What is more cost effective? hiring a van or greyhound buses ans hotels from cairns to sydney?

Question

my partner and i are backpacking but cant decide if it is more cost effective to drive in a wicked camper from cairns to sydney, or get the greyhound bus passes and stay in hostels? any ideas thanks

Answer 1

Refer to Ricks answer. This is true. Fortunately for you Cairns is where the backpacker sell there vans. Most people travel the opposite direction.

The camper van is good but is expensive with camp costs and petrol. Gold Coast price for petrol today was $1.55 per litre so you will pay more up north and more in NSW.

I would plan your trip using train and bus. And I am sure you will pick up rides along the way with fellow backpackers.

You wont get many free camps these days and all the councils along the way enforce the no camp policy. Safety is important so the only free camp is in State Forest ( i think you can get a pamphlet) and they are few and far between.

Hope this helps have a fun trip,

Answer 2

I don't know which is cheaper, but the camper will give you more flexibility to travel around, and the bus/hostels will let you meet more people which can be a big part of the fun.

Answer 3

I looked into the cost of hiring a camper but the cost is fairly prohibitive.  While the cost of running the camper & the cost of camp sites is on a par with a car & hotels, the security deposit to be paid for the camper is around £2000 (some companies are more expensive but this is the cheapest I found). When hiring a car they only take an imprint of your credit card for the security deposit & only use it if there is any damage. However, because of the expense involved in fixing damage to a camper, they actually take the payment from your card on collection of the vehicle. This could seriously lessen your available funds & detract from your enjoyment of the holiday.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

have a look in here for a cheep or free camper van from cairns to Sydney you may get one at the right time they are campers that need returning

http://www.standbycars.com.au/

Answer 5

there are so many beautiful places to see between cairns and Sydney it would be a shame to just bus past them all.you could either buy a van or car and drive, stop where you like .sell it when you get to Sydney.there are may caravan ,camping places that hire units or vans over night along the way. petrol isn't cheap at the moment but the experience of the journey is priceless. you'll love it. i hope you enjoy yourselves what ever you choose.

Answer 6

you can uy a campervan for not to much money, drive it across and then sell it at the other end. thats what i did, we only lost about $200aus and there was no security deposit.

Answer 7

There's a bus called the OZ EXPERIENCE.  

I'm not sure about whether the price is super competitive or not but it looks like there are some interesting side travels...