The best road trips in Australia: routes, days and tips

Ranked for a first or second trip to Australia, not for locals who have already done them. Each pick is a route you can drive in the season that suits it, with a realistic number of nights. Costs are 2026 estimates for fuel, one night's mid-range accommodation and entry fees on a self-drive basis, per person sharing a car.

If you only have time for one, take the Great Ocean Road out of Melbourne. If you have a week and want variety, take Tasmania. If you want the outback, fly to Alice Springs and drive to Uluru rather than trying to drive from a capital.

We ranked routes on four things: whether the drive itself is the point rather than a way of getting somewhere; whether the season works for a normal holiday window; how many nights the route needs before it stops being a slog; and whether you can do it without a 4WD or a tour.

We left out routes that need a permit, a guide or a serious 4WD unless we say so in the row. We also left out the long intercity hauls, such as Sydney to Cairns, that look good on a map but cost three or four days of nothing but highway. The parent Australia guide makes the same point: fly between regions, drive one loop.

Australia is big enough that the season depends on where you are, not on the month. The south — Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, southern Western Australia and the New South Wales coast — is best October to April. The tropical north (Cairns, Darwin, the Whitsundays) and the Red Centre are best May to October, when the wet season and the worst heat are over.

School holidays matter more than you expect. Christmas to late January and the Easter break fill coastal towns and push up prices; book accommodation and the car early for those weeks. In the far north, some roads and national park access close in the wet season (roughly November to April) — check before you commit.

Fly into Sydney or Melbourne for the southern routes, Cairns or Brisbane for the tropical ones, Darwin for the Top End, Perth for the south-west, Adelaide for the wine and coast loop, and Alice Springs or Uluru (Ayers Rock) for the Red Centre. Domestic flights between these cities are frequent and often cheap if booked ahead; the drive starts at the airport.

Hire cars from the airport or a city depot. One-way hires between cities usually carry a drop-off fee — check it before you book. For Tasmania, take the ferry from Melbourne to Devonport with your car or hire one in Hobart. For K'gari and the Gibb River Road you need a high-clearance 4WD and, on K'gari, a permit. On outback legs, fuel can be 300 km apart; fill up whenever you can and carry more water than you think you need.

The pins below mark the start and end points of each route, not every stop. Use them to plan flights and the first and last night, then fill in the middle from the regional pages.