How long would you do a VW camper tour around Australia?

[Pouche]

Fiancé and I are planning our honeymoon. We will be doing a very basic registry office ceremony followed by an extravagant honeymoon where the bulk of our money is going.

We plan to do Seychelles, Japan, Vietnam/Cambodia/Philippines and Oz over the course of 6-8 weeks (not in that order).

I was just curious how long would be too much in a camper van? We would probably do a posh hotel at some point but only for a couple of nights. I was thinking 2 weeks. But neither fiancé or I have ever stayed in a camper/gone camping. If it was torture I would feel terrible.

We are late 20s and both easy going/adventurous

Our budget is healthy but we will need to economise in places (hence camper van idea)

Japan, can recommend Kyoto, particularly the Gion district (fly into Osaka & take direct train) ryokankyoto.jp

Vietnam, can recommend Hoi An (fly into Da Nang and take a cab.)
Cambodia, can recommend Siem Reap Angkor Wat Village hotel angkorvillagehotel.asia
Philippines, have had Siquijor recommended (local flight & a ferry.)
Oz, can recommend traveling the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay. You can see the fairy penguins on Phillip Island; think 5 nights best.

We are doing a “luxury” version of a backpacking trip. Neither Dh or I were in a position to do so before university. It is purposely packed in.

Luckily our budget is healthy. It is the wedding fund we have saved up for before we decided to ditch it all and have an insane honeymoon.

Thank you! Will add to my excel!

I am not sure if you are planning to stay in one place in each location or are intending to keep moving, but, having done a few 'travelling' holidays I would recommend building in a 'stay' period in every 2-3 weeks as being constantly on the move with just a night or two in each location can be tiring. It's lovely to book into a hotel and get your washing sorted and bag properly empty and ready to reset is great and sets you up fo rthe next travel session.

If you are planning on moving about rather than just doing an airport to hotel transfer Seat61 is fantastic for all things train, and for other transport options I always use Rome to Rio and this might give you some alternatives for Australia. Booking.com offers a (room facility) filter to find accommodation with a washing machine.

@Pouche
Waft time of year are you honeymooning ?

I have been to some of these countries & have travelled

These countries are expensive
Australia
New Zealand
Japan
Singapore

These countries are cheaper
Vietnam
Cambodia
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines

Not been to Seychells yet

Depending on your budget, can you afford both Japan & Australia on this holiday ?

Ensure that you buy travel insurance that includes all the countries that you wish to visit

I would visit less countries & stay longer in each one

Good luck

Vietnam/Phillipines/Cambodia will only be one of these countries
that kind of make more sense!

Don't misunderstand me, it's not about jam packed itinerary, it's more about being realistic about distances. You don't "do" Cambodia in one week, it's very enjoyable to spend even a week, but even if you cram as much as you possibly can in one day, even you have a private helicopter to drop you to various places, you are severely limited.

Not even talking about Oz, you know the size of it. If you are planning on a camper tour, you won't have time to do much.

But again, if it's one of the 3 countries, that makes it a bit more realistic. 4 countries in 8 weeks, you will have time to do some bits. Don't forget many people spent months because there's just so much to do.

I have seen lovely American planning a trip to Europe and planning 2 or 3 days in GB, 1 or 2 days in London, 1 day in Scotland. It's very doable but you need to be realistic what it will be like 😂

Sydney to cairns is 2.5 k miles, it's a really long way, and if you have never camped and wouldn't be happy using campsite loos and showers I would rethink to be honest. I've done north NSW up north but not as far as cairns and it felt like miles. It's so vast.

It's really not long enough at all if your trying to fit all them places in.

Some other suggestions, it is cheaper if you fly in & out of the same main hub airport eg Singapore, Bangkok. From there you can get reasonably priced flights or trains to many other countries

Bali & some of the smaller islands like Gillis
Komodo
Lombok
Bali

Singapore or Kuala Lumpur
Penang
Langkawi
Thailand Island hopping
Back to S or KL

Bangkok
Chaing Mai
Vietnam/Cambodia
Thailand
Bangkok

I would do Australia alone as one single place to visit

VW campers are ace! Especially in a country where it's unlikely to rain all the bloody time.

I have one. Longest trip I've done is 2 weeks round Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium) and it was brilliant.

VWs are small but they are compact and cleverly organised. You should have a fridge, hob and grill, depending on the conversion. Plus lots of clever cupboard space.

Aussie campsites are excellent - they will have outdoor cooking facilities so you won't need to cook in the van most of the time. They will also have showers etc so you'll be fine there. Washing of clothes - you may well find a lot of campsites have washing and drying facilities (a lot here do) and you'll be able to find a laundromat if you really need one.

I could happily do a month in my camper, if it was just DH and I. It's a bit trickier now when we go away in it and there's us, two kids and a dog!

However - Oz is huge. You will need to factor in a massive amount of driving.

Oh and I love not having a loo in my van, it means never having to deal with sewage or the smell of a full toilet tank!

Personally, for Australia I'd look into buying a motorhome, spending 6-12 weeks touring (more if available!), then selling it at the end of the trip. That used to be a cost effective option and I would imagine still is.

For a shorter trip, look carefully at flight times and time zones. I have long had 3 weeks as a personal minimum for UK-Australia trips - ideally 4 weeks minimum. Obviously a bit different if you are stopping on the way though.

We did a week driving around Tasmania for our honeymoon (married in Sydney), with booked self-catering cottages. Could easily have spent longer.

For shorter trips definitely Great Ocean Road is a good idea. Depending on the time of year, and your inclination to share with others, I loved a 2 week tour I did in my 20s from Alice Springs to Darwin, stopping at most of the iconic places en route. My eldest got to the Northern Territory on her gap year but only had a week or so there - the tour she did only covered a subset of the top end (but she still enjoyed it hugely).

If you do end up doing your own driving in Australia, pay attention to advice around equipment, how much water to carry, whether you need to carry spare fuel. Oh and if you are going through quarantine gates (tick gates or fruit and veg).