bensyd

If it was me doing it, I'd go all the way to Berry (probably one of the prettiest towns in NSW) and either stop there or in Kangaroo Valley for lunch. Then come back up through Fitzroy Falls, into Moss Vale and Bowral.

BadgerBoi

but for first-timers any of those mentioned would still be astonishingly great.

Auscal

I agree that this would be a very scenic trip - even more so that what I suggested.Kangaroo Valley is in an incredibly pretty area - thought the drive across from berry, then up to Fitzroy Falls can be a little much for a nervous driver, or someone not familiar with winding roads. Personally, I think each piece of road is only 10 minutes or so, and definitely doable, and worthwhile.

It would make for a long day of driving though, maybe 5 hrs or so without stops. If someone had the time, Kiama or Kangaroo Valley B&B's would make a great overnight diversion, and help a tourist see a part of Australia that is less often visited. Though, the selfish part of me would prefer to keep it less well known.

Quarantine

These sound better and better! Pretty, scenic towns are my favourite. I remember doing a Great Ocean Road trip (which became a Great Southern Touring Route as was described on the Internet, the superlatives were well deserved) when I was in uni in Melbourne, and we then stayed at the Grampians. It was a fantastic trip.

But I digress. I don't think we would be able to stay overnight as we were planning to return the car at the airport the next day, so we'll just have to make quick pitstops. Thanks for suggesting these wonderful places! I honestly think this Drive will be the highlight of our trip to Sydney.

Auscal

Quarantine, please make sure you come back and post your thoughts after your trip.

Quarantine

Will do Auscal! The trip is at the end of March, will post back what I think then.

Quarantine

Sorry for the late trip report!

My family and I left Sydney around 9am (after we picked up our car at Sydney Airport, we were held up by some issues) and we drove straight to the Royal National Park. The RNP was a very nice drive (it's free as long as you don't stop, but we didn't see anyone manning the entrance booth anyway), foliage all around us with the occasional body of water.

Eventually we hit the coastline and we could see the Sea Cliff Bridge from afar at several lookout points along the way. It was sunny and there weren't too many cars around. We made a lot of pitstops to take photos so we did take our own sweet time, only reaching Wollongong at close to 1pm where we had our lunch.

We didn't make a detour to Symbio Animal Park as much as we want to as we lost track of time earlier.

We also made a stop at Shellharbour's Bass Point Reserve for a quick visit. Really, the entire coastline and Grand Pacific Drive are really quite scenic.

We also stopped by at Kiama Blowhole, but the tide was not with us so we didn't get to see it in action. It was still a rather scenic place nonetheless.

And then, after the sunny disposition nearly the entire day, it started to rain.. and rather heavily at that. We had 2 choices: either turn around and use a highway to get back to Sydney, or cut through Kangaroo Valley.

We decided to through the latter. After finally reaching Berry (too bad we didn't have the time nor the weather to explore it), we turned straight into the road that led us to Kangaroo Valley. It started to pour violently and it was so misty that our visibility was a poor 2-3m. We could barely see anything in front of us, and the headlights seem to make visibility even worse.

It was quite an adventure nonetheless, albeit a little dangerous since we were practically in the middle of nowhere and very few cars were around (though we had several cars behind us at the time of the thick mist). I thought the scenery would've been quite amazing if it wasn't raining, from what traces I could see of lonely farms.

Eventually we made it back to civilisation after what seems like hours. We were quite hungry by then when we finally reached Bowral (I think that's what it's called), so we replenished our energy and hit the highway again.

It was really fun and enjoyable. No regrets at all even with the rain, would totally go back and do it again if I were ever again in Sydney (and maybe just jump straight into Kangaroo Valley). And yeah, there was definitely not enough time to go to Blue Mountains.. we wanted this road trip to be easy-going and not rush ourselves for nothing.

Granlor

Thanks for the feedback, Quarantine - it's good to know you had a nice day. It's not often that NSW weather causes problems but when it does it can be spectacularly bad (and more than exciting!).

bensyd

Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Quarantine. And thanks for stopping by to give the feedback. ^

Next time, if the weather is better, check out some of the beaches in the RNP. Garie and Wattamolla are very nice and if you feel a little more liberated, Werrong beach is clothing optional.

CIT85

We will be in Sydney for 4 days in mid July, 3 of us. It's the middle of winter, but I don't have a choice on better timing. I plan to rent a car for 2 days, one day to the Blue Mountains, details TBD, but I read Katoomba and Three Sisters. I am currently planning to drive north along the coast to Nelson Bay on the second day, as recommended by a friend as very scenic.

What are notable stops on the drive to Nelson Bay? Or should I consider the Grand Pacific Drive south?

thadocta

I hate to tell you this, but you are dreaming if you think you can do Blue Mountains one day and Nelson Bay the next.

Dave

JClasstraveller

They are both exhausting day trips particularly as the beginning and the end of each will have to negotiate Sydney's awful traffic.

The drive to Nelson Bay isn't that nice until after Newcastle unless you take the slower coast road. Doing that will mean it will take 3.5-4 hours one way. It's about 2.5 to 3 taking the freeway most of the way.

If you take the coast road to Nelson Bay, there's a lot of places to stop at which are nice but none are particularly notable. Newcastle is the exception.

CIT85

Thanks for the advice. I'll be driving along the coast on a Saturday, so I expect the traffic to be reasonable. Sounds like I can take the slower coast road up to Newcastle and then Nelson Bay and take the freeway back to Sydney for a very long day.

bensyd

I'd go south personally, it's about 1000x nicer than north. I took some relatives from OS down the south coast yesterday and they loved it.

Don't expect weekends to have less traffic. Saturday traffic has become worse than weekday.

JClasstraveller

Sadly bensyd is right, Saturday traffic in Sydney has become worse than weekdays at times.

Saturday on the Central Coast is mayhem. It may be mid July but it's also school holidays.

I would also suggest going south. To be quite frank, the drive up to Nelson Bay is ok but it's not as nice as going south. Nelson Bay while nice, isn't particularly special unless you spend quite a bit of time there.