Melbourne to Newcastle road trip: Best stops, distance & time
The best stops on a Melbourne to Newcastle road trip itinerary include Albury, Bowral and Sydney. By car, the distance from Melbourne to Newcastle is 1,029km, with a driving time of around 10h50m
A Melbourne to Newcastle road trip passes through some of the most attractive regions of Australia, with a great mix of city and country, bush and beach.
Melbourne offers street art tours, supreme views from the Melbourne Skydeck and Aboriginal cultural tours in the Botanic Gardens. For a great range of Melbourne tours and experiences, explore here. To track down the best value Melbourne accommodation, come this way.
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 of Newcastle’s best accommodation options, book here.
However, this road trip is more about what you encounter along the way than what happens at the start and end. Use this guide to help you find the best stops for your itinerary.
Melbourne to Newcastle distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Melbourne to Newcastle is 1,029km. That makes for a driving time of around 10 hours and 50 minutes.
14 fantastic experiences that make the most of your free time in Melbourne
- Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
- See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
- Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
- A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
- The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
- Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
- Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
- Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
- Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.
On the way out of Melbourne on the Hume Motorway, there are a few stops worth considering on the way to Seymour, the first decent-sized town. The Mount Ridley Lookout in Craigieburn shows suburbia give way to rural Victoria, and the walking trails of Mount Disappointment are a short detour to the east of Wallan.
Tallarook has an outdoor pool and a few wineries, including the visitor-friendly Trawool Estate, and Seymour is just to the north.
Melbourne to Newcastle road trip: Seymour to Euroa
Things to do in Seymour include the memorably moving Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk and vintage trains of the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre.
If you want to stay and explore Seymour further, try booking accommodation at the family-inclined Big4 Holiday Park and the well-rated New Crossing Place Motel and Apartments.
North of Seymour, you can go wine-tasting at Fowles Wine and get lost at the Avenel Maze in Avenel.
There’s more wine-tasting just outside Longwood at the Magyars Hill Vineyard and Cottage. Euroa, meanwhile offers nature at Euroa Arboretum and the Balmuttum Walking Track.
Euroa to Benalla
The Reef Hills State Park on the way into Benalla is also a good place to see wildflowers and wildlife.
Things to do in Benalla include admiring the town’s many murals, and checking out one of Australia’s best regional art museums – the Benalla Art Gallery. The Benalla Aviation Museum offers surprisingly interesting insights into pilot training during World War II.
Pick the best Benalla accommodation options
The best places to stay in Benalla are…
- For a solid, affordable motel with a pool: Glider City Motel.
- For family-friendly cabins: Benalla Tourist Park.
- For central location: Top of the Town Motel.
Next section: Glenrowan to Albury.