By Car in Sydney

With the assistance of a good road map or street directory, you shouldn't have too many problems driving in and out of Sydney, thanks to a decent freeway system. Keep in mind that Australia is almost as large as the continental United States. In computing your travel times for trips between Sydney and the following cities, allow for an average speed of about 85 kph (53 mph). The main roads to and from other state capitals are: the 1,027-km (642-mi) Pacific Highway (Highway 1) north to Brisbane; the 290-km (181-mi) M5 southwest to Canberra, and 893 km (558 mi) southwest to Melbourne via the M5 and Hume Highway; also the 1,038-km (644-mi) Princes Highway (Highway 1) south to the New South Wales south coast and Melbourne. Adelaide is 1,422 km (889 mi) away west via the Hume and Sturt (Highway 20) highways, and Perth is a long and rather tedious 4,136-km (2,585-mi) drive west via Adelaide. You can check distances on the Australian Explorer www.australianexplorer.com.

Driving a car around Sydney is not recommended. Close to the city the harbor inlets plus the hilly terrain equal few straight streets. Parking space is limited, and both parking lots and parking meters are expensive. If you do decide to drive, ask your car-rental agency for a street directory or purchase one from a newsstand.

If you rent from a major international company, expect to pay about A$85 per day for a medium-size automatic and about A$75 for a standard compact. However, if you go with a local operator, such as Bayswater, you might pay as little as A$23 per day for a one-year-old vehicle. Some of these discount operators restrict travel to within a 50-km (30-mi) radius of the city center, and one-way rentals are not possible. A surcharge applies if you pick up your car from the airport.

Contacts

Avis (13-6333). Bayswater (02/9360-3622). Budget (13-2727). Hertz (13-3039). Thrifty (13-6139).