Newcastle to Canberra road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The best stops on a Newcastle to Canberra road trip include the Australian Reptile Park, the Western Sydney Parklands and the Southern Highlands. Without stops, it’s a distance of 436km and driving time of around 4h36m.
The Newcastle to Canberra drive joins the second largest city in New South Wales to the Australian capital. It can be done in one largely motorway-based slog, or you can turn it into a road trip, making several excellent stops along the 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.
Canberra offers wine and distillery tours, plus guided visits to the National Museum of Australia. To investigate Canberra tour and experience options, head here. To find the best Canberra hotel deals, book here.
This road trip guide should help you put together your perfect itinerary for the Newcastle to Canberra drive.
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Newcastle to Canberra distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Newcastle to Canberra is 436km. That makes for a driving time of around four hours and 36 minutes. Obviously, that will be longer if you make a stop or two along the way.
9 cool Newcastle experiences you need to book in advance
- An Adventure boat cruise along the Hunter coast – with thrills and scenery.
- A mobile phone-based scavenger hunt – explore the city differently.
- An architecture and street art walking tour – see all the best murals.
- A whale-watching tour – get close to the migrating humpback whales.
- A two hour city highlights tour by bus – get orientated when you first arrive.
- A scenic helicopter flight – see the spectacular coastline from above.
- A three hour craft beer and food-matching tour – get a taste of the drinking and dining scene.
- A food, drink and history walking tour – hear stories and indulge at the same time.
The quickest route out of Newcastle heads west along the Newcastle Link Road then joins the Pacific Motorway. The Mount Sugarloaf Lookout is a little further west if you want a detour really early in the trip, but in practice most will keep going south.
The motorway passes the Lake Macquarie Memorial Park and, more of interest, Watagans National Park. However, the nearby southern section is more of interest to mountain bikers than walkers and drivers.
Next section: Central Coast.