South Coast NSW Road Trip (Sydney to Batemans Bay) + FREE Map

After road tripping Australia for 5+ years, this is one route where the best bits are actually on the way to the destination!

Jervis Bay is the obvious highlight, and it deserves a big chunk of your time (4-5 days ideally). 

The small towns, beaches, and coastal walks on the way to Batemans Bay are what make this trip so special.

We spent 10 days doing this route and it was incredible. If you have no time limit, 14 days would be ideal!

So here’s the route we recommend, where we’d spend extra time, what we’d skip if you’re short on days, and all the stops that are actually worth pulling over for!

Road trip snapshot

• Return trip Sydney > Batemans Bay > Sydney:  600km, 8 hrs
• One-way trip Sydney > Batemans Bay > Canberra: 450km, 6 hrs
• Areas covered: Jervis Bay, Kiama, Gerringong, Berry, Milton, Mollymook, Ulladulla, Burrill Lake
• Best time: Autumn is our favourite, spring is great too (whale watching), summer is great weather but peak season
• Vehicle: 2WD is perfect for this trip 
• Pet-friendly: Absolutely! Especially around Mollymook/U
• Good for: Beach fiends, surfers, wine-lovers, hikers, families…  

Sydney to Batemans Bay itinerary 

We drove from Sydney straight to Kiama on day 1, using the Grand Pacific Drive as the scenic way down.

After 1 hour of driving, you’ll reach the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge, enjoying some of the most amazing ocean views you’ll ever see:

If the weather’s decent and you can find a parking spot, stop on the south side of the bridge and walk across it.

There’s also a popular lookout track up the hill, head there for that photo looking back over the bridge, but be careful, this track isn’t official and people enter here at their own risk.

Bulli Pass is worth a quick pull in too, as there are a few lookouts over the coastline and back towards Sea Cliff Bridge.

Wollongong, Royal National Park, Bulli, and Thirroul could easily fill 3 – 4 days. We skipped them on this itinerary for more time in Jervis and the National Parks, but definitely spend a couple of days there if you can.

Kiama 

• Duration: 1-3 days
• Highlights: Blowhole, epic 20-km coastal hike, natural pool, shopping, sunset lighthouse views, surfing, whale-watching

Kiama is one of the bigger tourist towns on this route, it’s absolutely stunning. Try to get there for sunset if you can, it’s the best way to finish your first day!

There are some cool things to do in the area:

• Kiama Blowhole and Lighthouse. The main stop, water shoots up to 25 metres! It’s also a great spot for sunset.
• Natural pool. Near the blowhole, it’s a great spot for a dip. It’s free so it can get crowded, best head there early.
• Surf Beach and Kendalls Beach, great for surfing if you’re keen!
• Kiama coastal walk. A 20km, one-way coastal hike from Minnamurra to Gerringong! Try the Kiama section if you don’t want to do the full thing. Here’s the full trail.

Where to stay in Kiama?

Accommodation can be a bit pricey, as it’s a tourist town. If you want to keep it budget-friendly, we’d actually recommend staying in Berry, a small town a 20-min drive away.

But if you’d rather stay in Kiama, here are some stays we’d look into: 

• Budget-friendly: Nova Kiama or Motel 617
• Hotels: Kiama Shores or Terralong Terrace Apartments  
• Holiday Parks: Surf Beach Holiday Park or BIG4 Easts Beach Holiday Park 

Gerringong

• Duration: Half-day
• Highlights: Scenic drive, epic surf and surf shop, great bakeries and coffee shops

This is a small town a 15-min drive south of Kiama. The drive into the town is gorgeous, with green hills rolling down towards the beach. 

It’s a beautiful place that’s quick to explore:

• Natural Necessity Surf Shop. The largest independent surf shop in Australia, has hundreds of boards on display! It’s worth a stop, even if you’re just having a browse.
• Bakeries and cafés, our favourites are Clay Coffee Collective and The Blue Goose.
• Werri Beach. The main beach in Gerringong, great for surfing, beach walks, or just stretching your legs by the water.

You don’t need a full day in Gerringong unless you’re surfing, but it’s definitely worth a stop to stretch your legs with a good coffee!

As for accommodation, we recommend staying either in Kiama or Berry, as there’s more variety. 

But if you really want to stay in Gerringong, the Park Ridge Retreat and the Mercure Gerringong Resort look like excellent options.

Berry – A cute old school town!

• Duration: 2-3 days
• Highlights: Excellent base for exploring the area, beautiful high tea vibes, great food and wine.

Berry is where we based ourselves to explore Shoalhaven Heads, Kiama, and Gerringong. 100% recommended!

It’s a small, quaint town surrounded by beautiful rolling green hills. It has a lovely old-school vibe and it’s a great change of pace from coastal scenery if you’re seeking more.

If you’re a foodie, you’ll LOVE this town. Here are some spots we recommend eating your way through:

• Berry Donut Van. You can’t say you went to Berry if you didn’t grab a donut here.
• Milkwood Bakery. Great for pastries, bread, coffee, or something to take on the road.
• The Berry Tea Shop. The scones with jam and cream were delicious, and you can pick your tea.
• For breakfast, the Berry General Store or The Garden Berry.
• For lunch or dinner, the Berry Hotel. Classic pub food and a proper local haunt. Can get packed so book a table if you can.
• For a luxury meal, Bangalay Dining. We wouldn’t usually book something like this, but we LOVED the experience. Delicious food with native Australian flavours and local produce. Worth the splurge.
• For wineries, check out Silos Estate, Mountain Ridge Wines, Two Figs Winery, or Coolangatta Estate in Shoalhaven Heads. 

There’s also plenty to do in Berry itself, such as:

• Queen Street. Berry’s main street, lined with heritage buildings, boutiques, and bakeries. Great spot for shopping.
• Apex Park. One of the many parks in town, absolutely lovely. There’s parking nearby and it’s great for kids.
• Berry Museum. A small local museum covering the history of the town.
• Seven Mile Beach. Near Shoalhaven Heads, it’s a huge stretch of coastline, perfect for a sunset with a picnic.
• Gerroa Headland. Near Seven Mile Beach, the lookout there is the perfect sunset spot, also great for whale-watching!

We recommend spending 2 days just for Berry. Add another 3-4 days if you want to use it as a base for Kiama, Gerringong, and Shoalhaven Heads as we did.

Where to stay in Berry?

We stayed at the Berry View Hotel, a Palm Springs-inspired spot. It was a great stay and it’s not as expensive as it might look! Has a lovely view over a field and is strategically located.

Here are other great places to stay in Berry and surroundings: 

• Hotels: The Berry View, check out the Berry Hotel. Looks really good and more budget-friendly.
• Campsites: Shoalhaven Heads Village or the Berry Showground Camping Area. 

Jervis Bay

• Duration: 4-5 days
• Highlights: Beaches, snorkelling, wildlife tours, breweries… everything!

Jervis Bay is the main reason to do this road trip! It’s a massive, beautiful area, which feels untouched with white sand beaches, lined with forest, wildlife tours, snorkelling spots, breweries, and more. 

You’ll want to spend at least 3-4 days here. We would have liked one week to be honest! Any less than that and you’ll be rushing it, as there’s heapsss to do in the area: 

• Murrays Beach. One of the best beaches in the area, with clear water, white sand, picnic tables, and a little cave towards the end. It’s family-friendly!
• Hyams Beach. A long, bright beach with very blue water. Worth spending a day there and setting up! Parking is limited though.
• Green Patch. A beautiful beach area inside Booderee National Park, known for kangaroos hanging around near the sand. 
• Black Rock, a.k.a Aussie Pipeline. A famous surf spot in Summercloud Bay. If the surf is on, it’s worth walking out to watch from above! 
• Kayaking Currambene Creek. The creek is calm, quiet, and sunset there was one of our favourite slower moments in Jervis Bay. We accessed this from Paperbark Camp.
• Snorkelling tours. We did an intro to free diving with Woebegone Dive, 100% recommend! They provided everything, and it’s beginner-friendly.  
• Stargazing at Moona Moona Beach. This was one of the coolest things we did! You go with an astronomer as they tell you all about the galaxies, stars, and planets while chilling on the beach. This is the one we did, loved it!
• Whale/dolphin swimming tour. Jervis Bay has humpback whales during migration season, usually June to July and September to November, and you can attempt to swim with them! (nature is nature so this all depends if they are there that day or not)

There’s also plenty of places to eat, these were some of our favourites: 

• The Gunyah. An iconic treetop restaurant just outside of town, with a focus on local produce, regional wines, and native Australian flavours. Very memorable.
• Jervis Bay Brewing Co. Good for a casual beer and shared plates after a beach day. We liked the pale ale, which seems to be the popular one.
• Flamin Galah Brewing Co. Another good brewery option around Jervis Bay, especially for lunch or a relaxed drink.
• Wildginger Huskisson. It’s Asian fusion, the cocktails were good, and the owners were lovely! More polished than a pub, but still great prices.
• Huskisson Hotel. The classic session spot in town, with views over the bay. We reckon it would be wild in summer, but it’s good for beers, pizza, and a good meal.

More Jervis Bay tours

Where to stay in Jervis Bay?

We stayed at Paperbark Camp, and it was one of the BEST places we stayed on the whole trip!

It’s a short drive from the bay, in a wooded area next to the river. Plus they have kayaks and free bikes for those who want to wander around! OBSESSED.

We highly recommend it to people who love nature, or for those who want a glamping experience. Check it out here. 

That said, Huskisson is the usual base, especially if you’re doing boat tours or want food and drinks nearby.

Here are some suggestions:

• Campsites: Jervis is famous for this! Look into the beach campsites at Green Patch or Bristol Point, or forest campsites like Hidden Creek. 
• Holiday Parks: Tasman Holiday Parks has a great location near the river, and Holiday Haven is right on the beach.
• Hotels: The Jervis Bay Motel and the Huskisson Hotel are great choices within walking distance to the beach.

Milton, Mollymook, Ulladulla & Burrill Lake

• Duration: 2-3 days
• Highlights: Dog-friendly beaches, wine-tastings, delicious food, family-friendly vibes.

These are a couple of coastal small towns all close together, so it’s easy to explore them in 2 days. 

If you’re after some relaxing time at the beach, this is it! There isn’t much to do, but that’s the charm:

• Beaches: Several dog-friendly beaches (Racecourse Beach and Dolphin Point) and some are off-leash! Also Mollymook beach is great for snorkelling, and we heard Rennies is good for surfing and fishing.
• Burrill Lake. A good quick stop if you want a change of pace from the beach. Go for a paddle and a picnic.
• Burrill Makers Co. A small local shop near Burrill Lake. Good for a quick browse if you like picking up something made locally instead of the usual souvenir stuff.
• Wander around town to see the history of the area!

There are a couple of great places to go for a meal too! These are our favourites: 

• Milk Haus. A café in a renovated barn, just out of Milton. The food was SO good, we had the Turkish eggs and the leek and bean soup, 100% recommended.
• Cupitt’s Estate. Delicious wines with Italian-inspired varieties, so it’s a nice change from the usual tastings in the area. It feels polished but still relaxed, and the prices were better than we expected for how nice the place is. Also dog-friendly!
• Hayden’s Pies. A famous pie stop with a huge selection. Chris loved it, Bec wasn’t fully sold, so you’ll have to be the tiebreaker for us! 
• The Fish Shop. The fish and chips were delicious! It’s in Burrill Lake.
• GWYLO. A good dinner option in Mollymook if you want cocktails and Asian-style food. 
• Rick Stein at Bannisters. The big splurge meal in Mollymook. It’s expensive, but one of the best meals we’ve had probably ever to be honest. The seafood was excellent. The lobster was absolutely the best we have eaten.

Where to stay in Milton?

We stayed at Cupitt’s Estate, it was a great experience. They have tiny homes on the vineyard, with outdoor baths on the deck looking over the fields.

We used it as a base to explore the area and it worked out pretty well! It’s definitely more of a treat stay, but it’s a beautiful spot to slow down for a night.

Here are more suggestions:

• Campsites: Burrill Pines and the Milton Showground.
• Holiday parks: The Holiday Haven Burrill Lake and Ingenia Holidays Ulladulla have epic locations, within walking distance to the beach. 
• Hotels: The Mollymook Seascape, the Allure on Ocean Motel, and Motel Molly are great options that won’t burn a hole in your pocket. 

Batemans Bay

• Duration: 2-3 days
• Highlights: Bigger town, kayaking, multi-day hiking, family-friendly.

Batemans Bay is right by the Clyde River, close to Murramarang National Park, and it’s surrounded by relaxing beaches, epic walking tracks, and pleeenty of delicious seafood spots.

It’s also a solid base from which to do the Murramarang South Coast Walk, a 34km multi-day hike along the National Park’s coast.

We only had time to do one section, from Pretty Beach to Depot Beach (13-14km) and it was amazing! Beautiful cliffs and beaches, it was easily one of our top 10 hikes in Australia.

 

If you want to do the whole thing, allow for 3-4 extra days – including 3 for the hike, and 1 for resting afterwards lol. Here’s a 3-day tour if you don’t want to DIY it. 

Apart from this hike, there’s plenty to do around Batemans Bay:

• Depot Beach. A small area with an epic beach for fishing and swimming, a lovely campsite with powered sites, and a couple of walking tracks nearby. 
• Pebbly Beach. Famous for kangaroos hanging around near the beach! It’s a beautiful spot, but the water can be rough, so go in only if you’re a confident swimmer. 
• South Durras Beach. A beautiful, dog-friendly beach a short drive from town. 
• Oyster bar hopping. Batemans Bay is known for them, and there’s heaps of oyster bars in town. There’s even an oyster kayak tour! We haven’t done it, but it looks really interesting. 
• Observation Point. A lookout with epic views over the beach, Snapper Island, and the Tollgate Islands on a good weather day. 
• Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden. A massive garden with native plants, absolutely beautiful, great for kids, and free entry! Not dog-friendly, though.

There also plenty of places to eat, especially if you’re keen on seafood:

• Innes Boatshed. The Innes family has been catching and serving local seafood for generations! Having fish and chips here is a must.
• JJ’s at the Marina. Waterfront spot with local and regional produce, share plates, cocktails, and a nice wine list. 
• Starfish. Another waterfront spot with seafood, pizzas, pastas, cocktails, and live music. Get there around sunset if you can, great views!
• Se7en Cafe by the Sea. Great spot for brekky, they do all-day brunch. Plus they open at 6:30 am (last time we checked) which is perfect if you’re tackling the road early.

Where to stay in Batemans Bay?

We stayed at Pebbly Beach Escape, which is a STUNNING off grid escape, a bit outside of town, near Murramarang National Park. 

Honestly a dream! You can see why weddings are held here. We stayed there after hiking part of the Murramarang South Coast Walk and loved it. It’s an epic location, with cabins on the beach, with beautiful views, but it’s definitely the more luxury option than the National Park run cabins. 

It’s a great pick if you want to end the road trip somewhere special.

The budget-friendly alternative in this area is the Depot Beach Campground, so you don’t have to go fancy to stay around this coastline!

If you’d rather stay closer to town, here are some suggestions: 

• Campsites: The best options are in nearby National Parks and for self-sufficient campers – North Head campground for beach lovers, and the Beach campground if you’d rather stay near the river (ironic, we know).
• Holiday parks: The NRMA Murramarang has everything from campsites to villas, all within walking distance to the beach.
• Hotels: The Araluen Motor Lodge and the Quays Hotel are solid budget-friendly options. While the Corrigans Cove Resort and the Batemans Bay Marina Resort are more luxury-style. 

Driving back to Sydney

• Distance: 280km
• Duration: ~4hrs

From Batemans Bay, it’s around 4 hours of driving back to Sydney, depending on traffic and how many stops you make.

You can drive it in one hit, but it’s also a good chance to check out any places you skipped on the way down.

All these spots work as easy detours on the way back, so don’t stress if you couldn’t fit everything in on the way south:

• Scarborough
• Woolongong
• Kiama
• Gerringong
• Berry
• Milton
• Mollymook
• Burrill Lake

We’d just pick 1 or 2 of these strategically so they work as pit stops, as it’s still a decent drive, and Sydney traffic can be a bit crap once you get close.

Planning your road trip

Best time to visit

We recommend really any season for this road trip, autumn was very comfortable. We had a week of sunshine and then the following week was grey. But anywhere from March to May is recommended. You still get great beach weather, but it’s not as hectic as peak summer.

Spring is also great, as it’s whale migration season!

Summer is obviously amazing for beach weather, but it gets very busy. Parking around popular coastal towns (Hyams Beach, Kiama, etc) can be a bit of a punishment, and accommodation prices jump.

Winter can still be worth it if you’re more into walks, food, cosy stays, and whale watching than swimming. Just bring layers!

Renting a car or caravan 

We’d recommend a campervan if you want the most flexibility on this road trip.

There are some epic campgrounds along the route, especially in Jervis Bay and Murramarang National Park. 

It might be the cheaper option vs renting a car, but double-check that if you’re budget-conscious.

Campervan prices vary heaps depending on the season and setup. Budget vans can start quite low in the off-season, but bigger motorhomes can get expensive fast in peak periods. 

If we were renting a campervan, we’d look at:

• JUCY. Good mid-range campervans and motorhomes, with some options that have a toilet and shower.
• Travellers Autobarn. More budget-friendly and simple, better for shorter road trips if you don’t need anything fancy. 
• Star RV. More comfortable motorhomes, better if you want the “home on wheels” setup. 

A normal car rental is usually the cheapest option upfront, and it makes sense if you want to stay in hotels, glamping stays, or cabins as we did on this trip.

Car hire prices in Sydney vary a LOT, but they often start from around $35-$50/day, depending on the vehicle.

If we were renting a car, we’d compare prices on Discover Cars or Booking Car Rentals and just pick the best deal for the dates! 

Whatever you end up renting, just check the fine print if you drive onto unsealed national park roads or campground access roads! Some operators don’t allow this.

FREE Map of this Sydney to Jervis Bay road trip

Sort these out before your road trip!

Now that you’ve got your route sorted, it’s time to lock in the practical stuff! 

Don’t leave this to the last minute, car hires, hotels, and some campsites book out fast, especially in peak season.

Here are our go-to tools and essentials to make your road trip easy and affordable:

• Accommodation: Booking has loads of options and Airbnb is worth a look too.
• Caravan rentals: Look into JUCY, Travellers Autobarn, and/or Star RV.
• Car rentals: Compare Discover Cars and Booking’s car rental and grab the best deal on your dates.
• Tours: Browse the best tours in Jervis Bay here.