What It’s Like To Travel On The Luxury Great Southern Train

Thinking about travelling onboard The Great Southern? Here’s everything you need to know.

“The Great Southern is certainly the best train route for scenery." Says The Great Southern’s general manager, Bruce Smith. And he would certainly know; Bruce has been working on trains for 28 years – including The Ghan and Indian Pacific, the sister routes to The Great Southern (all three operate under the Journey Beyond umbrella). Of all Australia’s epic train journeys, The Great Southern is Bruce’s favourite. It’s not hard to see why – the countryside from Brisbane to Adelaide is painterly and picturesque all the way through, from the emerald tones of the Byron Hinterland to the golden wheatfields of regional Victoria.

Most people are familiar with The Ghan, the 100-year-old cameleer route turned bucket-list experience by the luxury train. But when outback Australia gets too hot in the summer, The Ghan transforms into The Great Southern, travelling between Brisbane and Adelaide for the season. It’s a new route, relatively speaking, beginning its inaugural journey in 2019. However, it’s already on track to be another bucket-list Aussie experience.

So if you’re thinking of hopping onboard, here’s the lowdown on what to expect when you travel between Brisbane and Adelaide with The Great Southern.

The Great Southern passing through Boambee Creek — *The Great Southern* traces the country from coast to bush.

Adelaide to Brisbane, or Brisbane to Adelaide?

Depending on your direction of travel, you’ll experience a completely different journey.

I travelled from Brisbane to Adelaide, which was a total of 4 days and 3 nights onboard. On this journey, the train stops at Coffs Harbour first. The next stop is Newcastle – where you’ll have the choice to tour Newcastle City, visit Port Stephens or sample wine in the Hunter Valley. The final stop is in Greater Melbourne or Regional Victoria, depending on your choice of off-train experience.

Port Stephens 4WD Tours on Stockton Beach — *The Great Southern* stops at Port Stephens en route from Brisbane to Adelaide.

Alternatively, the journey from Adelaide to Brisbane is spread over 3 days, with 2 nights onboard. The train stops in the Grampians, Canberra and Coffs Harbour.

an aerial view of the Great Southern train passing through Coffs Harbour — The 700-metre-plus Great Southern train passes through Coffs Harbour on NSW’s North Coast.

Accommodation and categories

There are three accommodation categories onboard The Great Southern – Gold, Platinum, and as of the upcoming 2024/25 season, a new Gold Premium category will be introduced. Each category also has separate lounge and dining cars – which we’ll delve into in the next section. Here’s the rundown of each accommodation category.

Gold

Gold Twin

I stayed in the spacious gold twin room, the most popular choice of accommodation onboard The Great Southern. In the daytime, the room is set up as a comfortable couch, where you can spread out and while away the day by the window. There’s a table, mirror, and convenient space for storage.

At night, you’ll return to your cabin to find it miraculously converted into a comfortable single-bed bed with a mattress that folds down. There are upper and lower berths to accommodate two passengers. This room comes with its own private bathroom. It’s a great option for a couple, friends, or a single person seeking more space and privacy.

There is also an access-friendly version of Gold Twin, which has handrails and a shower chair in the bathroom and converts into two lower berth beds at night.

Gold Twin Great Southern Cabin Night — Gold Twin Cabins have upper and lower single berths.

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Gold Single

Gold singles are cosy cabins with just enough room to comfortably fit a single bed. By day, the room is set up with an armchair and a fold-down table. There are shared bathrooms and showers for this room type. There is plenty of room to spread out in the bar car if you’re seeking more space, and the cabin itself makes for a lovely reading nook to tuck yourself away and watch the world roll past.

Platinum

If you want to travel in ultimate style and comfort, then a Platinum cabin is the way to go. These cabins have nearly double the space of the gold twin cabins, as well as double windows so you can catch the absolute best views as you kick back.

You can choose either a twin or double bed configuration, making this a perfect choice for either couples or friends (or a single person who likes their space!). A Platinum cabin is set up by day with two plush ottomans. At night, the cabin comfortably contains a double or twin bed. You’ll have your own ensuite bathroom, complete with upscale amenities.

Platinum Great Southern Cabin at Night — The spacious Platinum cabin is configured for sleeping. You can enjoy a continental breakfast in bed the next morning.

Gold Premium

This brand-new room category puts a more contemporary spin on the Gold class cabins, perfect for those seeking an extra touch of luxury. These cabins are similarly configured to the Gold Twin cabins, but with chic, modern design touches. Guests will also receive exclusive access to the Gold Premium Lounge. Gold Premium is available to book for the upcoming 2024/25 summer season.

Food

On The Great Southern, you’ll embark on a culinary journey as well as a physical one. The Great Southern is certainly a trip that foodies will love – think picturesque mornings lingering over a three-course breakfast or savoring the sunset with dessert in the dining car. The onboard dining is one of the highlights of the experience. The menus are thoughtfully and expertly curated, with service that is equal parts formal, knowledgeable and friendly. Each meal features an ingredient from the region the train traverses, like lemon myrtle, beetroot and Native quangdong. In a nutshell, it’s fantastic and quintessentially Aussie hospitality.

Gold passengers dine in the Art Deco-inspired Queen Adelaide restaurant, chock-full of character and resplendent with crimson dining booths and detailing that conjures an old-world feel.

queen adelaide restaurant great southern — Gold class passengers dine in the Art Deco-inspired Queen Adelaide Restaurant onboard.

Platinum passengers have a combined bar and dining car, which sports a more contemporary, elegant style. The carriage is full of thoughtful touches, like fresh flowers on each dining table.|

platinum great southern — Platinum passengers have access to the upscale Platinum Lounge and Dining Carriage.

Similar to the Queen Adelaide restaurant in Gold class, The Gold Premium restaurant is configured with booth-style seating, but dressed in a sleek, pared-back palette that evokes a more modern feel.

gold premium restaurant Great Southern — Dine in the elegant new Gold Premium restaurant.

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Lounge and onboard vibes

The lounge is the social heart of the train. This is where passengers go to soak in the views, sip a cocktail at the bar and chat to fellow passengers. There is a live musician onboard to provide entertainment, and passengers are encouraged to give song requests and sing along, too! The lounge definitely provides a communal element to the journey, meaning that even if you’re travelling solo, you won’t be travelling alone.

In keeping with the Queen Adelaide restaurant, the Gold Lounge is dressed in rich reds and Art Deco style. Sitting in a crimson armchair with a glass of sparkling wine in hand feels like stepping back in time to the golden age of rail travel.

gold lounge Great Southern — The lounge is the social hub of the train.

Platinum passengers have access to a modern, upscale and intimate dining and lounge carriage, although they are welcome to wander into the Gold Lounge, too.

Gold Premium passengers also have access to an exclusive lounge. Airy, chic and modern, thoughtful design touches take inspiration from the colours of the terrain you’re passing through.

gold premium lounge — Watch the scenery pass by from the Gold Premium Lounge.

Off-train experiences

The Great Southern has a great range of off-train experiences, with something to suit every kind of traveller. Food and wine aficionados can enjoy a variety of wine tasting experiences. I joined the adventurous passengers in a 4WD of Stockton sand dunes during the stop at Port Stephens. It was the least popular tour, but a personal highlight for me. And if you can’t decide between adventure and gastronomy, don’t worry. Each excursion is always bookended with a sumptuous lunch with drinks.

al fresco dining in Coffs Harbour — Dine al fresco in Coffs Harbour on an off-train experience.

What’s included in the fare?

Fare includes accommodation, all onboard meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and off-train experiences. The only exception to this is the few optional off-train experiences which require an extra fee, such as the helicopter tours.

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star, is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

What it’s like to travel on the luxury Great Southern train

Thinking about travelling onboard The Great Southern? Here’s everything you need to know.

Adelaide to Brisbane, or Brisbane to Adelaide?

Accommodation and categories