Fly to Melbourne Drive to Sydney?

We are considering if we can't get business class ticket to Sydney, trying for Melbourne and then driving to Sydney. Anybody ever done this. Looks like it would give a deeper insight into AU than just a day or two in Sydney.

We are considering if we can't get business class ticket to Sydney, trying for Melbourne and then driving to Sydney. Anybody ever done this. Looks like it would give a deeper insight into AU than just a day or two in Sydney.

Depends how much time you have. There are two major routes, inland and via the Coast. We have driven both, but distances are long, so you wouldn't want to rush the drive. Our highways aren't like those in the US.

Hi,

Have done this trip many times. Suggest you have one overnight stop, mainly due to hitting the Sydney traffic after a very long drive. I would suggest staying at Albury/Wodonga, on the border, which is the River Murray. It is only approx 3 hrs from Melb, but there is a lot to see on the way up if you wish. ie Ned Kelly country. The drive from Albury up to Sydney will take approx 5 hrs, but again, things to see. The roads are exceptionally good, main highways with most sections dual lane. Canberra is another sport of interest. At least one day to see the sights, but it is off the main 'freeway'. Between Albury and Sydney, you will bypass most towns. Albury and Canberra are cold in winter, as close to our snow fields. I suggest you don't do this trip in one day. There is also the train option.

Hope this helps a bit.

Jen

One more thing........check out http://www.webjet.com.au.....this will give you an idea of flight costs within oz. Melbourne also has a lot to offer, in the city and just beyond. Lastly, the direct route inland and up to Sydney is also the route for the truckies. I would not drive through Sydney after a long day at the wheel...best to be safe and alert.

Jen

If you were to travel non-stop, I'd say it would take at least 10 hours, particularly as you're not familiar with roads and route. However, if you want to stop and sightsee, as it sounds like, or take some turns, or just take a break, it can take longer.

It's safe to do, but more depends on your own time and preferences, plus don't forget it sounds like you would do it straight off an international flight so could well be jetlagged...

With jet lag and changed driving conditions i.e. remembering which side of the road to drive on...I would opt for the train...you can still see some countryside but nap when you need to...by the way...two days in Sydney would never be near enough time lots to see and do.

By all means fly into Melbourne direct . Allow 2 - 3 days in Melbourne a great city with a very European feel and go on day trip to the Great Ocean Road .

Melbourne to Sydney don't drive - take the daylight train runs daily . Info and bookings on Countrylink website . You will see far more and be far more relaxed and arrive right in the heart of Sydney . (Departs 0900 arrives 1900).

Sydney allow 3 days before departure of your cruise .

Here is our scenario so you can provide more feed back. I've been surfing Au tourist sites to I have a little more in mind. Any other suggestions appreciated.

The cruise leaves on a Monday, so we would leave home on Wednesday to arrive in Au on Friday morning, hopefully well rested from our business class flight. :):confused::)

If we fly into Sydney, we might take a relaxing weekend in wine country. I have found shuttles that will transport us from Sydney Airport to Hunter's Valley and then back to the cruise dock. Alternatively we might also consider an all day trip to the Blue Mountains should we decided to stay in a Sydney Hotel.

If we fly into Melbourne we are thinking of renting a car, and driving just a few hours up the road, or maybe spending the day with friends in Ballarat (wrong direction, but hey they can show us around a bit). After an overnight in Ballarat or after our arrival in Melbourne we are thinking of heading off towards Sydney spreading it out over Sat, Sun and Mon. Driving would allow us to see as much or as little as we want, maybe the Bright area? or a few quaint towns along the way. Then Sunday we'd stay just a few hours from Sydney and drive the car to the rental return and board the ship.

How hard is it to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road? If you've come to the states have your driven? Not too worried about country roads, but right off the plane and an urban area, it could be confusing. My husband is weird about trains, so flying from Melbourne to Sydney and spending more time with our friends near Ballarat might also be an option.

What time of the year are you coming? This has a bearing on travel plans. My advice, after reading your last post....is ...do not drive through Sydney, even I am not that keen on it. Melbourne much the same, but a bit easier. The tour up to the Hunter wineries (we are between Syd and Hunter Valley) will take you through some typical aussie scenery, the bush, the beautiful Hawkesbury River area, but not the dessert outback. I would fly between Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities have a lot to offer.

Just my opinion.

 

 

How hard is it to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road? If you've come to the states have your driven? Not too worried about country roads, but right off the plane and an urban area, it could be confusing. My husband is weird about trains, so flying from Melbourne to Sydney and spending more time with our friends near Ballarat might also be an option.

I can comment on this as we experienced driving in Hawaii earlier this year. Both hubby and I were interested to note how different it was to drive on the opposite side of the road.

The straight bits are fine, but turning corners etc requires some extra thought and concentration. It is amazing how much of our driving we do without even thinking about it!

I agree that country areas would be fine. Driving from Sydney airport, given its location could prove to be fairly stressful for the first time driving on the left. It would not be as bad driving from Melbourne airport in my opinion.

There are some lovely spots to visit between Melbourne and Sydney, but it is a long drive. With your limited time, I would fly.

The Hunter Valley is a nice area to visit, especially if you like wine. But to make the best of this area, a car is needed.

There are many things to do and see in Sydney and the surrounding areas (eg Blue Mountains)for a few days.

Melbourne is also a lovely city to spend a few days in.

You have so many choices!

We would be coming the first week of April 2013, so Fall weather.

One thing I might look at is seeing if we could book Sydney as our destination with a 3 or 4 night layover in Melbourne. Sometimes with mileage bookings there is more flexibility, but I might be only on a mandatory stop-over. But it doesn't hurt to look into that.

Also, if anybody has any thought on how to book Business Class with miles, I love suggestions. I've heard the seats get taken quickly, because they don't offer that many using miles.

I definately would not advise driving in urban areas..even with a business class flight you will be suffering some jet lag..we cant afford to lose any cruisers to the road toll.

There is so much to do in both Sydney or Melbourne..

Melbourne apart from the city itself a day down along the mornington peninsula, great food, restaurants, quirky little hotels..get your friends to meet up with you there. If that is possible and they have a car I would suggest the car ferry across to the other side of the bay and a trip along the Great Ocean Road with an over night stop. Fantastic sea side drive.

As a former and about to be again Sydney sider I have to declare bias..nice as the Blue Mountains are there is no way I would sacrifice a day when you are time poor. A trip on the Harbour on any of the public ferries, lunch at Manly Beach or Doyles. A bus trip to Bondi Beach with a walk along the cliff top walk way from Bondi to Bronte Beach..WOW factor huge.

Easy to get public transport back into City. Harbour Bridge Climb is now available day or night..or a trip up CentrePoint Tower in the city for a wonderful view over the city. Then there is the Art Gallery and Museum, Darling Harbour, Maritime Museum. All cheap and easy to get to.

You have come all this way...if you have to time spend a few extra days you wont regret it.

 

How hard is it to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road? If you've come to the states have your driven? Not too worried about country roads, but right off the plane and an urban area, it could be confusing. My husband is weird about trains, so flying from Melbourne to Sydney and spending more time with our friends near Ballarat might also be an option.

We flew into LAX and picked up a rental at the airport and drove to our hotel without incident or excess nerves and that was at twilight - about the worst time I reckon. We toured by car in the US twice - Harry even more and the position of the steering wheel helps with the adjustment I find. We are used to driving in Europe so have not had much problem adjusting to the difference Its the controls, indicators, wipers and lights that seem to be all on the wrong side of the steering wheel! I agree with the advice to avoid inner city driving wherever possible and choose pick up and drop off points that are NOT in the city itself. The rental company will have processes for ordering a taxi for you - arriving during office hours and on a week day in Sydney as you are is sensible. We went well prepared with maps and directions - so much easier now you can get web based directions printed off from anywhere to anywhere for your navigator to follow.

We only had one incident in LA. Driving from a one way street into a two way , guess who turned left instead of right. The very polite highway patrol officer blasted me with his siren but let me off with a warning and escorted us to the correct side keeping the traffic at bay.

Whatever you decide to do enjoy, whether it is a city stopover or a tour through the country side. If you do the tour remember to investigate the coastal areas as well an inland around Bright although Fall is the best time for the Victorian spa towns.

An afterthought - hope this helps with your decision. The Melbourne Hook Turn gets me confused - being from Sydney.

http://goaustralia.about.com/cs/practicalinfo/a/ausdrive1.htm

I booked the cruise today. It is not till April 2013, so truly I have plenty of time during which to plan. I won't know where I'm flying until 330 days out. I am hoping to get a good guide book to help me plan. Lots to think about.

We have driven Melbourne to Sydney via a short stay on Canberra a couple of times Unfortunately we didn't really stop much on the way except for breaks.

On one trip we decided to leave the hotel in Melbourne at a reasonably early time and have breakfast on the way out - easy. Breakfast over, we headed off. About 2-3 hrs later my SIL decided to find something which was in her hand bag. BUT where was her handbag?????:eek: It was back at the breakfast stop. Fortunately I had a docket from breakfast which has a phone no - so we had to full off the highway, find a phone and call the stop. Thankfully it had been found, right after we left by the owners but of course they had no way of finding us!!!!!!!! So back we went 2 hrs retrieved the bag and started all over again! One spoilt trip:(

Sydney - stongly recommend not driving in he CBD. We did so last year. (bearing in mind we are Kiwis so drive on the same side, and DH is a chauffeur and driving has been his career for the last 30 years.)

Flew in from Auckland, picked up rental, drove to Canberra for 3 days - easy, very straight forward. And so was getting back into the CBD - got there by pure luck as we found one of the toll roads into the CBD abit confusing. Got to the hotel and unloaded. The problem started when we decided to return the car to the rental company!!!! The map the rental company had given us and another the hotel gave us made the task look easy, until you embark on the exercise and find NO RIGHT TURN, NO LEFT TURN ... and the rest.(Not shown on any map) THEN you have to find a petrol station OMG it was divorce material:eek: It took longer to get there by car than it to walk back!!!!

Melbourne is fine to drive, Sydney you need nerves of steal.... or maybe Kiwis just are not use to traffic:rolleyes:

We have driven Melbourne to Sydney via a short stay on Canberra a couple of times Unfortunately we didn't really stop much on the way except for breaks.

 

On one trip we decided to leave the hotel in Melbourne at a reasonably early time and have breakfast on the way out - easy. Breakfast over, we headed off. About 2-3 hrs later my SIL decided to find something which was in her hand bag. BUT where was her handbag?????:eek: It was back at the breakfast stop. Fortunately I had a docket from breakfast which has a phone no - so we had to full off the highway, find a phone and call the stop. Thankfully it had been found, right after we left by the owners but of course they had no way of finding us!!!!!!!! So back we went 2 hrs retrieved the bag and started all over again! One spoilt trip:(

 

Sydney - stongly recommend not driving in he CBD. We did so last year. (bearing in mind we are Kiwis so drive on the same side, and DH is a chauffeur and driving has been his career for the last 30 years.)

 

Flew in from Auckland, picked up rental, drove to Canberra for 3 days - easy, very straight forward. And so was getting back into the CBD - got there by pure luck as we found one of the toll roads into the CBD abit confusing. Got to the hotel and unloaded. The problem started when we decided to return the car to the rental company!!!! The map the rental company had given us and another the hotel gave us made the task look easy, until you embark on the exercise and find NO RIGHT TURN, NO LEFT TURN ... and the rest.(Not shown on any map) THEN you have to find a petrol station OMG it was divorce material:eek: It took longer to get there by car than it to walk back!!!!

 

Melbourne is fine to drive, Sydney you need nerves of steal.... or maybe Kiwis just are not use to traffic:rolleyes:

Do you think a GPS would help? We may look into a shuttle to pick us up at the airport and take us out to the Hunter Valley. From there we could take a wine tour on a shuttle or small bus and not have to worry about driving at all. However, if we can only get Business Class into Melbourne, we may end up driving, and hopefully, no divorce!!! Its going to be our 20th anniversary.

Driving isn't that bad, I visualize as much as possible on the flight (watching movies with driving on the "right" side helps me with the visuals, but I would not do it right away my first time. You need to be rested and mentally into what the road will look like.

I would vote yes for the Hunter. Boutique Wine Tours is a good company, but I would also vote Yes yes yes for staying in Melbourne for a few days. Go out the Great Ocean Road, Philip Island, and Yarra Valley. All must do's

One last thing about driving that someone alluded to above. Everyone will know that you are about to turn because your wipers will come on!

I wonder it there is a video game that would help? Of course then I'd be trying to press X-A-B in order to make a right turn!!! I can't believe the trip is two years away and I am this excited already!!!

As a Sydneyite, I can confirm a GPS WILL NOT help in the CBD. They get confused, freeze and do all sorts of stupid things because of the buildings.

Signage in Sydney CBD is a shocker also.

Just sayin' :D

As a Sydneyite, I can confirm a GPS WILL NOT help in the CBD. They get confused, freeze and do all sorts of stupid things because of the buildings.

 

Signage in Sydney CBD is a shocker also.

 

Just sayin' :D

Glad you have made this comment Debstra, makes me feel we aren't the only ones who thinks driving in Sydney CBD is hazardous!

Cruise Arizona - how about flying into Melbourne, have a couple of days there, then fly to Sydney and have a couple more days there, and save a lot of time and stress. Yes the drive up is nice, but with limited time, use it wisely. Fly between Melbourne and Sydney of an evening would be my recommendation.

Glad you have made this comment Debstra, makes me feel we aren't the only ones who thinks driving in Sydney CBD is hazardous!

 

:D Nahhh not hazardous for me, just the unintiated. I'm born and bred Sydney so know my way around well and I've learnt to dodge the bad drivers and not use my GPS in the CBD or tunnels :p

Honestly? Don't even consider driving from Melbourne to Sydney. It's a minimum 10 hour trip, even on the Hume Highway, with long periods of nothing much to see or do. It's not a particularly great road anyway and there will be lots of trucks as it's the only direct route between the 2 cities. I would plan on spending 2-3 days in and around Melbourne, then fly to Sydney for another 2-3 days before your cruise. There are PLENTY of cheap flights (2-3 per hour) with Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger. Plan carefully as tickets are Use It Or Lose It but apart from that it's easy and only takes an hour.

I was just looking at the train schedule from Sydney to Melbourne, and it seems about 12 hours. Is that right? And by car, about 10? It looks like we could fly instead for about $100USD. We're planning a post-cruise trip from Sydney to Melbourne.

Here is our scenario so you can provide more feed back. I've been surfing Au tourist sites to I have a little more in mind. Any other suggestions appreciated.

 

The cruise leaves on a Monday, so we would leave home on Wednesday to arrive in Au on Friday morning, hopefully well rested from our business class flight. :):confused::)

 

If we fly into Sydney, we might take a relaxing weekend in wine country. I have found shuttles that will transport us from Sydney Airport to Hunter's Valley and then back to the cruise dock. Alternatively we might also consider an all day trip to the Blue Mountains should we decided to stay in a Sydney Hotel.

 

If we fly into Melbourne we are thinking of renting a car, and driving just a few hours up the road, or maybe spending the day with friends in Ballarat (wrong direction, but hey they can show us around a bit). After an overnight in Ballarat or after our arrival in Melbourne we are thinking of heading off towards Sydney spreading it out over Sat, Sun and Mon. Driving would allow us to see as much or as little as we want, maybe the Bright area? or a few quaint towns along the way. Then Sunday we'd stay just a few hours from Sydney and drive the car to the rental return and board the ship.

 

How hard is it to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the road? If you've come to the states have your driven? Not too worried about country roads, but right off the plane and an urban area, it could be confusing. My husband is weird about trains, so flying from Melbourne to Sydney and spending more time with our friends near Ballarat might also be an option.

I absolutely love the Hunter Valley. I go about 5 times a year. If you are staying up there I would recommend http://www.jennysretreats.com.au - Clyde at Mountview is a gorgeous property. In terms of winerys I would go to Peterson's Champagne House, Ernest Hill, Iron Gate and Audrey Wilkinson (beautiful views). There is a good company called Boutique Wine Tours who offer day trips from Sydney.

Hope this helps.