NSW Travel Guide
Why visit NSW?
NSW is home to more Australians than any other state. The state offers more diversity than any of its neighbours; there is a real outback, the country’s highest snowfields, a world-famous harbour and, of course, the much loved east coast beaches.
You probably already have Sydney on your list, but there is so much more to NSW. When you begin to plan your itinerary, consider these facts:
- 870 national parks and reserves to wander
- 2137 km of coastline
- Six UNESCO World Heritage areas
- Australia’s oldest wine region
- a true red dirt outback and all the great characters that go with it.
So let’s start exploring NSW and see what takes your fancy.
Regions in NSW
You could easily spend a year exploring the many towns of NSW; however, most travellers stick to the coast. However, there is so much to see, including the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and outback!
The main regions of NSW are:
- Blue Mountains
- Central Coast
- The Hunter
- North Coast Region
- New England
- Central NSW
- Outback NSW
- The Murray
- Riverina
- Snowy Mountains
- South Coast Region
There is enough variety in the state to keep you busy for years’ worth of holidays.
Featured NSW Road Trip
NSW Travel Planning
Our NSW travel guide will help you decide which region, town and cities in New South Wales you should visit on your next trip. We cover the basics of planning a trip and give you a quick rundown on the main tourist regions and the most popular things to do in Sydney and the states other key towns.
How to get to NSW
International Airport
New South Wales has one international airport, Kingsford Smith, which is in Mascot in the city’s south east. A second international airport is under construction at Badgerys Creek to the west of the city.
Key Domestic airports
There are small airports around the state; Rex Airlines service 18 of them if you need to get somewhere in a hurry.
The two main airports are:
- Sydney International– three terminals, one international and two domestic
- Newcastle – which offers direct services to Canberra, Melbourne, Dubbo, and the Gold Coast
Interstate Trains
You can take trains from Sydney to Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. All interstate services leave from Central Station, and tickets can be purchased via CountryLink or, in the case of the latter two, from Journey Beyond.
Interstate Buses
Three companies offer travel between Sydney and the other capital cities.
- Greyhound offers a national bus network
- Firefly offer routes between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide
- Murrays travel from Sydney to Wollongong and Canberra.
How to get around NSW
Public Transport
Much of NSW is covered on the Opal Card; you can download the app on your phone or use your credit/debit card to tap on and off. Opal is used for ticketing in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Hunter Region, Central Coast, Illawarra, Southern Highlands.
Driving distances by average time taken
- Sydney to Wollongong – 1hr 30m
- Sydney to Katoomba – 1hr 30m
- Sydney to Newcastle – 2hrs 15m
- Sydney to Jervis Bay – 3hrs
- Sydney to Hunter Valley (Pokolbin) – 3hrs 20m
- Sydney to Orange – 3hr 30m
- Sydney to Batemans Bay – 4hrs
- Sydney to Port Macquarie – 4hrs 15m
- Sydney to Tamworth – 4hrs 50m
- Sydney To Jindabyne – 4hrs 50m
- Sydney to Dubbo – 5hrs
- Sydney to Byron Bay – 8 hrs 20m
- Sydney to Broken Hill – 13hrs
Numerous smaller companies offer domestic bus services to towns along the NSW coast.
Explore more of new south wales
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