Australia’s vast wilderness, relieved by a handful of vibrant modern metropolises, is one of the world’s great travel destinations, containing an immense diversity of cultures and climates, tastes and terrain for wanderers to explore.
140 mile long beaches and 500 national parks. Endless reef on all sides, and over two and a half million square miles of outback. Australia is huge. You’d be forgiven for thinking the only way to see it is on a backpacking odyssey stretching anywhere between a few months and a few years.
If you’ve got a set time frame to work with, your best bet for doing and seeing exactly what you want in Australia is definitely by hiring your own camper. (Psst – its hella cheap, too).
That’s why we thought we’d put together this ultimate itinerary that’ll suit roadtrippers who are heading Down Under for a few weeks of holiday, or are perhaps taking time off from the ‘work’ part of their year-long working holiday to see some of the country.
Now get ready for the most amazing road trip of your life.
Best Ways to Travel the East Coast
Koalified to drive? Good. You can rent a car or we recommend renting a camper van for the ultimate road trip adventure. View our Australia road trip tips if it will be your first time driving Down Under. If you don’t fancy driving the East coast yourself, you could book a tour or travel by bus.
Several local and international travel operators offer trips with weekly departures, view gap year tours to find your ideal company. Another option is to travel on a service like the Greyhound which connects most towns and cities on the East coast.
Australia’s East Coast 2 Week Itinerary
If you want to see the highlights of Australia’s east coast we recommend starting in Sydney where you’ll be able to pick up a trusty camper or find your transport.
This two-week itinerary winds its way up the country’s east coast, taking in cities such Brisbane, sojourning in the sun-drenched Whitsunday Islands, and finishing in the great wild worlds of reef and rainforest that surround and enclose the city of Cairns. This is an unforgettable trip, encompassing almost 3000 km and some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.
Two weeks might feel rushed, ideally 3/4 weeks is perfect. You can easily adapt this route, or even travel in reverse from Cairns south to Sydney. If you have more time you will really be able to go at a steady pace and see all the highlights in a relaxing trip stopping for longer in places you like.
Sydney
First stop, follow the example of the early colonists and drop into Sydney, built on the site of the first British settlement in Australia.
Sydney was originally established as a penal colony, but is situated in an ideal location for a city – on the hills surrounding one of the world’s largest natural harbours. This harbour is now an icon itself, framing a skyline composed of iconic structures including the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The shoreline where the city meets the sea is defined by a string of famous beaches, such as Manly Beach, which is one of the world’s great casual surfing destinations. Some travelers adore the Sydney SEALIFE Aquarium, with 12,000 animal inhabitants and exhibitions on the marine life in Sydney Harbour, in other areas around Australia’s coast, and across the southern oceans.
Its recommend spending a few days sightseeing in Sydney before starting your east coast adventure. See the main attractions and also do some day trips from Sydney which are amazing. Now let’s start.
Day 1:
Set off from Sydney and drive six hours north to Coffs Harbour, a chilled out coastal town famous for its ‘big banana’ – what’s not to love? Be sure to stop off on Port Stephen’s amazing beach for a lunchtime barbie, halfway.
Day 2-3:
It’s just a three hour drive up the coast from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay. You may want to spend an extra day in Byron, getting a load of the awesome nightlife and surfing (or just the fit surfers).
Day 4:
Just an hour from Byron Bay are Gold Coast’s beautiful beaches of Surfer’s Paradise and Burleigh Heads. Hit them via a whizz around Springbrook National Park’s amazing plunge pools, waterfalls and rock formations – an hour west of the coast.
From Sydney, wind your way north up Australia’s east coast and – a short 900km later – you’ll reach the sun-dazzled city of the Gold Coast. This is one of Australia’s most alive cities, balancing the fast-paced nightlife and sky-scraping skyline, with a shoreline of white-sand beaches and a hinterland of dense and wild rainforest. Experience the town’s coastal life at Burleigh Heads, a sheltered and secluded beach with protected waters perfect for swimming, and a more turbulent headland area swarming with surfers. Inland of the Gold Coast lies a vast terrain of rolling forest-covered hills. This can be explored in Springbrook National Park, an ancient land of crashing waterfalls, huge trees, and verdant rainforest which is home to a fantastically diverse ecosystem of plants and animals.
Days 5/6:
After a day at the beach, it’s another short drive to Brisbane, where you can wander around the city or spend the night soaking up the cosmopolitan city’s bar scene. This is one of the best cities to see in Australia.
Drive a couple more hours north of the Gold Coast and you’ll reach Brisbane, which is rapidly becoming one of Australia’s hippest and most desirable cities. It has a chilled-out, tolerant vibe and a gorgeous subtropical climate, which translates into a great café culture and a friendly, open attitude which sees life unfold on the streets instead of behind closed doors.
A birdseye perspective on Australia’s up-and-coming mid-coast capital can be gained from The Wheel of Brisbane, with particularly memorable views at night. Get to know some of Australia’s unique local fauna – koalas, platypuses, kangaroos, Tasmanian Devils, that kind of thing – at the fabulous Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, one of the country’s best zoos. And drink down the open-armed ambience of this warm and cultured city in the South Bank Parklands, a precinct that encompasses much that is great about Brisbane: the outdoor gardens and beaches of the Parklands; the cosmopolitan bars and restaurants of Little Stanley; and the galleries and music venues that speckle neighboring Grey Street.
Day 7
It’s time to hit the Sunshine Coast! Set off early in order to give yourself as much time as possible to soak up some sun as you drive north. We recommend you spend most of your day in Noosa, which is bang in between Brissy and your next overnight stop, Rainbow Beach.
Day 8 & 9:
Get perfecting your new profile picture pose, and jump off the mainland to explore Fraser Island.
Fraser Island, a few hours north of Brisbane, is the world’s largest sand island and a place of phenomenal natural beauty. A shoreline of soft sand beaches flanks an interior of winding creeks, freshwater lakes and rainforest growing out of island’s sandy floor. All this is guarded by stunning colored cliffs, which rise bright and jagged above the glimmering green-blue Pacific.
The entire island is contained in Great Sandy National Park, and one of its most unique and representative features is Lake McKenzie, a sapphire blue lake raised above the regional water table and filled with water so pure it is unsuitable for many species.
Six kilometers from Lake McKenzie is Kingfisher Bay Resort, the island’s biggest provider of accommodation which has, thankfully, been built to blend with rather than dominate the surrounding natural world. Knowledgeable tours to Fraser Island’s remoter reaches are offered by local companies like Tasman Ventures.
Day 10:
It’s a long drive from Rainbow Beach to Airlie today – we recommend setting off early, switching drivers halfway through and stopping for regular rest breaks… trust us, the view of the Whitsunday islands that greets you as you reach town will be worth it.
Day 10-11:
Set sail from Airlie Beach to the amazing Whitsunday Islands on an overnight cruise – although technically not on land, they’re still the highlight of anyone’s east coast roadie.
The Whitsundays are an archipelago of 74 islands off Australia’s east coast, a collection of sand-ringed green gems dotting the sun-glazed surface of the Pacific Ocean. The launching point into this pristine natural world is the small town of Airlie Beach, perched on the mainland, a fun and convenient place to base yourself for a few days exploration of the islands themselves. Among the most memorable sights in the Whitsundays is Whitehaven Beach, the quintessential Australian beach which borders a green jungle interior with vivid white silica sand that runs and curves alongside crystal-blue seawater.
If you rent your own boat, you can base it at Abel Point Marina and explore the rest of the islands from there; or there are plenty of charter and boat tour companies with which to roam the pristine network of islands, and discover your own hidden coves and tranquil spaces.
Days 12 & 13:
Drive north to Mission Beach via Townsville. Mission Beach may have you glued, so choose to spend the whole of Day 13 here too.
Day 14:
Continue up the coast and reach Cairns, a small city in the far north of Queensland, around 2700 km from this itinerary’s starting point in Sydney. Cairns is a friendly and relaxed city surrounded by a fabulous wild world, both on land and in water.
The city is the best gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for 2000 km along Australia’s northern coast. Kaleidoscopic coral, visible from space, is home to an immense diversity of marine life – fish, molluscs, birds, sea snakes, turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks, rays – and an entire underwater topography of seagrass, mangrove, canyons, plateaus and deep oceanic gulfs. This can be explored by boat, snorkelling or for the ultimate adventure consider going scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
Back on land, just north of Cairns is another fantastical stretch of uninhibited biodiversity – the Daintree Rainforest. Daintree takes up only 0.2% of the landmass of Australia but contains 30% of the country’s frog, marsupial and reptile species, as well as 20% of the country’s bird species. The reef and rainforest around Cairns, thriving with the life that makes Australia so unique, is the ideal place to take one last deep draught of this unforgettable natural world.
There are lots of lively hostels in Cairns and party bars popular with backpackers. Atherton’s waterfalls are a great day trip.
Plan a Trip to Australia’s East Coast
Are you keen to discover the highlights of Australia’s beautiful east coast? Or stay longer? Search our Australia gap year packages or working holidays.