If you’re looking for a lovely road trip south of Sydney, why not stop in at Wollongong, a beautiful coastal city located on the Grand Pacific Drive in New South Wales, Australia.

If you haven’t heard about the Grand Pacific Drive before, click here to find out more – it is truly a special road trip either heading to or from Sydney. The drive from Sydney is around 1.5 hours so you can easily make a day trip or a long weekend. We stopped into Wollongong on our way back from a long weekend in Kiama.

Why visit Wollongong

If you’re into surfing, Wollongong has great surfing beaches and if you’re not, you’ll be able to find some rock pools to relax in.

The coastal town is perfect for thrill seekers or those wanting to relax. You can take part in skydiving and of course landing next to the beautiful beach, or just relaxing and getting some sunshine.

Wollongong Head Lighthouse

Actually, Wollongong Harbour is home to the only point on the eastern coast of Australia which has two lighthouses.

The point makes it a perfect spot for views over Wollongong and a pretty cool spot for a picnic if you have the time!

Where to stay and eat

Although we popped in only for a few hours, we stayed for lunch at Pepe’s on the Beach which we highly recommend!

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, you should check out the Novotel. If you’re a Le Club Accor club member of an Accor Plus member then you can definitely collect on some of the benefits!

What else to do in the area?

If you haven’t visited the Figure 8 Pools in the Royal National Park, I would suggest trying to add this onto your long weekend away but it is important to know when to visit – you can’t just turn up! To read more about this really cool spot, click here.

“He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de St. Exupery