14 Day Brisbane to Uluru Road Trip

Sightseeing 1: Surfers Paradise Beach

Day 1 is an easy start to your road trip, with an hour’s driving time taking you to the Gold Coast. One of the most popular destinations here is Surfers Paradise Beach, which is renowned for its beautiful views and golden sand beaches. This is also a great spot for swimming and surfing, and when you’re ready to wind down for the day, a plethora of restaurants and bars serving great food awaits.

Sightseeing 2: SkyPoint Climb

For the more adventurous road tripper, SkyPoint Climb offers an adrenalin-pumping activity to round off the first day of your road trip. Safety harnesses allow you to climb to the very top of the iconic Q1 building, which stands 270 metres above sea level and offers amazing 360º views of the Gold Coast. There are a few packages to choose from if you really want to make the experience as special as possible, including a twilight climb that offers an unbeatable view of the sun setting over the ocean.

Sightseeing 1: Cape Byron Lighthouse

Another short day on the road, Day 2 takes you from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay. One of the most awe-inspiring places to visit as you reach your destination is Cape Byron Lighthouse, which offers amazing views across the Pacific Ocean. It’s also one of the area’s most historic sights and was constructed in 1899 to protect ships as they journeyed along this hazardous stretch of the coast. This is a great spot for any history lover to visit, and you can also book a 20-minute tour that takes you inside the lighthouse itself.

Sightseeing 2: Stone & Wood Brewery Byron Bay

The perfect place for any beer-lover to stop and visit, Stone & Wood Brewery Byron Bay offers a tour that shows you how each delicious beer is brewed. There’s also a tasting room experience where you’re able to sample loads of different beers, and once you’re done with that, the large beer garden offers a place to relax as day two of your road trip comes to an end. Dogs are also welcome here, so it’s a great choice if you’re travelling with a canine companion!

Sightseeing 1: Muttonbird Island

Day 3 sees you spending the most time on the road so far, and once you reach Coffs Harbour, we highly recommend a visit to Muttonbird Island. Here, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the area’s Aboriginal heritage while taking in views of the Solitary Islands. This is also a nature reserve, so it’s ideal if you’d like to spend the afternoon spotting local birdlife, and if you’re really lucky, you may even be able to spot whales splashing in and out of the surrounding ocean.

Sightseeing 2: Coffs Harbour Butterfly House

Another fantastic stop for animal lovers, Coffs Harbour Butterfly House provides the opportunity to walk through a huge indoor enclosure filled with hundreds of native Australian butterflies. This is also a great place to visit if you’re a fan of dinosaurs, as there are life-sized dinosaur presentations every day, as well as four daily “baby dinosaur” experiences. This makes it another ideal stop for family days out.

Sightseeing 1: Tamworth Regional Playground

You’ll be spending quite a bit of time on the road as you hit day four of your Brisbane to Uluru road trip, and if you’re travelling with kids, you’ll likely need them to burn off some energy! The Tamworth Regional Playground is the ideal place for this, and it offers 11 different themed play areas for kids to explore and tear through. There’s also a choice for all ages, including a Junior Play Zone and Sandy Play Area, and when everyone is finally exhausted, you can refuel at the on-site restaurant or take advantage of the free picnic and BBQ areas.

Sightseeing 2: The Big Golden Guitar

One of the most popular tourist stops in Tamworth, The Big Golden Guitar stands 12 metres tall and weighs half a tonne! This is definitely worth a visit for the photos alone, but it also marks the entrance to Tamworth Visitor Centre, which houses a souvenir shop, the National Guitar Museum, and the Country Wax Museum. The Golden Guitar Cafe is located within the visitor centre too, so it’s ideal if you’re looking to eat somewhere memorable.

Sightseeing 1: Crystal Kingdom Museum

A shorter driving time than the previous day, day 5 takes you from Tamworth to Coonabarabran. While you’re here, we recommend visiting the Crystal Kingdom Museum and seeing the huge collection of minerals and fossils that have been found in the surrounding area. Exhibits include fossils found nowhere else on the planet and some of the world’s rarest zeolite crystals. This is definitely a place to visit if you’re interested in Earth’s history or simply love dinosaurs and geology.

Sightseeing 2: Siding Spring Observatory

Once you’ve had a look at what the Earth has created and once inhabited, why not visit Siding Spring Observatory and take a look out at other planets and stars? Located on the edge of Warrumbungle National Park, this observatory makes up part of Australia’s first International Dark Sky Park, and night after night turns its eye to the heavens to observe the Milky Way and probe the depths of the cosmos.

Sightseeing 1: Fort Bourke Hill Lookout

Located just a few minutes’ drive from Cobar Town, Fort Bourke Hill Lookout follows a sealed road to a viewing platform that offers incredible views of the entrance to an underground mine. You’ll be able to see a mineral belt that runs from North to South through the rich red rock in huge steps that look particularly beautiful as the sun sets. This is an unmissable stop if you want to document your journey with photographs (or post some envy-inducing pictures on your social media!)

Sightseeing 2: Cobar Miners Heritage Park

Built in 2002, Cobar Miners Heritage Park is an outdoor museum that showcases the area’s mining history. Particular highlights here include a restored stamper battery from the Mount Boppy mine, a loader from the CSA mine, and a two-metre statue of a miner sculpted from bronze. This is a great stop for anyone looking to learn more about Cobar’s history and also acts as a way to pay respects to the miners who lost their lives in Cobar’s mines.

Sightseeing 1: Pro Hart Gallery

Day 7 sees you finish this leg of your road trip in Broken Hill, and this is home to one of the best spots for any art lover to visit – the Pro Hart Gallery. Here, you’ll find a selection of art created by Pro Hart, including his famous landscapes and stone sculptures. You can also sign up for a two-hour art class and purchase prints of Hart’s work to commemorate your visit to this exciting place.

Sightseeing 2: Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum

Also known as the GeoCentre, Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum is home to a renowned collection of minerals found in the Broken Hill area. You can also take a guided tour of the museum and learn how the world’s largest deposit of silver lead and zinc formed in Broken Hill and see the ‘Silver Tree’ – a sculpture crafted from 8.5kg of silver.

Sightseeing 1: Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden

Day 8 sees you hitting the road for a long drive again, and when you reach your destination of Port Augusta, one of the best places to get the feeling back in your legs is the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden. This is a great stop for nature lovers and families alike, with a Children’s Explorer Garden for little ones and beautiful scenic walks through gardens filled with native plants for adults. There’s also a cafe here, making it a good place to grab some lunch after a morning on the road, and if you’re an avid gardener, you can visit the gift shop and buy some plants to take home with you.

Sightseeing 2: Wadlata Outback Centre

One of Port Augusta’s most popular tourist attractions, Wadlata Outback Centre has something for everyone to enjoy, which makes it a particularly good stop for families on a road trip holiday. Highlights include the ‘Tunnel of Time’, home to Max, the giant Ripper Lizard, and the steam railway. You can also enjoy fishing here, should you want some peace and quiet, and the ‘Outback Tuckerbox’ provides the ideal place to grab some lunch or treat yourself to coffee and cake.

Sightseeing 1: Lake Hart

Accessible by sealed roads, Lake Hart offers a beautiful place to relax after your journey from Port Augusta to Woomera. One of Australia’s most famous salt lakes, you’re offered scenic views across the water, and it’s also possible to walk along the salt flats where the bright white colour reflects the sunlight, making for some incredible photographs. There is a designated rest area at Lake Hart as well, making it a great place to stop and enjoy a picnic or BBQ.

Sightseeing 2: Woomera Heritage and Visitor Information Centre

After a relaxing stop at Lake Hart, head over to Woomera Heritage and Visitor Information Centre to learn more about the history of the region. Here, you’ll find a huge variety of displays that detail Woomera’s part in creating missiles and aircraft, including NEXST-1 and HyShot trials. This is a great place to visit if you’re interested in history pertaining to Australia’s military past.

Sightseeing 1: Faye’s Underground Home

Following a 4-hour drive on day 10, we recommend taking a glimpse into Coober Pedy’s past by visiting Faye’s Underground Home. Created by three women using nothing but picks and shovels, this remarkable attraction shows you how people used to live back in Coober Pedy’s mining days. You can also take part in a guided tour of the home to learn more about its creation and to see how everything still works to this day.

Sightseeing 2: Tom’s Opal Mine

Since this opal mine closed its doors in the 1990s, it now acts as a museum that displays the minerals found back in the mining days and the equipment used to extract them. Tom’s Opal Mine welcomes families and pets, and you can also take a guided tour that includes a live demonstration of a working blower and bosun chair.

Sightseeing 1: Muloorina Waterhole

A 3-hour drive from Coober Pedy will see you encounter the Painted Desert, which is named for its range of colourful hills. One of the best things to do here is head to Muloorina Waterhole, a hot spring that doesn’t only make a great place to swim but also offers beautiful scenery to camp at for the night.

Sightseeing 2: Mount Arckaringa Painted Desert Lookout

For those looking for some of the most incredible views in Australia’s red centre, a visit to Mount Arckaringa Painted Desert Lookout is an absolute must. Here, you’ll be offered sweeping views of the stunning rock formations that feel almost other-worldly, making it another excellent place to stop and take some photographs of your road trip.

Sightseeing 1: Moon Plain

Day 12 sees the shortest leg of your road trip, and just 30 minutes from Painted Desert, you’ll pass into Moon Plain. While this area may seem arid and flat, which is where it takes its name from, it is home to a unique expanse of rocks you won’t find anywhere else on Earth. Moon Plain has also been used in several films, including The Martian and Mad Max 2, so it’s the perfect place for any movie-lover to visit.

Sightseeing 2: Dingo Fence

Stretching over 5,600km across Australia, Dingo Fence holds the record as the world’s largest fence, and it was erected to protect livestock from wild dingoes. This is also one of the few manmade structures that have effects visible from space, and while it may not seem particularly exciting to visit a fence, it is something that blows your mind once you actually see it in person.

Sightseeing 1: Erldunda Desert Oak Resort

Day 13 sees you spending the most time driving on your road trip, and after a long drive, we recommend pulling into Erldunda Desert Oak Resort, which has something for all the family to enjoy. Here, you’ll find restaurants, bars, a swimming pool, and a tennis court, along with wi-fi for those who are craving their devices after a two-week hiatus. There’s also an emu enclosure on site, where you’re able to get up close and personal with this iconic Australian bird.

Sightseeing 1: Guided Cave & Rock Tour

Once you arrive at your destination, you’ll no doubt be eager to get out and explore the beautiful Uluru area. One of the best ways of doing this is to book a guided cave and rock tour where you’ll learn more about the names and formations of the most famous sights. Some tours also come with an evening meal included, making for a truly memorable experience as you see the sunset over the famous red rocks.

Sightseeing 2: The Field of Light

Made up of more than 50,000 hand-blown light bulbs, The Field of Light lights up the outback desert as night falls in stunning shades of blue, violet, and warm white. Each bulb is placed atop a stem that sways in the breeze, giving the appearance that the desert has come to life in an other-worldly way and offering an experience unlike no other to end your Uluru road trip with.

As you can see, many parts of this road trip are broken down into relatively short journeys. But doing this ensures that you’re able to take in everything Australia’s red centre has to offer, along with other stops along the way.

You’re going to need to get from place to place if you want to see everything on our list, however, and one of the best ways of doing this is by campervan. Talk to the team of experts at Travellers Autobarn today about hiring a campervan for your Brisbane road trip, and you’ll be one step closer to your dream holiday. Alternatively, if you’re looking for some more Brisbane road trip ideas, take a look here.