Pacific Coast Touring Route

Fast facts

• A scenic coastal drive from Sydney, north to Queensland
• Alternatively fly to Newcastle, Ballina Byron or the Gold Coast
• 940 km from start to finish

Why drive it

While the Pacific Coast Touring Route parallels the Pacific Highway, you couldn’t find two more different journeys. The Pacific Highway is the hare, galloping north from Sydney, while the Pacific Coast Touring Route is the tortoise - and if you want adventure from your travels, there are plenty of good reasons to bet on the tortoise.

To the east is the Great Dividing Range, a succession of rolling green pasturelands, moist, moss-bearded rainforests, sleepy villages of red-roofed houses and waterfalls that splash down from the escarpment in a silver arc. Along the coast is an almost continuous line of beaches that curve between rocky headlands, like an endless row of crescent moons.

The Pacific Coast Touring Route has many possible themes. “Water Wonderland” knits together the best of the best beaches and aquatic action. “The Good Life” ticks all the lifestyle boxes - food, wine, day spas and spectacular scenery, while “Action and Adventure” is a thrill a minute, an action-packed array of adrenalin sports in the rivers, surf and national parks along the way.

Along the way

Stop off at the Hunter Valley for a cellar door tasting of illustrious wines from full-bodied reds to outstanding semillons; taste Pokolbin’s famous handmade, washed rind and white mould cheese.

Take a detour along Bucketts Way through the historic villages of Stroud and Gloucester; exchange the Pacific Highway for dark tunnels of forest where creeks gush under rattling wooden bridges.

Stop at South West Rocks to relax in a sleepy coastal town at its barefoot best; visit Smoky Cape Lighthouse for ocean vistas and historic Trial Bay Gaol.

Turn west to Bellingen, explore this New Age village and continue up to Dorrigo National Park to experience the rainforests and waterfalls of this majestic World Heritage region.

Take in the wonders of the Coffs Coast – surf rafting on golden beaches, playing golf in a rainforest setting, diving at Solitary Islands Marine Park.

Take a stroll through gracious Grafton, set on the broad banks of the Clarence River; renowned for its jacaranda-lined streets, graceful architecture and excellent Grafton Regional Gallery.

Turn off at Bangalow and stop for lunch at a cool café; meander through green coastal pastures to Byron Bay, the coolly glamorous New Age star of the North Coast.

Don’t miss

• The vast Stockton Sand Dunes, north of Newcastle, for a quad bike or four-wheel-drive thrill.
• An early morning hot-air balloon flight over the vineyards of the Hunter Valley.
• Sea kayaking with dolphins at Port Stephens.
• Myall Lakes National Park where you can sail, swim and kayak on the lakes and lagoons
• The 70-metre long Skywalk, which extends over rainforest in Dorrigo National Park.
• Thursday Plantation at Ballina, Australia’s first commercial tea-tree plantation.
• Sunrise over the Pacific Ocean from Byron Bay Lighthouse.
• A side trip through the Tweed River Valley, famous for its dramatic World Heritage national parks.