2025 Aussie Summer Budget Travel Tips

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In the Australian high tourist season of summer, there is the opportunity to budget travel. From December to January, summer tariffs are usually or always higher, especially due to advance bookings and more availability of the public to travel, increasing demand. This means budget travel, as popular as it can be, is less likely in such months. At least it is more difficult in the Australian summer due to the aforementioned demand for accommodation and booked-out transportation. What follows are some tips on how to obtain a bargain while holidaying in Australia during the Christmas period (applicable to any busy time for travel in this country), especially given that it is even more difficult to have a budget holiday in those times.

1. Travel close to home
The benefits of holidaying close to home are numerous. Especially when compared to travelling afar. As one can imagine, travelling far during the Aussie summer means crowded airports and increased difficulty for booking spontaneously when much accommodation has been booked in advance. It also means higher transportation costs, which get less reliable during the summer months for scheduling due to heavy demand for their services.

2. Bed and breakfasts are cheaper and less booked
Comparing vacancies on sites like expedia.com and booking.com to airbnb.com in early November shows or indicates that there is going to be a choice of bed and breakfasts and their destinations, whereas for motels and resorts far less so, and if available then prices are up. For example, Airlie Beach on Expedia, to book in mid-to-late December, despite its abundance of options, has prices around double the pre-Easter rates, and it is only in the early days. Booking spontaneously can be helpful if you change your mind on a booking or are unsure if you need to travel home during a longer holiday. In that event, the range of bed and breakfasts and the prices are far more suited to spontaneous bookings than motels or resorts at this time of year.

3. Research during your spare time
If you have around a few weeks or more in the summer months and have booked a trip away but have given up hope on extending the stay, try researching websites like airbnb.com for vacancies. As one can imagine, it's difficult to find a bargain even on airbnb.com during summer; however, it is a great time filler on holidays. With a bit of extra research, it is surprising what turns up.

4. Travel to specific inland destinations
Inland destinations are much cheaper during the high tourist season. While some destinations can be challenging to access in the summer due to the climate, often the fringe of the Outback and closer to the coast can have some bargains. This is especially useful for a trip inland if there are places interesting for history or various other reasons, and one wants to cross them off the bucket list.

5. Use the main areas likely for a bargain
Capital cities and major hotspots (such as the Gold Coast) once school leavers have returned home are likely to have an increased chance of a bargain from mid-December onwards. Although as indicated previously, airbnb.com is likely to have a wider range at slightly more reasonable prices than resorts and hotels.

6. Save time and money by travelling outside busy times
Comparing coach costs between two sought-after destinations in Queensland, namely Brisbane and Agnes Water, Christmas Day seemed easy to get a ticket and cheaper than Boxing Day in early November. Such a truth indicated to me that travelling on certain dates can be problematic, as travellers want to be at their destinations by days like Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. It should be mentioned that Australia Day as well in January is a busier day for travel.



Other less significant tips include: set a budget and try to stick to it; if from a capital city then a holiday at local nearby beaches saves the budget but is still a relaxing getaway if not even more—like a glorified staycation; to pack so your luggage is light/portable, which is worth considering anyway but can really help if needing to book at the last minute.

Alternately, self-driving over flying, bussing, or catching the train can be very comfortable compared to being on packed transportation, but then fluctuating traffic on busy roads is a problem. Note that a mix of inland and coastal destinations can be a useful way to see a few different parts of Australia and save some accommodation costs if the inland destinations are cheaper than the coastal ones, which have a fairly high chance of occurring.



Links

From queensland.com are some ideas on how to have a budget holiday in Queensland at Christmas.

From my budget dot com au are some differing ideas on how to budget for Christmas holidays including house swap, camping and last-minute deals.

Five destinations majorly known as Christmas holidaying locations in Australia.

When at your destination and wanting to celebrate but with some spare coin for other aspects of the holiday, some budget recipes related to Christmas can be useful.

For delightful coastlines and gourmet Christmas food, the Margaret River region and Tasmania are two dream locations and potential budget Christmas holiday destinations. While Noosa , Port Stephens and the Limestone Coast are, despite reputations as upmarket, very popular as budget coastal getaways. Thinking in terms of a budget, Nelson Bay at Port Stephens is accessible from other cities in New South Wales by a frequent bus service, Noosa has a range of accommodations and buses connecting beach and hinterland, and the Limestone Coast in South Australia can be explored by car in just a few days.



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