Australia Itineraries

Eight road trips of four to thirteen days: up the coast from Sydney, from Brisbane to Cairns, from Melbourne to Sydney by the mountains or by the sea, from Melbourne to Adelaide by the Great Ocean Road, or a loop from Melbourne through the Grampians, the goldfields, or the peninsula and Wilsons Prom

We publish eight worked itineraries for Australia, all road trips by car: two up the east coast, Sydney to Brisbane in eight days and Brisbane to Cairns in thirteen, and six from Melbourne, three of them loops that bring you back to the city. Each is set out day by day, with where to sleep.

The six week-long routes fit a Focused trip as our guide to How many days in Australia defines it. That guide advises one base for a trip of that length. These routes are for travellers who would rather spend their week on a corridor than in a city.

Where you land, where you fly home from and how many days you have decide most of it. The selector under Choose your itinerary narrows the eight to the ones that fit.

Australia is enormous, and that shaped every route. Our getting around guide puts Sydney to Cairns at 2,620 km by road and Sydney to Perth at 3,950: distances for a flight, not for a week's holiday. So each route keeps to one corridor, holds most days' driving under four hours, and leaves time to stop. Five run one way, which works because one-way car hire is available on each, usually for a fee; the three loops need none.

How this page was madeWe have driven the coast route as far as Kempsey, and have known the Mid North Coast for twenty-five years; north of Kempsey it is researched. We drove most of the Canberra route in September 2023, from Sydney to Melbourne. We rode the Princes Highway from Nowa Nowa to Batemans Bay by bike in 2009; the rest of the coast route is researched. We rode the South Australian end of the Adelaide route by bike in 2009, and friends drove us along the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles; the rest of that route is researched. On the Grampians loop we have been to Ballarat and Sovereign Hill; the Grampians and Budj Bim are researched. On the goldfields loop, too, we have been to Ballarat; the rest of it is researched. On the peninsula and Prom loop we have watched the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island; the rest of it is researched. Each page says which parts are which.

Last updated 30 October 2026

Choose your itinerary

Eight routes, compared on the same terms. Tell us where you start and finish, and how long you have, to see the ones that fit.

The coast Sydney to Brisbane

Route map: Sydney north along the coast through Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay to Brisbane

8 days, 7 nights
6 bases, five of them for one night
About 1,300 km, the beaches day included
Sydney to Brisbane, one way

Best forBeaches, headlands and coast towns, in stages of 166 to 272 km, with two nights at Port Macquarie Gives upThe Queensland coast and the reef; it rushes five one-night stops, Byron Bay among them See the plan →

Lady Elliot Island from the air, a green coral cay ringed by white sand in deep blue water.

The tropical coast Brisbane to Cairns

Route map of Brisbane to Cairns: eight numbered bases up the Queensland coast, from Brisbane through Noosa, Hervey Bay, Agnes Water, Yeppoon, Airlie Beach and Townsville to Cairns.

13 days, 12 nights
8 bases, three nights at Hervey Bay
About 2,000 km, the longest day about 525 km
Brisbane to Cairns, one way

Best forK’gari by four-wheel drive, a coral cay on the reef at Lady Elliot Island, Whitehaven Beach and the rainforest railway to Kuranda Gives upSydney and the New South Wales coast; one long day of some seven hours at the wheel, and Lady Elliot has to be booked months ahead See the plan →

The high country Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra

Route map: Melbourne east to Bairnsdale, north over the Monaro to Jindabyne, then Canberra and Sydney

7 days, 6 nights
3 bases, two nights each
About 1,110 km, plus two short day trips
Melbourne to Sydney, one way

Best forLakes, mountains and the national galleries, with a rail trail by bike and a walk to the roof of Australia Gives upThe coast between Gippsland and Sydney, and one long day of 362 km over the Monaro See the plan →

The white sand and pale turquoise water of Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay.

The coast road Melbourne to Sydney via the Princes Highway

Route map of Melbourne to Sydney via the Princes Highway: five numbered bases from Phillip Island to Jervis Bay along the south-east coast.

8 days, 7 nights
5 bases, three of them for one night
About 1,250 km, by the coast
Melbourne to Sydney, one way

Best forPenguins, a lake town, a wilderness inlet and the south coast’s beaches, with a day out of the car at Mallacoota and two nights at Jervis Bay Gives upThe mountains and Canberra, and one long day of 306 km across Gippsland See the plan →

The Great Ocean Road winding above the mouth of the Cumberland River near Lorne.

The Great Ocean Road Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road

Route map of Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road: four numbered bases from Apollo Bay to Meningie along the southern coast.

6 days, 5 nights
4 bases, three of them for one night
About 1,000 km, by the coast
Melbourne to Adelaide, one way

Best forThe Twelve Apostles without turning back, a crater lake that turns blue in summer, two nights at Robe and the long, quiet water of the Coorong Gives upThe Grampians, and one long day of 290 km via Mount Gambier See the plan →

The view from Boroka Lookout over Halls Gap and Lake Bellfield in the Grampians.

The Grampians The Great Ocean Road and the Grampians

Route map of the Great Ocean Road and Grampians loop: four numbered bases, Apollo Bay, Port Fairy, Halls Gap and Ballarat, in a loop from Melbourne.

6 days, 5 nights
4 bases, two nights in the Grampians
About 870 km, coast and mountains
Melbourne to Melbourne, a loop

Best forThe Twelve Apostles, the stone eel traps of Budj Bim, a day on foot in the Grampians and the goldfields city of Ballarat, with no one-way fee Gives upAdelaide and the Coorong, and a day of nearly four hours’ driving via Budj Bim See the plan →

The steel poppet head of the Central Deborah Gold Mine in Bendigo.

The goldfields The Goldfields and Daylesford

Route map of the Goldfields and Daylesford loop: three numbered bases, Ballarat, Daylesford and Bendigo, in a loop from Melbourne.

4 days, 3 nights
3 bases, one night each
About 425 km, no day over 2½ hours
Melbourne to Melbourne, a loop

Best forSovereign Hill, the mineral pools of Hepburn Springs, Maldon’s gold-rush street and a mine 61 metres down in Bendigo, with no one-way fee Gives upThe sea and the national parks; the places keep different opening days, so the start day matters See the plan →

Rounded orange granite boulders on the white sand of Squeaky Beach, Wilsons Promontory.

Coast and wildlife Two Bays and the Prom

Route map of the Two Bays and the Prom loop: three numbered bases, Sorrento, Cowes on Phillip Island and Tidal River on Wilsons Promontory, in a loop from Melbourne round Western Port.

6 days, 5 nights
3 bases, two nights at two of them
About 700 km, the longest day 233 km
Melbourne to Melbourne, a loop

Best forThe Phillip Island penguins at dusk, Point Nepean and the hot springs on the peninsula, and two nights at Wilsons Prom, with no one-way fee Gives upTowns and history; beds at Tidal River go months ahead in summer, so they have to be booked first See the plan →

How to choose

The selector above sorts the routes by where you start and finish and how long you have. It cannot tell what you came for, so here are three trips that differ by that, and the way to join two routes into a longer one.

If this is you

You start in Melbourne and want the mountains and the capital

The long way round: a river town and a rail trail in Gippsland, the road over the Monaro, the walk to Mount Kosciuszko and two days in Canberra's galleries and parks. You trade the coast for the high country.

Take Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra → If this is you

You start in Melbourne and want wildlife and wild coast

Six days south: Arthurs Seat and the forts at Point Nepean, a morning in the hot springs, two nights on Phillip Island for the penguins and the koalas, then two at Wilsons Prom for the beaches, Mount Oberon and the wombats at dusk. The car goes back where you hired it.

Take Two Bays and the Prom → If this is you

You have a long weekend from Melbourne

Four days inland: Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, a night in spa country at Daylesford, the gold towns of Castlemaine and Maldon, Bendigo’s mine and dragons, and Hanging Rock on the way home. No drive is longer than two and a half hours, and the car goes back where you hired it.

Take the Goldfields and Daylesford loop →

The routes join in Sydney. Drive Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra, take a second night in Sydney, then the coast north: Melbourne to Brisbane in fifteen days and fourteen nights (sixteen and fifteen by the Princes Highway route), which How many days in Australia calls a Comfortable trip; quote both a single hire from Melbourne to Brisbane and two separate ones. Or give the second week to depth rather than distance: the coast route's own first change is a second night at Byron Bay. If you have only two or three days for Melbourne and Sydney, fly.

The coast routes join in Brisbane. Drive Sydney to Brisbane, then go on north to Cairns: the whole east coast in about nineteen days, with your night in Brisbane counted once. Quote both a single one-way hire from Sydney to Cairns and two separate ones.

Routes we are building

From Melbourne, the set is now complete: six routes, three that come back to the city and three that do not.

Up the east coast, the first of the longer routes is live: Brisbane to Cairns in thirteen days. Four more, from Sydney to Cairns in two weeks to six, with the reef and the islands, are being built.

We have nothing yet for the Red Centre, the West or Tasmania. If you want to know how far apart Australian places really are, Perth to Sydney by bike is a different kind of journey: we crossed the continent on bicycles.

Before you commit to the route

The car and the flights. Five of the eight routes are one-way, so the hire car shapes the trip; the three loops start and end in Melbourne. We could not find any firm publishing its one-way fee, so get quotes for your dates early, and ask what the insurance covers. Fly in to the start and home from the finish: an open-jaw ticket, which our guide to How many days in Australia explains.

The daily driving. Each route has one long day, and the cards say which. Kangaroos and wallabies are most often on the road at dawn and dusk, so plan every day to arrive in daylight.

Bushfire season

Much of what these routes are for lies in national parks, the coast's headlands and the Snowy Mountains, and all eight pass through bushfire country. In New South Wales the bush fire danger period runs from 1 October to 31 March; in Victoria it is declared district by district. Check each morning's fire danger rating with the NSW RFS, the CFA or South Australia’s CFS, and on a Catastrophic day leave bushfire risk areas, as the fire services advise.

The holidays. School holidays fill the coast towns, and Byron Bay most. Our guide to the best time to visit Australia has the seasons, and what Australia costs has the daily budget.

A final word on Australia's itineraries

A week in Australia is short, and all eight of these routes are honest about it: each takes one corridor and drives it in stages, rather than trying to see three regions. Choose by the city you land in, and by whether you came for the sea or the mountains. With fifteen days or more, you can drive two.

Andrew + Margaret

Useful elsewhere

Tourism Australia Official
Live Traffic NSW: roads and closures Practical
NSW Rural Fire Service: fire information Safety
CFA: fire danger ratings in Victoria Safety