Holbrook to Melbourne road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops
The Holbrook to Melbourne drive covers a distance of 385km, with a driving time of around four hours. Top road trip stops to add to the itinerary include Albury, Glenrowan and Benalla.
The drive from Holbrook to Melbourne is something of a slog along the Hume Highway. It’ll never go down as one of Australia’s classic drives, but it’s a significant chunk of the drive from Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane to Melbourne.
Holbrook in New South Wales is a small town on the Hume Highway. It can be used as a base for visiting Woomargama National Park. For Holbrook accommodation deals, hunt here.
In Melbourne, you may want to tick Melbourne Cricket Ground tours, Yarra River dinner cruises and cross-city hot air balloon flights off your Australian wish list.
Melbourne also offers evening dinner cruises along the Yarra River and vertigo conquest at the Melbourne Skydeck. To track down the best Melbourne accommodation rates, head here.
👇 7 great day trips while you’re in Melbourne 👇
- Great Ocean Road tour – with koalas 🐨.
- Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary and Phillip Island tour – with penguins 🐧.
- Yarra Valley wine tour – with gin, cider and cheese 🍷.
- Grampians National Park tour – with bushwalks and LOADS of kangaroos 🦘.
- Mornington Peninsula tour – with hot springs bathing 🛀.
- Wilsons Promontory tour – with all manner of native wildlife 🦘🐨.
- Dandenong Ranges steam train ride – plus wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and chocolate-tasting in the Yarra Valley.
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This guide should help you plan your perfect Holbrook to Melbourne road trip itinerary.
Holbrook to Melbourne distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Holbrook to Melbourne is 385km. That makes for a driving time of around four hours, almost entirely along the Hume Highway.
After leaving Holbrook, the first stop of note is Albury, the largest city on the Murray River.
Things to do in Albury include kayaking along the Murray, admiring Aboriginal art on the Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk and delving thoroughly into Australian immigration history at the brilliant Bonegilla Migrant Experience.
The latter is in Wodonga, Albury’s twin town on the Victorian side of the border.
Best Albury accommodation picks
The best places to stay in Albury are:
- For a heated pool and spa in a gorgeous location next to a riverside park: Best Western Plus Hovell Tree Inn.
- For apartments with kitchenettes in a central location: Mantra Albury.
- For a good quality motel next to the train station: Winsor Park Motor Inn.
- For a holiday park with lots of facilities for the kids: Big4 Albury Tourist Park.
- For a motel with cheap rates and fairly central location: Allawa Motor Inn.
Holbrook to Melbourne drive: Wangaratta and Glenrowan
Once over the border, the Barnawartha Scenic Reserve next to the highway can be used as a leg stretch, and the Chiltern Motor Museum in Chiltern caters for petrol-heads.
Wangaratta is the next biggish town. Highlights here include swimming in the Ovens River and seeing the Aboriginal sculptures on the Bullawah Cultural Trail. Most, however, use it as a gateway for visiting the King Valley wineries around Milawa.
For Wangaratta accommodation, take a look at the riverside Big4 Wangaratta North Cedars Holiday Park and the well-equipped Quest apartments.
Further along the highway you’ll come to Glenrowan, scene of the infamous shoot-out where notorious bushranger Ned Kelly was finally captured. Head to Siege Street, where a series of signs and cut-outs tells the story.
Click through to the next section: Benalla to Seymour.