hero media

Australia’s best road trips ranked by you

Eleanor Edström Eleanor Edström
From knotted forests and windswept coastlines to postcard-plucked gorges, our 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards have revealed Australia’s most revered road trips.

You’ve got the playlist, the snacks and the company. The tank is full and your out-of-office is on. There’s just one problem: in a country where every road seems to end in a jaw-drop moment – rainforest, reef or red dirt horizon – how do you choose just one?

The answer: take it from those who’ve done it before. We asked you (our readers) to vote for your favourite Aussie road trips in our 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. From winding coastal icons to wild outback adventures, these are Australia’s most well-loved journeys on four wheels.

Winner: Great Ocean Road , Vic

the Twelve Apostles
Explore the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road. (Image: Visit Victoria / Kirk Richards)

A stranger to few but a favourite of many, Victoria’s Great Ocean Road came out as the top road trip in Australia – and for good reason. This dreamy stretch of coastline snakes 243 kilometres from the surfing hotspot of Torquay to the quaint town of Allansford. In between, you’ll pass the spectacular limestone stacks known as the Twelve Apostles, the fascinating shipwreck site of Loch Ard Gorge and Apollo Bay, sandwiched between the Southern Ocean and the foothills of the Otways.

Runners-up: Australia’s best road trips

Tasmania/Lutruwita

Cradle mountain
Add Cradle Mountain to your Tassie road trip itinerary. (Image: Tourism Tasmania / Luke O’Brien)

Tasmania/Lutruwita is another driving destination worth filling the tank for. Whether you’re steering from Hobart to Bruny Island or Launceston to Cradle Mountain, the Apple Isle has a slew of gorgeous road trips waiting to embrace you in a warm southerly hug. Unsure where to start? This seven-day Tasmania road itinerary promises plenty of magical moments, blending foodie delights, historic intrigue and breathtaking national parks in one wondrous week.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

AI Prompt

Gibb River Road, WA

Bell Gorge western australia
Make a pit stop at Bell Gorge. (Image: Tourism Western Australia)

If striking water holes, vast dirt roads and working cattle stations sound like your idea of an adventure, Gibb River Road is worth adding to your radar. One of Australia’s best road trips, the 660-kilometre drive in Western Australia’s Kimberley traverses the traditional lands of many Aboriginal people, providing travellers with an opportunity to better appreciate the region’s ancestral heritage. This 11-day itinerary dives into all the highlights – crocodiles included.

Cairns to Port Douglas, Qld

Great Barrier Reef Drive is one of Australia's best road trips
The Great Barrier Reef Drive is worthy of a postcard. (Image: Reuben Nutt)

Part of the longer 140-kilometre Great Barrier Reef Drive, this bite-sized tropical journey clocks in at just over an hour – if you manage to resist all the scenic stops (good luck with that). Few coastal drives rival its beauty; think gin-clear waters and palm-fringed beaches opening out to the Coral Sea. Throw your swimmers and walking shoes in the boot (spontaneity is the dress code here) and pull over at the Rex Lookout for knockout views back towards Cairns.  And if you’re in no rush to head back, keep cruising to Cape Tribulation (approximately two more hours north of Port Douglas), where you can explore the oldest living rainforest in the world and cool off in the myriad creeks and swimming holes.

East Coast of Australia

Yeppoon, Queensland road trip
Hit the road in Yeppoon, Queensland. (Image: Reuben Nutt)

If ambition and time are no issue, why not tackle a larger stretch of road? Spanning the length of Queensland down to New South Wales, the East Coast appears on many a bucket list and has been recognised by our readers as one of Australia’s best road trips. Start at Airlie Beach or Cape Tribulation and spend some time snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, then make a city stop in Brisbane, cruise through the breezy beach town of Byron Bay and roam the Tweed hinterland. Before making it down to Sydney (or continuing further to the gorgeous NSW South Coast), tick off a coastal walk in Coffs Harbour and spot dolphins in Port Stephens.

Depending on where you choose to start and finish, the drive will take between four to six weeks at a relaxed paced, or can be squeezed into two if you’re keen to hit the highlights. Of course, there’s always the option to complete smaller sections to fit your time frame.

 

Want to see more stories from Australian Traveller in your Google search results?

  1. Click here to set Australian Traveller as a preferred source.
  2. Tick the box next to "Australian Traveller". That's it.
Eleanor Edström
Eleanor Edström is Australian Traveller’s Associate Editor. Previously a staff writer at Signature Luxury Travel & Style and Vacations & Travel magazines, she's a curious wordsmith with a penchant for conservation, adventure, the arts and design. She discovered her knack for storytelling much earlier, however – penning mermaid sagas in glitter ink at age seven. Proof that her spelling has since improved, she holds an honours degree in English and philosophy, and a French diploma from the University of Sydney. Off duty, you’ll find her pirouetting between Pilates and ballet classes, or testing her friends’ patience with increasingly obscure vocabulary.
View profile and articles
Longitude 131, NT
Australia

The Aussie hotels missing from Condé Nast’s Triple Crown Hotels list

Condé Nast has released a new Triple Crown Hotels list, but there are some gaping omissions.

Read more
The Pickers Hut in Adelaide Hills, SA
Australia

13 weekends worth of winter breaks around Australia

Here’s how you can beat (or embrace) the winter blues this season.

Read more
Still got your COVID Virgin travel credit? It’s about to expire
Australia

Still holding onto your COVID Virgin travel credit? It’s about to expire

Here's how to check, redeem and make the most of your Virgin travel credits before they’re gone for good.

Read more
Winter Wonderlights in Ballarat, Vic
Australia

The most exciting winter festivals around Australia

Combat the cold with the coolest winter festivals in Australia.

Read more
hero media

The iconic Victorian beach where true Aussie surf culture was born

    Craig Tansley Craig Tansley
    Continue
    Torquay’s Bells Beach is considered one of the best surf beaches in the world.

    It’d be easy to think Australian surf culture was born around the right-hand point breaks of the Gold Coast and Byron Bay. These regions seem the epitome of how the world views Aussie surfers – bronzed (or burnt), languishing in warm water and sunshine. The reality is a lot different.

    The rise of surf culture along Victoria’s coastline

    surfers at Bells Beach in Australia
    Surfers stand on the shore at Bells Beach, where the country’s biggest surfing competition is held each year. (Image: Getty/Filed Image)

    True Aussie surf culture was born on the chilly waves of Victoria’s winters, when huge swells from the Great Southern Ocean hit cliff-lined beaches along the Great Ocean Road. These beaches were the ultimate proving ground – surfers from all over Australia arrived in panel vans and VWs to do battle with the biggest waves they could find.

    huge swells from the Great Southern Ocean at Bells Beach
    Surfers take advantage of the huge swells from the Great Southern Ocean at Bells Beach. (Image: Tourism Australia/Cameron Murray)

    There are surf breaks all along this very picturesque coast – but those around Torquay were most revered. The ultimate test of a surfer’s ability – and durability – however, was Bells Beach: Australia’s answer to Hawai‘i’s Pipeline. Just beyond, the breaks at Jan Juc and Winkipop beckoned.

    an aerial view of surfers at Bells Beach
    Hit the waves along the picturesque coast. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Torquay became surfing’s Silicon Valley: HQ for the entire Australian surf culture revolution. Four young locals worked out of their backyards in Torquay to create two of the world’s biggest surf labels – Rip Curl and Quiksilver, which soon became the region’s biggest employers.

    surfers out at Bells Beach
    Surfers out at Bells Beach, Victoria’s most famous beach. (Image: Tourism Australia/Cameron Murray)

    Rip Curl started sponsoring the Bells Beach Pro in 1973 – and have done ever since. It’s been going since 1962 – making it the world’s longest continually run surfing contest. Held every Easter, it’s part of the world surfing tour. Spectators line its 30-metre-high cliffs to watch the world’s best take on enormous waves – it’s the ultimate coliseum for the sport and has inspired generations of Aussie surfers to join the list of heroes whose names are on its iconic bell.

    Follow the waves through Victoria’s surfing heartland

    Australian National Surfing Museum, Torquay
    The Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Just behind Torquay’s main drag, you can see all that history on display at the world’s best surf museum – the Australian National Surfing Museum. Here you can take your time absorbing the 100-year-or-so history of Australian surfing and check out the 150-strong surfboard collection.

    surfboards on display at Australian National Surfing Museum
    The museum holds surfing memorabilia, including a room dedicated to the history of boards. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    But classic Aussie surf culture can be observed in everyday life all over the Great Ocean Road and Torquay. Surfing dictates life here; no work is done until the big swells have come and gone. Just being here provides a window into 60-odd years of rebellion against convention; for no-one likes nine-to-five living on the Great Ocean Road.

    surfing memorabilia at Australian National Surfing Museum
    The varied displays celebrate the Bells Beach competition, surfing legends and Aussie surf culture. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    There’s less panel vans and VW Beetles these days, but surf culture still rules life. Surfers run this coast; you’re better off keeping out of their way when they’re running down past you to face the biggest swells – then hear them swap stories at cafes, restaurants and bars all around you.

    surfing at Bells Beach
    The beach near Torquay is Australia’s answer to Hawai‘i’s Pipeline. (Image: Visit Victoria/William Watt)