[matroishka]

hi all, we are driving from melbourne to brisbane for xmas, not sure which route to take. I know it's a long drive esp. with kids. Any advice would be great. TIA

[Stellajoy]

I would go inland, there are roadworks all along the pacific hwy, especially around byron bay and coffs

[SarahM72]

I would go inland, there are roadworks all along the pacific hwy, especially around byron bay and coffs

True, but the Pacific Highway is much straighter and shorter, so even with roadworks does tend to take less time (I think so anyway).

[Rainbow Brite]

I second going inland. The roads are great and you can count on not getting caught up in the hideous Pacific Hwy traffic.

[annasue]

I'm driving from Tamworth NSW to St Arnaud Vic. I'm going inland.

[wildflowers]

I find the inland way has a lot of semi trailers who decide to tail gate and pass on double lines.
We drove from Melbourne, stayed in Sydney at Parramatta for the night. Then left early morning and went up the Pacific Highway and found it really easy.
I do like either way, they both have boring parts but the Pacific Hwy to me seems to have a few more interesting places to stop when tavelling with children.

[casime]

Inland. If you're doing it in two days, stop in Forbes overnight. If you want to make a real trip of it, stop in Dubbo and do the zoo.

Don't forget to stop at the dog on the tuckerbox for photo opportunities if you're taking your pets with you lol!

[Mianta]

I live in Northern NSW and have done that drive between Sydney to Brisbane many times. I think the drive up the Pacific Highway is far better and a lot of the roadworks are really not that disruptive. You just have to slow down a bit for maybe a kilometre or so each time.

We did the drive up here from Sydney in July and I think the road works we came across were at Bulahdelah, a bit near Kempsey, just after Coffs Harbour and then a little bit around the Byron Bay area. We were able to by pass Ballina completely, which takes about fifteen to twenty minutes off the trip.There may also be a bit near Pottsville but totally not disruptive. The drive was quicker compared to other drives we have had up and down the coast. We have done the drive every year since around 2008, pretty much the whole time, there has been roadworks going on.

[His Boy Elroy]

I'd go inland aswell.

If you don't blink, you will see the big sheep and potato statue in Guyra and you could even stop and have your photo taken with it...............now there's something to look forward to

Seriously though, perhaps you could go inland on the way up and down the coast on the way back or vice versa...........then you can make a more informed decision next Christmas?????

[1975ladybug]

How long are you planning on taking? That would be the first question,

And where to stay overnight, especially that time of the year.

I drive from Sydney to the northern rivers ( NSW) a couple of times a year, just me and ds, we are past hornsby and on the freeway north before 4pm or traffic is horrid. We stop at the service centre at the end of the freeway that has a great play area, then taree for the night at a motel that does a great room service -good steak, then through the next day.

If you are travelling around the major public holiday there will be traffic, google map it and work out where you can stay and what to see on the way with the kids, then it will go quicker and the kid wont be are we there yet rather keeping their eyes out for what they will see next.