Sydney to Adelaide by car Voyage Tips and guide

If you're in a hurry, the sensible way to travel between -33.867778151.211 Sydney and -34.9275138.62 Adelaide is to fly, but if you're up for a road trip, driving is also an option.

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Sydney to Adelaide by car

For most Australian capital cities, there's one obvious road connecting the two. This is not the case for Sydney to Adelaide, meaning there are three viable options, each of which in turn offers some options for variation.

1. Direct via Sturt Highway (A20): Sydney → Wagga Wagga → Hay → Mildura → Renmark → Adelaide (~1,375 km, 14–16 hrs) — the shortest route along the Murray River, mostly through flat agricultural land
2. Outback via Barrier Highway (A32): Sydney → Dubbo → Cobar → Broken Hill → Adelaide (~1,600 km, 17–19 hrs) — the Outback option through the scenery where they filmed Mad Max 2
3. Coastal via Melbourne: Sydney → Melbourne → Adelaide. Driving inland along the Hume, Western and Duke Highways it's a reasonably competitive 1,600 km, 17 hr drive, but if you hug the coast and detour via both the Great Ocean Road and the Princes Highway, you're looking at 2,100+ km and at least 24 hours.

The drive between Sydney and Adelaide takes at least a minimum of 14 hours when following the speed limit, so at least one overnight stay is highly recommended, more if you're planning to stop and see the sights. Speed cameras are common, whether mobile or fixed, there are also many highway patrols and you may see a fine coming your way if you are heavy on the accelerator. Wildlife is common on the road especially at dawn and dusk, so drive only during the day to avoid collisions with kangaroos, emus and other wildlife.

Petrol stations (servos), EV chargers and accommodation options are plentiful on the Sturt and Princes Highway options. While the Barrier Highway is fine to drive in a 2WD, it's much more remote than the other two, so plan ahead.

There are no toll roads in Adelaide or along these routes, but quite a few in and around Sydney (and Melbourne if you venture into town). Set up a Linkt account in advance, which can be used to pay all tolls in both. All toll roads in Australia are well-signposted and easy to avoid.

A fairly straightforward if boring route. The usual route for the first leg is along the Hume Highway to Melbourne, which is dual carriageway but not fully grade separated, meaning there are still some at-grade intersections. The rest of the journey is along rural highways with one lane each way and occasional passing lanes. A selection of places of interest along the way, with distances from central Sydney:

• -34.487778150.3344441 Berrima (130 km) is a pretty village in the Southern Highlands with lots of nice cafes.
• -34.754722149.7186112 Goulburn (195 km) is Australia's oldest inland city.
• -35.293056149.1269443 Canberra (216+80 km), Australia's capital, has plenty of sights. While not directly on the Hume, the detour via the Federal Highway and back up to Yass adds only about an hour to the journey.
• -35.065148.1011114 Gundagai (375 km) is last town before the Sturt Highway turnoff and home to the iconic Dog on the Tucker Box.

Alternative route: From Sydney, instead of the Hume Highway, drive the Great Western Highway (A44) to Lithgow and Bathurst, Mid Western Highway (A41) to Cowra and then the Olympic Highway (A41) to Wagga Wagga. This takes you across the scenic Blue Mountains but adds 50 km and about 1.5 hours to your travel time.

The Sturt Highway starts shortly after Gundagai.

• -35.119444147.3666675 Wagga Wagga (459 km), or just Wagga, is the last major town on the NSW side.
• -34.748333146.5511116 Narrandera (552 km) is a small town that marks the junction with the Newell Highway, with a few servos and motels.
• -34.498333144.8344447 Hay (772 km) in the middle of the flat Hay Plains marks the halfway point of the drive and is a popular place to stop for the night.
• -34.2111142.1337648 Mildura (1,012 km), just across the state line in Victoria, is the largest town since Wagga and a great place to stop. It's also the starting point for travel to Mungo National Park, although it's 110 km away on bumpy, partly unpaved roads and best tackled with a 4WD.

About 100 km after Mildura you'll finally cross into South Australia. Set your clocks back half an hour (it's a different time zone) and dispose of any fruit before you get here, since there's an agricultural quarantine check at the border.

• -34.166667140.7333339 Renmark (1,150 km) is the first town of size in South Australia.
• -34.533333138.9510 Barossa Valley (1,336 km) is Australia's most famous wine region, famous particularly for its peppery red shiraz. This is also where the road finally turns back into a proper motorway for the last 20-odd km to Adelaide.

Alternative route: At Balnarald, about halfway between Hay and Mildura, take the Mallee Highway (B12) to Adelaide via Ouyen. This option is around 10 km shorter, but misses Mildura.

Online navigation tools will at times suggest heading from Wagga to Swan Hill via a motley collection of small roads through the Riverina, rejoining the Mallee Highway at Ouyen. There is little reason to recommend this option.

The Outback route starts by crossing the Blue Mountains on the Great Western Highway. Near Lithgow, there's a fork in the road: the faster option is to travel via -32.6125149.5872221 Mudgee, chock a block with wineries, but some choose the slightly longer route via Orange, another pretty wine town, and Bathurst, famous for the Bathurst 1000 race.

• -32.248333148.6011112 Dubbo is where the Outback begins. It's also home to Taronga Western Plains Zoo, which is about as close to a safari as it gets outside Africa.

Beyond Dubbo, services are few and far between, with up to 100 km between food and fuel stops. Keep your tank topped up. It can also get extremely hot (40+°C), so carry plenty of water and avoid the Australian summer (December to February) if you can.

• -31.566667147.23 Nyngan is the starting point of the Barrier Highway, and the home of the Big Bogan Statue.
• -31.499722145.8319444 Cobar, large mining town where you can gaze into the maw of an open pit mine. There's also a pub with the Big Beer Can bolted onto it.
• -31.565143.3677785 Wilcannia, once a prosperous trading town now fallen on hard times
• -31.965141.4511116 Broken Hill, mining town that gave birth to BHP (Broken Hill Properties); Hollywood blockbuster Max Mad 2 was filmed here

Splitting the journey at Melbourne, for each half you can pick a fast but comparatively dull inland route or a slow but scenic coastal route. See Sydney to Melbourne by car and Overland travel between Melbourne and Adelaide for details.