Getting Around Australia

The map lies to first-time visitors. A Sydney, Melbourne, Uluru, Cairns trip that looks compact covers more ground than London to Moscow and back, and the drive from Adelaide to Darwin up the Stuart Highway is about 3,000 km of mostly empty road. Plan on one region per week if you want to drive it, and use flights to jump between them.

The other surprise is time zones: the east coast is two hours ahead of Perth (three in the southern summer, when New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia move their clocks forward but Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia do not). Check flight times carefully when crossing state lines in summer.

Flying is how most visitors cover the big gaps, and Sydney to Melbourne is one of the busiest air routes in the world, with a departure roughly every 15 minutes at peak times.

• Qantas: the full-service flag carrier. Fares include a checked bag, a snack and drinks, and its regional arm QantasLink reaches outback towns and islands such as Alice Springs, Broome and Hamilton Island.
• Virgin Australia: the main competitor, also full service on most fares, with a strong east-coast and Western Australia network. Qatar Airways took a minority stake in 2025, adding more long-haul connections.
• Jetstar: Qantas’s low-cost arm. Base fares from about AUD 50 to 100 on short hops, but bags, seats and meals cost extra and the change rules are strict. Good for Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Cairns and Ballina for Byron Bay.
• Rex (Regional Express): went into voluntary administration in July 2024 and stopped flying its Boeing 737 jets between the capital cities. Its Saab turboprops kept flying regional routes, and the airline is now owned by the US company Air T. Treat Rex as a regional airline for places like Broken Hill, King Island and country New South Wales and Victoria, not a capital-city option.

Smaller carriers fill the gaps: Airnorth in the Top End, Alliance and Nexus on mining and Kimberley routes, and Sharp around Victoria and South Australia. Typical one-way fares are AUD 80 to 200 between east-coast cities and AUD 250 to 500 across the continent, rising sharply in school holidays and at Christmas. Book four to eight weeks ahead and compare direct airline sites, because the cheapest flights to Uluru (Ayers Rock airport) and Broome sell out first.

Australia’s famous trains are run by Journey Beyond as all-inclusive rail holidays, with cabins, meals, drinks and off-train excursions in the fare. Expect several thousand Australian dollars per person for the full journeys; there are no cheap seats on them any more.

• The Ghan: Adelaide to Alice Springs to Darwin, about 2,979 km, in 3 to 4 days with stops at Katherine and Coober Pedy or Alice Springs depending on the itinerary. The Darwin to Adelaide “Expedition” runs 4 days and 3 nights. Shorter Adelaide to Alice Springs and Alice to Darwin legs are also sold.
• Indian Pacific: Sydney to Adelaide to Perth, about 4,352 km over 4 days and 3 nights, crossing the Nullarbor Plain and the 478 km dead-straight stretch of track, the longest in the world, with a stop at Broken Hill and the ghost town of Cook.
• Great Southern: a seasonal Brisbane to Adelaide service in the southern summer.

Coaches are the backpacker’s east coast. Greyhound Australia runs Sydney to Brisbane and on up the Queensland coast to Cairns, with stops at Byron Bay, Noosa, Hervey Bay for K’gari (Fraser Island), Airlie Beach for the Whitsundays and Townsville for Magnetic Island. Its Whimit passes give unlimited travel for a set number of days (from 15 to 120), and fixed hop-on hop-off passes cover a single direction. Greyhound also runs Darwin to Alice Springs and inland Queensland routes. Premier Motor Service is a cheaper, no-frills alternative between Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns, and Firefly Express runs Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide overnight.

Fares between neighbouring cities run AUD 30 to 150, and the journeys are long: Sydney to Brisbane takes 15 to 17 hours, Brisbane to Cairns closer to 30. Book seats a few days ahead in December, January and Easter. Outside the east coast, coach coverage is thin: Integrity Coach Lines connects Perth with Broome along the west coast a few times a week, and state services such as NSW TrainLink coaches and V/Line coaches link towns the trains do not reach.

To see the Great Ocean Road, Tasmania, the Red Centre, the Kimberley or the South West around Margaret River, you need a car. All the international hire brands operate at airports and in cities, and a compact car runs roughly AUD 50 to 120 a day, more in peak season and far more in remote towns such as Alice Springs, Broome and Darwin, where a 4WD can cost AUD 200 to 300 a day.

Campervans are the classic Australian road trip. Britz, Maui, Apollo, Jucy and Travellers Autobarn rent everything from two-berth vans to 4WD bush campers, from about AUD 80 a day in winter to AUD 250 or more at Christmas. One-way hires attract fees of several hundred dollars, especially to or from Darwin, Broome and Perth. Relocation deals, where companies need a van moved between cities and charge as little as AUD 1 a day with fuel included, suit flexible travellers. Use an app such as WikiCamps to find campgrounds, dump points and water, and book national park sites in advance in summer.

Australians drive on the left, and visitors can drive on a valid overseas licence; if it is not in English, carry an International Driving Permit or an official translation. Key rules:

• Speed: usually 50 km/h in built-up areas, 40 km/h in school zones at set times, 100 to 110 km/h on rural highways and up to 130 km/h on parts of the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. Speed and mobile-phone cameras are everywhere and fines are mailed to the hire company, which passes them on with a fee.
• Alcohol: the limit is 0.05 for fully licensed drivers and random breath testing is routine, including in the morning. Roadside drug tests also detect cannabis.
• Phones: touching your phone while driving costs several hundred dollars and demerit points.

Outback driving is where people get hurt. Distances between fuel stops on the Stuart, Eyre (Nullarbor) and North West Coastal highways often exceed 200 km, so fill up at every roadhouse and expect to pay AUD 0.50 to 1 a litre more than in the cities. Kangaroos, cattle, emus and camels are on the road at dawn, dusk and night, and hitting one at 110 km/h writes off a car; plan your day so you arrive before sunset. Give road trains a wide berth and overtake only with a long, clear view. Carry at least 10 litres of water per person, tell someone your route, and if you break down, stay with the vehicle. Check road conditions with the state road authority in the wet season (November to April in the north), when floods close highways for days. More on outback risks is on our Australia safety guide.

The only car ferry to Tasmania is the Spirit of Tasmania, which sails between Geelong, about an hour south-west of Melbourne, and Devonport on Tasmania’s north coast. The crossing takes around 10 to 11 hours; night sailings run year-round and day sailings are added in summer. Advertised fares start from about AUD 49 for a seat, with cabins and a vehicle adding substantially, and the operator is introducing two new ships, the first due to enter service from late 2026. Book well ahead for December to February and school holidays, when car spaces sell out, and remember Tasmania’s biosecurity rules: fresh fruit and vegetables are confiscated at Devonport.

Every big city has decent public transport, and you rarely need a dedicated card any more. Check current fares before you go, as they change each year.

• Sydney (Opal): tap a credit or debit card, phone or watch on trains, the Metro, light rail, buses and Sydney Ferries, including the Manly ferry. Daily and weekly caps apply automatically, weekend fares are capped lower, and Sydney Airport’s two stations add a station access fee, making the train to Central around AUD 20.
• Melbourne (myki): contactless bank cards and phones rolled out on metropolitan trains from March 2026 and on buses by July 2026 for full-fare passengers, with the rest of the network following; a myki card (about AUD 6) still works everywhere. Trams are free inside the CBD’s Free Tram Zone, so you may not need to pay at all downtown. SkyBus runs from the airport to Southern Cross station.
• Brisbane and South East Queensland (Translink): every trip on buses, trains, ferries and the Gold Coast light rail costs a flat 50 cents, by go card or contactless card. The Airtrain to the airport is the exception and charges its own fare.
• Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra: Perth uses SmartRider and has free CAT buses in the city centre; Adelaide uses metroCARD; check each operator’s site for contactless options.

Uber and DiDi operate in every capital and many larger towns, alongside metered taxis (13cabs and local firms). A 10-minute inner-city ride costs AUD 15 to 30, more with surge pricing late on Friday and Saturday nights; airport runs into Sydney or Melbourne are AUD 50 to 80. Airports have marked rideshare pick-up zones. In regional towns rideshare may have only a handful of drivers, so book a taxi or shuttle ahead for early flights, and in the outback there is often nothing at all: arrange transfers with your hotel.