Similar to a previous thread, I am planning a trip from Melbourne to Byron Bay and am looking for the easiest way to travel from Wollongong to Newcastle and bypassing as much of Sydney as possible. It has been many years since I have driven in Sydney and am not famillar with the roads/freeways etc. I am not travelling to a strict timetable and have noted from the previous thread that Sunday would be the better day. I will be towing a 17' poptop.
EJP
dogbox said
08:51 PM Feb 19, 2019
paying toll or avoiding tolls?
Farmhat said
11:18 PM Feb 19, 2019
How much would tolls cost to take a caravan through Sydney? And how is that organised?
Joe
The Belmont Bear said
07:31 AM Feb 20, 2019
Joe I normally get an Emu pass off the RTA website you nominate the periods that you will be travelling and they bill your credit card whenever you use a toll road in NSW. I dont know if it works in Victoria but I think we went on a few toll roads getting to Port Melbourne this week so I guess I am going to find out. From Wollongong I would probably cut across to the Hume Hwy towards Picton and use the route previously described ie. M7, M2 but as I live in Lake Macquarie someone from down that way may be able to suggest a better route.
Cheers
BB
EJP said
08:27 AM Feb 20, 2019
Will pay tolls if necessary. We live in the southern suburbs of Melbourne and consider tolls a necessary evil. We have an e-tag and reguarly travel thru Melbourne with the van. I don't know wether the e-tag will work in Sydney though. Will have to check.
EJP
Jaahn said
09:15 AM Feb 20, 2019
Hi
Pay the tolls and get past most of Sydney in an easy quick drive. The Hume Hw M31 > M7/M2 tolways are the best if you do not need to go to Woolongong, with only a short bit of ordinary road A28 to get through to the M1 and off north. Go the main roads and just follow the big signs to Newcastle. Tolls can be paid by a phone call or two after the drive, read the signs for the phone number. No cash these days. But check with the NSW RMS as they do recognise other tags. I have a NSW RMS tag which works everywhere in Australia I believe. So far it has.
Look at these maps of main roads to see where to go. They are both freeways and tollways, but all are main roads which will be well signposted and easy to get along.
The main reference; https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/using-roads/alpha-numeric/documents-maps.html
Once you get on the M1 you just cruise north and watch Sydney disappear in the rear view mirror !! Good luck !
Jaahn
PS do not forget to look into the Newcastle/Hunter region on the way
EJP said
11:31 AM Feb 20, 2019
Thanks for the advice, will make our trip much easier. I have checked and our Melbourne e-tag can be used in Sydney, in fact the NSW RMS website stayes that all interstate electronic tags are operable with the RMS toll system.
EJP
PeterD said
12:21 PM Feb 20, 2019
Farmhat wrote:
How much would tolls cost to take a caravan through Sydney? And how is that organised?
Joe
I think the others are a little behind the times. I had a Roam E-Tag account. This has been absorbed by Linkt. It appears to be part of Transurban. If you work through them you can pay tolls for both the M2 and M7. Once you have opened that link look under "Accounts and passes" to see the best way for you to pay the tolls. They even have a link there to assist you choose the best way. There is even an app for your mobile phone.
Regarding costs - have a look at the RMS Sydney Motorways Toll Calculator. you can use it to calculate the tolls between any two points on the motorways in Sydney.
Farmhat said
11:20 PM Feb 21, 2019
Thanks fellas. The last time I was in the big smoke there, they didn't have any toll roads. So I imagine it looks a bit different now.
Joe.
Jaahn said
09:27 PM Feb 22, 2019
Farmhat wrote:
Thanks fellas. The last time I was in the big smoke there, they didn't have any toll roads. So I imagine it looks a bit different now.
Similar to a previous thread, I am planning a trip from Melbourne to Byron Bay and am looking for the easiest way to travel from Wollongong to Newcastle and bypassing as much of Sydney as possible. It has been many years since I have driven in Sydney and am not famillar with the roads/freeways etc. I am not travelling to a strict timetable and have noted from the previous thread that Sunday would be the better day. I will be towing a 17' poptop.
EJP
How much would tolls cost to take a caravan through Sydney? And how is that organised?
Joe
Cheers
BB
EJP
Hi
Pay the tolls and get past most of Sydney in an easy quick drive. The Hume Hw M31 > M7/M2 tolways are the best if you do not need to go to Woolongong, with only a short bit of ordinary road A28 to get through to the M1 and off north. Go the main roads and just follow the big signs to Newcastle. Tolls can be paid by a phone call or two after the drive, read the signs for the phone number. No cash these days. But check with the NSW RMS as they do recognise other tags. I have a NSW RMS tag which works everywhere in Australia I believe. So far it has.
Look at these maps of main roads to see where to go. They are both freeways and tollways, but all are main roads which will be well signposted and easy to get along.
https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/using-roads/alpha-numeric/sydney-map.pdf
https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/using-roads/alpha-numeric/illawarra-map.pdf
The main reference; https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/using-roads/alpha-numeric/documents-maps.html
Once you get on the M1 you just cruise north and watch Sydney disappear in the rear view mirror !! Good luck !
Jaahn
PS do not forget to look into the Newcastle/Hunter region on the way
EJP
I think the others are a little behind the times. I had a Roam E-Tag account. This has been absorbed by Linkt. It appears to be part of Transurban. If you work through them you can pay tolls for both the M2 and M7. Once you have opened that link look under "Accounts and passes" to see the best way for you to pay the tolls. They even have a link there to assist you choose the best way. There is even an app for your mobile phone.
Regarding costs - have a look at the RMS Sydney Motorways Toll Calculator. you can use it to calculate the tolls between any two points on the motorways in Sydney.
Thanks fellas. The last time I was in the big smoke there, they didn't have any toll roads. So I imagine it looks a bit different now.
Joe.
YES
