How to Get Around New South Wales

Sydney is genuinely well served by trains, buses, light rail and ferries on a single Opal tap-on system with a daily and weekly fare cap. The ferries are public transport, not a tour, and the Manly run costs a normal fare.

Everywhere else needs a car. Distances are the thing visitors underestimate: Sydney to Byron Bay is nine hours, to Broken Hill thirteen. Regional trains and coaches exist but are slow and infrequent.

Domestic flights are the practical way to cover the state — Sydney to the far west or the north coast is an hour against a full day's drive.

Driving distances are signposted in kilometres, fuel stops thin out sharply inland, and kangaroos make dawn and dusk driving genuinely hazardous outside the cities.

Toll roads around Sydney are cashless and billed to the hire car with fees attached.