Buses to Cairns

Catching a bus up and down the East Coast of Australia is a very popular means of transport for Backpackers. The two main companies’ in Australia are Greyhound and Premier.

Greyhound are by far Australia’s largest bus company and service all of Australia and their bus leave and arrive between 3 to 7 times a day from capital cities. Premier are a small bus company that services the east coast of Australia but usually only runs one bus per day.

Both Greyhound and Premier have some excellent packages for backpackers. Tickets like 3 months, annual, Melbourne to Cairns etc. Premier are usually slightly cheaper than Greyhound but our tip here is that cheapest is not always the best. Greyhound have a lot more services, where Premier usually only leave once a day. Sometimes Premier may not suit the time that you wish to leave a certain destination or by catching a Greyhound bus at night, you can firstly sleep on the bus and save yourself a nights accommodation or save yourself a long boring bus trip. Remember Australia is a very big country and it is nothing to be on a bus for 12 hours between backpacking destinations.

Another excellent option in Ozexperience. They are similar to a bus company where they get you from point A to point B but they are more like a tour on the way where you stop at points of interests on the way. Your driver is more like a tour guide and he will stop and explain areas on the way. It is more like a tour than a bus trip and they stop at places like surf camps, hostels, outback farms etc on the way. Very popular with backpackers.

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