There’s no better way to explore a country than through a road trip! A Cairns to Sydney 3 week road trip is jam packed with goodies and will give you a diverse set of sights to stop at a long the way.
It definitely doesn’t have to be done in 3 weeks. But I feel Cairns to Sydney (or Sydney to Cairns) in 3 weeks is the sweet spot. Any less and it will feel rushed. But you can 100% spend longer on this route. I wish we had 5 weeks to do this road trip in our motorhome.
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The Cairns to Sydney 3 week road trip itinerary is laid out exactly how we did it. Our trip was definitely more tailored towards the Coast and finding good surf spots. So I’ll make notes about other stops that you may rather do.
This road trip can be done in either a car or a motorhome/campervan. We opted for an Apollo Motorhome and absolutely loved it. It’s a weird yet comforting feeling knowing your little home is with you wherever you go haha!
*Remember, if you’re road tripping from Sydney to Cairns, just do this itinerary in reverse.
Okay let’s get into it!
Cairns to Sydney 3 week road trip itinerary
Day 1: Cairns arrival & drive to Port Douglas
Arrive into Cairns and pick up your car/motorhome/campervan.
(We arrived the evening before and booked a hotel for the night. This way we could go to Apollo in the morning to pick up our motorhome. We wanted to start with a full day, and it’s definitely what I recommend for everyone starting this road trip. If you were to leave Cairns in the afternoon, your plans to get to the next destination will feel rushed.)
The drive to Port Douglas is one of the most beautiful drives you will experience on this road trip.
The drive also takes you along Captain Cook Highway. There’s plenty of stops you can take along this route for photos, and a picnic on the beach!
Once at Port Douglas we stayed at Tropic Breeze caravan park. An easy walk to the beach and the town. It was $55 for a powered site.
Other info:
- When leaving Cairns, you can stop for supplies/groceries at Smithflield Mall.
- Rex lookout on Captain Cook Highway for pictures.
- Iron Bar Saloon for a casual but nice dinner. $28 for a lamb shanks and $16 for a jug of local pale ale.
*Alternative plan: Further north of Port Douglas is Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, where A LOT of people recommended for us to go. It’s a region of dense rainforest filled with nature based activities. I would add this as a stop if you have more time and/or if you prefer it over Port Douglas.
Day 2 : Explore Port Douglas & stay Palm Cove
Wake up early and watch the sunrise from 4 Mile Beach (easy access from the Caravan Park).
From here, you can walk over the hill by taking the 4 Mile Beach Cliff Walk. It takes about 20mins to reach the other side where you land on to Rex Smeal Park (also a good spot for Sunsets and photos!). From here, walk back through the town and back to the campground.
Our next destination was Palm Cove (South of Port Douglas but North of Cairns).
A long the way, we stopped for lunch on the Captain Cook Highway and also did some work from the van here.
Once we reached Palm Cove in the afternoon, the Palm Cove campground was already full due to an event that was on – it’s definitely worth calling ahead! So we decided to stay at Ellis Beach campground instead which was $48/night for a powered site.
The reason for staying another night in this area near Palm Cove and not just continuing South past Cairns, was because we heard the sunrises were amazing on Palm Cove or Clifton Beach. They have quite unique palm trees that we wanted to photograph.
*Alternative plan: Continue South and head all the way to the next stop, Mission Beach.
Day 3 & 4: Clifton Beach sunrise & drive to Mission Beach
We woke early to see the sunrise at Clifton Beach… It did not disappoint! Barely anyone else was around and it felt like we had the beach all to ourselves.
The next stop is Mission Beach, and I recommend to take the long way around through the Tablelands.
Stop at:
- Mt Uncle Distillery for a tasting for $10 (definitely try the Botanical Australis smoky bushfire gin!)
- Gallo Dairyland for cheese and chocolate
- Barron Falls (not exceptionally amazing on the day we went, but can be great after a big rainfall)
- Millaa Millaa Falls (very pretty! Nate took his surfboard in haha)
Arriving into Mission Beach, we stayed at Mission Beach Camping and Caravan Park which was $29/night for a powered site. The plus side to this place is it’s right on the beach and the Ulysses walking track runs right along it . The downside is, the facilities are quite old and gross. Right across the road is a nicer campground called Mission Beach Caravan Park.
We organised to stay 2 nights here as we wanted to walk the Ulysses track and do the Bicton Hill trek, get some work done and spend time on the beach… But unfortunately it rained the entire time and our day was spent in the van doing work instead.
Mission beach has a few funky (and odd) restaurants and bars. They’re worth visiting for a few beers at least. I would add some pics of Mission Beach… But the weather was so shite, that I literally didn’t take a single photo 😭😂
*Alternative plan: Spend a night or two in the Tablelands instead! Check this site here for what to do in Atherton Tablelands.
Day 5: Wallaman Falls & Townsville
The drive from Mission Beach to Townsville can be done in 3 hours… But if you don’t mind adding a few more hours on to your trip, you can take a detour route to visit Wallaman falls.
I was EXCITED to see Wallaman Falls; all the pics I had seen of it were beautiful. And you can also hike down to the falls which takes about 2 hours return.
But…. Once we got to the lookout point, it was drizzling with rain and the cloud was so thick we couldn’t see a thing. EPIC FAIL! Here was our amazing view from the lookout haha.
While I recommend Wallaman Falls as a stop on your road trip itinerary, I also recommend to check the weather first before committing to the drive. But hey, at least the drive was pretty!
*Just a note, the drive up to falls lookout is on a windy gravel road for about 20kms. Our 7m motorhome made the trip fine. But cars towing caravans or trailers would not.
By the time we arrived into Townsville, it was late afternoon, so we quickly checked into Rowes Bay Holiday Park ($50/night powered site), and drove up Castle Hill for sunset.
This is an absolute must do when in Townsville, and one of my highlights of this Cairns to Sydney road trip.
If you have time and want the exercise, you can walk the entire way up. That’s what most people do, and lots of the Townsville locals obviously use it for their exercise. But if you’re like us, and running short on time, you can drive up. There’s parking for cars and normal sized vans right up the top. Otherwise there’s a big additional carpark just before you reach the top. Park here if you have a caravan or motorhome.
Townsville has a huge craft beer scene. I recommend hitting up City Lane for dinner and drinks, and wandering down to Townsville brewery if you feel like a few more beers. Flinders Street is packed with bars and restaurants and is the place to go for Friday and Saturday nights.
*Personal recommendation
Spend two nights in Townsville! It was our plan to spend the day on Magnetic Island and hire one of the topless island cars to explore. But since we tried to book last minute, the cars were booked out. We decided not to go to the island, and continue south on our road trip instead. You can still take the tourist bus around the island (we are just high maintenance and like our own transport to do our own exploring). But if you plan to rent one of the island cars, then book ahead! You can book here. They really do look like a lot of fun!
Day 6 & 7: Bowen and Airlie Beach
No doubt Airlie Beach (the home of the Whitsundays) is on your must do list, as it should be!
On the drive to Airlie Beach, take a stop at Horseshoe Bay in Bowen. A cute little beach that reminded me of the beautiful crystal blue bays in Europe. Chill out on the beach here before driving the rest of the way to Airlie Beach. You do feel like you’re in the outback for parts of this drive!
In Airlie Beach, we stayed at Seabreeze Tourist Park ($39/night powered site) and we booked in for a Whitsundays Tour through the office here.
The next day we started the tour with GSL Marine which cost $140pp. The tour involved a pick up and drop off, lunch, morning tea, snorkelling the reef, Whitehaven beach, and Hill Inlet Lookout.
There are a lot of tours to choose from. Ours was more on the budget side, but if you prefer luxury or private sailing tours there are plenty of options.
Day 8: Sunrise at Cape Hillsborough & drive to Yeppoon
Every morning at sunrise, a local conservation ranger comes to Cape Hillsborough Beach and feeds the wallabies and kangaroos, while sharing info about these animals to anyone who wants to come and watch. There were about 25 people there, the morning we went. It’s all pretty well organised, but you want to be here on time because the wallabies and kangaroos don’t stick around for long.
It was about a 1hr 20min drive from Airlie beach, which meant a very early wake up call to make it to Cape Hillsborough before sunrise.
After the feeding we caught up on some sleep in the carpark. Once we woke, the beach was completely deserted and we had the whole place to ourselves!
We didn’t stick around long because we had a big drive to Yeppoon ahead.
*Alternative options and recommendations: If you have the time, spend a night in Cape Hillsborough so you don’t have to do the early morning commute. Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park is right on the exact beach the feeding takes place. Or Smalleys Beach Camping Area (budget option) is a 5min drive away.
If you have more time I recommend staying a night in Mackay to help break up the trip between Airlie and Yeppoon. Basically we decided to haul ass between Airlie and Noosa because the good surf spots begin at Noosa. Our original plan was to spend a night in each Mackay, Yeppoon and Bundaberg. Instead we committed to the longer driving days and only stayed in Yeppoon then on to Noosa.
Mackay Attractions:
- Pioneer Valley
- Eungella Lookout
- It was also voted Australias Best Town for 2018!
Yeppoon Attractions:
- Anzac walk
- Bluff Point walking track
- Capricorn Caves
Bundaberg Attractions:
- Bundaberg Rum Distillery
- Bagara Beach
Day 9 & 10: Noosa
The drive from Yeppoon to Noosa was a long one (7 hours)… But we were staying in Noosa for two nights so didn’t mind.
Noosa is beautiful! It’s a popular holiday destination for good reason; a beautiful beach, and lots of trendy restaurants, cafes, and boutique stores.
For our full day in Noosa we did the Noosa National Park walk which takes about 2 hours return (it’s an easy flat walk), caught up on some work, and restaurant hopped in the evening… Turns out there was no surf swell on the days of our visit haha!
We stayed at Noosa River Holiday Park ($48/night powered site). They had extremely nice facilities. When we wanted to drive into the main town area, we easily found a park for our campervan in the Noosa Spit Recreation Reserve carpark (free parking) on Claude Batten Drive.
* Alternative option: You could spend one night here and get up early to do the National Park walk before driving to the next stop.
Other Attractions:
- If you have a 4WD, North of Noosa, you can drive along the beach to Double Island Point and hangout at Rainbow beach. We have done this on a previous stint in Australia.
- Eumundi Markets! These markets are next level with over 600 stalls and operate twice a week (Wednesdays and Saturdays). Again, we did this on a previous stay in Australia
Day 11: Sunshine Coast
We often spend a few months a year in Sunshine Coast, so we didn’t make this stop long; only to see family. Sunshine Coast and Mooloolaba are great though!
On the drive down from Noosa, we stopped at Marcus Beach for a sunbathe, and whale watched from the shore. Basically from June – November you’ll see Humpback whales migrating along the East Coast of Australia. Every time I looked out to the ocean during this trip, I at least saw a whale or a dolphin. This is one of my favourite things about visiting Australia this time of year.
Sunshine Coast Attractions:
- Climb Mount Coolum
- Glasshouse Mountains
- Beaches, shops, restaurants, and cafes on Mooloolaba & Maroochydore
Day 12: Gold Coast
Note: We bypassed Brisbane on our way to Gold Coast because it’s never really been of interest to us. Feel free to add Brisbane in as your own stop.
Gold Coast was on the radar mainly for the surfing in Coolangatta (just South of GC).
We only spent one night in Gold Coast with a friend and explored the different little coastal neighbourhoods.
Gold Coast Attractions:
- Theme parks (Dream World, Movie World)
- Neighbourhoods to explore: Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach Burleigh Heads, Nobbys Beach, Miami, Coolangatta (my favourite)
- Q1 SkyPoint Observation Deck
- Springbrook National Park
- Dracula’s Cabaret – absolutely hilarious 3 course dinner and show (rated R)
- Breweries! Oh so many breweries!
*Recommendation: If you have time, spend a couple nights in the Gold Coast especially if you want to visit the theme parks.
Day 13: Byron Bay
Definitely check out Coolangatta on your way down from Gold Coast, and then take the Tweed Coast Road towards Byron Bay for a more scenic drive with easy beach stop offs. There’s lots of little beachside towns dotted along the way (some with decent surf). Kingscliff, Casuarina, Cabarita Beach, Hastings Point, and Pottsville are a few you’ll see before Tweed Coast Road connects back up to the main highway.
Byron Bay itself is a bustling, hip and trendy town. Packed with millennials on Instagram weekend visitors and tourists passing through. Its easy to find a good time here.
We stayed at Reflections Holiday Park Clarkes Beach and was an easy 10 minute walk to the main town strip. It’s also right next to the famous Cape Byron Lighthouse which you can walk or drive up (I don’t recommend taking a camper van up as parking is hectic).
Just over the other side of the cape is Tallow Beach; a little more mellow than Byron’s main beaches.
Day 14 & 15: Yamba
For less than a 2 hour scenic drive down the coast, you’ll come to a very chilled out seaside town called Yamba… One of my all time fave spots from this Cairns to Sydney 3 week road trip.
During the drive, take the coastal route through Lennox Head and Skennars Head. Lennox Head has a really beautiful lookout point called Pat Morton Lookout Lennox Head.
Yamba is like a quiet, less developed, less busy version of Byron. There really isn’t a whole lot here. But the surf is really good, the sunsets are beautiful, and the marine life is teeming. You can literally watch the dolphins swim with the surfers while seeing whales jumping in the distance.
We could have easily spent a lot more time here. We definitely plan to come back here again!
Yamba attractions:
- Turners beach for surfing and sunset. This is where the dolphins come in and hang around the surfers. If you don’t surf, you can walk along the break wall and enjoy the views.
- Yamba Lighthouse
- Angourie area. This is an easy drive over from Yamba. You can walk out to Angourie Point and spend time on the beach. It’s also a popular spot for surfers.
- Spookys Beach
- Green pool and blue pool. These pools have an interesting story which you can read here. Also use this site to check it’s safe for swimming and cliff diving.
In Yamba we stayed at Calyspo Yamba Holiday Park ($45/night) for their location. It was on the river and easy to walk around Yamba from here. We only had to drive the camper van when we went over to Angourie.
Day 16: Coffs Harbour
It’s only about an 1hr 40min drive from Yamba to Coffs Harbour, the next stop on the Cairns to Sydney road trip!
So we took it slowly, and popped into the small beach towns along the way (as per usual). Diggers Beach and Arrawarra have a few surf spots. And Woolgoolga (had a great laugh trying to pronounce this one) is a nice little stop for lunch – Beachhouse Cafe was very funky with good food and nice service.
Once in Coffs Harbour we stayed at the Big 4 Park Beach Holiday Park on a powered site for $45/night.
Coffs Harbour attractions:
- Sealy Lookout/ Forest Sky Pier
- Walk over to Muttonbird Island (good sunset spot)
- Sawtell Beach
- Coffs Harbour Marina break wall
- Jetty Markets on Sundays
- The Big Banana
*Alternative option: Some people prefer to stay in Sawtell.
Day 17: Nambucca Heads & Port Macquarie
This is another short drive day as it’s only a little over 1.5hours to get to Port Macquarie from Coffs Harbour.
A stop you must do on the way is Nambucca Heads! There’s several lookout points you can park at to admire the view. It actually reminded me of the Whitsundays… Without the hefty price tag haha.
A few more stops we took were Valla Beach and Scotts Head. We didn’t stop at Hat Head National Park, but looking back, I wish we did as it looks incredible.
In Port Macquarie we stayed at NRMA Port Macquarie Breakwall Holiday Park. It’s right on the break wall and you can just walk along that till you hit the town.
I had previously heard that Port Macquarie was boring, and that it’s not really worth a stop at. But I actually ended up really liking it. There’s a good restaurant scene here, as well as great whale watching and easy walking along the coastline.
The rocks lining the break wall are all covered in colourful artwork, which makes for good pictures too.
Port Macquarie attractions:
- Breakwall (walk along during sunset!)
- Tacking Point Lighthouse
- Whale Watching at Lighthouse Beach
- Douglas Vale Vineyard
- Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail
*Alternative Option: From Coffs Harbour, drive Waterfall Way through to Armidale. Many people recommended this to us as this drive is supposed to be beautiful and you pass by a lot of Waterfalls. This was on our original itinerary, but as we were on our final week of the trip, we really just felt like continuing along the coast and finding good surf spots. A stand out Waterfall on Waterfall Way is Ebor Falls. Some other popular stops on this drive include Dorrigo Rainforest Centre and Skywalk Lookout, Dangar Falls, Point Lookout, and the little Township of Bellingen. It would likely talk up a full day to explore Waterfall Way and arrive into Armidale. After a night in Armidale, then make your way to Port Macquarie.
Day 18: Newcastle
There’s so many places to stop between Port Macquarie and Newcastle. Old Bar, Forster, and Bluey’s Beach are a few. Also, if you feel like a bit of a hike, stop in Nelson Bay and park at Zenith Beach carpark and do the short Tomaree Head Summit Walk (30mins one way). Port Stephens and Nelson Bay look stunning! I really hoped to have fit this walk in, but we had committed to a work call this day, so we didn’t have the time to make the trip.
Once in Newcastle, we didn’t stay right in the city, instead we stayed in Stockton; a much quieter area.
Newcastle attractions:
- Stockton sand dunes – these are huge and you can do tours and sand boarding etc.
- Foghorn Brewery
- Nobby’s Beach
- Hunter Valley
- Bather’s Way
- Newcastle Memorial walk
- Eat your way through Darby Street and Beaumont Street
*Alternative Option: Spend a night (or two if you have time) around Nelson Bay and Port Stephens region. Also if you have the time, you can spend several nights in Newcastle. Especially if you want to experience the Stockton sand dunes.
An hour south of Newcastle is Central Coast; yet another gorgeous NSW coastal town. If your Cairns to Sydney road trip time frame is longer than ours, you may want to look into spending a night here before heading into the Blue Mountains.
Day 19 & 20: Blue Mountains
We took the back way into the Blue Mountains so we could stop at Clarence Railway Station; an old abandoned train station that is actually kind of creepy!
For our full day in the Mountains we were lucky enough to have the sun come through for a couple hours, so we jumped at the chance and did the Grand Canyon hiking trail. It’s a 6km loop track starting from Evan’s Lookout. Signs say it takes 4 hours, but we did it in less than 2 hours.
It’s a beautiful walk down into the canyon… Which also means the only real amazing viewpoint you’ll get from the walk is at the beginning/end of Evans Lookout.
Valley View Lookout is right next to Evans Lookout (they share the same carpark). A lot fewer people go to this one even though the views are just as impressive.
Our first night’s sunset was spent at Sublime Point lookout. Yes, it lives up to it’s name! The second night’s sunset was Lincoln’s Rock. These are the two common sunset spots, so expect a few people but the views are worth it.
I can’t comment on the best sunrise spots because it rained each morning. But from my research beforehand, Govetts Leap lookout and Elysian Rock are the good ones to see in a new day.
Other Blue Mountain lookout points to take note of are:
- Pulpit Rock
- Three Sisters/Echo Point
- Wentworth Falls
- Olympian Rock
- Eagle Hawk lookout
- Honeymoon lookout
- Gordon Falls lookout
Some Blue Mountain hikes to look into are:
- Grand Canyon walking track (the one we did)
- Castle Head
- National Pass (check the official site as it may be closed)
- Govetts Leap/Bridal Veil Falls
- Pulpit walking track
- Walk honeymoon lookout to echo point
- Giant stairway to Federal pass (which goes around The Three Sisters
Extra Blue Mountain Info:
- There is a tourist bus with pick up and drop off points at the popular tourist spots. But I do recommend having your own transport so you can explore further and on your own time.
- The main towns are Katoomba, Leura, and Blackheath. Katoomba is probably the most convenient but they are all charming. We stayed at Katoomba Falls Tourist Park ($42/night powered site).
*Our original plan was to spend 3 nights in the Blue Mountains so we could get a few decent walks in, and trip around to all the lookout points… Though unfortunately, the weather had other plans! Honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind how cold and wet it might be here for the month of June 🤦♀️. We were met with a lot of low cloud and rain, blocking out most view points for us. And the temperatures were freezing! Highs of 6 degrees and lows of 0 degrees overnight. Not ideal for camper vans without any real heating haha! If you plan to come this time of year, make sure you pick up a hot water bottle from somewhere. This was an absolute life saver!
So even though we had booked our campsite for three nights, after the second night and waking up to more rain we decided to cut our losses and take the chance to explore south of Sydney before dropping the van off.
Day 21: Sea Cliff Bridge and drive to Corrimal
This was definitely a random last day with no real plans. We just followed our nose South of Sydney with the aim of seeing Sea Cliff Bridge.
We absolutely fell in love with this stretch from Cronulla to Corrimal. Stop at Stanwell Tops Lookout for a view out to the coastline and bridge. Then drive the Sea Cliff Bridge over to Coledale and Austinmer. Stop at Headlands Hotel in Austinmer for coffee and a late lunch.
Then just continue on the road for as long as you want to go… Just remember you have to drive back the next morning! We ended up stopping at Corrimal Beach Tourist Park for the night, just short of Wollongong.
Day 22 & beyond!: Drive to Sydney and spend time in the city
If you haven’t experienced Sydney before, then spend a few days here before flying out. You can drop the campervan off, and stay in a Hotel in the city. Having a campervan in Sydney would be a bit of a shit show!
For us, our original plan was to drop the camper van back at Sydney, pick up a small rental car and spend our last 3 nights in the city before flying out… Instead we only stayed one night in Sydney then went back down to Austinmer to stay at Headlands Hotel for our last two nights! We really did fall in love with that area haha!
Sydney attractions:
- Bondi Beach
- Manly
- Sydney Harbour Bridge
- Opera House
- Royal Botanic Gardens
- Gordon’s Bay
- Hyde Park
- Cronulla
Well that wraps up the epic Cairns to Sydney 3 week road trip! As I mentioned earlier, I would recommend giving yourself 3 weeks as the absolute minimum amount of time for the road trip. It just feels too rushed otherwise.
If you have any other recommendations for stop off points, feel free to share them in the comments below!
Enjoy your trip 🙂
Hannah
2 Comments
This trip looks great. We are a family of four. (2 boys aged 9&5). We are from England. But thinking about taking a 6 month break touring Australia and Asia. Would 4 weeks be ok for this camper trip. ?
Awesome! 4 weeks will be great 🙂