Australia Travel

Tourism Australia is the official tourism office for the country and the site hosts information about each territory, recommendations of tourist spots, climate information, and transportation tips. This is a good place to get an official welcome to the country before your departure. You'll also find the section called "What's On" useful, with as many as 1,000 events listed and a "Holidays & Deals" section with flight and accommodation packages. Rather than wading through more than 100 pages of listings, consider using the "Filter your results" tool or use the search box to find a specific event.

The Australian Government's official site has a thorough list of tourism sites catering to each state and several cities in Australia. This is a good way to get distilled information about the region(s) you're interested in traveling to. The government site is also a good general resource as it gives an encyclopedic background of the country for any traveler looking to find out more about the history, culture, or technicalities like visas and work permits.

The Australian Government's Culture and Information Portal is a valuable source for listings of a variety of events around Australia. Among the many categories covered here, you'll find sports and recreation, film, performance, music, visual arts, and festivals and conferences. This site also has a good "Australian Stories" section where you can get more of a historical background on the country.

Live Guide is Australia's own event guide, linking visitors and residents to hundreds of activities, particularly those in arts and theater. You'll find concert listings, gallery and museum exhibits, festivals, and more in these listings, and you can also narrow your search by city. 

What's On When lists upcoming events like art shows, festivals, public holidays, and notable visitors stopping in Australia (and many other countries). Search by city or stay on the homepage for highlighted events in the near future.

Australia Travel Search looks like a fake site, but all of its links are valid; they are organized by category, especially for travelers, and will direct you to the official sites of tourist highlights in Australia, such as botanical gardens, accommodation, wineries, wildlife parks and zoos, and cultural centers.

The U.S. Department of State has a travel section for U.S. travelers going abroad with a frequently updated "Consular Information Sheet" on Australia (linked above), and several other useful links, such as embassy registration, disease requirements, tips, documentation, and checklists, which you can navigate to by using the subjects on the left-hand side of the page.

The Center for Disease Control has profile pages on countries that have any health risks or general travel warnings associated with them. Head to the Australia page to see if any vaccinations are required before your departure, what diseases are known to be found in the country, how to stay healthy on your trip, and more.

Embassy World provides links to embassies and consulates around the world, giving contact information for those that do not have Web sites. On the Australia page, you can click through to get in touch with your embassy in Australia, register prior to your trip, or get any helpful information the embassy might have for visitors. This page also has useful maps of Australia.

OANDA is the source for the most up-to-date information on currency exchange rates. Check the Australian Dollar with your currency prior to your departure or when booking parts of your trip in Australian dollars.

Australian Explorer has a section on cities and towns in Australia divided by state. Learn what makes each state unique and the geography and landmarks particular to each one. This is a good place to start if you're still planning where exactly you'd like to go in the country.

AusTravel is a UK-based site that offers flights from several airports in the United Kingdom to many in Australia and New Zealand, including smaller areas like Canberra and Hamilton Island. Check prices on this site and compare with other flight search engines; you may find it cheaper to book the second leg of your journey separately using a UK-based site. 

Booking Buddy lets you do a simple comparison shop of many flight search engines, including Kayak, Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz. Select your itinerary on the left, and then select which sites you want to compare results with.

Qantas is the premier travel company in Australia, and includes Qantas Airlines and Qantas Vacations. Acting as a travel agency, Qantas Vacations finds package deals and tours utilizing many modes of transportation, including airplane, cruise, car hire, and rail. Destinations include Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, and Asia, and flights are available from U.S. destinations like Los Angeles. 

The Travel Team is a travel agency based in Seattle, Wash. that specializes in air and cruise travel in the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, and the South Pacific. Searching flights through Qantas, Air Pacific, Air New Zealand, and several others, this company often advertises air tickets to Australia from $800 in the months of August and September. The Travel Team also arranges package tours in several Australasian countries. However, their site is essentially a placeholder advertising pricing and contact information; you must call to get the most up-to-date information and make your booking.

About Australia is an Australian-owned travel agency with offices in the United States and Australia. The company offers last-minute and peak season sale airfare, themed packages, specialized itineraries for "FIT" (free and independent travel), and can help with car hire, insurance, and more, if you contact one of the company's travel specialists. While the site is sparse and text-based, this actually makes navigation easier, and to get the most up-to-date information, you simply request a "firm" quote or call the company's customer service number to find out more and book.

STA Travel is a worldwide student travel agency that has many branches throughout Australia. If you are a student with a valid form of student identification, you can book flights and accommodation and buy travel insurance with STA, often at deeply discounted rates. 

Stayz is an Australia-based accommodation search engine that trawls more than 11,000 hotels and hostels for deals in all seven states. One cool feature of the site is the "Favorites" section, which allows you to bookmark accommodation you may be interested in so that ou can return to it later. You can also narrow your search according to type of vacation. Some categories include beach, pets, executive, spa, and golf.

Wotif is a last-minute hotel, resort, apartment, and hostel search engine that lets you book up to 28 days in advance. The site is organized well and provides charts with each accommodation's daily rate for a given location. There are dozens of locations in Australia to choose from, so this site could come in particularly handy if you're looking to travel around once you've arrived and want to wait until then to plan your itinerary.

OzStays is part of the Stayz group of accommodation sites and specializes in more luxury accommodation such as villas, beach houses, and apartments. Owners can list their property on the site, as can companies, and users can browse via location and availability. There are a large number of areas covered in each of the seven states.

The YHA (Youth Hostel Association) , based in the UK, has a branch in Australia, and its Web site covers each Australian state, with more than 50 hostels to choose from in total. YHA membership yields better rates and special discounts, but the YHA rates in general are very affordable, averaging around $40 (US$30) per night. With most hostels, you will be able to choose a single, double, or multi-share type of room.

Air Gorilla is a flight finder based in Australia that searches for flight deals from more than 2,000 airports worldwide. But the site's specialty is smaller airports in and around the Australasia region, so if you are looking for affordable flights while in Australia, it is worthwhile to check an Australia-based site like this one. Check the "Hot Deals" area on the right-hand side of the page for a list of the airports that currently have the best deals.

CheapoAir has a promising selection of flights (which they quote as "over 18 million") to thousands of destination, and often will have good deals on flights within Australia, especially in the off-season. Airlines listed include United, Qantas, and Singapore Air. The site also has a business class section, hotel search engine, cruise search, car rental, and package search. 

GrayLine is an international bus tour operator that covers many popular tourist destinations in Australia, including Alice Springs, Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, and Hobart, Tasmania. Tours are usually between four hours and one day long, and prices vary accordingly. 

Camper Travel offers RV rental and has offices in several cities in Australia. The company has many models of RV on offer, catering to four-wheel-drive enthusiasts and parties of two to six. Search for RVs and get an online quote based on your desired pickup and dropoff locations. Learn about particular amenities and requirements by contacting the site via e-mail or by calling one of the numbers listed on the left side of the page.

Wicked Camper Vans is a company with offices in several cities throughout Australia. Their specialty is small, individually decorated minivans with converted back seats that can be used for sleeping, eating, or sitting. Most of the vans are stick shift, and the age requirement is usually 21-younger than many car rental companies. Consult their Web site to find out what amenities are offered, where offices are located, and to obtain contact information.

Rent New Cars is an Australia-based rental service for new cars, affiliated with Thrifty and Europcar, two major rental companies. There are more than a hundred pickup locations available throughout the country and the cars available are typically Asian makes like Hyundai or Mitsubishi. 

Holiday Autos , a service of the travel-booking site Travelocity, offers car rentals in many countries in Europe and Asia. This site is upfront with its prices, has a catchy design, and offers more than a hundred pickup and drop-off locations in central as well as remote areas of the country. There is a wide selection of cars on offer including European and Asian makes in several classes.

GoWay has up-to-date information on the best rail passes on the Austrail network, which stops at most major cities in the country. You can book your ticket through this site and add other portions of your itinerary. The site specializes in "passes" that can get you accommodation or transport deals on a selection of affiliated sources, such as all of the country's Best Western hotels or themed packages like the "Sightseeing Pass."

TrainWays is a service providing package rail vacations in Australia. These are usually on the steep side, but on the site's "Latest Information" page you'll find a blog-type format that features the latest deals on rail savers and other affordable point-to-point tickets if you're looking to skip the structure of a package trip.

BikeRoundOz offers motorcycle and moped rental in many Australian cities including Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Cairns. Prices start at $18 a day and the company offers both guided and self-guided tours, helping you to plan and organize your itinerary as well as providing you with the bike and other necessary amenities. Bookings can be made on the Web site regardless of your place of residence. 

AllTrails operates bicycle tours around Australia's mountainous east coast, and have recently added western destinations to their tours, which typically last a week and usually include accommodation and other amenities in the final price. While many of the tours on offer are challenging rides for avid and experienced cyclists, there are shorter, easier tours available for novices. Most of the tours happen in Australia's spring months (September-November).