early on Saturday and all Sunday, so plan fuel and food around that.