Seven days up the Pacific from Sydney: Forster, Port Macquarie, and the slow way home
A chain of beach towns north of the city, each one a possible stop. The first motorhome trip you’d recommend to a friend.
The Pacific Highway north of Sydney is the easiest motorhome drive in the country. It’s a sealed freeway with a service station every fifty kilometres and a beach town every hour. You cannot get this trip wrong, which is exactly why it’s the one to do first.
Three hours from Sydney you’re at Forster, where a lake meets the ocean. Two easy hours further and you’re at Port Macquarie, where there are koalas in the suburbs and a surf beach a block from the main street. Most people rush this in three days. Give it seven, and it stops being a drive — it becomes a slow chain of beaches, each with its own mood, none of them earned through a long day at the wheel.
Every leg here is short. The only longer stretch is the return, and we break that into two with a documented lunch stop. Nothing on this trip is remote, nothing is rushed, and the fuel question never comes up.
Three hours from Sydney you’re at Forster. The whole trip is beach towns and short drives — the first motorhome trip you’d recommend to a friend.
The trip at a glance
Here’s what the week looks like before we go day by day.
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Day 1 — Sydney to Newcastle. 160 km, 2 hr. Beachfront the first night.
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Day 2 — Newcastle to Forster. 150 km, 1 hr 45 min.
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Day 3 — Forster slow day. No driving.
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Day 4 — Forster to Port Macquarie. 120 km, 1 hr 30 min.
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Day 5 — Port Macquarie day. Local only.
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Day 6 — Day trip to Crescent Head. 60 km each way.
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Day 7 — Port Macquarie back to Sydney. Broken into two legs via Newcastle.
Total drive distance over the week: around 875 km. Most legs are under 1 hour 45 minutes. The Day 7 return is the only long stretch, deliberately split into two manageable drives with a Newcastle break. Two days have no driving at all.
Day 1 — Sydney to Newcastle
DRIVE · Sydney → Newcastle via the M1 · 160 km · 2 hours
Pick up from the LGM Sydney branch in the morning. The drive to Newcastle is two hours up the M1 — the longest single leg of the week is also the first, which means you get it out of the way while you’re fresh.
Stay at Stockton Beach Holiday Park, where you wake up the next morning with the ocean directly outside. Spend the afternoon at Newcastle Beach or Nobbys, and have dinner along the Honeysuckle waterfront. Newcastle is a proper city that most Sydneysiders underrate — it’s a good place to start.
Day 2 — Newcastle to Forster
DRIVE · Newcastle → Forster via the Pacific Highway · 150 km · 1 hour 45 minutes
Up the Pacific Highway via Bulahdelah. You’ll be at Forster by lunchtime. Settle in at Forster Beach Holiday Park — it’s walking distance to the main beach, which is the entire point.
Forster sits where Wallis Lake meets the sea, and the town works both sides of that. Walk to the main beach in the afternoon, and head to the marina at dusk for the pelican feeding — it’s a small daily ritual that’s been running for years and it’s worth timing your day around.
Day 3 — Forster slow day
DRIVE · Stay put
A full day at Forster-Tuncurry with no driving. Walk the Tuncurry breakwall in the morning — there’s a good chance of dolphins in the channel. Swim at One Mile Beach, which is one of the better surf beaches on this stretch of coast.
In the afternoon, take a Wallis Lake cruise or just sit by the water. This is the slow day the trip earns — there is nothing you have to do today, and that’s the value.
Day 4 — Forster to Port Macquarie
DRIVE · Forster → Port Macquarie · 120 km · 1 hour 30 minutes
A 90-minute coastal drive north. Settle in at the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park or the NRMA Breakwall park — both are walking distance to the town beach and the breakwall.
Port Macquarie is bigger than Forster and has more going on. Swim at Town Beach, walk the breakwall — the rocks are painted by visitors going back decades, an accidental public artwork — and have dinner in town.
Day 5 — Port Macquarie day
DRIVE · Local — max 20 km return
The Koala Hospital is the thing to do in the morning. It’s a working wildlife hospital, not a zoo — you see the rehabilitation enclosures and the daily routine, and it’s genuinely moving. Free entry, though a donation is the right thing to do.
Lunch on the foreshore. In the afternoon, head out to Tacking Point Lighthouse — the headland here is one of the best whale-watching spots on the coast between May and October, and even out of season the view is worth the short drive. Or hire a kayak and paddle the Hastings River.
The Koala Hospital is a working wildlife hospital, not a zoo. You see the rehabilitation routine, and it’s genuinely moving.
Day 6 — Day trip to Crescent Head
DRIVE · Port Macquarie → Crescent Head, then return · 60 km each way · 55 minutes
Leave the campsite set up and take a day trip north to Crescent Head. It’s a 55-minute drive and one of the most famous longboard surf points in Australia — even if you don’t surf, the headland walk and the view back over the point break is worth the trip.
Lunch at the surf club. If you’ve got the appetite for more, push a little further to Hat Head National Park for a coastal walk. Back to Port Macquarie for the night — you don’t pack up today, which keeps it easy.
Day 7 — Port Macquarie back to Sydney
DRIVE · Port Macquarie → Sydney, split via Newcastle · 385 km total · Two legs with a Newcastle break
The only long driving day, and we break it deliberately. Drive to Newcastle first, around 220 km and 2 hours 30 minutes with a short lunch stop at Bulahdelah. Stretch, get a coffee in Newcastle, treat it as a genuine break — not just a fuel stop.
Then the final leg, Newcastle to the LGM Sydney branch, 160 km and around 2 hours. It’s a full driving day, but split into two halves with a real break in the middle, it’s manageable rather than gruelling. Seven days of beach towns, and only one of them spent mostly on the road.
Practical notes for the trip
Fuel and route
The Pacific Highway is one of the best-served roads in the country — it’s a major freight route, with service stations every 50 to 80 kilometres the entire way. There is no point on this itinerary where fuel availability is a consideration.
Our fuel info page links the federal government’s fuel availability site for the full national picture, but for this route the answer is simple: you will never be more than a short distance from a station.
Vehicle suitability
All LGM vehicle sizes are suitable. The Pacific Highway is straightforward freeway driving. Port Macquarie and Forster both have plenty of motorhome-friendly parking, and every caravan park on the route has powered sites.
Best season
Year-round, with May to October the most comfortable — cooler, lower humidity, and whale season at Tacking Point. NSW school holidays are peak demand and should be booked well ahead.
What to book in advance
Forster and Port Macquarie caravan parks fill on weekends and through school holidays — book the Forster Beach and Sundowner Breakwall parks ahead if you’re travelling those periods. Midweek travel outside holidays can be booked closer to the date.
The Aussie Winter Wander Sale — 25% off May to July
This is the easiest motorhome trip on our books — the one we’d hand a first-timer without hesitation. And right now it’s 25% off. Every May, June and July booking from the LGM Sydney branch is discounted as part of the Aussie Winter Wander Sale.
The sale runs from 15 May to 25 May. Once it’s gone, full-price bookings return. If a slow week of beach towns is the trip you keep meaning to do, the next ten days are when to book it.