Newcastle (New South Wales) by car · Newcastle (New South Wales) by car
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Newcastle (New South Wales) by car
Newcastle (New South Wales) by car
Newcastle is a two hour drive north of Sydney on the F3 freeway which starts at Wahroonga (close to Hornsby) on the North Shore. The scenic freeway is in excellent condition and driving is normally not difficult. However, as a large number of people commute to Sydney daily from the Central Coast and even Newcastle, travellers driving north during the evening peak (5PM to 7PM) will encounter heavy traffic between Wahroonga and the Central Coast with traffic easing off as you travel north the reverse applies to south bound traffic during the morning commute.
The F3 is on the Western side of Lake Macquarie. If you want to travel up the Eastern side of Lake Macquarie (which travels through Swansea) then take the "Charlestown" exit on the F3. This route is more scenic, more hilly, and less congested (though it takes a few minutes longer). If you follow this route you will eventually come to the "Charlestown Bypass" at Bennett's Green which you can take if you wish to head north-west (towards Lambton). Otherwise veer right to keep following the Pacific Highway until you reach Charlestown and then follow the signs to the city.
Traffic during holiday periods and long weekends is also affected with heavy northbound traffic at the beginning of the period as Sydneysiders flee the city for the weekend and finally heavy southbound traffic as they return.
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Newcastle (New South Wales) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.