AFFORDABLE HOLIDAYS

Where else in the world can you feast on feral animals, fossick for opals and see horse, camel and yabby races, all on the one road trip? Now is an especially exciting time to venture into The Outback, with recent rainfall transforming the usually arid landscape into grassy plains, teeming with wildlife. And you don’t have to save up for a lifetime to do the trip of a lifteime, writes Alissa Jenkins How to get there on the cheap Self-drive Driving yourself through The Outback not only gives you more freedom and flexibility to explore at your own pace, but...

These affordable beach breaks promise a wonderful summer holiday for the budget-conscious traveller... Words by Alissa Jenkins How can you not have a great summer at these affordable beach breaks! New South Wales Eagle Heights of Eden, Eden Whale Beach Bed & Brekafast, Sydney Soldiers Point Holiday Park, Port Stephens Pebbly Beach Campground, Murramarang National Park The Arts Factory Lodge, Byron Bay Victoria Adobe Mudbrick Flats, Mallacoota Whaleview B&B, Warrnambool Big 4 Phililip Island Caravan Park, Phillip Island Corringle Slips Camping Area, East Gippsland Eco Beach YHA, Apollo Bay Queensland Amaroo, Trinity Beach Sea Change Bed & Breakfast, Newell Beach...

Many Outback destinations tend to be on the expensive side due to their remoteness and isolation. And the travel itself doesn’t come cheap – fuel alone can send you to the cleaners. The most common way to save money on the trip is to stay in caravan parks or camp (see below). But if you’re after a little more comfort without falling into debt, then here are our Top 10 picks for relatively affordable Outback breaks. 1. McAlpine House, Broome, WA Part of the Pinctada group, this eight-bedroom house in Broome is a converted master pearler’s house and takes you back to the original...

 If you want to get out of town over the Christmas and New Year period, you’ve left your run a bit late. But believe it or not, there are still bookings to be made and bargains to be had. We put in the hard yards tracking down last-minute deals – so you don’t have to. Here are our picks...  Victoria Ballarat Beechworth Grampians Lorne Melbourne Mildura Port Fairy Sorrento Australian Capital Territory Canberra New South Wales Armidale Batemans Bay Bermagui Bundeena Collaroy Gerroa Hawkesbury River Jindabyne Kangaroo Valley Lennox Head Merimbula Sydney's Eastern Suburbs Tea Gardens Thirroul Yamba Queensland Brisbane...

Champagne Life, Beer Budget Tiana Templeman shows Australian Traveller readers the secret to five star travel at three star prices. In 2003, Tiana Templeman and her husband Trevor won a prize that took them as guests to 13 of the world’s richest and most extravagant hotels. As penniless backpackers trying to blend in with the super-rich, the couple quickly learned how to live the champagne lifestyle on a beer budget. A former secretary of the year and now author of the successful book Absolutely Faking It, Brisbane-born Tiana has attracted the gaze of Hollywood producers looking to adapt her tale...

Australian Traveller Magazine's comprehensive insiders' guide to squeezing the most out of your holiday dollars. It’s a new era in travel. Nobody wants to come out and say the “R” word, but there’s no question the economic downturn has seen a nationwide tightening of belts. But when it comes to your health and wellbeing, nothing hurts more than not taking that well-earned holiday. It’s okay. You can still travel. You can still see the sights and soak up the sun. You just need to change the way you do it. So AT has put together a comprehensive insiders’ guide to...

Peter Robinson tramped our capital city streets in search of seriously cheap entertainment. While he didn’t sleep under railway bridges or jeopardise any moral codes, he found sightseeing on the cheap is not only viable but also strangely satisfying. The results are in. Here’s proof that some of the best sights and things to do in Australia’s capital cities are free – or if not free, at least within the budget of travellers once attracted to four cents a litre off petrol, frequent flyer points and no-deposit mortgages. Many of these places to see and things to do are my...

When it comes to getting good deals, backpackers rule. But how do they do it? Tiana Templeman has hung out with backpackers from around the world to uncover their best budget travel tips for your next Australian holiday. While some hard-partying backpackers insist that sleep is overrated, they all agree that somewhere to lay your head is the biggest drain on a holiday budget. Ergo, combining what you drive with where you sleep is an instant money saver. But for those not game to tour around looking “wicked”, companies such as Britz hire less conspicuous campervans from around $60 a...

Just having kids can be a drain on expenses, let alone taking them on holidays. But there are ways to tighten belts without sacrificing everyone’s enjoyment (and your sanity). Tiana Templeman shows us how. Things that could save money on your next family holiday: (a) Leaving the kids at home; (b) Cutting fuel costs by camping in the backyard; (c) A road trip that includes bunking down in the car; (d) Reading this article; (e) All of the above. Technically, the right answer is (e). But the fact that you’ve read this far means you’ve chosen the best answer –...

Free flights within Australia? Sounds too good to be true. But follow in Chris Broadribb’s footsteps and you’ll learn how to hone Mystery Shopping into an artform that will take you to the skies. Mystery Shopping is the closest I’ve ever come to being a spy. It involves visiting a business acting as a normal customer, while secretly taking note of the cleanliness, stock, staff presentation and quality of service, then logging your comments via an online survey. Companies of all sizes use Mystery Shoppers to get a realistic assessment of how they’re performing – like a regular and unbiased...

You can pop a pair of jeans, a designer watch or a new set of skis on lay-by. So why not an entire holiday? Ben Connor looks at a form of progressive payment that’s gaining purchase in these leaner times . . . It’s difficult to imagine a worse way to fund an entire holiday than by credit card. Returning home, the relaxing effects of your trip quickly dissipate as the tunnel vision of paying everything off drags on, with little or no light to break up the darkness. Why not reverse this arrangement? Snag the cheap deals by booking...

Ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, right? Wrong. When travellers book a holiday online, great deals like these are only a mouse click away. By Tiana Templeman. GET A ROOM Online booking sites have been around for a while now – think Lastminute.com, Readyrooms.com.au, Wotif.com – but a new concept has recently entered the market. Ubid4rooms (www.ubid4rooms.com) is an online auction site where travellers can bid directly with a hotel (or hotels, you can bid on up to three at a time) for stays within 14 days. The bid is only open for three hours, so same-day confirmation...

Affordable Australia - AT's best ten hotels, motels and backpackers under $100 1. Hotel Northbridge The inner city Perth suburb of Northbridge is a pocket of pure urbanity in the wild west, its streets paved with bronzed beauties leaving lipstick marks on latte glasses outside trendy restaurants. Surely any half-decent hotel will come with a hefty price tag. Not true. The Hotel Northbridge has a budget wing, known as the Travel Lodge, where you can grab a double room for just $60. Okay, so they’re a little Spartan and you share facilities with your fellow budget-smugglers, but as obsequious real estate...