Melbourne to Adelaide campervan route for self-drivers

The direct Melbourne to Adelaide drive is about 726 km via the Western Highway and Dukes Highway. It can be done in a long day, but that is a delivery run, not a holiday. The campervan version earns its keep by swinging down to Torquay, following the Great Ocean Road, then cutting through Port Fairy, Mount Gambier, Robe, the Coorong and Victor Harbor before rolling into Adelaide.

Allow around 1,050 to 1,150 km depending on detours, plus slow coastal sections where 60 km can take two hours because every bend has a lookout, a cyclist or a hire car discovering left-hand traffic. Five days is tidy. Seven days lets you cook dinner before dark and avoid becoming the grey nomad who reverses into a bollard while hungry.

• Best pace: 5 to 7 days for the coastal route.
• Road surface: sealed all the way on the main route.
• Vehicle fit: 2WD campervans and motorhomes are fine; beach tracks are not.
• Do: collect the van early if possible and make the first night easy.
• Do not: plan Apollo Bay to Adelaide in one hit unless you enjoy arriving cooked.

From Melbourne, the first 105 km to Torquay is straightforward freeway and suburban traffic. After that, the Great Ocean Road becomes narrow, bendy and scenic enough to make passengers forget the driver is doing actual work. A 6 m campervan is comfortable; a longer motorhome just needs wider turns, lower speed and a driver who uses pull-outs without taking it personally.

Fuel is easy early on: Melbourne to Geelong is about 75 km, Torquay to Lorne 47 km, and Lorne to Apollo Bay another 45 km. The servo at Apollo Bay is worth using before the Otways and Twelve Apostles run, especially if the gauge is below half and the afternoon wind has picked up.

• Torquay to Apollo Bay: only 92 km, but allow 2 hours or more.
• Apollo Bay to Port Campbell: about 97 km through forest and coastal farmland.
• Port Campbell to Warrnambool: about 65 km, with big-van parking easier early.
• Do: pull over to let locals and log trucks pass.
• Do not: stop half-on the road for a lighthouse snap. Everyone behind you will know.

For the first night, pick a powered holiday park around Torquay, Anglesea or Lorne. You will want 240V power, hot showers and a flat site while you learn the van. By night two, Johanna Beach or a coastal campground can feel more like the Big Lap fantasy, provided you are carrying drinking water and have booked where required.

Free camping is not a general right in coastal Victoria or South Australia. Councils patrol popular foreshore areas, and sleeping in a signed no camping car park can turn a cheap night into an expensive one. National park campgrounds must usually be booked online, pets are normally not allowed, and generators are often restricted.

• Powered sites: often $45 to $75 per night in busy coastal towns, more in peak summer.
• National parks: book ahead, expect drop toilets and limited or no drinking water.
• Free camps: use signed sites only and leave no grey water behind.
• Dump points: plan around Torquay/Geelong, Apollo Bay, Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Robe and Victor Harbor.
• Do: fill water before leaving bigger towns.
• Do not: assume a beach car park equals a legal overnight stop.

This is not the Nullarbor, but do not drive it like Melbourne suburbs either. The biggest practical gap is usually the Robe to Meningie run, about 209 km if you do not detour for fuel, with Kingston SE sitting 46 km north of Robe. Top up at Mount Gambier, Robe, Kingston SE or Meningie rather than gambling on a quarter tank and a headwind.

You are unlikely to meet the 53.5 m road trains of the outback on the Great Ocean Road, but B-doubles, milk tankers, log trucks and grain trucks are common on the A1 and SA approaches. Give them room, especially in crosswinds around the Coorong. A high-sided motorhome can feel like a sail when the southerly is blowing.

• Port Fairy to Mount Gambier: about 167 km, good place to reset fuel and groceries.
• Mount Gambier to Robe: about 130 km via Millicent and Beachport options.
• Robe to Kingston SE: 46 km; Kingston SE to Meningie about 145 km.
• Summer heat: inland stretches can top 35°C; fridge and tyre pressures matter.
• Winter: expect wet roads, short days and spectacularly moody seas.

After Robe, the landscape changes from surf-town bakery to saltbush, lakes and pelicans. The Coorong is a brilliant campervan leg if you stay on the sealed roads and marked campground access tracks. The sandy beach tracks into Little Dip, Canunda and parts of the Coorong are 4WD territory and usually outside standard campervan hire conditions.

Many drivers cut across via Meningie, the free Wellington ferry over the Murray, then down to Victor Harbor for one last coastal night. From Victor Harbor to Adelaide is only about 84 km, but leave time for suburban traffic, refuelling, emptying the toilet cassette and finding a servo that is not on the wrong side of a six-lane road.

• Wellington ferry: free vehicle ferry, operating conditions can change during floods or maintenance.
• Victor Harbor to Adelaide: 1 hr 25 min in kind traffic, longer on weekends.
• Adelaide approach: watch low branches in older suburbs and tight bottle-o car parks.
• Return prep: dump cassette, fill fuel as required and remove beach sand from every impossible corner.
• CTA: once your dates line up, check availability online and book the van that suits your length comfort zone.