The best Southern Hemisphere coastal road trips run from about October to April, when spring and summer open the shoreline roads of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Uruguay, and South Africa. Our top pick is Australia's Great Ocean Road, 660 km of surf coast, rainforest, and limestone sea stacks you can drive in three days. The nine that follow run down the coasts of five southern countries, each with its real distance, season, and stops from our catalog.
The timing is the reason to plan now. While northern coasts settle into winter, the south warms up. Whales still linger off the South African capes through November, the Tasman beaches heat up by December, and the Brazilian islands hit their stride by Christmas. This guide ranks ten self-drive routes by scenery, access, and season.
The best Southern Hemisphere coastal road trips at a glance
| Rank | Route | Country | Distance | Duration | Best season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Ocean Road | Australia | 660 km | 3 days | Nov to Apr |
| 2 | Cape Town and the Garden Route | South Africa | 850 km | 7 days | Oct to Apr |
| 3 | Kaikoura Coast | New Zealand | 380 km | 2 days | Oct to Apr |
| 4 | Pacific Coast Highway | New Zealand | 610 km | 5 days | Nov to Apr |
| 5 | Tasmania East Coast | Australia | 545 km | 4 days | Nov to Apr |
| 6 | Costa Verde | Brazil | 360 km | 4 days | Dec to Mar |
| 7 | Grand Pacific Drive | Australia | 150 km | 2 days | Spring to autumn |
| 8 | Northland Pacific Coast Highway | New Zealand | 470 km | 4 days | Dec to Mar |
| 9 | Clarence Drive | South Africa | 96 km | 1 to 2 days | Sep to Nov |
| 10 | Uruguay Coast | Uruguay | 520 km | 6 days | Nov to Mar |
1. Great Ocean Road, Australia
The Great Ocean Road earns the top spot because it packs more coast per kilometre than anything else on this list. This 660 km version starts in Melbourne and runs to Portland, with the classic stretch from Torquay to Allansford in the middle, taking in surf beaches at Lorne, the rainforest and lighthouse of Cape Otway behind Apollo Bay, and the Twelve Apostles off the limestone cliffs near Port Campbell. Three days is enough to reach Port Fairy and Portland without rushing. It is an easy, sealed drive any car handles, best from November to April.
2. Cape Town and the Garden Route, South Africa
South Africa's Garden Route covers about 850 km over seven days, from Cape Town's two-ocean peninsula along the forested coast east to Storms River. The opening days take in Chapman's Peak Drive, nine kilometres and 114 curves carved into the cliff above the Atlantic, and the penguin colony at Boulders Beach below Cape Point. From there the road runs through Hermanus, past the lagoon town of Knysna and the seal colony at Robberg, to the 800-year-old yellowwood trees of the Tsitsikamma forest. October to April is the driving season, and an October start still catches the southern right whales in Walker Bay through November.
3. Kaikoura Coast, New Zealand
North of Christchurch, State Highway 1 runs 380 km along a coast where the Seaward Kaikoura Range drops straight into the Pacific. Sperm whales feed year-round in the deep canyon offshore, and at Ohau Point hundreds of New Zealand fur seals haul out metres from the road. Start from Picton and the Marlborough vineyards around Blenheim, then give Kaikoura a night for a whale-watching boat and crayfish straight off the wharf. Two days covers it, best from October to April.
4. Pacific Coast Highway, New Zealand
New Zealand's Pacific Coast Highway runs 610 km from Whakatane to Napier around the remote headlands of the East Cape. The 330 km loop on SH35 passes the East Cape Lighthouse, reached by a 700-step climb above the ocean, and the 660-metre Tolaga Bay wharf, the longest in the country. Gisborne is the first city in the world to see each sunrise and grows some underrated chardonnay, and the drive ends in Napier's Art Deco streetscape, rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake. Allow five days from November to April, and check the East Coast recovery roadworks before each leg.
5. Tasmania East Coast, Australia
The Tasman Highway heads north from Hobart up Tasmania's beach-lined east coast, about 545 km over four days. On the Freycinet Peninsula, pink granite headlands frame the curve of Wineglass Bay, and further north the Bay of Fires lines the shore with white sand and orange lichen-stained boulders. Richmond's convict-era bridge makes an early heritage stop, and the Pyengana dairy country fills the run inland to Launceston. It is a gentle, sealed drive, warmest from November to April, and a parks pass covers the reserves.
6. Costa Verde, Brazil
Between the Serra do Mar mountains and the Atlantic, Brazil's Costa Verde threads 360 km of the Rio-Santos highway through colonial towns and some of the country's finest beaches. Angra dos Reis sits on a bay of 365 islands, with daily schooners to car-free Ilha Grande, and Paraty preserves a Portuguese old town whose cobblestones flood at high tide. Ubatuba alone counts more than a hundred beaches, and a short ferry from São Sebastião reaches the rainforest and waterfalls of Ilhabela. Give it four days from December to March, prebook the island boats and ferry, and avoid the coast road after dark.
7. Grand Pacific Drive, Australia
For a coastal weekend near Sydney, the Grand Pacific Drive runs 150 km south from the city's beaches into the Illawarra. It opens through the cliffs and bushland of the Royal National Park, then crosses the Sea Cliff Bridge, a curving span over open water that makes the route's signature photo stop. Wollongong adds a harbour lunch, and the drive finishes among the blowholes at Kiama and the basalt columns of Bombo Headland. Two days is plenty, from spring through autumn.
8. Northland Pacific Coast Highway, New Zealand
From Auckland, the Northland Pacific Coast Highway runs 470 km to Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific meet below the lighthouse at a headland sacred in Maori tradition. The Bay of Islands scatters 144 islands offshore, with dolphin cruises, the Hole in the Rock, and the Waitangi treaty grounds, and Kerikeri holds New Zealand's oldest stone building. Keep rental cars on sealed roads and treat Ninety Mile Beach as a licensed tour, not a shortcut. The season runs December to March.
9. Clarence Drive, South Africa
The R44 Clarence Drive is a short 96 km cliff road from Gordon's Bay around the Kogelberg coast to Hermanus, and it times well with an October trip. At Stoney Point, African penguins nest among the boulders in one of only two mainland colonies, and the road ends at Hermanus, the best land-based whale watching in the world, where southern right whales breach in Walker Bay from June to December. Split it over one or two days, with the fynbos slopes of the Harold Porter botanical garden and the Kleinmond lagoon in between. Watch for roadside baboons, and check the road status, as storm rockfalls sometimes close it.
10. Uruguay Coast, Uruguay
Uruguay's Atlantic shore makes a relaxed 520 km over six days, from the cobbled old town of Colonia del Sacramento on the Río de la Plata to the border town of Chuy. The drive is mostly flat and well paved, past the Montevideo rambla, the resort beaches of Punta del Este, and the surf and dunes of La Paloma. Save time for the quieter east, where Cabo Polonio is a remote dune village with no regular road access and almost no light pollution, reached by an authorized truck from the park gate and home to a sea lion colony below the lighthouse. Come between November and March.
If you only do one
Drive the Great Ocean Road. In three days you get surf beaches, the Otways rainforest, and the Twelve Apostles on a sealed road any car can manage, an easy add-on to a Melbourne stay. Go between November and April, and leave the Twelve Apostles for the last of the afternoon light. If your map is pointing north instead, our guide to the best Mediterranean coastal road trips covers the summer side of the world.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time for a Southern Hemisphere coastal road trip?
Broadly October to April, which is spring into autumn south of the equator. The Australian and New Zealand coasts are warmest from November to April, the Brazilian islands peak from December to March, and the South African capes drive well from October.
Which is the best coastal road trip in the Southern Hemisphere?
The Great Ocean Road in Australia, for the amount of coast it fits into a short drive. Its 660 km link surf beaches, the Otways rainforest, and the Twelve Apostles sea stacks in three easy days from Melbourne. The Garden Route in South Africa is the closest rival over a longer week.
Where can you see whales on a Southern Hemisphere coastal drive?
Hermanus, on the Garden Route and at the end of Clarence Drive, has the best land-based whale watching in the world, with southern right whales in Walker Bay from June to December. Kaikoura in New Zealand runs boat trips to resident sperm whales year-round.
Do you need a four-wheel drive for these coastal routes?
For most, no. The Great Ocean Road, Garden Route, Kaikoura, Tasmania, Costa Verde, the Grand Pacific Drive, and the Uruguay coast are all sealed roads that any car handles. Ninety Mile Beach in Northland and Cabo Polonio in Uruguay are the exceptions, reached by licensed tour vehicles rather than private cars.
Which Southern Hemisphere coast is best for a short trip?
The Grand Pacific Drive near Sydney at 150 km, Clarence Drive in South Africa at 96 km, and the Kaikoura Coast in New Zealand at 380 km all work as a one or two-day trip. Each pairs a short coast road with wildlife, from Kiama's blowholes to Stoney Point's penguins and Kaikoura's seals.
Plan your Southern Hemisphere coastal road trip
Every drive here is mapped stop by stop in our route guides, starting with the Great Ocean Road. Open the interactive map to line up the seasons across the southern coasts, and compare the wider set through our Scenic Coastal Drives collection.
