Sydney To Orange Road Trip With Kids: Where to stop, what to see

Our family has done the Sydney to Orange road trip regularly over many years and we have found some sweet places to stop.

And I mean sweet as in sweeties, lollies and honey. Yum.

And there are some more healthy and wholesome stops too.

Here are our family’s tips on where to stop off when you drive Sydney to Orange.

This post is all about the Sydney to Orange via Katoomba and the Blue Mountains road trip.  You can also travel via the Bells Line of Road, as we did the time we drove to Dubbo. 

However, this post deals just with the route via Katoomba and the Blue Mountains.

How Far Is Orange From Sydney?

The distance between the centre of Sydney and Orange is 258 kilometres.

The journey by car takes a minimum four hours, minimum. We live in the northern areas of Sydney and can hop onto the M2 in about 30 – 40 minutes.

The fastest we’ve done the Sydney-Orange trip is four hours, ten minutes, with one toilet and petrol stop.

With more stops it can easily be five hours, and, really, you might want to have a proper longer stop and take six.

Where and When To Stop?

You need to work out whether you want to do a big stop and see one of the interesting places along the way. Then you will be making a full day of the journey.

There are heaps of places to do this, both as you cross the Blue Mountains and after them.

Personally, I love to do a long stint of driving, get right over the Blue Mountains and then have a break. But with the kids, it doesn’t always work like that!

Blue Mountains Stops

Norman Lindsay

Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum, Fauconbridge

One for the art lovers, this beautiful home, gallery and gardens is just a few kms off the main road.

There’s a cafe here and, kids willing, you can see some of Norman Lindsay’s glorious paintings. Or just grab a bite to eat and view the sculptures in the gardens.

Address: 14 Norman Lindsay Crescent, Fauconbridge

Phone: 02 4751 1067

Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum website

Lindsays Cafe website is here

Glenbrook Playground 5
Glenbrook Park and playground

Glenbrook Park + Playground 

Let the kids out to play at this terrific enclosed playground, if they need to stretch their legs. The railway theme is fantastic and the play equipment is great. You can park just behind the Glenbrook Visitor Centre and access the playground and park. There are cafes just across the way too. If you fancy a swim check out nearby Jellybean Pool too.

Read more on Glenbrook Park here.

Address:  Ross St, Glenbrook, NSW, 2773

road trip Blue Mountains Orange Sydney
The public toilets in Lawson, we love them

Lawson toilet and café stop

There’s a groovy toilet on Staples Crescent in Lawson, a left turn from the Highway. The toilets are spacious and there’s a café and also a bakery exactly opposite them.

I don’t know the names of either but they are easy to find and we can vouch that the coffee is good.

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Katoomba

For a drink, snack or meal, we like the Gingerbread House Cafe and also the The Blue Mountains Chocolate Company on Lurline Street.

Scenic World makes a good longer stop, as long as it’s not too busy there. It’s interesting and exciting to visit, read all about Scenic World here.

Just stopping and having a look at the Three Sisters is also fun.

Road trip Sydney to Orange 2

The Hydro Majestic, Medlow Bath

This is one of my favourite stops as I love the views from beside the Pavilion, which is where we usually go to eat, drink and visit the bathroom. We have tried the Boiler Room restaurant which is lovely, indeed too lovely for my kids, and too pricey.

The Hydro Majestic is the grand old dame of Blue Mountains hotels, we must stay here one day and take in the views over hours, lose ourselves in its history. In the meantime, we often stop here to eat, do a toilet stop and to gaze in awe.

The Hydro Majestic

 52-88 Great Western Hwy, Medlow Bath NSW 2780

Phone: 02 4782 6885

Road trip Sydney to Orange 1
Road trip Sydney to Orange

Stops Beyond The Blue Mountains

Road Trip Sydney to Orange 3

The Lolly Bug at Hartley

This is a marvellous and spacious lolly shop, just at the bottom of the hairpin bends at Mount Victoria. Use a stop here to brike the kids into behaving well in the car. More lollies that they’d dream possible.

The Lolly Bug

2297 Great Western Hwy, Little Hartley NSW 2790

Phone: 02 6355 2162

Road Trip Sydney to Orange 2

Olivers at Lithgow

Just before you arrive into Lithgow itself, there’s a very healthy café called Olivers on the right hand side of the road.

Here you can buy all sorts of wholesome meals and take out, organic coffee. There are also browse the healthy livings books and DVDs to browse.

Much as I love sweeties, this is my fave place of them all.

Olivers Real Food – Lithgow

Lot 1, 888 Great Western Highway, South Bowenfels, NSW 2790

Phone: 02 6353 1748

Bathurst – so much to do!

You can stop at many, many different places in Bathurst from cool milk bars to the Dinosaur Museum. Check out this post to learn about all of them:  15 Things To Do in Bathurst With Kids

Road Trip Sydney to Orange 1

The Beekeepers Inn at Mitchell

There’s a lovely, wholesome café here as well as live bees in hives to watcn and lots of honey products. There is a nice outside seating area, also an antique shop and lots of old curios to see. There’s also a farm shop and a brewery on site.

The Beekeepers Inn

2319 Mitchell Highway, VITTORIA, NSW  2799

Phone: 02 6368 7382

And that’s it, you’ve done to the road trip from Sydney to Orange by car!

Click here for our article: Fun things to do and places to visit in Orange

Check out this post on Great Accommodations in Orange, With and Without Kids.

Have you got your own fave stop on this journey to add to our list?

Happy troad tripping!

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