With the help of the RatPack crew you’ve planned to travel Australia, AMAZING! But now you’re thinking, wow Australia is actually bloody massive, how am I going to get around without spending a fortune… so you have a few options to travel around Australia, cheap domestic flights, buy a car/camper, rent a car/camper, rideshare or to really see aussie, by bus service (Greyhound)!
I chose the most popular and social option which was to do it by bus service, Greyhound to be precise… What Greyhound offer is these awesome hop on hop off passes where you can travel in one direction and hop off at any point along the way as much as you like.
These Greyhound buses go a few times a day and are SO convenient for getting you from A to B, not only do they get you where you need to go, but you’ll also get there comfortably. Yep, we’re talking reclining leather seats, usb ports, wifi, aircon, toilet on board and regular stops at servos where you can get food – yay! I travelled all the way from Cairns – Sydney (3,300km) using the Greyhound hop on hop off pass and had an awesome time.
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How does it work?
So when you buy your pass on the RatPack site you will instantly given a booking number and a pin that is your unique log in for the Greyhound website.
You’ll have your own log in area which will take you to the ‘manage my booking’ page. On this section you’ll be able to pop in your dates of travel and where you want to travel too and simply add the buses to your itinerary, it’s super easy! It’s in this section that you can also delete buses too if plans change, because we all know that very often that does happen!
How to choose a pass?
There are lots of combinations of passes to choose from based on your route and what you want to see. Note: any of the passes below you can start in either location.
- Cairns <> Sydney – the most popular choice, choose this if you want to get the full east coast experience and have 3 weeks+
- Cairns <> Brisbane – best if you have less time but want to see all the hotspots aka Fraser Island, the Whitsundays & the Great Barrier Reef (note- this has an extra add on that allows you to go to Byron Bay too!)
- Cairns <> Melbourne – The ultimate! If you have maximum time and want to cruise the whole east coast all the way round to Melbourne this is your best option, value wise it works out all in all as cost effective as flying!
There are also hop on hop off passes which offer travel in any direction on any route with a larger max of travel days.
Getting the bus
Your itinerary will tell you what time and where your bus will pick you up from, I recommend getting there at least 15 mins early, it’s always better to have extra time right? Also allow yourself plenty of time to get to the Greyhound stop.
Once at the stop, when the Greyhound arrives wait for everyone to get off and collect their luggage and then you can put your luggage on the bus where the driver tells you (this is important that you put it in the right spot). Then you’ll be checked in by the driver, have your Greyhound bus ticket, plus a form of ID (driving license is good) once you are checked in and ticked off, you can board the bus yay!
The extra deets
Your Greyhound ticket is valid for 1 year after the date of purchase and then you have 3 months to use it after your first date of travel, you can take up to 20kg on the bus but if you need any extra items aka a surfboard you’ll have to let them know before and you’ll have to pay an additional fee. We recommend arriving 20 mins at least before the departure time. There’s aircon & toilets on the bus so that’s got you covered for those long old journeys.
So all in all, it’s an easy, cheap and convenient way to travel and I couldn’t recommend it more! It’s my go-to way for travelling Australia.
Plus, the RatPack team has you covered, from 15 day to 90 day bus passes:
15 Day Greyhound Whimit Bus PassÂ
30 Day Greyhound Whimit Bus PassÂ
About the Author: Sammy
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