Melbourne to Gold Coast road trip: Best stops, distance & time
Melbourne to Gold Coast road trip: Goulburn to Campbelltown
The best place to stop on the Melbourne to Sydney leg of the road trip, however, 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.
Once in the Southern Highlands, the highway skirts the edge of Mittagong and Berrima, but the best base is Bowral.
Top Mittagong accommodation
The best places to stay in Mittagong are:
- For heritage in an 1836 sandstone building: Fitzroy Inn Historic Retreat.
- For kid-friendly facilities: Mittagong Caravan Park.
- For a relatively cheap, decent motel: Mittagong Motel.
5 great Southern Highlands experiences to boost your visit
- Personalised private Southern Highlands wine and attractions tours – tailored to your tastes.
- Tutored wine-tasting and canapes experience.
- Beekeeping experience – learn how honey is made.
- Guided wine-tasting at the Mill – with tasting notes procided.
- Behind the scenes tour of a sustainable winery in Berrima.
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.
Melbourne to Gold Coast road trip: Campbelltown to the Hawkesbury River
The quickest route from Melbourne to the Gold Coast 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.
13 brilliant experiences in Sydney you should book
- (💲Great value 💲) Tick off several bucket list items on a highlights-packed Blue Mountains day tour.
- Get perfect views of the world’s most beautiful city on a Sydney Harbour helicopter tour.
- Save money with a multi-attraction pass.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Enjoy the romance of a tall ship cruise on Sydney Harbour.
- Eat all you can at the Skyfeast at the top of Sydney Tower.
- See migrating humpbacks – on a whale-watching cruise.
- (Highly recommended ✅) Go behind the scenes of Australia’s most famous building on an Opera House tour.
- Dine as the city lights up on sunset dinner cruise around the harbour.
- Combine beers and stories on a historic pubs tour through the convict-era Rocks district.
- Stand on your board and catch waves during Bondi Beach surfing lessons.
- Go to wombat and kangaroo-spotting hotspots on a Southern Highlands tour.
- Enjoy Sydney’s wild side on a Manly snorkelling & nature walk.
- (🥇Top choice in Sydney) And, best of all, paddle to hidden beaches on a harbour kayaking adventure.
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.
Before crossing the Hawkesbury River in Brooklyn, you might wish to join the Riverboat Postman cruise. This postal boat brings tourists along as it delivers mail to small river communities like Dangar Island.
Click through to the next section: Central Coast attractions near the highway.