You’ve got two or three weeks off, a car or caravan, and a map of Australia that suddenly looks enormous. Do you hug the coast, head inland to the red dirt, or try to squeeze in both? Most first-timers end up with a plan that’s too ambitious, too vague, or both. Here’s how to plan a road trip that mixes beaches and outback without spending the whole holiday staring at the dashboard.
Sort the Boring Stuff Before the Fun Stuff
It’s tempting to start with the highlights, but the trips that go smoothly are the ones where the practical things are sorted first.
Before you pick a single campsite:
- Get the vehicle serviced and tell the mechanic you’re heading off the beaten track.
- Check your towing setup if you’re taking a caravan: tyres, bearings, brakes and the coupling.
- Review your insurance. Standard car policies often stop at the tow ball, and many don’t cover what happens to the van on dirt roads or while it’s parked at a campsite.
That last point catches a lot of people out. If you’re towing, specialist caravan insurance is designed for the way Australians actually travel, including off-road tracks, storage between trips and the gear packed inside. Whichever insurer you choose, ask whether specialist caravan insurance covers your annexe, contents and any off-road use before you leave, not after something goes wrong.
Pick a Route That Mixes Coast and Country
The best Aussie road trips change scenery every few days. That keeps everyone interested and gives you natural rest points.
Example: Melbourne to Perth in about three weeks
- Days 1 to 3: Great Ocean Road. Take it slowly from Torquay past the Twelve Apostles, then head inland through the Grampians.
- Days 4 to 7: South Australia. Stop in Adelaide, then take in the Eyre Peninsula’s beaches and seafood towns.
- Days 8 to 12: The Nullarbor. Cross from Ceduna to Norseman along the Eyre Highway, with the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight along the way. Keep an eye out for the 90 Mile Straight and the holes of Nullarbor Links, the world’s longest golf course. Fun fact: you’re driving over hidden Nullarbor cave systems the whole time.
- Days 13 to 21: WA’s south coast. Esperance, Albany and the Margaret River region before rolling into Perth.
Allow extra days for rest. Driving long distances every day, especially while towing, is tiring and makes accidents more likely.
Prepare for the Outback Properly
Coastal drives are forgiving. The outback isn’t. Distances between fuel stops can be long, mobile coverage drops out, and weather can change your plans quickly. This piece on heading outback this summer is a good reminder that road closures and flooding can leave you waiting in small towns.
Pack for remote stretches:
- Plenty of extra water and some non-perishable food
- A satellite phone or personal locator beacon (PLB)
- A paper map as backup to your GPS
- Spare tyres, a compressor and basic tools
And remember the quarantine checkpoints at state borders on the Nullarbor. Use up your fresh fruit and veg before you reach them.
A Quick Example
Picture a family from Ballarat towing a caravan to Perth. They planned short driving days of 300 to 400km, booked a couple of caravan parks ahead in busy coastal towns, and left the Nullarbor stretch flexible. When a tyre blew near Cocklebiddy, they had a spare fitted within an hour. Because they’d built in buffer days, it didn’t ruin the schedule, and the kids still rate the whale-watching at the Head of Bight as the best part of the trip.
Pick Your Route and Work Backwards
Choose your start and end points, then count how many days you actually have. Divide the distance into driving days of no more than 400km, add a rest day for every three or four days on the road, and see what fits. Once the route works on paper, sort the car, the van and the cover, then start booking the fun parts.
