As you probably might know I did two short roadtrips while I was in Australia. The problem about roadtrips in a country you don’t know is that it’s really hard to plan them, because you can’t evaluate the routes. You can search the web for places and things you would like to see, but you never know, if there will be more and you never know, if the places you want to see will be as nice as they look on the internet. There are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind while planning your roadtrip in Australia.
What you need to know before planning your roadtrip in Australia
Australia is a huge country with lots of things to do and see. When you search the web, you’ll find tons of tipps regarding the most beautiful places in Australia. That’s why it is even harder to make a decision. First of all: it isn’t possible to see the whole country in a month, even a year might be not enough! So the first decision you should make is, if you want to travel the north, east, south or west coast or if you want to see the Outback. If you know which part you want to travel, it’s time to pick destinations and places you would like to see.
Create your own map
I created my own map with Google Maps and added pins for the places I would like to see. Afterwards I ranked them, I coloured the places I REALLY HAVE to see in green and the ones with less priority in yellow. That makes is easier to make decisions! If you have a yellow pin with nothing around, it is a destination you should cross off the list.
How to shedule your roadtrip in Australia
Making a time table to shedule your roadtrip in Australia is the next tricky part. Check the routes with the map you created for your roadtrip, but make sure to give you more time! And if I say more, I really mean more. You shouldn’t drive more than three hours a day, if you really want to enjoy the landscape and if you want to stop. Even if you chose places and destinations, there will be more you want to see, so you’ll probably stop more often than you planned. So take your time!
Final Planning
You chose places you want to see and you calculated the time you’ll need to travel them, now it’s time for the final planning. If the time you calculated fits the time you want to stay in Australia, you’re done with planning your roadtrip. If not, it’s time to change a few things. If the time for the roadtrip is shorter than the time you want to stay in Australia you can choose more destinations, so that’s not really a problem! The only problem is to make another decision 😉
But what to do in the worst-case scenario, when the time you’ll need for the roadtrip is too long? Before you cross destinatios off the list, you should check, if you can take a plane instead of the car for some parts of your route. It saves a lot time! If you’re lucky you can find domestic flights for less than AUD 100 (and you’ll save the costs for the car for at least one day, so it will probably break even).
Most beautiful places in Australia
Last but not least the most beautiful places in Australia I can recommend. Of course, I haven’t seen everything, but I can tell you which places of the ones we saw during the roadtrips are my favourites:
1. Great Ocean Road
2. McKenzie Waterfalls
3. Gold Coast
4. Byron Bay
5. Royal National Park
6. Whitehaven Beach
7. Great Barrier Reef
8. Hyams Beach
9. The cities: Brisbane, Melbourne and of course Sydney
10. Port Stephens
And here are some places I really want to see, but we didn’t have the time to. Well, the list is endless, so here are just a few favourites:
1. Fraser Island
2. Lake Hillier
3. Tasmania
4. Shark Bay
5. Uluru
6. Natural Bridge
7. Wave Rock
8. Blue Mountains
9. Noosa
10. The other cities: Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin
