OceaniaAustraliaAustralia
Australia is not one trip, it is a dozen that happen to share a passport. Sailing to the silica sand of Whitehaven, driving a beach called 75 Mile as though it were a road, watching Uluru change colour for an hour, snorkelling a reef you can swim to from the sand at Ningaloo. Nobody sees it all, and nobody seems to mind.
AustraliaAustralia in a nutshell
Where to go in Australia
Turn these stops into a Australia route
Pick your favourites and Stippl orders them, adds travel times and builds the day-by-day.
Plan your adventure in Australia
Australia itineraries, two weeks to a month
Australia is loved by culture seekers and backpackers alike. We recommend several routes through this country, here they are in full!
4 nights4 days, Adelaide→Melbourne overland
Adelaide · Grampians · Great Ocean Road
Mild shoulder seasons suit the Grampians and Great Ocean Road without southern winter or peak tourist pressure.
5 nights5 days, Cairns & the tropical north
Cairns · Great Barrier Reef · Port Douglas
Great Barrier Reef and Port Douglas at peak visibility; dry season eliminates wet-season stingers and storms.
5 nights5 days, the Red Centre
Alice Springs · Kings Canyon · Uluru Kata Tjuta
Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and Uluru demand cool, dry conditions; winter and spring offer bearable desert temperatures.
5 nights5 days, the Top End
Darwin · Litchfield · Kakadu
Darwin, Litchfield and Kakadu at their prime; dry season transforms the tropical north from wet to sunny and warm.
7 nights1 week, Sydney→Melbourne coastal
Sydney · Jervis Bay · Wilsons Promontory
Jervis Bay and Wilsons Promontory at their best; autumn and spring avoid southern winter and summer heat.
7 nights1 week, Tasmania loop
Hobart · Bruny Island · Freycinet
Hobart, Bruny Island and Cradle Mountain peak in summer; Tasmania inverts mainland logic with warmest, longest days.
10 nights3 weeks, Sydney→Perth cross-continent
Sydney · Blue Mountains · Broken Hill
Broken Hill, Nullarbor and outback routes require mild temps and good road conditions; shoulder seasons balance comfort and scenery.
11 nights12 days, Sydney→Great Ocean Road→Adelaide campervan loop
Sydney · Wilsons Promontory · Phillip Island
Southern route peaks in autumn and spring; Melbourne and Great Ocean Road shine without winter chill or summer crowds.
14 nights2 weeks, east coast highlights
Sydney · Byron Bay · Gold Coast
Mild temps and dry north; Sydney to Cairns at their best without summer crowds or tropical storms.
19 nights4 weeks: the west coast, Perth→Broome
Perth · Kalbarri · Shark Bay
Ningaloo whale sharks from March; Shark Bay and Karijini best in dry, cool months; wildflowers peak in spring.
25 nights4 weeks: the east coast classic, Cairns→Sydney
Cairns · Port Douglas · Mission Beach
Port Douglas through Byron Bay avoid wet season and peak heat; shoulder seasons offer ideal reef and coastal conditions.
Updated August 2026 · 14 min read · Written by the Stippl editorsWe looked at how travellers actually plan Australia on Stippl, across 366,000+ planned stops in the country.
You do not do Australia, you do a piece of it, and most travellers give a stop 2 nights. The named things are spread across a continent: snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, sailing the Whitsundays, 4WD on K'gari, the Great Ocean Road, Uluru changing colour at sunset, Ningaloo's whale sharks, the walk into the Daintree, Sydney's set pieces and Tasmania's wild side. Very few trips get more than a handful of them.
The Australia our travellers actually plan is the east coast, in order. Ten of the twelve most-planned Australian destinations run in a line from Sydney to Cairns, and no single one takes more than 11.6% of the country's stops. Uluru, Darwin and Tasmania are on every list of things to see here and on very few of the itineraries.
So pick the coast or commit to the distance. A typical Australian trip already runs 29 days, which is the length the map forces rather than a preference, and an attraction here means a reef trip or a skydive rather than an entry ticket, so budget advice written for Europe does not transfer. Skip Australia on a short trip or a tight budget, and expect to see much less if you will not drive.
Who Australia is for
Road-trippers and campervanners
the archetypal Australia trip; the distances demand a vehicle and the caravan-park and free-camp network is built for it
Backpackers and working-holiday makers
a huge hostel trail, casual work economy and van culture make the year-out here a rite of passage
First-time solo travellers
repeatedly named among the safest, easiest solo countries; the hostel scene makes meeting people effortless
Divers and snorkellers
the Great Barrier Reef from the east, Ningaloo's whale sharks from the west; two of the world's great reef systems in one country
Wildlife lovers
quokkas on Rottnest, wild koalas on Magnetic Island, penguin parades, whale sharks, sea lions: 90% of native species exist nowhere else
Surfers
Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, Sydney's beaches and Bells Beach, the birthplace of Australian surf culture
Wine travellers
Barossa, Clare, Hunter, Yarra and Margaret River are day-trippable from the big cities
Families
Gold Coast theme parks, wildlife sanctuaries, safe beaches; Melbourne is singled out as the best family city
Maybe not for you: short trips and tight budgets, it is far, expensive, and the distances eat itinerary days; travellers who won't drive will see far less, and one region per trip is the honest plan for under three weeks
The best time to visit Australia
Summer
Dec–Feb
southern peak: 25–30°C beach weather, Christmas on the sand, school-holiday crowds and prices; the tropical north is wet, humid and stinger-infested
Autumn
Mar–May
shoulder sweet spot in the south and on the mid-east coast; the north dries out through April–May
Winter
Jun–Aug
the southern low season and cheapest time, and precisely the best season for the tropical north, the Kimberley and the Red Centre: dry, sunny, bearable desert temps; ski season runs Jun–Sep in the Snowy Mountains
Spring
Sep–Nov
the overall headline pick: mild everywhere, pre-peak prices, WA wildflowers and east-coast whales
Tropical wet season
Nov–Apr
heat, humidity, storms and occasional cyclones up north, with possible road closures, but lush scenery and low prices
- The winter/summer trade is the core planning logic: winter (Jun–Aug) is the cheapest season in the south and simultaneously the best season for the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and Uluru
- Direction logic for the east coast: ride Cairns→Sydney in Sep–Nov (beating the wet season south), Sydney→Cairns in Apr–Jun (into the northern dry); May and October are the two ideal months
- Northern wet-season end differs by source: Nov–Mar in one bbp passage vs Nov–Apr in its own FAQ and in nomad and rjk, use Nov–Apr as the cautious range
- Whale-watching windows differ per coast and source: east-coast humpbacks roughly May/Jun–Oct with peak Jun–Aug and Hervey Bay quoted as Jul–Oct or Jul–Nov; WA runs Bremer Canyon orcas Mar–Apr and west-coast cruises Sep–Nov, state the coast, never one national window
- Stinger (box jellyfish/Irukandji) season in northern Queensland runs roughly Nov–May: swim in stinger suits or freshwater, or go in the dry season when the reef is stinger-free
- Book everything ahead for late Dec–late Jan and Easter, the school-holiday peaks fill coastal campsites and lift prices nationwide
Add your Australia dates and we'll flag the weather per stop
Stippl shows the season, crowds and prices for every place on your route.
Festivals, and when to avoid them
Australian Open (Melbourne) and Sydney Festival, the summer city peaks
Australia Day: the big national holiday, increasingly contested from the Indigenous perspective
Adelaide Fringe and Sydney Mardi Gras, the southern-summer arts and parade season
Formula 1 Grand Prix, Melbourne
Anzac Day, solemn and significant; dawn services and parades nationwide
Vivid Sydney, the harbour light festival
NAIDOC Week, nationwide celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures
Darwin Festival, the Top End dry-season peak
Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the nation
Schoolies, school-leaver party weeks; avoid Byron Bay and the Gold Coast if that's not your scene
Describe your trip, get a Australia itinerary in seconds
Everything in this guide is already in Stippl. Tell the planner how long you have and what you like: it builds the route, the days and the travel times, and you edit whatever you want.
Things to do in Australia
Photo by Martins OPO via Pexels
Photo by Dean McQuade via Unsplash
Photo by Kathleen Banks via UnsplashSnorkel or dive the Great Barrier Reef
day boats and 2–7-day liveaboards from Cairns, Port Douglas or Airlie Beach; the single most repeated Australia experience in our sources
Sail the Whitsundays
a 2–3-day boat trip out of Airlie Beach to Whitehaven Beach's silica sand and Hill Inlet; repeatedly called THE east-coast highlight
4WD K'gari (Fraser Island)
the world's largest sand island: 75 Mile Beach as highway, the Maheno shipwreck, Lake McKenzie, wild dingoes
Drive the Great Ocean Road
243 km of shipwreck coast past the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and wild koalas at Kennett River; do it over 2–3 days, or reverse it in one to beat the tour buses
Watch Uluru change colour at sunset
with the 10.6 km Base Walk and Kata Tjuta's Valley of the Winds; a sacred Anangu site, visited to learn the culture
Sydney's set pieces
Opera House, BridgeClimb, the Bondi–Coogee clifftop walk and the Manly ferry
What to eat in Australia
the national handheld: minced beef in pastry
Australia's coffee export; espresso with velvety milk
avocado toast with poached egg, brunch canon
salty yeast spread, thinly on buttered toast
charity BBQ sausage in white bread
battered, fried potato disc
shucked straight from the water
the novelty grill items
boxed wine, the backpacker staple
Discover food spots in Stippl
Find restaurants and markets on the map, save them to your itinerary, works offline too.
Australian customs and what not to do
Do not talk yourself up
Egalitarian to the bone: the "fair go" ethos, relaxed formality everywhere, and "tall poppy syndrome", boasting gets you cut down to size
Arvo, brekkie, bottle-o
Slang is a second language: shorten everything and add "mate", arvo, brekkie, bottle-o, Woolies, footy, goon, and "Hi, how are ya?" is a greeting, not a question
You walk the base, not the top
Uluru and Kata Tjuta are sacred Anangu sites, the frame is sunset viewing, the Base Walk and cultural experiences, visited to learn the culture
The custodians ask you not to
Wollumbin/Mount Warning's summit trail is closed at the request of the traditional custodians, who ask people not to climb; the mountain was declared Aboriginal land in 2015
K'gari, not Fraser Island
Learning and using Indigenous place names is encouraged, Uluru (not Ayers Rock), K'gari (not Fraser Island, officially renamed), Meanjin (Brisbane), Naarm (Melbourne), as is engaging via guided cultural tours and centres
A contested date
Australia Day (26 Jan) is the big national holiday and has become contested from the Indigenous perspective; NAIDOC Week (July) is the nationwide celebration of Indigenous cultures
AFL, cricket, and the Cup
Sport is religion: AFL footy, cricket, the Australian Open, and the Melbourne Cup as "the race that stops a nation"
Never drop in on a local
Surf etiquette is taken seriously, wave priority, line-up position, no dropping; chat with locals before paddling out
If you can cuddle it, walk away
Wildlife ethics run deep: observe, never touch or feed, the working rule is that if you can cuddle or feed it, it is not in the animal's interest
Do
- Swim between the red-and-yellow flags on patrolled beaches
- Slip-slop-slap sunscreen daily, you burn here even at 15°C
- Declare all food and biological material at customs, or bin it
- Use Indigenous place names and take a cultural tour where offered
- Book campsites and stays well ahead for late Dec–Jan and Easter
- Check camping and daylight-saving rules per state, they genuinely differ
Don't
- Climb Wollumbin, the summit is closed at the request of the traditional custodians
- Drive rural roads at dusk, dawn or night if you can avoid it
- Swim in unmarked water in the tropical north, crocodiles and stingers are real
- Touch or feed wildlife, or cuddle a koala for a photo
- Tip: it is not expected, and prices include tax
- Boast, tall poppy syndrome is enforced socially
Daily budget in Australia
Budget
€43–81 (AUD 70–130)
dorm or campsite, self-catering, buses/relocations, mostly free nature
Mid-range
€93–155 (AUD 150–250)
private rooms/motels, rental car split two ways, a paid tour every few days, one meal out
High-end
€186+ (AUD 300+)
hotels, campervan or own rental, frequent tours, restaurant dining
Track what you actually spend
Set a daily budget per country and log expenses in any currency while you travel.
Visas, SIM cards and getting around
Entry & visa
Free for Europe, if you go direct
Health
Only if you came via a risk area
No vaccinations are mandatory (yellow-fever proof only if arriving from a risk area).
Money
The rate this file prices in
1 EUR ≈ 1.611 AUD, mid-market.
Connectivity
The outback is a dead zone
Telstra has by far the best coverage and is essential in WA and the outback; off the main networks the interior is a dead zone, download offline maps.
Water
No bottles needed
Tap water is safe to drink nationwide.
Tipping
Staff are paid properly
Not expected and not needed, prices include tax and staff are paid real wages.
Power & practicalities
Buy the adapter at home
Sockets are type I (the "world plug" shape, 230V), buy the adapter before departure, it is hard to find locally.
Language
The slang is the real barrier
English needs no phrasebook, but the slang genuinely does, Australians shorten everything, and our sources treat decoding it as part of the trip.
Australian slang worth knowing
Nobody expects you to speak the language, which is exactly why a handful of words goes so far.
Hello · G'day
You're welcome / it's fine · No worries
Friend, the universal address · Mate
Afternoon · Arvo
Breakfast · Brekkie
Liquor store · Bottle-o
Boxed wine · Goon
Aussie Rules football · Footy
Hello (a greeting, not a question) · How are ya?
Australia questions, answered
By cutting the map down. An Australia trip runs 29 days on Stippl and still only covers one or two regions, because the distances are the size of Europe. Lay the internal flights into Stippl first, then show the route to people who have driven it, in the Australia subreddits.
Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Byron Bay get three; Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Noosa, Airlie Beach and K'gari two; Perth one. That is across the 366,000+ stops planned in Australia on Stippl, and it is the east coast run written out as a packing schedule.
Most people do. Only 29.6% of the Australia trips planned on Stippl stay inside Australia, and New Zealand, Bali or Southeast Asia on the way out are the usual additions. Given the flight from Europe, a stopover is close to standard rather than an indulgence.
Yes, always, and arranged before you fly. It is a free eVisitor for most EU and UK passports, a low-cost ETA for the US and Canada, and a Visitor Visa for everybody else. Only New Zealanders are exempt. Apply through the official site: the copycat ones charge for nothing.
Not for the sealed routes, which is most of what a first trip covers, the drive across the Nullarbor included. You do need one for K'gari, the Great Beach Drive and much of the Gibb River Road. Hire companies are strict about which vehicles may go where, and the insurance follows that.
It depends which coast. In the south, summer only if you want to enjoy it. In the tropical north, stinger season runs roughly November to May and crocodiles are there all year, so the dry season is the safe window and netted enclosures are the answer outside it.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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