Sydney to Melbourne > Drive or fly?

[Guest]

For our LSD trip in August, I am wondering whether we should fly or drive from Sydney to Melbourne. I've done a bit of research and there are mixed reviews of the routes (inland via Canberra, or coastal). I thought flying as a no-brainer as it's quick and relatively inexpensive (and we only have two weeks between the two cities), but I wondered whether driving might offer a taste that flying between the two places cannot...

 

Would we miss out on anything by flying? We would definitely fly back from Melbourne to Sydney on our way back to SA. Thanks for any info

[RYLC]

I would fly. It's pretty country side in places but generally just miles and miles of nothing new, nothing to help you evaluate where to settle, hours and hours wasted. It will add no value to deciding which city offers best employment and livability. 

[RedPanda]

I think it totally depends on how you interact with land. We had one month in Jan2014 for LSD, and spent two weeks with my aunt in Brisbane, than hired a car and drove through Syd-Can-Melb, stopping over different lengths depending on how interested we were in the cities. Personally I would not fly those on an LSD trip, unless time was limited. We drive down to Mossel Bay from Jhb about every year, and love spending a day looking at the observable state of South Africa, so for Australia we also wanted to see what the land looks like. [by 'land' I mean the landscape as it changes, the state of the roads, the little towns and stop-overs, the distance between places..]

It's a personal choice thing, about what you find important. Look, we didn't see anything like major tourist attractions or landmarks (like the Great Ocean Road) on the route we drove, but we got a feeling for what road tripping is like in Aus. (and we like it)
 

So it's up to you, really.

[Shellfish]

Australia is big.....very, very. big. Honestly, you could spend a week in each city alone. That being said we've done Canberra to Melbourne via Merimbula - great drive and I would highly recommend a stop over in Merimbula (not necessarily for a LSD but just in general) 

[Guest]

Thanks very much for the advice. I think then as time is so limited, it would be better to fly, pick up a car from the airport and continue from there.

[WayneACT]

What about train?

 

I think after a 11 and a half hour flight from Jhb to Sydney, I will have had enough of planes. I would drive. Take in the sights and sounds of Australia. Stop off in Canberra. 3 hours from Syd to Canberra. About 6 hours to Melbourne from Canberra (or so I hear). If time limited you may have to fly.

[AFreshStart]

Did the Sydney - Canbera - Melbourne drive in Dec, Return.

 

Went the inland route and loved it, even with two kids under 6. Broke the journey either way staying in some great rental accommodation in rural NSW we found on AirBnB, if you're under the crunch, fly, but you can drive it in 7-8 hours straight through, or break the journey.

 

We had lunch in the Capital, did some walking, picnicked on the river and just took our time, exploring small rural towns, popping in for pies, pickles & preserves, just as one might do in South Africa.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[monsta]

I am with RYLC. IT hard enough to see Sydney in a week, let alone wasting 2 days driving there. 

 

Sydney is a big diverse place, from the Rooty Hill RSL, to the beaches at Dee Why, the eastern suburbs like Bondi and all the way down to "the Shire" (i.e. Cronulla). To do a round trip between the 3 corners of Sydney will take over 5 hours on the public transport. If you want to see "all of Sydney" you will need a day for each of these:

 

Paramatta/Blacktown

Liverpool/Cabramatta

Dee Why/Manly

CBD

Ryde/Chatswood

Eastern Suburbs (i.e. Bondi)

Cronulla

The Hills

Inner West  (e.g Sydney Olympic Park, Pemulwuy (warehouse alley))
Central Coast

Campbeltown/Oran Park

 

That's 11 pretty full on day trips. You will need a day or two off in between. So, that's 2 weeks to do a quick, rush in and rush out  day trips  to all of Sydney.

 

All of those places I mentioned are very different. Paramatta is the centre of Sydney and the central area for the Lebanese community. Chatswood is very popular with the Cantonese speaking Chinese, has some high end shops and lots of good Chinese food. Oran Park is a new development in the middle of nowhere built from scratch. The Hills is suburbia where many South Africans relocate to and is home of the massive Hillsong Church.

 

My list excludes places like  St Ives (the wealthy Jewish community), Quakers Hill (an Indian community) and more.

 

In Sydney you might live in an inner city shoebox... all the way up to a large houses with horses in your back yard up in Terry Hills.  You will want to see those and everything in between. 

 

So, don't waste precious time checking out towns like Albury  (between Melbourne and Sydney) if you are not considering moving there...

 

 

Edited May 7, 2016 by monsta

[rozellem]

It it was me, I would definitely drive the coastal road and sleep over at a motel for the night en route.  Watching the horizon/road/scenery will help you get back to earth after the flying.  We did it up from Melb to Syd on our activation trip and it will always hold very fond memories for us.  Yes, we even saw Kangaroo's on the beach somewhere along the way.  There are some great, safe, clean, relatively cheap motels on the way.  We just drove till we saw one saying "Vacancies".