Short answer: the backpacker tour names you hear most fall into two groups. Tour operators run the trips themselves: INTRO Travel, Ultimate, Contiki, G Adventures, Kiwi Experience, Stray. Booking agencies sell many operators’ trips in one place, and Wanderlust is one of them. Wanderlust is an agency, not a rival tour company. We sell more than 350 tours from more than 150 operators, including INTRO Travel and Ultimate, and over 100 of them are priced below the operator’s recommended retail price (RRP), with no booking fee.
So the useful question isn’t “INTRO or Wanderlust?”. It’s “which operator’s trip suits me?”, then “where is it cheapest to book?”.
The companies compared
| Company | What it is | Best for | Book it through Wanderlust? |
|---|---|---|---|
| INTRO Travel | Tour operator | Fully guided group trips, ages 18 to early 40s, Australia and Asia | Yes, its East Coast and Asia range |
| Ultimate | Tour operator | Long East Coast group trips, ages 18 to 35 | Yes, East Coast Explorer, NZ and Thailand trips |
| Contiki | Tour operator | Group trips for 18 to 35s worldwide | Not yet |
| G Adventures | Tour operator | Small-group adventure trips worldwide | No |
| Kiwi Experience, Stray, Wild Kiwi | Tour operators (NZ) | Hop-on hop-off and small-group New Zealand trips | Yes |
| Wanderlust | Booking agency | One place to book many operators’ tours, often under RRP, plus our own Travel Mates trips | That’s us |
What a booking agency changes for you
You get the same trip, run by the same operator, with the same guide and the same group. What changes is where you pay:
- Price. Agencies get a commission from the operator and can give some of it back. Over 100 of our tours sell below the operator’s RRP. Some are a few dollars under, some are hundreds.
- One booking for a whole trip. A K’gari tour, a Whitsundays sail, a reef day and a bus pass from four different companies go through one checkout and one confirmation email.
- Comparison. You see INTRO’s 28 days next to Ultimate’s five weeks and our own semi-guided trips, with prices side by side.
Operators sometimes run sales on their own websites that go below RRP, so it’s worth a quick look before you book anywhere. If you find the identical product cheaper at another booking site, our Price Match Promise says we’ll do our best to beat it.
INTRO Travel: best all-round fully guided trip
INTRO runs fully guided group trips with one leader, set departure dates and groups of 22 to 28 on the East Coast. Its Oz East Coast Adventure, 28 Days Sydney to Cairns is from $5,199 with us, against an RRP of $5,299 (checked 27 October 2026). We also sell its 10-day Sydney to Brisbane trip from $1,199 and its Asia range, where the gaps are bigger: the 12-day Thailand trip is from $1,899, against an RRP of $2,199.
Pick INTRO if: you want one group from day one to the end and someone handling every check-in.
Ultimate: best for five to seven weeks
Ultimate’s East Coast Explorer trips run five, six or seven weeks for 18 to 35s. We sell the 5-week Explorer from $5,209 (RRP $5,799), plus the 6 and 7-week versions, a 21-day New Zealand trip and Thailand trips.
Pick Ultimate if: you have well over a month and want the coast fully organised.
Contiki and G Adventures
Contiki runs group trips for 18 to 35s around the world. G Adventures runs small-group adventure trips worldwide. We don’t sell either right now.
New Zealand: Kiwi Experience, Stray and Wild Kiwi
All three run backpacker trips around New Zealand, from hop-on hop-off bus networks to fixed small-group tours. We sell all three, priced in AUD. Every one, cheapest first, is on New Zealand tours by price.
Our own trips: Travel Mates
Alongside other operators’ tours we run Travel Mates, semi-guided East Coast trips: every bed, the bus pass and the big group days (K’gari, a Whitsundays sail, the reef) booked for you, on a fixed itinerary with a start date you choose. The Classic 21 Days, Sydney to Cairns is from $3,099. How they compare with INTRO and Ultimate’s guided trips is in the best East Coast tours for solo travellers.
Which company is right for you
- One group and a leader the whole way, a month: INTRO’s 28 days.
- Five weeks or more, fully organised: Ultimate’s East Coast Explorer.
- Social, but with time to yourself and a start date you pick: a Travel Mates semi-guided trip.
- Lowest budget, happy to plan: a Greyhound East Coast pass from $319, plus the big tours one by one.
- Not sure: our free trip planning. Tell us your weeks and budget and we’ll build a trip from any operators we sell.
Every multi-day East Coast trip we sell, cheapest first: East Coast tours by price.
FAQs
Is Wanderlust a tour company like INTRO or Ultimate?
No. Wanderlust is an Australian travel agency based in Byron Bay. We sell other companies’ tours, including INTRO Travel’s and Ultimate’s, and run our own semi-guided Travel Mates trips. When you book an INTRO or Ultimate trip with us, INTRO or Ultimate runs it.
Is it cheaper to book INTRO or Ultimate through Wanderlust?
Often, yes. Our prices for their trips sit below their RRP, by a few dollars on some trips and by hundreds on others, with no booking fee. Operators sometimes run their own sales, so compare on the day.
Who has the cheapest East Coast tour?
It depends on the trip length and how much you want included. Our Greyhound pass is the lowest entry price, and East Coast tours by price lists every multi-day trip we sell, from all operators, cheapest first.
Is my booking with the operator or with Wanderlust?
You pay Wanderlust, and we book you with the operator. The tour is run by the operator, and cancellations follow the operator’s own terms, which are shown on each tour page and at checkout. See is Wanderlust legit? for how payment works.
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