Best day trips from Wollongong: your guide to the Illawarra and beyond

Wollongong's day trip geography spans the Southern Highlands 90 minutes west, the Royal National Park 30 minutes north, the Kangaroo Valley hinterland 90 minutes south-west, and the Kiama and Jervis Bay south coast that extend the Illawarra coastal experience further down the NSW coast.

Kangaroo Valley — the 90-minute drive through the escarpment to Kangaroo Valley delivers the heritage Hampden Bridge (the oldest suspension bridge in Australia, 1898), the kangaroo paddocks along the valley floor, the Fitzroy Falls 81-metre waterfall, and the Yarrunga Creek swimming holes that create the most complete rural day trip accessible from Wollongong.

Kiama and the coast south — the 45-minute coastal drive south to Kiama delivers the blowhole (one of the world's largest), the Gerringong heritage village, the Seven Mile Beach, and the Seven Mile Beach National Park walking tracks that extend the Illawarra coastal experience south of the city.

Southern Highlands — Bowral and Berrima — the 90-minute drive via the Macquarie Pass or the Hume Highway delivers the heritage sandstone village of Berrima (the oldest intact Georgian-era town in Australia), the Bradman Museum in Bowral, and the cool-climate tulip festival at Corbett Gardens that create the heritage and garden day trip destination most popular with Wollongong families in autumn and spring.

Jervis Bay — the 2-hour drive south delivers the white silica sand beaches (the whitest in the world by official measurement) of Hyams Beach and Murrays Beach, the Booderee National Park cave and headland walks, and the dolphin encounter boat tours that make Jervis Bay the South Coast day trip destination that Wollongong residents most frequently recommend to visitors.

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