Sydney, Canberra & Melbourne are famous cities that attract millions of people to visit every year. However, suppose you want to plan a road trip between these cities by driving. This article will show you the best route plan & itinerary from Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra in Australia.
There are two routes for self-driving road trips between Sydney and Melbourne. The first route will drive the coastal highway. The second route is the inland highway, so that I will show you this inland route for a road trip across M31 Highway.
Before You Take Action
I must say that I haven’t been to every attraction on this road. So here I just tried some practical recommendations for road trips by my friends & residents and wrote itineraries using my experience as suggestions.
You don’t need to follow my whole plan; arrange it, add and remove some places in your mind, and consider your limited day & budget. So, hopefully, you will enjoy a fun fill & unforgettable road trip of your own!
Sydney Melbourne Via Canberra Drive Route Map Overview
Drive to Melbourne to Sydney that have two routes; let’s check these two route maps:
As the first map you see, this M31 is an inland highway, faster than the A1 highway along the coast and its main route linking Sydney and Melbourne.
Enter the state of Australia Capital Territory (ACT) when you have a road trip on the highway. In this state, a journey in Canberra near the state New South Wales border is about 286km Distance by self-drive.
How Many Kilometers Is This Route?
If just departing from Sydney, it’s 862 km total distance, but if you add the Canberra trip, that’s 932km total.
Note: You must avoid the tolls before entering the downtown City (Either Sydney or Melbourne) on M31. Make sure you already set up ETC no matter whether you rent or own the car, but you have to set “avoid toll “on the Google Map app before starting. To know about toll paid, ask Rental Service before making a book.
How Many Days Are Best For A Road Trip?
No matter whether you want to go to Canberra or not, at least need two days drive. If you’re going to go to Canberra by self-drive from Sydney, it will take 4 hrs up about 281km. If, from Melbourne, you need about 8 hrs 660km. So that’s why I recommend you start your trip from Sydney.
But, I must first say that I have not been to every attraction. I just tried to recommend some more worthwhile attractions which may be familiar to you. And the advice itinerary I gave, you don’t have to do it all, because you can’t drive as long as I can, you can follow this route at your own pace. Finally, you must carefully consider your limited vacation time. There is beautiful scenery on this road, so enjoy this trip.
Best Attractions in Canberra & between Sydney Melbourne
This section will show you these attractions that you can fill in your trip plan and some places that make you have fun with children. So take walking around, and enjoy the natural, peaceful atmosphere. Also, you will find out these tourist attractions which don’t appear in most tourist groups.
- Parliament House
- Old Parliament House
- National Library of Australia
- National Museum of Australia
- Anzac Park
- Australian War Memorial
Check Over 20 Up Attractions between Sydney Melbourne via Canberra>>
Above these destinations, what’s the best route? I got two kinds of itineraries for you. But before starting the route review, one point must remind to you.
Don’t forget To rent A car!
You can go through these two websites and compare the car rental prices it’s DriveCarNow and RentalCars.
But why do you need to rent a car? Because Australia is a vast mainland with many beautiful attractions to add to your trip, self-driving cars are more convenient than joining a tour group. When you want to get to one destination, that’s pretty far, so you need to drive several hours for these two itineraries, separated by different types of vehicles.
2 Days Itinerary Sydney Melbourne Via Canberra Road Trip
If you just have two days, you can stay over in Canberra; some accommodations have the best reviews rate. Learn More>>
If you start from Sydney, I recommend staying in Canberra City Centre for the two-day drive trip. Then, check in to the University House-ANU because it’s in the city center, and just visit most typical attractions by walk.
If you start from Melbourne, I recommend booking a night at the University of Canberra Village, which is cheaper. Next, the day you can visit the city center, then head to Sydney.
So what about this itinerary detail?
Better you need to consider the fuel, so add this point to your plan. For the two days itinerary, the detail of the project is like this:
2 Days Sydney To Melbourne Via Canberra
Day 1 – Sydney to Canberra
- Estimated Distance – 310 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 3 hr 50 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Departure from Sydney
- Stop & load food & fuel at Goulburn
- City tour of Canberra
- Australian War Memorial
- Parliament House & Old Parliament House
- Mount Ainslie Lookout
- Stay over at University House-ANU
Day 2 – Canberra to Melbourne
- Estimated Distance – 658 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 7 hr 8 min
>>Get navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Stop & load food & fuel at Albury
- Arrive in Melbourne, trip complete
2 Days Melbourne To Sydney Via Canberra
Day 1 – Melbourne to Canberra
- Estimated Distance – 658 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 7 hr
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Departure from Melbourne
- Stop & load food & fuel at Albury
- Stay Overnight in the University of Canberra Village.
Day 2 – Canberra to Sydney
- Estimated Distance – 315 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 4 hr
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Australian War of Memorial
- Parliament House / Old Parliament House
- Mount Ainslie Lookout
- Stop & load food & fuel at Goulburn
- Arrive in Sydney, trip complete
PS: You have to turn on the “Avoid Tolls” mode that helps you save money on both routes.
7 Days Itinerary Sydney Melbourne Road Trip in Regular Vehicle
It’s a six-day, five-night itinerary suggestion; transport prefers sedan and wagon. How many days of planning a self-drive trip of Sydney, Melbourne through Canberra? The ideal trip by self-drive is six days; even one week should be fine, but this plan which just a reference. You can arrange your own.
An ordinary car like a sedan, wagon, jeep, etc. Most people don’t want to overeat on a single-day trip. They just need to relax, chill, and enjoy this place in slow motion, especially families. So I’m here to try share this plan with this audience:
Day 1 – Departure from Sydney
- Estimated Distance – 243 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 3 hr 10 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Harpers Mansion.
- Sunnataram Forest Monastery.
- Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy at Penrose Park.
- Big Merino.
- Overnight at Goulburn Central Motor Lodge, a good location for shopping.
Day 2 – Canberra Tour Part-1
- Estimated Distance – 111 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 1 hr 40 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Australia War Memorial.
- Anzac Park, walking along Anzac Parade to visit statues at the side of the road.
- National Carillon.
- Mount Ainslie Lookout.
- Overnight at University House, in central Canberra, easy shopping, loading food.
Day 3 – Canberra Tour Part-2
- Estimated Distance – 5.5 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 15 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- The Shine Dome.
- Reconciliation Place (Certain Questacon, National Library of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, High Court of Australia).
- Old Parliament House.
- Parliament House.
- Overnight at University House.
Day 4 – Canberra Tour Part-3
- Estimated Distance – 17.5 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 25 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- National Zoo and Aquarium.
- National Arboretum Canberra.
- Australian National Botanic Gardens.
- Telstra Tower.
- Overnight at University House.
Day 5 – Canberra to Albury
- Estimated Distance – 346 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 3 hr 36 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Cockington Green Gardens.
- Albury Tour
- Overnight at Albury City Motel, Burvale Motor Inn, or Garden Court Motel.
Day 6 – Head to Melbourne
- Estimated Distance – 342 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 4 hr 5 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk.
- Funfields.
- Melbourne City Tour (Finish).
You can enjoy the chill garden and a great city tour on this route trip because most destinations are suitable for a child. Therefore you can add some forest tours to the attractions list. All you need to do is just book an ordinary car so that it’s easy to start the Sydney Melbourne road trip.
7 Days Itinerary Sydney Melbourne Road Trip in Camper Van & 4WD SUV
The difference with the previous paragraph mentioned is that transport suggestions for those who want to go camping in wildness prefer camper van and 4WD SUV. This route map shows the day tour detail, including the best destinations for campers’ trips, so if you rent a camper van, that’s an excellent choice for your road trip. Now let’s check this trip detail:
Day 1 – Sydney To Gembells
- Estimated Distance – 182 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 2 hr 35 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Mermaid Pools.
- Harpers Mansion.
- Fairy Bower Falls.
- Overnight at Gambell’s Rest Ground.
Day 2 – Tour at Bungonia National Park
- Estimated Distance – 120 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 2 hr 10 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Sunnataram Forest Monastery.
- Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy at Penrose Park.
- Bungonia National Park.
- Overnight at Bungonia Camping ground or Go to Goulburn South Caravan Park.
Day 3 – Canberra Tour Part-1
- Estimated Distance – 145 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 2 hr 10 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Big Merino.
- Australia War Memorial.
- Anzac Park- You can walk around Anzac Parade to visit statues at the side of the road.
- National Carillon.
- Mount Ainslie Lookout.
- Overnight at Dickson Backpackers or Alivio Tourist Park Canberra.
Day 4 – Canberra Tour Part-2
- Estimated Distance – 9.2 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 19 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- The Shine Dome.
- Reconciliation Place (You can visit Questacon, National Library of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, High Court of Australia, etc. ).
- Old Parliament House.
- Parliament House.
- Overnight at Dickson Backpackers or Alivio Tourist Park Canberra.
Day 5 – Canberra Tour Part-3
- Estimated Distance – 18.7 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 26 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- National Zoo and Aquarium.
- National Arboretum Canberra.
- Australian National Botanic Gardens.
- Telstra Tower.
- Overnight at Dickson Backpackers or Alivio Tourist Park Canberra.
Day 6 – Canberra to Albury
- Estimated Distance – 353 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 4 hr
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Cockington Green Gardens.
- Albury Tour.
- Hume Dam.
- Overnight at Lake Hume Tourist Park.
Day 7 – Heading Melbourne City
- Estimated Distance – 342 km
- Estimated Drive Time – 4 hr 10 min
>>Get Navigation on Google Map
In this part route, you have these places drive-through:
- Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk.
- Funfields.
- Melbourne City Tour (Finish).
Want to know more attractions?
Check Over 20 Up Attractions between Sydney Melbourne via Canberra>>
What’s the Difference Between These Two Drive Routes?
The first plan recommends motels for Overnight because it’s convenient for families. But if you rent camper vans, I recommend caravan parks to help you save money so you can check the second trip plan.
Generally, campers usually take more days for travelers to have tours in forest trails and national parks because they need the whole day walking. Indeed, you can make your own by checking these two routes samples.
Are You Ready to Go?
You can make it yourself in this article by getting these two route maps. There is no need to follow all attractions on the list because there are still many more beautiful destinations, especially near Canberra. So I just list these popular for you also, consider your budgets.
As I said, these two kinds of road trips route Sydney to Melbourne. Did you book your car before the road trip? To book a regular car or camper van, you can compare the prices through these two websites. They are DriveCarNow and RentalCars.
Have you ever been to the Blue Mountains by self-driving? If you haven’t touched it, I have a 1-day tour for you. Get More Detail>>
Conclusion
I hope you enjoy this road trip, and you already know the best route for Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne. Now, get your belongings ready, get food and a map, turn on your car engine and start it!
By the way, besides Sydney, Melbourne Canberra trip planners, I recommend these route planners for your next road trip:
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Some Tools Help Your Road Trip
Read This Australia Guide Book Now to Get More Beautiful Attractions and Plan Your Next Road Trip!
By Lonely Planet. This book introduces the amazing 39 best road trips for visitors who wanna touch beautiful places with night galaxy camping. Cleary descriptions cover all locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth, Darwin, Uluru, Tasmania & others in the state of Australia. Full-color photography with prominent text trip guides. You can order a paper version to carry on with you or download a Kindle version via Amazon online store. Read more detail>>
Don’t Forget to Pick Up This Paper Map with You!
National Geographic created it. Unique paper maps for most visitors who come to Australia need to know where the next place to go. Each route’s detail shows the best places, best lookouts, camping areas, best ways, certain motorways & unseal roads. This map for that traveler who plans outback without mobile service is this paper map you need! Read more>>