Drive from Adelaide to Sydney

Drive from Adelaide to Sydney




Drive from Adelaide to Sydney
Thorn Tree forumCountry forumsAustralia, New Zealand & AntarcticaAustralia


Last reply was 9 years ago

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h2ooh
9 years ago


I'm planning a trip to SE AU. Is it advisable to drive from Adelaide to Sydney through the mountains. How many days?

I will have already driven the coastal route with a stop at Melbourne to visit Tasmania.
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ryb
9 years ago


There's a hell of a lot of flat before you get to any "mountains" on that route!

How many days do you have? There are some interesting routes. You could go to Broken Hill then Cobar, Dubbo, Orange across the Blue Mountains to Sydney.

That's a longer route than Mildura, Hay,Goulburn, Sydney (which won't show you any "mountains").

If you want mountains, Australia style (no great peaks, by the way) you need to go through the Snowy Mountains, which you could do by heading along across western Victoria to Albury and then into northeast Victoria via Tallangatta and Corryong, after Albury, then across to Jindabyne. If you are planning to do that in the near future you MUST travel with snow chains on that route.

Any of those routes has its points of interest, depending what you want to see. Three days minimum for any of them.
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Route 1: Best stops are 

Broken Hill (adelaide - Broken Hill: 510k, 6.5 hours) - historic buildings, mining industry, the closest some people get to "the outback", Silverton where several movies including Mad Max were filmed; 

Dubbo (BH to Dubbo 753 k, about 9 hours)- city walk, old jail,but main attraction is the open range zoo; 

Katoomba (Dubbo - Katoomba 304 km, 4 hrs) - to have a look around the Blue Mountains. OK that takes 4 days / 3 nights - you could drive Dubbo - Sydney (408 k, 6 hrs) without staying oveernight in the BM.

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Route 2: 

Adelaide - Mildura (417 k, 5.5 hrs) , 

Wagga Wagga (555k, 6.5 hrs) - of course you could do longer driving days and hurtle through with one o/night stop. 

Wagga - Sydney (458kms, 5.5 hrs)

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Route 3: 

Adelaide to Albury is about 11 or 12 hours driving. 

I'd stop about Swan Hill (515 k - 6-7 hrs); 

Corryong (518kms - 7hrs) ; 

Thredbo perhaps Jindabyne (Corryong - Thredbo 100 k - but slow, and you want to "see the mountains, so stay); 

Thredbo - Sydney (500kms, 6.5 hrs)

Of course, the longer you can take, the more you can see, but for me the minimum is 3 days drive, 2 overnight stops. Some will hurtle through more quickly and perhaps take 1 overnight stop and two 12 hour driving days. I just can;t do that!


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ianw6705
9 years ago


It's a pretty good drive from Adelaide to Albury along the Murray River, as per ryb above, and then via Thredbo via Cooma to Canberra and then on the freeway into Sydney, or alternatively from Cooma to the coast again. Do you want to do this really quickly? If not, 5-6 nights would be great.


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colinp
9 years ago


I'd suggest that ryb's route 3 above is a good one.
Adelaide, Tailem Bend, Pinnaroo, Ouyen, Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton, Benalla, Wodonga, Corryong, Thredbo, Cooma, Canberra, Sydney.
I'd drive to Echuca on the first day (stopping at the Ouyen bakery for lunch) then take at least 3 or 4 days from Echuca to Sydney.
If time isn't a problem a nice detour is Wangaratta, Bright, Mount Beauty, Falls Creek, Tallangatta.

Note that some of the alpine roads are closed during winter


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h2ooh
9 years ago


..ryb, ianw6705 and ColinP...

You've been a great help... Thanks a ton... with only three days, we'll fly back!

I know a lot about Alaska and the Cook Islands if you ever need any info on them..


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ianw6705
9 years ago


Well ... with three days (with just two nights or three?) - you can certainly do a power road-trip, but it really isn't a lot of time to smell the roses, especially if you travelled Murray River > Snowy Mountains.


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colinp
9 years ago


Yes, certainly do-able (but rushed) in 3 days 2 nights. First night in Echuca. second night in either Thredbo or Jindabyne.

For example:

Adelaide - Echuca about 650 kms 8 or 9 hours

Echuca - Thredbo about 450 kms 7 or 8 hours

Thredbo - Sydney about 530 kms 7 hours
A very easy 3 day drive but as Ian points out, very little time for sight seeing.
The above times allow for generous meal stops but not sight seeing (except out of the car window).