Family Camping
 

My daughter and family are going to Australia in November. They are renting an rv after their stay visiting family in Melbourne. The will have 3 nights after their stay in Gold Coast. They will be making their way to the Blue Mountains They have 3 children age 6,4 and a 9 month old.

She would love some suggestions on some family friendly places to stay along the way. Maybe two nights in one location and one night in another?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lots of lovely places to stay and visit along the way. Our favourite is Urunga. Caravan park right on the water's edge, shops, pub, etc on the other side of the park. Lovely little town that we have always enjoyed visiting. Very suitable for families. Easy drive from the Gold Coast. Perhaps two nights there and another night on the way to the Blue Mountains.

Thanks marg. I will let her know. I appreciate your advice.

So are they staying in Melbourne, then flying to the Gold Coast? Then 3 days with a campervan heading south to the Blue Mountains?

If they haven't already booked the Gold Coast, Burleigh Heads is lovely and not quite as built up as Surfers Paradise. Beautiful beaches the whole way along there and loads of accommodation. If it was me, I'd try and stay at either Burleigh or maybe Broadbeach. Tallebudgera has a nice caravan park with cabins which would be good with children but you'd need to drive to get to places to eat etc.

On the way south with the camper, these are nice places to stop for a break, have lunch or maybe stay overnight - Kingscliff, Lennox Head, Yamba, South West Rocks.

Glad you caught that Kay F. They are seeing family in Brisbane and then getting the caravan.
This is their plan:
Brisbane 7 nights
Gold Coast 3 nights
3 nights?
Blue Mountains 2 nights
Sydney 3 nights- They are returning the caravan and will be using public transport. They want to stay somewhere that they can get to the airport easily using public transportation.

There is a train to Sydney airport so it's easily reached from so many accommodation places. (Opal is the transport card, you can buy online or when you arrive.) We stayed at Hyde Park Inn in Sydney which is almost next door to Museum Station. I think it was on a direct line to the airport. Our room had a kitchenette which would be handy with children. Not a lot of kitchen equipment but you can put breakfast together or heat up dinner meals. There was a Woolworths supermarket within 10 min walk. Another visit we stayed at a Meriton. There are about 3 different ones in Sydney, all fairly close to public transport. Meriton Suites have a laundry and kitchens in the rooms.

According to google maps it's between 9 and 12 hours drive from Gold Coast to Blue Mountains, depending on route. That's a lot with young kids, even if you break the journey in two halves (I know mine absolutely loathed being trapped in a car). I don't normally like one night stops but this might be one case when it's not a bad idea.

I'm not a huge fan of the Gold Coast so using those 3 days for a more relaxing journey south would appeal to me more. Do they have special plans for the Gold Coast?

Maybe I'm just a nervous driver but I find Sydney traffic can be a challenge (especially with a large vehicle) so they may wish to ditch the van before they hit the city centre.

Thanks KayF. She will be booking the last section this week. She liked both of those places.

dreamon- I agree about one night stays but they will have to do one unfortunately. They have three days to get there so they will be doing two nights at one place and another night in between.

Would she consider cutting one or two nights from Brisbane and add them to the later half of the trip? I live in Brisbane and love it, but there is a lot to see on the trip down to Sydney and in Sydney itself. If everything is booked, it might be difficult to change dates anyway. It means they have something to look forward to when they return!

KayF- Her dates and accommodations are pretty set so she can’t change a lot. She is really looking forward to exploring that area too.

another shout out for Hyde Park inn in Sydney -it is on the direct line to the airport and very near the station

Thanks northie. I passed it on.