Melbourne to Perth - By Rental Car

(England)

Melbourne to Perth: the Nullarbor Plain

I'm hoping to rent a car and travel from Melbourne to Perth. I'm from the UK, and this is something I've always wanted to do. Do you have any tips/tricks/suggestions? How long do you think it will take? I'll be doing some of the trip alone - will this be a problem?

Response to:
Melbourne to Perth - By Rental Car

The trip will not be a problem at all. You are not leaving civilization. You are not leaving the bitumen at any stage. There's nothing to it. At the worst you may get a bit bored when driving across the Nullarbor Desert.

How long it takes is entirely up to you. You don't say what you hope to get out of the trip, what budget you are on or what style of travel you prefer (eg. camping or hotels). Do you have plenty of time available and want to see as much as possible? Or is this mainly about the experience of driving across the Nullarbor Plain?

It depends how much you want to see on either end of the trip. Both the area between Melbourne and Adelaide as well as the south of WA have a lot to offer.

I personally would take my time, and go the longer coastal route in WA: Esperance-Albany-Denmark-Margaret River... You could easily spend a week or two just in that corner. If you take the inland route you may want to have a look at Kalgoorlie and the Goldfields.

On the Melbourne/Adelaide side you have the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, Kangaroo Island... and that are just the most obvious attractions.

Pure driving time, if you take the shortest route (a good 3400 km) and only stop to eat and sleep, is about 3 days.

Photo by Sheilaellen