Drive or fly to Melbourne?
 

Ok so as mentioned in an earlier post, my family and I will be in Australia for 3 weeks in Jan and now I am trying to hone in on some of the details. First on the agenda... do we drive from Melbourne to Sydney or fly? In our initial itinerary, we have given ourselves 3 days to get from Sydney to Melbourne, then spend 4 days in Melbourne (including the great ocean road if we can squeeze it in)

1) one option is to drive the inland route, go through
• Canberra
• Tidbinbilla Natural Reserve
• Namadgi National park- yankee hat hike
• Beechworth
• Bendigo
• ballarat
2) another option is to stay closer to the coast (take the A1- A440), possible stops including:
- jarvis bay
- montague island
- wilsons promontary- really want to see
- philips island- really want to see
3) I would like to possibly fit the blue mountains into this trip but understand that it would likely be a side trip.
4) fly from Sydney to Melbourne

Which itinerary looks the best/ most feasible? I know that I will also have to start booking hotels soon (Sydney is covered, all the rest need to be booked). Any help would be appreciated.

Vanessa

In your original post, I suggested you take 3 days out of a planned visit to Brisbane/Gold Coast and add it to the 3 days of drive time between Sydney and Melbourne. That would have given you 6 days--enough time to do the inland route visiting Canberra for a couple days and a stop in one (or maybe two) of Beechworth, Ballarat, Bendigo--not all three.

If you're only going to spend 3 days driving to Melbourne, the inland choice you have listed is not an option. You need a lot more time for that.

We are definitely going to omit Brisbane and the Gold Coast and but we will head up to Cairns and Port Douglas after our visit to Melbourne I have added a few days to our trip in Sydney since it seems like there is so much to see there. Nothing is set in stone besides the start and end dates. Thanks though for letting me know how long it would take to do the inland route, it's hard to judge when you look at a map.

Vanessa

I'd definitely fly. Use your "driving" time to add time to the Great Ocean Road -- and if time allows, the Grampians. Loved Phillip Island and the Penguin Parade.

These places will give you so much more "bang" than driving between Sydney & Melbourne.

By flying you will save much more money and be able to see the beautiful places you mentioned. Check out Virgin Australia or Jetstar for some great deals - dont be sucked in by the cheap prices of Tiger Airways.

Please bear in mind that January is our major school holiday period and you may need to book accommodation ahead.