How much does a trip to Australia really cost?

Start with the honest headline number

A three-week trip to Australia, booked as a package with flights included, realistically costs £5,500 to £7,000 per person once you've added food, drinks and a few excursions. A seven-week grand tour taking in New Zealand runs to £20,000–£22,000 all in.

Those numbers are higher than the brochure prices, and that gap is where people come unstuck. The tour price is the floor, not the ceiling.

What the tour price covers

On a flight-inclusive package, the headline price covers return flights from the UK, all internal flights, accommodation, transfers, and whatever tours are named in the itinerary. That is genuinely most of the cost, and it's why packages beat DIY for Australia — internal flights alone can run to £1,000 per person if you book them separately.

Across the tours we list, the range runs from £8,049 for 22 fully-escorted days down to £3,429 for a nine-day multi-centre trip. Divided out, escorted tours land at £324–£366 per person per day, and multi-centre packages at £250–£290. The full comparison table lists all twenty side by side.

Food is the cost everyone underestimates

This is the big one. Australia is not cheap to eat in, and included meals vary enormously between tours. The 22-day Highlights itinerary includes just 9 meals; the 53-day grand tour includes 34 across nearly eight weeks. Either way, you are buying most of your own dinners.

Budget realistically for a city like Sydney or Melbourne: a flat white is £3.50–£4.50, a casual lunch £12–£18, a mid-range dinner £28–£45 a head, and a pint £6–£9. Call it £60–£90 per person per day if you want to eat properly without counting pennies.

Over three weeks that's £1,300–£1,900 per person. Over seven weeks it's north of £3,000. It is the single largest line item after the tour itself, and it is almost never mentioned in the marketing.

Optional excursions: pick three, not eight

Every escorted itinerary has a menu of optionals, and they are priced to be tempting individually and ruinous collectively. Typical prices from the operators we track: the Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb around £196, a Blue Mountains and Scenic World day £166, Kuranda Railway and Skyrail £140, the Daintree rainforest cruise £147, Phillip Island's premium penguin viewing £175, and the West MacDonnell Ranges £137.

Say yes to all of them and you've added £900 per person. Our advice is to choose two or three that genuinely matter to you before you travel, and treat the rest as a maybe. Some of the best experiences — Uluru at sunrise, the reef cruise, Katherine Gorge — are already included, which is worth checking before you pay extra for something similar.

The costs nobody warns you about

Airport parking. On a four-week trip this is a serious number — off-airport park-and-ride is dramatically cheaper than on-airport short stay, and prices climb steadily as the date approaches. We cover this in before you fly.

Travel insurance. Essential, and more expensive than a European policy. Critically, many annual multi-trip policies cap single trips at 31 days, which excludes several tours on this site.

Mobile data. UK roaming outside Europe is punitive. An eSIM costs a fraction of it — and our referral link takes £2.50 off the first one.

Visas. An Australian ETA is a modest fee but not zero, and you'll need an NZeTA too if New Zealand is on the itinerary.

Tipping. Good news — Australia doesn't have a tipping culture in the American sense. Staff are paid properly. Rounding up for good service is plenty.

Four ways to genuinely reduce the cost

Go longer, not shorter. This is counter-intuitive but it's the strongest lever you have. Your long-haul flights cost roughly £1,200–£1,500 whether you stay two weeks or seven, so the per-day cost falls the longer you go. The 22-day tour works out at £366 a day; the 53-day at £338.

Travel in shoulder season. April–May and September–October give you decent weather almost everywhere and materially lower prices than the December–February peak.

Consider land-only. The private tours exclude international flights, which is a saving if you have airline points or a preferred carrier. Just remember ATOL protection doesn't apply.

Book your own rooms where it helps. On land-only trips, or nights added either side of a tour, see what Australian hotels actually cost — though at Uluru and on the islands, packages almost always win.

Book early. Multi-centre operators discount lead-in dates heavily — currently 25–34% off across the multi-centre holidays — and those dates go first.

Three worked budgets

Three weeks, escorted, first trip. Highlights of Australia at £8,049 + roughly £1,600 food + £400 excursions + £250 insurance, parking and eSIM = about £10,300 per person.

Two weeks, multi-centre, budget-conscious. Sydney to Melbourne via Uluru at £3,639 + roughly £900 food + £200 extras = about £4,750 per person.

The trip of a lifetime. 53 days across Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands at £17,929 + roughly £3,200 food + £700 excursions + £400 extras = about £22,200 per person.

Tours that cover this

• Highlights of Australia — The benchmark first trip — 22 days, all 4-star, £8,049
• Sydney, Uluru & Melbourne — The value pick — Sydney, Uluru and Melbourne for £3,639
• Wonders of Australia, NZ & Cook Islands — The full 53-day grand tour, £17,929

Read next

• Compare all 20 holidays by price
• Parking, hotels, lounges and insurance
• Mobile data without the roaming bill
• When to travel, region by region