You ain’t done a road trip ’til you’ve done one Down Under. Home to more than a few of the world’s very best, it can be a bit of a head scratcher when it comes to deciding which Australian road trips to tackle first.
That’s why we’ve narrowed it down to just 3, with each one handily divided into the level of road trip you fancy – one for the day tripper, one for those with a little extra time on their hands, and one for those who don’t mind seeing Australia the long way round.
For beginners
Great for those visiting friends and family, this day trip drive is big on beauty but short on time.
Grand Pacific Drive
Sydney to Shoalhaven, 86 miles
Start at Royal National Park, Sydney
A totally do-able day trip from Sydney, grab some snacks for the road and click in before starting off with a quick 30 minute hop to the eucalyptus forests in the Royal National Park – the oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone. It stretches 19 miles inland from the coast, with rainforest, wetlands, and numerous Aboriginal sites to boot.
Important deets: Entry to the park is $12 per vehicle if you plan to stop
Detour: Wattamolla Beach
Bring your cossies, because we reckon you’ve got time to strip whilst you’re in the Royal National Park, which whilst being home to forests, also happens to be home to more than one secluded beach. Try Wattamolla Beach which also doubles up as a pretty picnic spot. With calm waters perfect for a quick laze on the lilo and cabbage tree palms offering up shade for lunch, go for a walk along one of the beach tracks and keep an eye out for a sea eagle or oystercatcher.
Cross the weir at Audley
After crossing the weir at Audley, you’ll continue through the park via Lady Wakehurst Drive to Bald Hill Lookout, which offers up massive views south towards Wollongong and is known for its hang-gliding. If you’re here between May and October, it’s also a great spot for some whale-watching.
Turn onto Lawrence Hargrave Drive
Get ready, because you’re about to reach the drive’s top prize – Lawrence Hargrave Drive, the most famous stretch of which is the Sea Cliff Bridge, a two lane road suspended above the ocean and hugging the beautiful coast of Wollongong. This beauty doesn’t go unnoticed, and she’s had a starring role in a bunch of car commercials. Practically sells itself!
Stop at Wollagong or carry on to the Kiama Blowhole
New South Wale’s third biggest city, Wollagong isn’t far from the Sea Cliff Bridge and you can stop at this popular commuter town for Sydney to check out its Twin Lighthouses, its street art, and North Wollagong Beach. The fish and chips are said to be pretty good too.
But if you’re short on time you can carry on to the famous Kiama Blowhole . Well, technically it’s two blowholes, but one is said to be more impressive than the other. Surrounded by basalt columns and wave-thrashed rocks, it’s a little tricky to predict if you’ll experience a decent spurt of seawater. The team at the visitor centre have two tips: If it’s a northeastern wind, try Little Blowhole; if it’s a south-easterly, try the big blowhole instead.
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Time to spare?
This drive can be done by those with less time on their hands, but it’s best enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Cruise Control on.
The Great Ocean Road
Torquay to Allansford, 150 miles
Start at surf town Torquay
The official start point of the Great Ocean Road, Torquay is Victoria’s surfing capital. If you’re here over Easter, you can see the world’s best surfers compete in the mighty Rip Curl Pro amongst the big swells at Bells Beach. But don’t get too distracted, you’ve got one of the world’s best road trips ahead of you.
Pass under the Memorial Arch and head to Lorne
The perfect picture opportunity, the Memorial Arch is the Route 66 sign of the Great Ocean Road. After you’ve stopped, grabbed a picture and then passed under, make your way to Lorne – a great base for a sneaky detour or two.
Detour: Teddy’s Lookout
Just a short drive away to the back of Lorne is one of the Great Ocean Road’s best viewpoints: Teddy’s Lookout. With truly sweeping (and breath-taking) coastal views of the surf breaking into the mouth of the Saint George River, a new viewing platform has been recently added here. On another, lower, platform you’ll get views of mountainous peaks, winding rivers, and fern-covered valleys and gorges.
Kip at Apollo Bay, then head to Port Campbell
After a super scenic drive from Lorne (keep an eye out for whales by the shoreline near the Wye River!), stay the night in Apollo Bay and head to Port Campbell the next morning when you’re bright eyed and bushy-tailed.
About a 59 mile stretch, it’s small but mighty. This is where you’ll see the Otway National Park (a scenic park, where you can pull over and enjoy lush rainforest greenery and natural beauty surrounding the road), Lavers Hill (a small, charming town that makes for a great pitstop), the Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park (home to kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, dingos, and emus), and the great Aussie piece de résistance – the Twelve Apostles.
Spend the night in Port Campbell, then head to Allansford
A quintessential coastal village, Port Campbell’s got charming bars and seaview restaurants, making it a pretty neat place to spend the night before you start the final stretch to Allansford the next morning.
Just 34 miles, it could take you as little as 50 minutes to wrap up your jaunt down the Great Ocean Road to its official ending point in Allansford. But that’s not what this trip’s about, is it? And there’s a whole lot of interesting stops between you and the finishing line, like The London Arch: a single arch of rock jutting out into the blue ocean (you can spot penguins here too), Loch Ard Gorge: Named after a ship that wrecked here in 1878, and The Grotto: A hollowed-out cave straight from the pages of a fairytale, hiding at the base of a set of steep shoreline cliffs.
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The long way round
Pack the boot with the essentials – this road trip ain’t about short cuts.
The Coral Coast Highway
Perth to Exmouth, 776 miles
Start just north of Perth and head to the Pinnacles
This 2 week drive (give or take, depending on how long you stay in each place) starts just north of Perth on the Indian Ocean Drive that’ll take you first to the coastal playground of Lancelin with its incredible (and incredibly massive) sand dunes before leading you to the Pinnacles Desert of Nambung National Park and its hundreds of limestone formations reaching out of the earth in a distinctly un-earthly manner.
Follow the Indian Ocean Drive to Kalbarri National Park
Carry on along the Indian Ocean Drive for another 4 hours and you’ll reach your stop for the night (or two) – the Kalbarri National Park. With more than 183,000 hectares of national park to explore, Kalbarri is definitely for the outdoorsy. Think towering coastal cliffs and white-sand beaches, as well as loads of watersports like kayaking, as well as hiking, climbing, or abseiling the 400-million-year-old river gorges here. For a slower pace, cruise the Murchison River and walk the trails to take in the wildflowers and rock formations, including the iconic Nature’s Window.
Pack lunch and head to Monkey Mia
Drive two and half hour north and you’ll enter the Shark Bay World Heritage Area where 30 mins later you’ll reach the Hamelin Pool Stromatolites, a snapshot of life on Earth over 3,500 million years ago – these are the largest and oldest living fossils on the planet. Ross Geller would go crazy.
Drive another hour, and you’ll be at Shell Beach, which is exactly what it says on the tin – a beach made entirely of billions of tiny shells, creating a rare (and very dramatic) coastal landscape.
Carry on to Monkey Mia and stay the night, but just before you get there…
Detour: Eagle Bluff
Eagle Bluff includes a spectacularly high cliff that overlooks the Denham Sound. Have a wander along the boardwalk and you’ll get some breath-taking views out across the water, as well as some ospreys and sea eagles flying around, and dugongs dining on the seagrass meadows. Time your detour for sunset and you’ll be rewarded with what might just be one of the best sunsets in Western Australia.
Crack on to Canarvon
After spending the morning with dolphins in Monkey Mia (Monkey Mia gets it names from the Aboriginal word for home, mia, and possibly either a ship that once visited or the pet monkeys of Malaysian pearl farmers – who knows!) you’re off to foodie fave Carnarvon, which as well as being a tropical food bowl is also the gateway to World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef.
Make a visit to the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre, follow up with a dinnertime feast, and then settle down for the night.
Carry on to Coral Bay
Coral Bay, with its pristine white-sand beaches and Gatorade blue waters, is the real introduction to the beauty of the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, just up the road.
One of the few places you can come face-to-face with whale sharks from March to July, and the only place in Australia where you can swim with humpback whales as they migrate down the coast from June through to October, Ningaloo is the world’s largest fringing reef and one of the golden stops on this drive. Soak it alllllll up.
Stay a couple of nights in Exmouth, at the northernmost tip of the reef.
Detour: Cape Range National Park
Within the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Cape Range is a complete contrast in views. There’s loads of wildlife including kangaroos, emus, echidnas, birds and black-flanked rock wallabies. There’s walking trails, wildlife viewing, camping, beach combing, swimming, snorkelling, beach fishing and more. But the best bit? That’ll be the views of the earthy tones of the arid landscape against the stark blue waters.
Fly or drive back to Perth from Exmouth
If you’ve opted for car hire and arranged to drop it off at Learmonth Airport, you can grab a quick flight back to Perth, or you can do the whole drive – all 776 miles of it – backwards.
It’ll take you about 15 hours, give or take, and you can break the journey in Carnarvon, Kalbarri, or Geraldton
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