Cobar to Broken Hill road trip: Distance, driving time & best stops

Cobar to Broken Hill drive via Menindee

Alternatively, you can detour south-west from Wilcannia towards Menindee. Here you’ll find the Menindee Lakes in the Kinchega National Park, and the River Lady offers Darling River cruises in the Kinchega National Park.

River Lady Tours on the Menindee Lakes, New South Wales — River Lady Tours operates Darling River cruises, and takes in the wildlife of the Menindee Lakes in outback New South Wales. Photo copyright Destination NSW.

This is not quite as big a detour. Go via Kinchega National Park, and the Cobar to Broken Hill drive is 528km long. That’s a driving time of five hours and 47 minutes.

Broken Hill accommodation picks

Australia specialist accommodation booking site Wotif offers stays in Broken Hill for from $105 a night. Check out the best deals page here.

To narrow it down a little, you should probably look at the following Broken Hill accommodation choices first.

For families: Broken Hill Tourist Park.
For good value on a budget: Lodge Outback Motel.
For art deco glamour near the train station: Royal Exchange Hotel.
For central location with a pool: Ibis Styles.
For character: Astra Hotel.

Road trip essentials that many travellers forget

Search on the web, and you’ll find ludicrously long lists of equipment to take on a road trip. Australia Travel Questions isn’t going to do that to you. But it is worth buying the following road trip items before setting off. Click through for a good range of options.

Charging cables – yes, you’ll probably need a spare at some point.
Car charger adaptor – in case your rental car has the old-fashioned cigarette lighter rather than a USB.
Multi USB charger – for those hotel rooms that don’t have enough power sockets.
Fold-up chairs – to make anywhere a picnic spot.
A really good water bottle – go for a bigger one than usual to last the longer drives.
Packing cubes – save space but, more importantly, avoid unpacking everything every night.