Driving from Melbourne to Cairns, you’ll discover 4,000 km of coastal beauty along the eastern edge of Australia. Whether you start at the bottom in Melbourne or work your way down from Cairns, the journey along the coastline offers up plenty of adventures. So when organising your hire car from Melbourne or Cairns, how much time should you put aside for your trip?
A quick trip of the East Coast of Australia Technically, it’s possible to make the journey around the coast from Melbourne to Cairn in about 50 hours. However, as this does not include stopping for rest breaks or enjoying the highlights of the trip, this is more of an indication of the driving hours involved with the journey than what you should aim for. If you’re determined to complete the whole of the East Coast, but you are limited in time, a quick trip is likely to take you at least two weeks. This may sound like a decent chunk of time but it’s easy to forget just how big Australia is. Rather than spending time on buses and trying to sort out schedules that work to your benefit, manage your time more efficiently by hiring a car from Cairns or Melbourne. However, even when driving yourself expect the hours you’ll need to spend behind the wheel to limit the time you have for exploring when making it a quick two-week journey.
Getting the most out of your trip along the East Coast of Australia
To really make use of your time on the East Coast of Australia you should try to put aside four to six weeks. This will give you time to experience the flavours of the cities lining the East Coast, as well as stretching your legs on some of the great hikes available or getting out onto the beaches for which Australia is so famous.
With extra time up your sleeve, you can spend it:
- Finding Melbournes’s secret bars.
- Exploring Atherton Tablelands.
- Checking out Australia’s best surfing sweet-spots.
- Scuba diving to experience the shipwrecks and caves waiting beneath the waves.
- Getting your adrenaline pumping with action-packed activities on the Gold Coast.
When undertaking an adventure of the scope that Australia’s East Coast presents, giving yourself the time needed to fully experience it will leave you with a rich appreciation for the coastal route. Check out our blog so you don’t miss out on all the great opportunities along the way!