The Long Way Home: I love a good road trip more than most, but the 10-hour drive down the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne, which is mostly dual lane freeway, is one of the most mind-numbingly boring drives in the country. This time I’m determined to put the fun back into the interstate commute, even if it takes a week, and take the scenic route.  Story by Lee Atkinson

The Kaikoura Coast: Wild coastlines, seal colonies, isolated but sophisticated cafes. Welcome to the Kaikoura Coast, a stretch of New Zealand's South Island east coast brimming with scenic delights. From Christchurch head north to the tiny and very surprising town of Kaikoura. Story by Lee Mylne

Australian features
International features

Australian features

World Heritage Way: Winding its way up the Great Dividing Range from Illuka near Grafton on the NSW north coast to Glen Innes on the north-eastern tablelands, this must-do drive passes through three World Heritage-listed national parks along the way. We get back to nature camping on the beach and in the rainforest and stepping out on a full-day hikes that take us deep into the heart of the Gondwana rainforests of NSW, all for less than $30 a night. Now that's a world-heritage bargain. Story by Lee Atkinson

The Perfect Beach: although you can drive the 200-odd kilometres between Tasmania’s two main cities, Launceston and Hobart, in just a couple of hours, to do so would be to miss out on some of the islands most dramatic scenery and best food and wine.  Meander instead across the north-east corner of the state before heading south along the dramatic east coast.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Driving the Murray : The state of the Murray makes all the headlines these days it seems, so we loaded up the car and followed the river from Mildura to the Murray Mouth at Goolwa to check out what’s happening with Australia’s greatest river, only to discover that the big dry is not all doom and gloom for the wetlands along the way. Story by Lee Atkinson

The pillion princess diaries: My boyfriend’s a bikie. Not your big-bellied, long-haired, scruffy-bearded, tats-and-black-leather type of bikie; more your built-for-comfort-not-for-speed type of bikie that likes to spend Sundays on his classic old Ducati visiting wineries and seaside restaurants. I'm an Audi TT convertible type of girl, and the idea of spending a week in the pillion seat riding across the country is not high on my let’s-do-this-on-our-next-holiday list. Come along for the Harley ride from hell from Adelaide to Sydney on a brand new Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Grand Circular Drive: Shun the faster highway which now takes big traffic off the smaller roads, and tootle along the "old" road which winds its way through the towns and villages of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, from Penrith and Emu Plains to Richmond, in a loop that reveals some of NSW's most stunning scenery. Story by Lee Mylne

The Waterfall Way: Beyond the rainforest and beaches of the NSW mid-north coast rises the Great Dividing Range and the windswept Salisbury Plains of the New England tablelands, the jagged edge of which is split by countless jagged-edged gorges where, after rain, rivers rage and tumble over the edge, creating some of the most spectacular ‑ and highest ‑ waterfalls in the state. A spectacular two-day drive from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour via the New England tablelands.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Cassowary Country: The sight of a cassowary wandering along the roadside just as we enter Daintree National Park leaves me almost speechless. But it should be no surprise really, for Tropical North Queensland is a place for the unexpected. Driving is the best way to see this region, and the aptly-named Great Tropical Drive links the far north's many attractions. Story by Lee Mylne

The Savannah Way: A few years ago a trip across the top of Australia, through the Gulf country of western Queensland and the rugged Kimberley in the west was a tough and arduous journey, across rough tracks that were impassable to anything other than a heavy duty 4WD. But with the recent upgrading of the trans-continental Savannah Way, the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of the north is now open for all to enjoy, even those without a 4WD. Story by Lee Atkinson

Tow Easy: you don't need a special licence or even any towing experience to legally hit the road with a caravan or trailer. But for first timers, whatever their age, it can be a daunting, and dangerous, proposition. We spend a day on a caravan towing course and reckon it should be compulsory training for anyone thinking about hitting the road with a caravan or boat trailer in tow.
Story by Lee Atkinson

The Great Alpine Road: Stretching almost 300km from Wangaratta to Bairnsdale, is one of Australia’s classic summer touring routes. It begins in pastoral northern Victoria, not far from the Murray River, and takes you high into the Australian Alps, deep into the heart of two alpine national parks and finally brings you out, a stone’s throw from the coast, in east Gippsland.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Kelly Country: The brownish bloodstains on the green silk sash that bushranger Ned Kelly wore under his hand-forged armour during his last stand against the police at Glenrowan are still clearly visible 125 years later. This is just one of the relics of the Kelly legend that can be seen along Victoria 's new Kelly Touring Route. Story by Lee Mylne

Cairns to Cooktown: Until recently, unless you had a four-wheel drive, the end of the line for most travellers in Cape York was Cape Tribulation, where the sealed road petered out just beyond the Daintree River ferry crossing and car hire companies would not let you go further in your rented two-wheel drive.  But now, the recent sealing of the Cooktown Developmental Road, renamed the Mulligan Highway, has paved the way to one of the county’s most beautiful tropical towns, Cooktown. Story by Lee Atkinson

Red Centre Realities : A blow-out on a deserted stretch of unsealed road, kilometres from anywhere, brings the reality of travelling in the Red Centre into sudden, sharp focus. We're on the Meerenie Loop Road, somewhere between Kings Canyon and Alice Springs.
Story by Lee Mylne

Great Ocean Road: When it comes to Great Australian Drives you really can’t go past Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. Drive this road in summer and it’s a crawling congo-line of cars following dawdling caravans, with motorbikes buzzing in and out of the traffic like maddened mosquitos. But head off early in the morning on a winter’s day, while everyone else is still tucking into their bacon and eggs, and it’s an exhilarating coastal run with hardly any other cars in sight.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Grand Pacific Drive: Victoria has the Great Ocean Road with is iconic rock formations, Queensland has the Captain Cook Highway that twists along the coast between Cairns and Port Douglas, and now, with the recent opening of the 49-million-dollar Sea Cliff Bridge north of Wollongong, NSW finally has its own iconic coastal drive – the Grand Pacific Drive.
Story by Lee Atkinson

The Lakes Way: Follow the Lakes Way along the shores of the NSW’s Great Lakes and you’ll discover an untouched paradise of waterways, beaches and rainforest. Story by Lee Atkinson

Australia’s Iconic Drives: 10 of Australia’s most spectacular driving routes. Story by Lee Atkinson

Silver City Highway: If you want a taste of the outback but don’t have a four-wheel drive, there’s really only one place to go, up the Silver City Highway to Tibooburra and Cameron Corner – the place where three states, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, meet. Story by Lee Atkinson

The Long Flat: Tell anyone you’re planning to drive almost 2,500km from Perth to Port Lincoln across the Nullarbor and you’ll get one of two reactions.  The first is usually a mixture of bewilderment, pity and horror: “It’s so long and boring, why don’t you fly, or at least catch the train? It’s going to take you days and there’s nothing to see.”  Others look at you with a discernable green tinge of envy: “Wow, I’ve always wanted to do that!” Once you’ve done the trip you could never argue that it’s boring, nor could you say there’s nothing to see.  And as for the driving, well quite simply, it’s Australia’s greatest road trip. Story by Lee Atkinson

Fresh Eyre: It’s a simple law of nature – beautiful beaches draw holiday hordes.  But it doesn’t always have to be so.  One of the best kept beach secrets in the country is the Eyre Peninsula, the triangle of land jutting into the sea between Adelaide and the Great Australian Bight. It is a place, it seems, that tourism has forgotten.  On this three- to four-day drive you’ll find beach after beach, visited only by the odd fisherman, screeching seagulls and very few of the madding coastal crowds you find along the rest of the Australian coast. 
Story by Lee Atkinson

Head for the Hills: Lying less than half an hour’s drive east of Adelaide’s city centre, the rugged hill top scenery, vineyards, art galleries and historic towns of the Adelaide Hills make for a great day drive.
Story by Lee Atkinson

The Convict Trail: Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula, an easy day-drive from Hobart, is an area of intense natural beauty.  Think pockets of lush rainforest, pristine beaches, rugged wind-swept headlands pock-marked with sea caves and fantastically-shaped rock formations and gentle rolling hills studded with contented black and white cows and you’ll have the picture. Beautiful it is, but the main reason people come here is the dramatic history – which is so pervasive that you can almost hear the clanking of the convict chains as you drive past convict-built houses and explore the ruins of convict settlements. Story by Lee Atkinson

Best outback drives: 10 of Australia’s best outback tracks. Story by Lee Atkinson

International features

Italian Drive: in southern Italy road rules are more like helpful suggestions than laws made to be obeyed.  Traffic is chaotic and fast and dangerous. Tips and hints on how to survive a driving holiday around Southern Italy and why driving is still better than bussing or going by train. Story by Lee Atkinson

The Thermal Explorer: Gushing geysers, bubbling mud pools and mineral springs abound along New Zealand's Thermal Explorer Highway. Start in Auckland and head south through the Waikato, bound for the geo-thermal heartland of Rotorua and Lake Taupo.
Story by Lee Mylne

Coast to Coast: A great drive is one that has a little of everything – a circular route, so no backtracking; gorgeous countryside; little other traffic; fascinating history and plenty of attractions and activities along the way to ward off the dreaded white line fever.  The Twin Coast Discovery Highway in northern New Zealand, packs in all this and more, in spades.
Story by Lee Atkinson

The Open Road: Hit the road in our pick of the top 10 great drives of the world. Story by Lee Atkinson

Highland Fling: Winding country roads – not always well sign-posted and many just one lane with “passing places” – sometimes make driving in Scotland a challenge. Dodging sheep and trucks on narrow lanes can be tricky, and the price of petrol in the United Kingdom can induce near heart failure, but the rewards are many. Story by Lee Mylne

Tour de France: Paris may be a city for walking, but the rest of France is a country made for driving – either fast A-to-B trips along smooth multi-laned motorways that take you from one end of the country to the other in a few hours, or slow meandering forays along twisting country roads dawdling from one delightful medieval village to another. Story by Lee Atkinson

The Hidden Highway: Look at a road map of the UK and it’s hard to believe that underneath the web of red and black squiggly lines there are any wide open spaces left – but the rural county of Herefordshire and the neighbouring Wye Valley proves the theory wrong. 
Story by Lee Atkinson

The Big Sur, California: The Big Sur coastline, which starts outside Carmel and stretches 162km to San Simeon in the south, offers some jaw-dropping scenery. The Big Sur is part of State Highway One and follows California 's most spectacular stretch of coastline. The road is flanked on one side by the Santa Lucia Mountains and on the other by the rocky Pacific coast. About 32km south of Carmel is the magnificent Bixby Bridge , one of the highest single span bridges in the world, stretching across a large canyon.
Story by Lee Mylne

The Cabot Trail: Imagine Victoria’s Great Ocean Road on a wild stormy day, with rugged mountains twice as high and twice as steep, and dense forest wilderness that goes on for miles and miles, then swap latte-sipping tourists for moose and you’ve got a fairly good idea of Canada’s Cabot Trail, on the wild, wind-scoured northern tip of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Nova Scotia by-ways: When the mist cleared, the sweep of road ahead revealed itself: clinging to the side of a mountain, disappearing at times in the curve of the land, the waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence crashing against the rocks below it. We pulled into what Canadians call a “lookoff”, to better enjoy the view while it lasted. This is the Cabot Trail, one of five scenic driving “trails” on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, and renowned as one of the most picturesque drives in the world. Story by Lee Mylne

The Monarch Trail: Scotland's Spey Valley is a visual feast of lochs, mountains and villages dominated by the majestic snow-topped Cairngorms. Take these scenic roads to follow the locations used in the popular television series Monarch of the Glen.
Story by Lee Mylne

The Romantic Road: A drive through the Cotswolds will take you to some of England 's most picturesque and romantic villages. Story by Lee Mylne

Great New Zealand Drives: Driving around New Zealand uncovers some of the world's great scenery, no matter which route you take. Hit the road on some of the best, North and South. Story by Lee Mylne