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Australia’s 7 Most Famous Roads
If you’re visiting Australia and you’re lucky enough to have a rental car to help get you around during your stay, then Australia is full of places you can visit. Sometimes, however, the journey is half the fun. Indeed, Australia is full of amazing roads, whether historic, scenic or just plain long. In this article, we’ll look at 10 of Australia’s most famous stretches.
Highway 1
Not exactly a road, but rather a network of highways that, up until 1974, was the only true national highway in Australia. A more efficient national highway system has been created since then, but H1 still remains, and it’s the only highway network that can truly claim to circumnavigate the country. With everything from multi-lane highways to sketchy gravel tracks, H1 is the longest national highway in the world at approximately 14,500 km and is an important part of Australia’s road history.
Princes Highway
Starting at the junction of Broadway and City Road in the heart of Sydney and looping its way along the NSW south coast, around the coast of Victoria and back up towards South Australia’s Port Augusta, the Princes Highway covers a distance of 1,941 km. As a means of getting from Sydney to Melbourne it’s quite a lengthy route, however it does provide access to the immaculate NSW south coast beaches.
Great Ocean Road
Undoubtedly Australia’s most famous scenic road, the Great Ocean Road runs along the south-eastern coast between the cities of Warrnambool and Torquay in Victoria. Built by returned soldiers after World War 1, it is the world’s largest war memorial, and provides views of the famous 12 Apostles rock formations. Because of its national significance, the Great Ocean Road was heritage listed in 2011.
Hume Highway
The stretch of road that links Australia’s two largest and most populous cities — Sydney and Melbourne — the Hume Highway is a crucial link for the transportation of goods across the country. At 812km in length it is significantly shorter than the Princes Highway (the coastal alternative for a Sydney to Melbourne road trip) and was first constructed under the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1819.
Sturt Highway
Crossing the NSW Murray-Riverina region, the Sturt Highway links Sydney with Adelaide, crossing the Victorian border briefly in its stretch. Named after famous explorer, Charles Sturt, it follows the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers for much of its length, passing through such towns as Mildura, Euston, Hay, Narrandera and Wagga Wagga. It is 598km in length.
Great Northern Highway
The longest Australian highway at 3,204 km, the Great Northern Highway links the Western Australian capital, Perth, with the northern WA town of Wyndham, stopping at major centres such as Port Hedland and Broome on the way. The Great Northern Road is an economically significant road as it accesses the resource-rich Kimberley and Pilbara regions, but it is also one of the most remote roads in the world, with some stretches lasting for hundreds of kilometres without a fuel stop.
Stuart Highway
Not to be confused with the Sturt Highway, it is the main north-south road through Australia’s red centre, starting in the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, passing through Alice Springs and finishing in Port Augusta in South Australia. It is famous as the route taken for the World Solar Car Challenge, while it is notorious as the road where English tourist Peter Falconio disappeared, suspected murdered. Many car hire companies have provided vehicles for tourists driving this amazing road.
