How long is the Hume Highway, Australia? M31 towns & junctions

The Hume Highway in Australia is 840km long, linking Sydney and Melbourne. Hume Highway towns include Goulburn, Yass, Gundagai, Albury, Wangaratta and Seymour.

What is the Hume Highway/ M31?

The Hume Highway in Australia is the main road connecting Sydney and Melbourne. It is the quickest route between Australia’s two biggest cities and runs inland along what is roughly the quickest line as the crow flies.

Various sections of the Hume Highway are officially known as the Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway. But to visitors, this distinction really doesn’t matter.

How long is the Hume Highway?

Sydney is 878km from Melbourne, going centre to centre, and the Hume Highway is 840km long.

Where does the Hume Highway start and finish?

The Hume Highway starts at the junction with Parramatta Road in Summer Hill, Sydney, and finishes at the Western Ring Road in Melbourne.

The Hume Highway is badged as the M31 for the vast majority of the drive. It is a dual carriageway, at the minimum, for its entire length.

There are several key intersections as the Hume Highway heads through Sydney’s south-western suburbs, including the Cumberland Highway, M5 Motorway and Westlink M7.

Hume Highway towns in New South Wales

The Hume Highway then skirts across the Southern Highlands. The Old Hume Highway, which branches off the current incarnation, heads to the Southern Highlands towns of Mittagong, Bowral and Moss Vale. The present-day highway only passes through Berrima, however.

Walking in the Lake Alexandra Reserve, Mittagong, NSW. Photo courtesy of Destination NSW.

Further along, the Hume meets the Illawarra Highway at Sutton Forest, the Federal Highway toward Canberra at Goulburn and the Barton Highway at Yass.

Hume Highway intersections in NSW

The next two major intersections on the Goulburn to Albury section of the drive come at Bowning. Here, Lachlan Valley Way heads towards Cowra and Burley-Griffin Way strikes out for Griffith.

Before crossing the Murrumbidgee River, the Hume Highway ticks off Jugiong and Gundagai.

The Dog on a Tucker Box monument just north of Gundagai, NSW. Photo courtesy of Destination NSW.

Before reaching Albury on the Murray River, there are three major junctions. The Snowy Mountains Highway towards Tumut and Cooma peels away at Mundarlo. The Sturt Highway towards Wagga Wagga and South Australia meets at Tarcutta. And the Olympic Highway comes to an end at Table Top.

The junction with the Riverina Highway towards Deniliquin comes in Albury, the biggest city on the Hume. Crossing the Murray River in Albury takes you out of New South Wales and into Victoria.

Hume Highway towns in Victoria

Hume Highway towns in Victoria include Barnawartha, from where the Murray Valley Highway heads to Yarrawonga and Echuca. Then come Chiltern and Wangaratta, from where the Great Alpine Road leaves towards Beechworth, Bright and Bairnsdale.

Wangaratta accommodation options include the riverside Big4 Wangaratta North Cedars Holiday Park and the roomy Quest apartments.

After the Albury to Wangaratta section, the drive continues through Glenrowan and Benalla. The latter is where the Hume Highway meets the Midland Highway.

The next major junction is at Seymour on the Goulburn River, where the Goulburn Valley Highway comes in from Shepparton and Nagambie.

From Seymour, it’s not too long until you’re into Melbourne’s northern suburbs. The likes of Tallarook and Wallan are distinctive towns, but Craigieburn and Epping are not. Welcome, after a very long drive, to Melbourne.

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