Travel Itinerary - Australia for 1 week NSW Trip

A one-week Sydney Travel Option for a great New South Wales Holiday

Feb 8, 2009

This 1 week Australian travel itinerary for NSW allows tourists to see Tamworth, Armidale, the Waterfall Way, great beaches- and enjoy Hunter Valley tours to wineries.

For overseas visitors (Or Sydney-siders) here is a one-week travel itinerary just in New South Wales (NSW). The routes are excellent sealed roads, so no off-road vehicle is required. All overnight stops have a wide range of affordable accommodation. Each day is a perfectly manageable drive with time for sightseeing and by limiting themselves to NSW travel, tourists won't waste precious time flying from one tourist hotspot to another.

One week itinerary - The Sydney Travel Option

Depart Sydney on Highway 1 north to Maitland, detour to quaint colonial town of Morpeth for lunch. Return to highway and continue north to Branxton and stay in the Hunter Valley overnight. Winecountry.com lists 150 places for accommodation from resorts to Bed and Breakfasts and camping grounds.

The Hunter Valley is a lush area of vineyards – some of Australia’s finest wines are grown here. Paradoxically, it is also a strong coal mining centre. Do a cellar door tour for free wine tasting and buy a few bottles for the trip. The colourful 60 acre Hunter Valley Gardens are quite a surprise, too.

Stay either at superb winery accommodation or at a hotel or motel in the towns of Cessnock.

Visit the Wine Country Information Centre, Cessnock for maps of the wineries and prowl through the byways of the Hunter Valley, visit some more vineyards, making your way through delightful green, rolling farmlands to Denman. Cut back to the New England Highway at the mining town of Muswellbrook and spend the night at ‘the horse capital of Australia’, Scone.

Scone is surrounded by horse studs and holds the 2 week Horse Festival every year in early May. Experience a working farm and local wildlife by booking a farm stay or stay at a Scone motel.

Travel to Tamworth ‘Country Music Capital’, Australia’s Nashville, where two weeks are devoted to the Country Music Festival every January. Be warned that, although this is a large town, accommodation is usually booked out in January. Drive on an hour to historic Uralla, where bushranger Captain Thunderbolt was killed.

Another ½ hour will see the visitor entering the university town of Armidale. It can snow lightly in winter in Armidale, so be prepared for unexpected cold weather in winter. There are plenty of motels and Bed and Breakfasts in Armidale. Book in for two nights. Try to do a tour of Saumarez Homestead, the 30 room Edwardian mansion of one of the earliest settlers. (it is closed between 15 June and 31 August)

Book on arrival for the free Armidale heritage bus tour, which leaves from the Tourist Information Centre each morning. Passengers will see the Regional Art Museum, Aboriginal Keeping Place, the Railway Museum and the University of New England, including another ex-homestead, Boolamimba. Enjoy a cappuccino – Armidale is a very cosmopolitan town with excellent coffee shops.

In the afternoon, visit one or two of the magnificent gorges and waterfalls within an hour of Armidale – Gara Gorge, Dangar Falls and Oxley Falls are close.

Head for Coffs Harbour the coast on the Waterfall Way, checking out Wollomombi Falls, and Ebor Falls before stopping for lunch at Dorrigo (a typical country town) or Bellingen , 14 km further, which has been claimed by alternative lifestylers. The character of the two towns couldn’t be more different.

The major holiday centre of Coffs Harbour is an easy 2 ½ hours drive from Armidale. Here you can sample the locally-grown bananas ((gold inside and a strong, slightly tart flavour), visit the porpoise pool or swim at the beaches. There is a wealth of accommodation options at Coffs, or overnight at one of delightful small seaside towns such as Urunga, Sawtell or Nambucca Heads. Coffs Harbour is a great venue for 2 hour whale watching cruises.

A relatively long run down the coast today. Stop at Port Macquarie for lunch and pause in any of the dozen small seaside towns along the way – South West Rocks, Crescent Head Taree, or Old Bar, perhaps. Stay overnight at the twin towns of Forster-Tuncurry on beautiful Wallis Lake. Visit the Great Lakes Visitors Centre for details of local attractions that include a vintage car collection, the Seal Rocks lighthouse and some nice beaches.

Heading for Sydney along more beautiful coastline. Several tidal lakes make incursions from the ocean – stop and enjoy Myall Lakes, try the local oysters from Port Stevens at Hawks Nest or Nelson Bay, see Lake Macquarie, Tuggerah Lake, travelling the coastal road to Gosford. At this point rejoin the expressway and tootle into Sydney.]

This short itinerary gives the NSW visitor a taste of the Hunter Valley, some country towns , Armidale's wild gorge country and a magnificent coastal strip. The circuit has been tried and tested. The visitor will be cursing that they can’t spend a week in each location.

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