I recently spent 18 days travelling along the Coast of Queensland. Since I have a background in Finance, I of course track all of my expenses immaculately. Hence, if you’re wondering, how much money you need to travel Queensland for approximately 3 weeks, keep reading to find my detailed report, broken down by category and day 🙂
some things you need to know first
costs are in chf
Firstly, I’d like to start off by saying that I am originally from Switzerland. Therefore, my currency of reference is the Swiss franc. Fortunately though, the Swiss franc is basically on par with the Euro and the USD at the moment. Consequently, if your currency of reference is any of these two you can treat the costs as 1:1 being equal in your currency.
most expenses paid by credit card
Secondly, since I did use my credit card for most transactions, these expenses also include possible credit card and exchange rate fees. Looking back I would highly suggest to use Revolut instead which has basically no exchange rate fees and very low transaction fees.
flight not included in costs
I did not include my flight to and from Australia in the charts, since I did buy my ticket in advance and I don’t think it makes sense to include it in the cost of “being there”. To get to Cairns specifically I took a domestic flight from Sydney which cost 253 CHF, in case you’re curious.
costs are for one person (solo travel)
Furthermore, I want to add, that this was a solo trip. That means, that all the expenses correspond to one person. My estimate is that, in this case and with my kind of travel style, you would not necessarily pay less if you were to travel in a bigger group.
Lastly, I want to mention that my travels were done at the end of September until mid-October of 2022. Generally, this is still considered the low or shoulder season in Australia.
Now that we’ve established the base parameters, let’s get to the interesting stuff and see how much money you need to travel the East Coast of Australia!!
here are the most important stats
| category | total cost (in chf) | average per day | % of total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel | 382 | 21 | 22% |
| Food | 358 | 20 | 20% |
| Activities | 775 | 43 | 44% |
| Transport | 236 | 13 | 13% |
| Souvenirs | 7 | 1 | 0% |
| Other | 18 | 1 | 1% |
| Total | 1775 | 99 | 100% |
In case you prefer the data more visually, here’s a pretty graph matching my blog’s color scheme:
Overall I spent 1775 CHF for 18 days of travel on the East Coast of Australia, which averages out to approximately 99 CHF per day including accommodation.
activities
Honestly, it makes me really happy that the category I spent the most money on is activities! Since I was travelling solo, I did many activities through organized tours. And quite frankly, these tours are EXPENSIVE! In the event that you’re travelling in a group and you can/want to rent a car, you could probably save some money. But personally, besides it helps you meet people, I really like tours because exploring with a local guide really one of the easiest ways to learn about the local culture and history.
I spent 775 CHF on six activities, including:
- Cape Tribulation & Daintree Rainforest Daytrip (132 CHF)
- Great Barrier Reef Daytrip (206 CHF)
- Magnetic Island Tour (51 CHF)
- 2 Day Sailing Trip Whitsundays (206 CHF)
- Fraser Island Daytrip (130 CHF)
- A surfing lesson (50 CHF)
Check out this post to find more details and reviews for the above mentioned tours!
accommodation
Not surprisingly, accommodation is the second biggest expense category, with a 22% share of my total expenses for this trip. I tried to keep accommodation expenses as low as possible, which is why I exclusively stayed in hostels with 4-6 person dorms. Where it was available, I opted for the female only dorms, which are usually a little more expensive than the mixed dorms. But other than that, full on budget travel in this area.
food
The third largest expense category is of course food, representing roughly 20% of my expenses. I’m actually surprised that I spent roughly 20 CHF a day on food, since I was under the impression that I was very mindful of what I was buying. In general, food is SHOCKINGLY expensive in Australia, which is why I rarely dined out. I would only occasionally treat myself to a restaurant lunch or dinner. Additionally, many of the tours that I took included the meals in the price (usually lunch).
eating out is expensive
Other than that, I always bought groceries from the local supermarkets (I preferred Woolworths over Coles). If you’re curious, my groceries mostly consisted of cup noodles, bread, hummus and peanut butter. Here and there I’d also buy some croissants, some fruits, veggies, some juice and yoghurt. In other words, really really basic stuff.
As you can see in the chart, the main meals are pretty stable. This can be explained by the fact that I was eating similar foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Because of this, I decided to split the total grocery costs equally to all meals that I had.
The category snacks includes anything that is not directly attributable to breakfast, lunch or dinner. This includes (alcoholic) drinks in the evenings, afternoon coffees, etc … My love for coffee was definitely something I was not willing to compromise, which is why I treated myself to an (almost) daily coffee in a café.
| meal type | average cost (in chf) |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | 5 |
| Lunch | 4 |
| Dinner | 5 |
| Snacks | 6 |
Looking at this, I believe that around 20 CHF a day for food seems realistic.
Overall I would say, that I really watched how much I spend on food. But if you’re really on a budget you’d probably manage to keep costs down even a bit more, especially in the snacks category.
beware of public holiday surcharges
PS. One thing you should know, is that Australian restaurants charge a premium of up to 15% on Sundays and public holidays. That’s something worth knowing, so if you can I would plan your dining out around these days 🙂
transport
The transportation cost mainly consists of my Greyhound Bus Pass. Specifically, I chose the option where you can take unlimited rides in any direction for 14 continuous days. This pass costs 224 CHF and I would definitely recommend this option, it’s very convenient!
other categories
Lastly, the category other includes all random little bits and bobs that I needed to pick up during my trip. For example, this includes a SIM card, data packages, sunscreen, cleaning supplies, etc …
I also did some shopping during the trip, but since this is an optional component I did not include the costs here. But Australia has some AMAZING boutique stores, so if you have some money to spare I’d recommend to leave some space in your suitcase, because you’re sure to find some nice things 🙂
highest single costs
Next, let’s break down my top three highest single costs:
1. greyhound bus ticket
As mentioned above, the Greyhound 14 Day Pass costs 224 CHF. If you’re on a really tight budget, there is another bus company that passes the same stops and is slightly cheaper. Check out Premier Bus here.
2. whitsundays 2 days sailing trip
OMG this trip was sooooo magical and worth every penny! The trip cost 206 CHF and it was the cheapest option I could find online. The boat is very basic but the crowd was very young and I had a lot of fun, so I would still highly recommend it! The price includes one breakfast, two lunches, dinner and snacks.
3. great barrier reef daytrip
This trip was also a once in a lifetime experience! It’s a full day trip with a lunch on board and an afternoon tea. I took the option with two dives and it cost in total 206 CHF.
final remarks
Overall, for a country like Australia, 100 CHF a day for food, accommodation, transport and activities is actually really not bad. Looking back, therefore, I’d do everything again just the way I did 🙂 For anyone planning to travel to the East Coast of Australia soon, I’d recommend to budget around 100 CHF per day!
I hope this breakdown of how much money you need to travel the East Coast of Australia helps you in your trip planning and budgeting! Should you have any questions or remarks, let me know. I’d love to chat 🙂