2021 Birdsville Desert Escape
Birdsville Fully Inclusive tour from Longreach. Make your way out to Longreach where this tour starts and ends. If you need a flight or would like to self drive, I can help you there too. Leave your driving behind you and hop on board this great 9 to 11 day options and visit the far Outback where the Channel Country meets the desert.
Tour Inclusions
- 8 nights en suite accommodation
- Travel by comfortable touring coach
- Touring with our Savannah Guides Operator driver and host
- All Meals (8 buffet breakfasts; 7 lunches; 8 dinners)
- All entries/activities as per itinerary
- Longreach accommodation arrival/departure transfers
- Return First Class Overnight Rail between Brisbane & Longreach – BDE11 only
Tour Highlights
- Qantas Founders Museum
- Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame
- Drover’s Sunset Cruise including Smithy’s Outback Dinner & Show
- Welford National Park
- Sunset Sandhill nibbles, Windorah
- Betoota Ghost Town and JC Hotel Ruins
- Deon’s Lookout and Dreamtime Serpent Art Sculpture
- Sunset nibbles atop Big Red (Sand Dune)
- Inland Hospital Ruins
- Channel Country Touring
- Famous Birdsville Hotel
- Min Min Encounter and Boulia Heritage Complex
- Historic Middleton Hotel & Cawnpore Lookout
- Australian Age of Dinosaurs Tour & Sunset Barbecue
- Waltzing Matilda Centre
Departure Dates
2020 Still some seats remaining on 2020 departure - All 3 dates available.
Departing Longreach – 
9 Days (BDE9):
12 August; 16 September; 07 October 2020
Departing Brisbane – 11 Days (BDE11) with return First Class overnight rail:
- 11 August; 15 September; 06 October 2020
2021
9 DAY TOUR ONLY
Departing Longreach – (BDE9):
- 14 April; 21 April; 12 May; 09 June; 18 August; 15 September; 29 September 2021
10 DAY FLY/RAIL PACKAGE
Departing Brisbane – (BDE10):
- 14 April; 21 April; 12 May; 09 June; 18 August; 15 September; 29 September 2021
11 DAY RETURN RAIL PACKAGE
Departing Brisbane – (BDE11):
- 13 April; 20 April; 11 May; 08 June; 17 August; 14 September; 28 September 2021
Prices (per person)
2021 Tour PricesTwin ShareSingle
9 DAY TOUR ONLY Longreach - Longreach (BDE9) $4,249 $4,989
EARLY EMU DEAL
Travel at 2020 prices if booked by 30 Sep 2020 $3,999 $4,799
10 DAY FLY/RAIL PACKAGE Brisbane - Longreach - Brisbane (BDE10)
Includes One Way First Class overnight Rail Sleeper & One Way Economy Flight $4,958* $5,698*
EARLY EMU DEAL
Travel at 2020 prices if booked by 30 Sep 2020 $4,708* $5,508*
11 DAY RETURN RAIL PACKAGE Brisbane - Longreach - Brisbane (BDE11)
Includes Return First Class overnight Rail Sleeper $4,967* $5,707*
EARLY EMU DEAL
Travel at 2020 prices if booked by 30 Sep 2020 $4,717* $5,517*
Minimum tour numbers apply. Itinerary subject to change.
*Rail subject to availability. Rail price based on return Aust. Govt. Senior Card holder fares in a First Class Sleeper on the Spirit of the Outback between Brisbane and Longreach. Please ask for Queensland Pensioner and Full Adult rail fares. Included Economy flights are with an airline of Outback Aussie Tours choosing and subject to the airline’s booking and carriage conditions. Subject to availability.
Prices do not include: travel insurance; meals not specified in the itinerary; drinks; laundry; optional activities; and items of a personal nature.
Day 1: Wednesday – Longreach
Arrive in Longreach for the start of your Outback Queensland adventure. You will be met at either Longreach Railway Station or Longreach Airport by your Savannah Guides Operator driver and host. Transfer to your accommodation for a Welcome Supper and tour briefing. 2 nights Albert Park Motor Inn, Longreach
Day 2: Thursday – Longreach
Enjoy an orientation tour of Longreach then visit the world-class Qantas Founders Museum, eloquently telling the story of the founding of Qantas. Discover the inspiring stories of our pioneering heroes at the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Late afternoon, unwind on the Drover’s Sunset Cruise with tasty onboard nibbles platters, before taking your seat at Smithy’s Outback Dinner & Show.
Day 3: Friday – Windorah
Follow the mighty Thomson River floodplain to Windorah, said to be the only place in the world where two rivers form a creek! See magnificently contrasting colours in Welford National Park; golden green spinifex, white-barked ghost gums and stunning red sand dunes. Late afternoon in Windorah, we’ll take a short trip out of town to toast the sunset from beautiful wind-swept red sandhills. Have your cameras ready! Overnight Cooper Cabins or Western Star Hotel, Windorah
Day 4: Saturday - Birdsville
See the JC Hotel Ruins, once part of the township site of Canterbury. Visit Betoota, originally established to collect cattle tolls and later as a Cobb & Co change station. It’s now a ghost town. Take in spectacular views from Deon’s Lookout. See the Dreamtime Serpent Indigenous artwork; an impressive hillside installation created with gravel and gibbers. At the end of the famous Birdsville Track we arrive in Birdsville. 2 nights Birdsville Hotel, Birdsville
Day 5: Sunday– Birdsville
Stroll down to the banks of tranquil Birdsville Billabong and see the famous Birdsville Racetrack. Visit the Wirrarri Centre to view local artists’ work and explore the Inland Hospital. Tonight we toast the glorious outback sunset from atop Big Red, a 40 metre high sand dune marking the symbolic eastern edge of the Simpson Desert.
Day 6: Monday - Boulia
Take a close up look at the rare and ancient Waddi Trees and visit the Carcory Ruins. Explore the remote town of Bedourie, located on a sand dune; overlooking the Eyre Creek floodplain. See the historic Royal Hotel, built in the 1880s with adobe bricks; still very much in its original condition. Witness spectacular 360-degree views from the Vaughan Johnson Lookout. In Boulia, visit the Min Min Encounter, a tribute to the famed Min Min Light phenomenon. Explore the Stonehouse Museum, one of the first homes built in Western Queensland and see the impressive Marine Reptile Fossil exhibit. Overnight Australian Hotel or Desert Sands Motel, Boulia
Day 7: Tuesday - Winton
We follow a spectacularly scenic drive to Winton via Cawnpore Lookout to view the stark flat-topped beauty of the surrounding Lillyvale Hills. Visit the historic Middleton Hotel, built during the Cobb & Co. era. It was originally a changing station where tired horses were replaced with fresh horses on the Winton to Boulia route. While at the pub hear entertaining yarns by the local publican over morning tea. Arrive in Winton for lunch at the historic North Gregory Hotel on the site where Waltzing Matilda was first played. Enjoy some free time downtown to wander the Opal Walk or visit the Winton Truck Museum. 2 nights Boulder Opal Motor Inn, Winton
Day 8: Wednesday – Winton
If there is one song that lives in the heart of all Australians, it is Waltzing Matilda. Uncover the story behind the song at the newly rebuilt Waltzing Matilda Centre. Discover state of the art interpretive displays and learn Winton’s connection with Qantas’ first ever board meeting at the Qantilda Museum. Mid afternoon, visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, for a fascinating tour of the laboratory, collection room and the incredible Dinosaur Canyon. Relax with cool drinks and great company at our exclusive sunset barbecue overlooking the plains where dinosaurs once roamed!
Day 9: Thursday - Longreach
Following breakfast you will be transferred to either Longreach Airport or Longreach Railway Station for your homeward bound connections.
