Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The best stops on an Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip include Hay, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour. By car along sealed roads, the distance from Adelaide to Dubbo is 2,023km, with a driving time of around 22h33m.
An Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip will take you from the capital of South Australia to Queensland’s most popular holiday strip.
Adelaide brings food tours of the fabulous Central Market, Torrens River cruises, swimming with dolphins and the chance to walk across the roof of the Adelaide Oval. To book Adelaide accommodation, step this way. For a full range of Adelaide tours and experiences, explore here.
When you finally reach the Gold Coast, top experience options include kayaking and snorkelling tours, buffet dinner sightseeing cruises and jetboat adventures. To pick from a wider list of Gold Coast experiences, head here. To source good deals on Gold Coast accommodation, try here.
This guide should help you plan your perfect Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip itinerary.
Adelaide to Gold Coast distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Adelaide to the Gold Coast is 2,023km. That makes for a driving time of around 22 hours and 33 minutes.
This is assuming that Surfers Paradise is the final destination on the Gold Coast – for other areas of the Gold Coast, it’ll be a few minutes either side of that figure.
Good stops to add to an Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip itinerary include Murray Bridge, Hay, Dubbo, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay.
15 fabulous Adelaide experiences to supercharge your visit
- DOLPHINS 🐬: Swim with wild dolphins, kayak with the resident bottlenose pod or watch them on a dolphin cruise.
- FOOD AND WINE 🍷: Indulge on Adelaide food tour including Adelaide Central Market. Or try a wine discovery tour with tastings at the National Wine Centre. Or the ultimate Penfolds Magill Estate experience with full estate tour & Grange tasting.
- WILDLIFE 🐨: Spot koalas on a guided Morialta nature hike. Or walk from Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty with entrance to Cleland Wildlife Park.
- CRUISES ⛵: Watch the sun set on a twilight coastal cruise, get to know the city on a Torrens River cruise or take a high tea cruise aboard the Popeye.
- SPORT 🏏: Dare to take on the Adelaide Oval Roofclimb or enter the fabled scoreboard on the behind-the-scenes stadium tour.
- ACTION 🚵♂️: Descend Mount Lofty on a downhill mountain bike tour or kayak along the Torrens River.
Top Adelaide hotel recommendations
For the beach: Oaks Glenelg Plaza Pier Suites. For families: Big4 West Beach. Most fun: Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets. For setting: Oval Hotel. For heritage: Adina Apartment Hotel Adelaide Treasury.
Adelaide to Gold Coast road trip: Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide to Gold Coast drive starts out through the Adelaide Hills. Near Crafers, it’s possible to make an engaging detour to the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, Mount Lofty Summit and Cleland Conservation Park.
The road trip then passes the Mount George Conservation Park, Raywood Gardens and the Bridgewater Fairy Garden on the way into Hahndorf.
German heritage-laced Hahndorf has plenty going for it. You’ll find excellent Adelaide Hills wineries such as the Sidewood Estate, The Lane and the Hahndorf Hill Winery.
Alternatively, you can enjoy German-style food and beers at the Hahndorf Inn and German Arms Hotel.
Other attractions include artist Hans Heysen’s studio at the Cedars and the kid-pleasing Hahndorf Farm Barn.
The Princes Highway continues through the Adelaide Hills to Mt Barker. Reasons to stop here include the Prancing Pony Brewery, SteamRanger Heritage Railway, Howard Vineyard and Berrigan Wines. You might also want to try walking to the Mt Barker Summit Lookout.
Adelaide to Gold Coast drive: Mt Barker to Tailem Bend
After Mt Barker, the Adelaide to Gold Coast drive gets more rural, but it does go past Monarto.
Here, the Monarto Safari Park is one of the biggest zoos in Australia.
It’s a short diversion off the highway to Murray Bridge, where you can walk among the wildflowers in Kinchina Conservation Park or take a Murray River paddleboat cruise.
Murray Bridge accommodation costs from $101 per night, with good options including the Bridgeport Hotel.
From Murray Bridge, it’s a short drive down the Princes Highway to Tailem Bend.
Things to do in Tailem Bend include tackling the Murray River walking loop and getting spooked out by the ghost tours at Old Tailem Town Pioneer Village.
Tailem Bend accommodation picks
The best Tailem Bend accommodation choices are:
- For good quality at relatively cheap rates (and a riverside location): Motel River Bend.
- For racetrack views: Rydges Pit Lane Hotel.
- For families: Big4 The Bend Holiday Park.
Click through to the next section: Tailem Bend to the Victorian border.