Phil K

Hi All,

Has any one drove from Brisbane to Sydney over a few days instead of getting an internal flight & were there any problems or is this a bad option and a waist of time.

Any opinions & advice welcome please

Thank You
Phil K

LoobyLoo!

We looked into this and would have loved to do it on our reccie but we have little kids and decded it was easier to fly as it only takes two hours. My friends father has driven this many times and has done it a day (although he only stopped briefly) he said if you have the time to stop at places it is great. So if you can afford it and thave the time i would go for it.
(i really wanted a pic of us all with one foot on over either border)

DrWho

Done it both ways a couple of times... The scenic route is the Pacific highway, lots to see, lots of places to stay... The quick way is the New England highway... better roads () less traffic, nothing to see or do though...

MarkMC

Never done it myself but my parents have, they stayed over 3 nights at various places and loved it. Just pick a few places on the map and check for places to say the night....

quoll

All depending on what you hope to get out of it, it's OK. The Pacific Hwy can be a real nightmare depending on the time of year that you go - so if you are going in the summer during the school holidays then be prepared for loads of traffic. It also holds the reputation for being the highway with the highest accident rate IIRC but that just probably reflects the volume of traffic on it and the fact that it isnt dual carriageway all the way. I guess it is a way to see some of Aus that you havent seen before but take a good audio book with you

The New England Hwy will definitely give you a good view of the vastness and emptiness of Aus and there is much less traffic as the others have said. Probably a better option if you are travelling in peak tourist season but more boring view-wise - ditto with the audio book!

Personally, these days, anything over 7 hours and I fly - not much sense in wasting a day getting somewhere unless the journey is the experience I am after.

NickyC

If you've never done the trip before it's definitely not a waste of time. I find the Pacific Highway (coastal) route pretty unexciting as you rarely see the coast or ocean from the road, but there are some great places to stop on the way. You should check out Byron Bay, Nimbin, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Port Stephens en route.

We drove back from Brisbane to Sydney only last week but varied the route from the usual Pacific/New England highways. We drove from Brisbane to Beaudesert and then took the Mount Lindsay Highway to Woodenbong in NSW. This is a very scenic route that crosses the range and has some amazing stretches of rainforest. From Woodenbong we drove to Urbenville (more rainforest) and then across to Tenterfield. Down the New England Highway to Armidale. From Armidale we cut across to the coast via Uralla, Walcha and Gloucester. The road to Gloucester (Thunderbolt Way) is one of the most scenic I've ever driven on in Australia. It follows a ridgeline and has knockout views of mountains and hidden valleys.

This Armidale/Sydney route is a real find - the road was good, no trucks, little traffic PLUS it knocked nearly two hours off the usual journey time.

Pinkie

Hey Phil

Some of it depends how long you have available? First time we came (holiday) we flew Sydney to Cairns because of the time factor.This time we drove, actually we drove from Adelaide to Brisbane via the coastal route, and as someone else has said, there are plenty of little stop offs - Port Stephens is a personal favourite.

BUT it rained the entire time pretty much and I have to say I wasn't impressed by Coffs Harbour or any of the other towns (apart from Port Stephens which was beautiful anyway) in the rain. Plus unless you have a couple of days to spend in each place you spend most of your time just relaxing from the drive then you're off again. And if you've not been here before, everywhere is further than you think it will be!!

I personally don't think it's worth doing unless you have a decent chunk of time to spend, I'd rather fly and spend the time exploring the next city.

jan&co

We did the Pacific Highway route and stopped over at Port Macquarie for a night Its beautiful.

wmoore

We'll be doing this in a couple of weeks time We planned on going Pac Hwy there and NE Hwy back but NickyC's option sounds interesting. We have a couple of weeks to spare and the journey is part of the fun for us so we'll check that out.

DrWho

Yes, it's very beautiful that area. We spent a weekend at Barrington Tops a while ago and it was really pleasant... I'll defintely give that way a go next time we go North...

POW148

I would drive down the coast, lots to see along the way. It will take about 10 hours driving so can easily be done in a day but if your not in a hurry, take the time to explore.

Coffs Harbour is a great place to visit and so it Byron Bay.

Barney

temptininnit

If you were to do this in a couple of days how would you sort accomodation, motels?

We're thinking of going the back way.

NickyC

As long as you're not travelling in school holidays, you'd be fine to chance it with motels. We rarely book in advance and have never had a problem getting a motel on the road.

If you know where you're going to be on a particular date, you can always checkout wotif.com (and others) for special deals.

ali south

Drove up to Gold coast from Sydney and Stopped overnight in Kempsy.It is nearly halfway but not very nice . Try to avoid it. Port Macquarie or Coffs Harbour are much nicer.

oldhampom

Hi Phil
I'm in the middle of that very same drive.

Overnighting in Port Macquarie tonight then down to Sydney in the morning.
Came down the Pacific Highway, and as has been said, although its the coastal route, you don't see the sea very often.
Haven't encountered any traffic problems, but there are a few sections of road works on the way.
Agree with Ali, Kempsey is best avoided, far better places to stop that have already been mentioned.
Took me 7 hours to get to Pt Macquarie, and I reckon another 4 hours to Sydney tomorrow.

Dave