Goulburn to Newcastle road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time

The best stops on a Goulburn to Newcastle road trip include Bowral and Sydney. By car along sealed roads, the distance from Goulburn to Newcastle is 345km, with a driving time of around 3h37m.

Planning a Goulburn to Newcastle road trip itinerary

A Goulburn to Newcastle road trip connects a history-surrounded Hume Highway town to the second largest city in New South Wales.

To check out the best Goulburn accommodation deals, look here.

Newcastle offers plenty of activities, including adventure boat cruises along the coastline, architecture and street art walking tours and whale watching cruises. For a big menu of Newcastle tours and experiences, explore here. To fix up one Newcastle’s best accommodation options, book here.

This guide should help you plan your perfect Goulburn to Newcastle road trip itinerary.

Click through on the individual places and attractions for more detailed, specific information.

If you need to hire a car, find the best rental deals. And don’t forget to do all your pre-road trip shopping.

Goulburn to Newcastle distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Goulburn to Newcastle is 345km. That makes for a driving time of around three hours and 37 minutes.

Good stops to add to a Goulburn to Newcastle road trip itinerary include Bowral and Sydney.

Goulburn doesn’t have any truly gripping attractions, but the Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre and Goulburn Historic Waterworks are moderately interesting.

Goulburn to Newcastle road trip: Goulburn to Sutton Forest

The best place to stop on the Goulburn to Sydney leg of the road trip is the Southern Highlands. Almost everyone stops at the Sutton Forest East Service Centre on the way, although Sutton Forest Estate Wines is a more amiable spot for a journey break.

Goulburn to Newcastle drive: Sutton Forest to Campbelltown

Once in the Southern Highlands, the highway skirts the edge of Mittagong and Berrima, but the best base is Bowral.

In Bowral, you’ll find character-packed accommodation such as the Berida Hotel and Milton Park, plus innovative wineries such as Centennial Vineyards. Cricket fans will lap up the Bradman Museum, while Fitzroy Falls or Belmore Falls in the nearby Morton National Park cater to nature-lovers.

From Bowral, it’s not much of a drive until you reach the south-western fringes of Sydney’s suburbia.

Before joining the M7 motorway, you’ll go past the Nepean Dam, the Australian Wildlife Sanctuary at Bargo and Sydney Skydivers in Wilton.

There’s also the Campbelltown Steam and Machinery Museum in Campbelltown, the Sambar Brown Lookout and the Australian Botanic Garden.

Goulburn to Newcastle road trip: Campbelltown to Brooklyn

The quickest route from Goulburn to Newcastle doesn’t go through central Sydney – it cuts along motorways to the west and north.

However, Sydney is the obvious place to break the journey for a few days. Australia Travel Questions has a big Sydney guide if you’re planning to go into the centre. Recommended activities include kayaking tours around the lesser-seen crags of Middle Harbour, tall ship cruises and behind the scenes tours of Sydney Opera House.

There are some attractions nearer the route, however, particularly in the Western Sydney Parklands. These include the Lizard Log Playground and Calmsley Hill City Farm in Abbotsbury, plus Sydney Zoo, Bungarribee Park and the Chinese Gardens in the Nurragingy Reserve.

Other good green spaces further north include the Bidjigal Reserve near Castle Hill and Cumberland State Forest in West Pennant Hills.

Other short detours worth taking before reaching the Hawkesbury River are the architecturally-dazzling Rose Siedler House in Wahroonga, the Bobbin Head picnic ground in Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park and Galston Gorge in Berowra Waters National Park.

Click through to the next section: Hawkesbury River and the Central Coast.