This was published 2 years ago
Holidays in Australia by rail: Seven great places you can travel to by train
By Tim Richards
Take an XPT train from Sydney to Newcastle.Credit: iStock
"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with C."
Along with most other Australians, I have childhood memories of the great Aussie road trip. For our Western Australian family it was usually a drive to a holiday house in Augusta, past Margaret River in the state's southwest. Despite the leafy scenery on the way, I don't remember those drives being that much fun – with summer heat sticking us to the vinyl car seats, ABBA playing on the cassette player, and we kids driving each other mad with endless games of 'I Spy' (in which 'C' would inevitably stand for the vivid orange-yellow Christmas Trees spotted in WA in summer, actually a parasitic growth related to mistletoe).
Now in 2022, with spiralling petrol prices, the great Aussie road trip is said to be endangered. To which I say, "So what?" You can have more fun travelling by train at a set fare, and help cut your carbon emissions at the same time. Here are some affordable Aussie train trips to replace those treks from the city by car…
Have a seaside holiday in Warrnambool
From Melbourne there's a non-automotive way to reach a beachside destination beyond the Great Ocean Road. Each day three r four trains head from the Victorian capital to Warrnambool, taking three-and-a-half hours to reach the coastal city via Geelong. Heading north of the Great Otway National Park past green farming country and lakes, the train is a comfortable way to travel with a choice of first and second class seating, and onboard catering. Warrnambool is a big enough town to have a cinema, good dining and a range of shopping, and its extensive beachfront is easily accessible from the city centre by local bus or taxi, or on foot. See vline.com.au, visitwarrnambool.com.au
Visit Phillip Island by rail and sail
Credit: Visit Victoria
People usually reach the popular holiday destination of Phillip Island by driving the long way round via the bridge from San Remo. A more direct alternative is to catch suburban trains from Melbourne via Frankston to Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula, from where you can take a ferry to Cowes at Phillip Island. As the ferry also stops at French Island on the way, you might like to consider a tour of that relatively unvisited island via the four-wheel drive vehicle of Naturaliste Tours (see naturalistetours.com.au). To get around on Phillip Island itself, you can hire an e-bike, use taxis, or join a local tour. See ptv.vic.gov.au, visitphillipisland.com.au
Enjoy Newcastle beaches and culture
Credit: iStock
It's been a long time since the New South Wales city of Newcastle was only known for its coal exports. Due to its Pacific coast location it has a great set of beaches, good for swimming and surfing, along with coastal walking and cycling trails. There's plenty of culture and dining on offer in the city centre, and Newcastle is the logical jumping-off point for wine-tasting tours of the Hunter Valley wine region (which are more fun if you're not driving, of course). From Sydney there are numerous trains each day which take about three hours to Newcastle, with stunning water views along the way; or you could get there from Brisbane via XPT train, an epic 12-hour trip via mountain ranges and coastal towns. See transportnsw.info, visitnewcastle.com.au
Go west… to Broken Hill
Credit: Broken Hill City Council
If you want to really get away from it all, there's the weekly Outback Explorer train from Sydney all the way to remote Broken Hill, the famous mining town near the South Australian border. It's a 1,100 kilometre and 13-hour daytime journey of contrasts, as the green countryside around Sydney gives way to dramatic red soil and big skies in New South Wales' far west. There's a choice of first or economy class seating as well as an onboard buffet. In Broken Hill there's local transport, as well as tour operators taking groups to such sights as the Living Desert sculptures, the Menindee Lakes, and the ghost town of Silverton. See transportnsw.info, destinationbrokenhill.com.au
Hunt dinosaurs from Longreach
Credit: Tourism and Events Queensland
On the topic of trains to interesting outback destinations, consider the twice-weekly Spirit of the Outback to Longreach in western Queensland. Taking 26 hours to cover the 1,325 kilometres from Brisbane, this affordable sleeper train with a dining car heads north to Rockhampton, then west to the town where Qantas got its start. That's reflected in the local Qantas Founders museum (pictured above), a substantial local attraction in addition to the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame. From Longreach there are tour operators to take you further out past prominent 'jump-ups' (mesas) to Winton, the town where Banjo Paterson composed Waltzing Matilda, and to the nearby Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum with its exciting prehistoric discoveries. See queenslandrailtravel.com.au, experiencelongreach.com.au
Head south to Bunbury and wine country
Credit: Hannah Barry
There aren't many regional train services in Western Australia, but the Australind train from Perth to the regional centre of Bunbury makes a great springboard to the state's scenic southwest corner packed with vineyards and tall trees. The twice-daily train takes a scenic inland route on its way south, passing through numerous farming towns with their green landscapes (a concrete cow standing as proud mascot in the dairy town of Brunswick Junction). Bunbury itself makes a good day-trip, blessed as it is with great Indian Ocean beaches and the Dolphin Discovery Centre at Koombana Bay. To venture further take one of the buses which meet the train and head to Margaret River, a walkable town with great dining and shopping, and with tours to wineries and natural highlights. See transwa.wa.gov.au, margaretriver.com
Cross the border between Melbourne and Adelaide
Australia's oldest interstate train, the Overland (launched 1887) heads twice-weekly between Adelaide and Melbourne, and makes a fine substitute for a road trip between those cities. From Melbourne the train swings toward Geelong before heading across farming country in western Victoria. If you want to break your journey at Stawell, you could pick up a tour from here to the marvellous Silo Art Trail further north. Otherwise, catch a glimpse of the Grampians as you head west, before crossing the South Australian border and later the Murray River over an impressively long bridge. The finale is the picturesque descent through the Adelaide Hills to the South Australian capital. Splurge on a Red Premium class seat for extra legroom and included hot meals. See journeybeyondrail.com.au
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