Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra

A week from Melbourne to Sydney by the long way round: the Gippsland lakes, the Snowy Mountains and the national capital

The quick way between Australia’s two biggest cities is a plane; by road it is the Hume Highway, which has little to see. This route takes a week instead. It runs east through Gippsland to a river town and a rail trail, climbs north over the open grasslands of the Monaro to the Snowy Mountains, and comes down into Canberra, the planned capital, before an easy run to Sydney. We think it is the more interesting inland route, and we have driven most of it.

7 days · 6 nights · three bases · by car · Melbourne to Sydney, about 1,110 km.

It suits travellers with a car and a week who want the country between the cities: lakes, mountains, the national galleries. Walkers and cyclists get a day each. If you have two or three days, fly, or take the Hume.

How this page was madeWe drove this way in September 2023, in the other direction, from Sydney: two nights in Canberra, the road over the Monaro to Cann River, and two nights in Bairnsdale, where we rode the rail trail. Lakes Entrance, Bombala, Jindabyne, Thredbo and Kosciuszko National Park, Cooma, the War Memorial, Parliament House and the Southern Highlands are researched, from the park service, the tourism bodies and the institutions named on the page. Driving distances and times are from OpenStreetMap routing, without stops.

Last updated 26 October 2026

The itinerary, day by day

Open one day, or all of them.

Day 1Melbourne to Bairnsdale — east into Gippsland280 km · about 3¾ hoursPrinces Freeway St Mary’s Grand Terminus

A driving day that ends in a river town with more to it than it first shows: a church painted from floor to ceiling, and a grand hotel from the railway age.

Morning
East out of Melbourne
Leave after the morning traffic and take the Princes Freeway east through Gippsland, past Sale, to Bairnsdale. Break the drive where you like; there is nothing on this stretch you need to book.
Afternoon
St Mary’s Church, BairnsdaleSeethe painted ceiling·the murals
People step inside and find a church painted from floor to ceiling. Francesco Floreani, a migrant from Udine, covered its walls and ceiling between 1931 and 1938, and the state heritage register calls the scheme unmatched in Victoria.
Late afternoon
The Grand Terminus HotelSeeMcLeod Street·the station
Bairnsdale’s centre sits on the Mitchell River, and it is easy to pass straight through. Walk to McLeod Street before you settle in. The hotel on the corner is the building we remember the town by.

Sleeping here · Bairnsdale, nights 1 and 2. We stayed two nights in a motel near the start of the rail trail, and the town has plenty of them along the Princes Highway and near the river. Pick a motel with parking, close to Howitt Park, where the trail begins. It suits drivers who want an early start on the bikes. Watch for the summer school holidays, when Gippsland fills with families. We have no Bairnsdale guide yet.

Drive: 280 km on the Princes Freeway and Highway · about 3¾ hours without stops
Stay: Bairnsdale — first of two nights, near Howitt Park
Eat: Bairnsdale — Main Street and the riverside
Check: The fire danger rating, from October to March

Day 2Bairnsdale — the rail trail, then Lakes Entrancebike, then 38 km each way by carRail trail Nicholson Lakes Entrance Fish and chips

Two halves: a morning on the bikes from Bairnsdale and back, then the car out to the sea for the afternoon, and back before dusk.

Morning
The East Gippsland Rail Trail to NicholsonSeethe trail·the Nicholson River bridge
The old railway to Orbost is now 96 km of gentle trail, much of it gravel. We rode it from Howitt Park, where it starts on a sealed path: easy riding that lets you look at the country. Nicholson’s river bridge is 8 or 9 km out (the tourism body’s two pages differ); ride there and back, or on towards Bruthen, and be back in Bairnsdale for lunch.
The trail runs inland to Orbost and does not reach Lakes Entrance, so the afternoon is by car.
Back at Bairnsdale, by car 38 km east on the Princes Highway, about 35 minutes.
Afternoon
Lakes EntranceSeethe footbridge·Ninety Mile Beach·the fishing fleet
Lakes Entrance is where the Gippsland Lakes meet the sea, and people come for the water and the fish. A footbridge from the town crosses to the surf of Ninety Mile Beach, and the trawlers sell their catch straight from the boats. A Melbourne friend’s advice was simple: the fish and chips are famous.
Late afternoon
Fish and chips by the water
Make them an early supper on the waterfront, then drive back to Bairnsdale while it is still light: kangaroos are on the road at dusk.

Drive: Bike from Bairnsdale and back · then 38 km by car each way to Lakes Entrance
Stay: Bairnsdale — second of two nights
Eat: Lakes Entrance — fish and chips as an early supper
Check: Bikes: bring your own; we found no hire in Bairnsdale. Leave Lakes Entrance before dusk

Day 3Bairnsdale to Jindabyne — over the Monaro362 km · about 5 hoursCann River Monaro Highway Bombala Jindabyne

The longest day, and the reason for the route. The road leaves the coast at Cann River and climbs through forest onto the high, open grasslands of the Monaro, with the Snowy Mountains ahead.

Morning
The coast road to Cann RiverSeeOrbost·the Snowy River
Follow the Princes Highway east through forest past Orbost, where the Snowy River reaches the coast. At Cann River, a small town at a crossroads, turn north onto the Monaro Highway. Set off with a full tank.
Midday
The Monaro HighwaySeethe forests·the high plains
We drove this road the other way, and we would drive it again: quite a pretty route, much more interesting than the Hume. It climbs through forest and national park, then the trees fall away and the land opens into rolling, almost treeless grassland under a wide sky. Do not count on your phone: south of Canberra we lost the signal at points, and the GPS with it.
Afternoon
Bombala and the platypus reserveSeethe platypus reserve·the river walk
A small Monaro town with a reserve on the Bombala River where platypus live. The viewing platform and two bird hides are a few kilometres out on Delegate Road; look for a V-shaped wake. Your chances are best early or late in the day, so this is a gamble at lunchtime.
By car, north-west through Dalgety to Jindabyne.
Evening
Lake JindabyneSeethe lake shore
Jindabyne sits on a lake made by the Snowy Scheme, the mountains rising behind it. Come for the evening light on the water after a long drive.

Sleeping here · Jindabyne, nights 3 and 4. Stay in the town on the lake shore: Thredbo is about half an hour away and the town has the shops and restaurants. Pick an apartment or lodge, which suits two nights and self-catering. In winter it is a ski town: if you come between the June and October long weekends, book ahead. We have no Jindabyne guide yet.

Drive: 362 km via Cann River and Bombala · about 5 hours without stops
Stay: Jindabyne — first of two nights, on the lake
Eat: Jindabyne — the town centre above the lake
Check: Start with a full tank. Expect gaps in the phone signal

Day 4Kosciuszko National Park — to the roof of Australia36 km each way to ThredboThredbo Mount Kosciuszko Jindabyne

A day in the high country, and in summer a walk to the highest point on the continent.

Morning
Thredbo and the Kosciuszko chairliftSeeThredbo village·the chairlift
Thredbo is the ski village in the valley below the main range. In summer the chairlift lifts walkers about 15 minutes up the mountain to the start of the summit track. Thredbo does not publish summer prices or dates in advance on the pages we read, so check them before you go.
Midday
The walk to Mount KosciuszkoSeethe summit·the main range
People walk this track to stand on the highest point of mainland Australia. The park service gives it as 13 km return, four to five hours, from the top of the chairlift. From June to October it is under snow, and this becomes a day of snow sports or a gentler valley walk.
Evening
Back to Jindabyne
Drive back down the Alpine Way for a quiet second evening by the lake. In the cooler months, many of the rivers close to trout fishing for four months after the June long weekend, but the lake stays open to anglers.

Drive: 36 km each way on the Alpine Way · about 30 minutes
Stay: Jindabyne — second of two nights
Eat: Thredbo village at lunch; Jindabyne in the evening
Check: Park entry $29 a vehicle a day in the snow season, $17 otherwise. Snow chains in winter

Day 5Jindabyne to Canberra — through Cooma178 km · about 2½ hoursMonaro plains Cooma War Memorial

A short drive with one stop that explains the mountains you have just left, and an afternoon in the capital.

Morning
North to Cooma
An easy hour north-east from Jindabyne across the high plains to Cooma, the town that grew up as the headquarters of the Snowy Scheme.
Late morning
The Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre, CoomaSeethe Snowy Scheme story·the theatre
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, built between 1949 and 1974, turned these rivers through tunnels and power stations, and the people who built it came from all over the world. The centre in Cooma tells their story and the scheme’s, with a theatre and live screens of what the stations are generating. The NSW Government lists entry as free; it opens 8am weekdays and 9am at weekends.
By car, north on the Monaro Highway to Canberra.
Late afternoon
The Australian War MemorialSeethe galleries·the Last Post Ceremony
The national memorial and museum is free, and its day ends at 4.30pm with the Last Post Ceremony, which is why this is the hour to arrive. Galleries close progressively from 4pm, so the ceremony, not the collection, is today’s visit.

Sleeping here · Canberra, nights 5 and 6. Stay in the city centre or near the lake in Kingston or Barton, so the national institutions are close and the lake path is at your door. Pick a city hotel or serviced apartment. It suits a short stay built around galleries and the lake. Watch the parking: choose a place that includes it, as you will have the car. Our guide to where to stay in Canberra compares the areas, and our guide to where to eat in Canberra covers the food, from Dickson’s noodle houses to the Saturday farmers market.

Drive: 178 km via Cooma · about 2½ hours without stops
Stay: Canberra — first of two nights, near the lake
Eat: Canberra — the city centre or Kingston
Check: Be at the War Memorial by 4.15pm for the Last Post

Day 6Canberra — the galleries and the lakeno driving · by bike and on footArboretum Lake Burley Griffin National Gallery

A city built for its institutions, and a lake built for its walkers and cyclists. The arboretum, the lake and the gallery were how we spent our Canberra days.

Morning
The National ArboretumSeethe forests·Nest III·the lake view
The arboretum is 250 hectares of young forests planted on the hills above the lake, free to walk, with a village centre and a view back over the city. On Dairy Farmers Hill a great steel eagle sits on a nest made of old farm machinery, Richard Moffatt’s Nest III. We went in the morning, before the bikes.
Midday
Lake Burley Griffin by bikeSeethe western shore·Black Mountain
The lake is the centre of the planned city, and its shores are one long path. We rode the western shore below Black Mountain, where the city falls away and it is just water, trees and bikes. The whole circuit is about 35 to 40 km; one shore is enough for an afternoon.
Afternoon
The National Gallery of AustraliaSeethe First Nations galleries·the Sculpture Garden
The national collection holds the largest gathering of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in the world, and it was the First Nations galleries that held us. Entry is free with a ticket you book online or at the door; open daily, 10am to 5pm. Leave time for the sculpture garden by the lake.

Drive: No driving: bikes and short hops across the lake
Stay: Canberra — second of two nights
Eat: Canberra — Kingston or the city centre
Check: Book the free gallery ticket

Day 7Canberra to Sydney — through the Southern Highlands294 km · about 3¾ hoursParliament House Bowral Sydney

Parliament in the morning, then an easy last day on the Hume, with lunch in the hills.

Morning
Parliament HouseSeethe building·the chambers
The working parliament opens at 9am and is free, with security screening on the way in; a guided tour costs extra and needs booking. An hour here before the road leaves the day still short.
Late morning
North on the Federal and Hume Highways
The road runs north past Lake George and joins the Hume. It is the fast road now.
Midday
BowralSeeCorbett Gardens·the Bradman Museum
The Southern Highlands are Sydney’s cool hill country, and Bowral is their main town: gardens, cafés and the boyhood home of Don Bradman. The Bradman Museum and International Cricket Hall of Fame is here; check its hours before you go. Corbett Gardens holds Tulip Time each spring: in 2026 it ran from 11 September to 5 October. We have not stopped here; this is researched.
By car, 116 km north on the Hume Motorway, about 1½ hours.
Afternoon
Into SydneySeeSydney
If you can, return the car on arrival: Sydney is easier by ferry and train.

Drive: 294 km via Bowral · about 3¾ hours without stops
Eat: Bowral at lunch
Check: Return the car where your one-way hire allows

Three bases without a guide of their own yet

Bairnsdale, Jindabyne and Canberra have no where-to-stay or where-to-eat guide on this site yet, so their days name the areas without links. The sleeping advice in each day is ours; for individual places, use the tourism bodies linked at the foot of the page.

Pause and notice · Bairnsdale, day 1

Stand across the corner from the Grand Terminus Hotel, as we did, and let your eye run along its balcony from one end to the other. Two full storeys, a front built for many more guests than this corner sees. You may feel a kind of vertigo of time: a town that expected to be something else. If a train from Melbourne is due, walk round and wait for it to come in to the end of the line. Then ask why a town this size built a hotel this big.

The name suggests the answer. The railway from Melbourne reached Bairnsdale in May 1888 and ended here, and the Grand Terminus followed in 1889, designed by Peter Matthews. Trains from Melbourne still finish at Bairnsdale. No source we found says why it was built so large, but we have seen hotels like it in country towns across South Australia and Western Australia too. The heritage listing describes this one without its verandah and balcony; in our photograph of 2023 both are there.

The route at a glance

Three bases, six nights
Base	Nights	The leg in	What these nights are for	Pressure
Bairnsdale	2	280 km from Melbourne, about 3¾ hours	The rail trail, Lakes Entrance and a painted church	Low: short days, nothing to book
Jindabyne	2	362 km over the Monaro, about 5 hours	The mountains and the walk to Mount Kosciuszko	The long drive in; snow from June to October
Canberra	2	178 km via Cooma, about 2½ hours	The national galleries and the lake by bike	Low; book the free gallery ticket

Distances and times without stops from OpenStreetMap routing, 26 October 2026. The last day, Canberra to Sydney, is 294 km via Bowral.

The shape of the route

The route makes a long arc rather than a straight line. It runs east from Melbourne along the Gippsland coast for two nights at Bairnsdale, with a day trip out to Lakes Entrance, then turns north at Cann River and climbs over the Monaro to Jindabyne for two nights, with a day trip into the mountains at Thredbo. From there it runs north through Cooma to Canberra for two nights, and on through Bowral to Sydney: about 1,110 km in all, against 840 to 870 km on the Hume.

Route map of Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra: from Melbourne east to 1 Bairnsdale (2 nights), with a dashed day trip to Lakes Entrance; along the coast to Cann River, north over the Monaro to 2 Jindabyne (2 nights), with a dashed day trip to Thredbo; north through Cooma to 3 Canberra (2 nights); then through Bowral to Sydney. — The three numbered bases and their nights. The two out-and-back days, to Lakes Entrance and to Thredbo, are the labelled pointers marked Day 2 and Day 4. Notice the turn north at Cann River: the route does not cut across the mountains. Lines are simplified; this is not a navigation map.

Before you commit

The hardest move is day 3: 362 km and about five hours of driving without stops, on a road with long gaps between towns and gaps in the phone signal. Leave Bairnsdale early with a full tank, and do not drive the last hour into Jindabyne in the dark.

The booking that shapes the route is the car. A one-way hire from Melbourne to Sydney usually carries an extra charge, either as a fee or built into the daily rate, and you should check what the insurance covers on unsealed or alpine roads. Forum posters put the extra at around A$200 to A$300; we could not find the hire companies publishing a figure, so get a quote for your dates.

What this route leaves out is the coast between Gippsland and Sydney. Our Melbourne to Sydney via the Princes Highway takes it in eight days, and it is the one to choose if beaches matter more than mountains.

Bushfire. The local advice we were given was blunt: the biggest hassle is bushfire, so avoid the hot months from December to February. In NSW the statutory bush fire danger period runs from 1 October to 31 March. In Victoria the CFA declares it district by district; in East Gippsland it began on 27 October in 2025.

Check the fire danger rating for each day’s area on VicEmergency and the NSW RFS before you set out; on a Catastrophic day, the fire services’ advice is to leave bushfire risk areas, and this route is in them.

Driving at dusk. Kangaroos and wallabies are most likely on the road at dawn and dusk. Plan each day to arrive in daylight, slow down where the signs warn of animals, and brake rather than swerve. On the mountain roads, take it slowly.

Winter. From the June long weekend to the October long weekend the summit walk is under snow, park entry rises to $29 a vehicle a day, and two-wheel-drive cars must carry snow chains on the roads into the high resorts. The route still works, as a snow trip.

With children. The driving days are long for small children, especially day 3, which has few towns and nothing to stop for between Cann River and Bombala. The rail trail’s first stretch is sealed and flat, good for older children on their own bikes. The summit walk is 13 km return at altitude, a full day for children used to walking. In Canberra the galleries, the lake path and the War Memorial are free; check the child prices for the chairlift and the Bradman Museum before you go.

Make it yours

In a hurry: fly, or take the Hume. If you do not have a week, fly: it is the sensible way between the two cities. By road, the Hume is about 840 to 870 km, depending on the source, all highway and far quicker. We drove it several times years ago, stopping overnight at Albury, and it is the least interesting of the three routes. It suits a two-day transfer, not a holiday.

Slower: a night at Lakes Entrance. If you want the sea rather than the river, move your second Gippsland night to Lakes Entrance and drive on from there on day 3, which also shortens the long day by about 40 km.

Slower: a third night in Canberra. If the galleries hold you, add a night in Canberra and give the War Memorial a full morning, not just the Last Post.

Reverse it. We drove the Canberra, Monaro and Gippsland part from the north, and it works the same way round: Sydney to Canberra, Jindabyne, the long day south to Bairnsdale, then Melbourne.

If the route slips

The fixed point is the car’s drop-off in Sydney. Everything before it is flexible.

A fire or a road closure on the Monaro or the Alpine Way: follow VicEmergency, the NSW RFS and Live Traffic NSW, and wait for the road rather than looking for a back way through the forest. From Gippsland the other way north is the coast road through Eden; we have not mapped a detour, so ask locally.
Bad weather in the mountains: drop the summit walk and spend day 4 in Jindabyne and Thredbo valley, or move on to Canberra a day early.
Running late: cut Lakes Entrance from day 2, then the Bombala stop on day 3. Both are out-and-back or roadside, and nothing else depends on them.
Losing a night: rebook the Jindabyne and Canberra nights directly; in the ski season, Jindabyne is the one that will not have spare beds.

A final word on Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra

Most people fly, and if you have two days you should. With a week, this is the way we would recommend: a river town and a rail trail, the road over the Monaro, the roof of the continent and a capital built around a lake.

Andrew + Margaret

Melbourne Overview
Sydney Overview
Getting around Australia Practical
Sydney to Brisbane road trip Journeys
Australia itineraries Overview
Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road Journeys

Useful elsewhere

NSW National Parks — the Kosciuszko walk Official
Visit East Gippsland — the rail trail Official
CFA — fire danger ratings Safety
NSW RFS — fire information Safety