So, exactly how expensive is it to travel to Australia from the United States?

You may have been interested in traveling to Australia but the long flights and taking time off (enough time to actually enjoy your trip) can be a bit intimidating. When I first started thinking about traveling to Australia, for some reason I thought flights would be upwards of $2,000. That alone was intimating—besides the fact that it takes almost a full day of travel to get there!

Nevertheless, I was determined to go to Australia. Especially because my father’s family is from Sydney and I wanted to plan a family trip so that he could meet some of his cousins. The trip was actually a few years in the making which gave us plenty of time to save for it. Also, there really is something for everyone in Australia and I was determined to plan a great trip for everyone!

THE PLANNING

Saving

I started saving for the trip with my Qapital app. My husband and brother also started saving for the trip in Qapital so we set up a group savings goal of $4,000 each. This was a little aggressive but I wanted to make sure I had enough for all of the expenses. My goal was to keep the budget at $3,500 but wanted to make sure I had a little extra just in case.

I also started saving a year and a half out—so I knew I could save up enough eventually! I saved a fixed amount every week and then put extra money towards the goal when I had been saving elsewhere (ie: didn’t buy coffee for a week so put $25 towards the goal that would have been spent on the coffee).

Timing

We wanted to go during Thanksgiving since 1: it was a family trip, and 2: we would each be saving 2-3 days of PTO by traveling during a holiday. November is also considered to be in the shoulder-season so the weather is generally mild and travel prices are lower than in the high-seasons.

Since Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, summers are December — February and winters are June — August. Winter is also the “dry season” in tropical Australia. If you are planning to visit the northern part of the country, keep in mind that the summers are very hot, humid, and wet!

We also decided to take 2 full weeks for the trip. With 2 of those days devoted to traveling to and from Australia, we had 12 days to do and see everything we wanted to. I really wanted to spend a few days in New Zealand but after realizing how vast Australia is and how much there is to see there, we decided it would be best to spend the whole 12 days in Australia alone.

Cities

Next was deciding what cities we would be visiting while in Australia. With Sydney as our base, we would be able to visit at least 2 other cities while there.

Everybody wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef so we would need to go to north Queensland. We decided to fly into Cairns but would stay in Port Douglas based on recommendations from family. We also decided on Melbourne because it is rich in culture and is known for its great assortment of cuisines.

View of the Melbourne skyline from the Yarra River

With these cities spread pretty far apart, our only option for the time we were spending in Australia was to fly from city to city. The Sydney-Melbourne flight is only 1.5-hours, but to Cairns, it is over 3-hours.

After looking at our schedules, and making sure we had enough time in Sydney to spend with family, we decided on the following itinerary:

• Sydney – 3 nights
• Cairns (Port Douglas) – 3 nights
• Melbourne – 3 nights
• Sydney – 3 nights

THE EXPENSES

Airfare- $1,002

To my surprise, the flights were a lot less expensive than I was expecting! We did fly out of LAX, which helped with the cost, but also selected flights that were affordable without being too inconvenient. A direct flight from LAX to Sydney is about 15-hours but if you don’t get a direct flight, travel time could easily be more than 20-hours.

We ended up selecting round-trip flights for $1,002, with 19-hours of travel time each way. There was one short layover in Fiji which helped with the overall travel time since it wasn’t out of the way from the LAX-Sydney flight path.

In-Country Transportation – $517

Airfare – $372

Once we decided on the dates we would be spending in each city, we booked our Qantas Airways flights. The 3-flight trip ended up being only $372 per person! I tried to select flights that were convenient with timing (didn’t want any too early flights in case we had trouble getting to the airport in the morning) but that were still affordable, and these worked out great.

Airport Transportation – $80

I also arranged private transportation to and from the airports in both Sydney and Melbourne. When it is just my husband and I traveling, we usually just wing it when getting from the airport to the city. But in this case, with a group of 5 and a lot of luggage—I wanted to be prepared!  We ended up spending about $80 per person for all trips to and from the airport (6 trips in total).

Paying more for private pre-arranged transportation saved us from the headache of having to worry about getting to-and-from the airports once we were there. It was worth the expense for our situation!

Rental Car – $65

We did not rent a car in Sydney or Melbourne since they are metropolitan areas with plenty of public transportation. We did rent a car when we flew into Cairns because we were staying in Port Douglas, about an hour drive north, and also wanted to drive to some of the areas around Port Douglas which was easier with a car.

The car rental was about $65 per person.  We got a larger car to fit our group comfortably and it was a great decision. Keep in mind that in Australia they drive on the other side of the road so be prepared if you decide to rent a car!

Accommodations – $760

Our first Airbnb in Sydney was a 5-minute walk to Cockle Bay

After some initial research, I learned that hotels in the cities we were staying in, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, were quite expensive. We wanted to be as close to the city centers as possible but didn’t want to spend $400 a night per room.

We ended up finding great Airbnbs for both stays in Sydney and also in Melbourne. These averaged $65 per person per night! Based on the locations and the quality of the homes we stayed in, this was an absolute steal! If you are traveling with a group, I highly recommend looking into Airbnb options because they can save you so much money.

In Port Douglas, we ended up staying in a hotel because the rates were a lot more affordable than in the cities. The cost ended up being $57 per person per night. Breakfast was also included so that also saved us a little extra money.

Overall, the accommodation expense was $760 per person for 12 nights. I think that is a great deal, especially in a country like Australia which is known for being a fairly expensive place to visit.

What have been the basic costs to travel to Australia so far?

If you are keeping track, we are at $2,279 for airfare, in-country transportation, and accommodations. With my $3,500 savings plan, I had $1,221 remaining for everything else.

Activities – $567

The two most costly activities we did were planning to do were snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. We also ended up doing a few additional activities that added to the expenses.

Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

After some research, we decided to go with Wavelength Tours for a full day on the water. It included all gear needed for snorkeling, as well as lunch and snacks throughout the day. They also provided complimentary reef-friendly sunscreen and motion-sickness medication for anyone who needed it while onboard. The cost was $170 per person.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb

The other large activity expense was to walk the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There are a few ways you can do this. You can literally walk across the bridge (for free), you can visit the Pylon Lookout (about $17), or you can do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb ($219) and walk across the top part of the bridge.

My parents and brother were not interested in the Bridge Climb but after talking to some friends who had done it, my husband and I decided it was worth it. One of those “if we are there, we might as well do it!” type of situations. Yes, it was pretty costly, but the views were absolutely amazing and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Inside the Sydney Opera House before the concert

Sydney Opera House

We weren’t planning on going to a show at the Sydney Opera House, I was just excited to be able to see the exterior in person. However, on our last leg in Sydney, my brother noticed that an Icelandic composer he listened to was performing and was able to get last-minute tickets. They ended up being $90 a person. I’m so glad we were able to go to the show and experience a live performance inside the Opera House (even if it meant adding to our expenses).

Additional Activities

Additionally, we went to Symbio Wildlife park and went on River Cruises in both Melbourne and in the Daintree Rainforest.  We also did the Hop-on-Hop Off tour in Sydney our first day there to get a better understanding of the city’s layout.

Food & Drink – $720

I was pleasantly surprised that our meals weren’t as expensive as I was expecting. I had been used to New York City prices but even our meals at nicer restaurants weren’t as much as what we would have spent back at home.

Overall, we spent roughly $60 per person per day on food and drinks. We had a fair mix of fast-casual and steak house types of restaurants so we definitely tried a little bit of everything! I really enjoyed the breakfast spots in Sydney and my husband loved Chin Chin, an Asian restaurant in Melbourne. As a group, our favorite restaurant was Hunter & Barrel in Sydney (they had an amazing vegetarian vegetable skewer salad) and our most memorable eating experience was at Night Noodle Markets in Melbourne.

There are tons of different types of food in Australia so we wanted to try as much as possible!

TOTAL EXPENSES

If you were keeping track of the expenses…here is the final breakdown:

Was it worth it?

View of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Overall, I did spend a little over ($141) my $3,500 goal budget. I definitely could have cut back on some of the activities (like do the Pylon Lookout instead of the Bridge Climb), but since I had saved up a little cushion, I felt more comfortable splurging in some areas.

I feel that from traveling with a group, we were able to get a great value on our accommodations. We were limited to Airbnb’s that slept 5 people so we may have had to spend a little extra for the larger spaces, but I still think the homes were worth the price.

I think I could have stayed a lot more under budget had I been more selective with the activities we chose and the restaurants we ate at. That is a great thing about travel though—you can customize your own experience based on what works for you! And on this trip, I wanted to make sure I did everything I had been wanting to.

If you are planning to travel to Australia in the future, how much will you budget for the trip?