The Border Run - 14 days, 15 nights

Experience the best of New South Wales on this 4,400 kilometre (2,740 mile) 14 day Signature Escape from the east coast to the outback and return.
ex Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Priced from AUD$9,700 per person twin share
Tour Dates: Wed 5 to Thu 20 Mar 2025
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Welcome to Sydney!
Sydney is the not only the oldest but is the largest city in Australia and is one of the world's most vibrant and famous cities. It's famed for the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.Check into your accommodation in the heart of the city and we will meet you at the Welcome Dinner. This will give you an opportunity to get to know your fellow riders on the tour. We will also go over the tour details including a review of the itinerary and safe group riding practices.
Day 1 – Sydney to Batemans Bay – 304 km (189 miles)
Today is our first ride day. We will meet you in the lobby of the hotel and load your luggage in the support vehicle. You will then board the shuttle to the bike hire office. Once everyone has completed their paperwork it's time to hit the road.Our ride starts along Grand Pacific Drive on the spectacular south coast of New South Wales, including the Sea Cliff Bridge where we ride out over the ocean as we hug the side of the escarpment that lines the coast. Our lunch stop today continues to provide us with the magnificent views out over the Pacific Ocean.
Day 2 – Batemans Bay to Tumut – 426 km (265 miles)
We will continue riding south along the coast and through the lush forest and farmland areas that make up the Eurobodalla region, before touching the northern end of the Sapphire Coast. Along the way we will explore some of the region’s best artisanal produce direct from makers and one of Australia’s oldest cheese factories.The last leg of the day sees us riding up into the Snowy Monaro region of New South Wales along the Snowy Mountains Highway up into the “Gateway to the Snowy Mountains” and the Kosciuszko National Park. While enjoying the winding mountain roads we will stop at some historical buildings and a lookout that offers breathtaking scenery over the alpine mountain area.
Day 3 – Tumut to Echuca – 421 km (262 miles)
We make our descent out of the high country and continue south towards the Murray River which forms the border between New South Wales and Victoria. As we travel through the northern Victoria region you will get to experience several dramatic landscapes, each one as different as the next. From fertile valleys and pristine wilderness to towering mountain peaks and everything in between. Lunchtime will provide not only some awesome café style meals but also a feast for the eyes with a vintage bike museum display. Our stop tonight is in the historical town of Echuca, famed as a port for the 19th century river trade. Tonight you will enjoy a river cruise and dinner looking over the Murray River.
Day 4 – Echuca to Mildura – 376 km (234 miles)
Continuing west along the southern border we stop at a museum located on the site of a secret communications bunker used in WWII which is also home to the Catalina flying boats. There is a lot of history to explore here and has a lot of artifacts that have been expertly restored. After morning tea and a look around the museum we will continue riding north west along the Murray River, making our way to the south west corner of the state and into Mildura.
Day 5 – Mildura to Broken Hill – 375 km (233 miles)
As we head north along the Silver City Highway you will get to truly experience just how vast Australia is. After all, we have only travelled across one state but we are one third of the way across the continent. We arrive in Broken Hill where we will be stopping for 2 nights. There is so much to see and do here, including the awesome sculptures that we will go to see at sunset on the night we arrive. Get ready to snap those insta-worthy pics!
Day 6 – Broken Hill – Sightseeing Day
There is lots to see & do in Broken Hill & the surrounding area, such as the Miners Memorial, the Big Chair, Silverton Hotel, Mad Max Museum & even a quick run over the border into South Australia for lunch. Broken Hill is also home to internationally renowned artist Pro Hart and we will visit his gallery. You may want to wander up to The Palace Hotel tonight, this hotel featured as a filming location in the 1994 Australian movie Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Day 7 – Broken Hill to Cobar – 456 km (283 miles)
Leaving Broken Hill and we will make our way across almost half of the state from west to east through some of the most remote country in the state. We will stop for morning tea in a small outback town that was once the third largest river port when boats used to travel the river systems for trading, but is now struggling to survive like most country towns. As we continue to ride some of the straightest roads in the state, stretched out for miles in front of us, we next stop at a Roadhouse which is the only place to get fuel along this section of road.
Day 8 – Cobar to Lightning Ridge – 470 km (292 miles)
From Cobar we start to head north and arrive in Bourke for our morning tea stop. Located on the Darling River this was an important trading port on the river, with wool being transported to the town then shipped down-river into South Australia. Today it marks the edge of the desert and is well known as being the gateway to the “Back O Bourke” – a term that describes outback Australia, the remoteness, wide open plains, the landscapes & the solitude. The landscape changes over the rest of the day, from the outback desert to wide open grazing lands and eucalypt woodlands that line the Barwon River alongside the road between Bourke and Walgett. This afternoon we will arrive in the opal mining settlement of Lightning Ridge where we will stay for two nights.
Day 9 – Lightning Ridge – Sightseeing Day
Lightning Ridge is an opal mining town in Outback New South Wales, famous for not only the gorgeous black opals found in the area, but also the artesian bore baths (hot mineral pools) and the colourful locals who call this mining town home. Today you will see an underground opal mine along with other highlights of the town, opal traders, mineral pools just to name a few options.
Day 10 – Lightning Ridge to Glen Innes – 473 km (294 miles)
As we continue our ride east through to the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales we will see the landscape change from wide open farmland to areas of dense National Parks and interesting mountain ranges. Tonight we are stopping in the New England High Country, in a town surrounded by World Heritage rainforest and famous for it’s goldrush and gem mining history. The town has a rich Celtic history and is home to the Australian Standing Stones monument, which we will visit once we arrive in town.
Day 11 – Glen Innes to Dorrigo – 307 km (191 miles)
Continuing across to the east and we descend another mountain range, the Gibraltar Range, which also has spectacular views where you can see the plains below with more mountain ranges in the background. Once we reach the bottom of the range we will ride through a mix of farmland, National Parks and Nature Reserves before turning and making our way up the east end of Waterfall Way to the Dorrigo Plateau, part of the Great Dividing Range. This stretch of road is famous for the waterfalls that cascade down the roadside cliff-faces and under the road before falling away on the other side of the road, the water continuing its journey down the mountain to eventually run into the Bellinger River and out to the South Pacific Ocean.
Day 12 – Dorrigo to Tamworth – 252 km (157 miles)
We start our final run back to Sydney along the appropriately named Waterfall Way, stopping to see some sensational waterfalls along the way. This road winds its way through lush rainforests as we head west and opens up to the New England region farmland at its western end. It is an amazing ride through 5 National Parks and includes the highest waterfall in New South Wales, Wollomombi Falls in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park.We are now in bushranger territory, the most notable in this region is Captain Thunderbolt. We will visit McCrossin's Mill Museum in Uralla which houses the definitive collection of artefacts connected with Captain Thunderbolt. The Mill buildings themselves are also part of the exhibits, having once been an operating flour mill in the late 1800's, and have now been restored to house a multi-award winning Museum, Gallery and Function Centre.Continuing south we ride down the Moonbi Range, which rises to 1,300 metres (4,300 feet) above sea level, and down into Tamworth, the country music capital of Australia. A visit to the Big Golden Guitar is a must, an iconic landmark that is a tribute to the city's association with country music. The Tamworth Country Music Festival, held in January each year since 1973, is the largest and longest running country music festival in the Southern Hemisphere and has helped launch the careers of international artists such as Keith Urban, Lee Kernaghan, Gina Jeffreys, Travis Collins and Beccy Cole. The tourist centre is filled with music memorabilia including more than 45 guitars signed by local and international musicians - Smoky Dawson's original rifle guitar from the 1950s, Brian May's (Queen) travelling guitar, Tommy Emmanuel's first Maton guitar, a signed Washburton guitar from KISS' Paul Stanley and two customised guitars belonging to Slim Dusty.
Day 13 – Tamworth to Mudgee – 285 km (177 miles)
Have you ever heard the expression "beyond the Black Stump"? It is an Australian expression which means an imaginary point beyond which the land is considered remote. Today we will ride along The Black Stump Way which passes what is thought to be the original location of the black stump. Continuing on we will arrive in Mudgee, one of the many wine-producing regions of New South Wales, where you will enjoy an afternoon wine tour visiting 3 wineries for tastings.
Day 14 – Mudgee to Sydney – 262 km (163 miles)
Our last day back into Sydney is full of spectacular sightseeing as we make our way to the UNESCO World-Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park. Our first stop along the way is at a lookout with views over the Capertee Valley, the second-largest canyon in the world. It is also the widest canyon in the world at 30 kilometres (19 miles) wide, 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) wider than the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States.Leaving the lookout we will ride over the highest point of the Blue Mountains, Mount Victoria, then stop at Echo Point in Katoomba. Here you will ride the world's steepest passenger railway and get to take in the breath-taking sights of the Three Sisters rock formation, the spectacular sandstone cliffs that rise out from the Jamison Valley, and Mount Solitary, the only mountain that sits within the valley.Our final run down the mountain brings us back to Sydney where we will drop the bikes off and we will shuttle you back to the hotel in Sydney. The last activity of the tour is the Farewell Dinner where we can re-live our trip and exchange details with the new friends that we have just shared the road with for the last 14 days.
For more information about New South Wales please see the Australian Tourism website:Tourism Australia - New South Wales