Spread across 227,600 square kilometres, with 200,000 kilometres of roads, Victoria is home to a whole lot of driving potential. And while most of us typically turn to servo pies and Maccas to keep us sustained on the road, it turns out there are a heap of elevated dining options along the state’s most popular driving routes.
To determine the best road trips for food lovers across Australia, car insurance company ROLLiN’ analysed Australia’s most popular car journeys, and ranked them all based on factors including the number of stops, quality of stops and the customer ratings at each human-refuelling station along the way. According to the data, Victoria is home to some of the very best road trips for food lovers, with the coastal drive from Melbourne to Sydney coming in sixth, the Great Ocean Road seventh and the Great Alpine Road ranking as the ninth-best road trip for food lovers.
According to the data, the popular city-to-city coastal drive is the sixth-best in the country, with a ‘total foodie road trip score’ of 63.1 out of 100. The 1,050-kilometre drive (often called the Grand Pacific Drive or the Sapphire Coast Route) features 654 food stops, with an average of 6.2 food stops per kilometre. With so many city dwellers tackling this journey every year, the review numbers are through the roof – with 370,973 total user ratings of the foodie stops along the way.
In Victoria, the drive winds through Lakes Entrance and Sale, offering hungry travellers a solid selection of cosy cafés, classic Aussie bakeries and some excellent seafood eateries. To make the most of the journey’s abundant offerings, we’d recommend splitting up the journey over a few days. And if you’re heading to Sydney via the inland route, we’d suggest stopping off at The Sir George in Jugiong for an on-point pub feed.
The next Victorian road trip to make the list was the Great Ocean Road, which ranked seventh overall with a ‘total foodie road trip score’ of 58.9 out of 100. Spanning 240 kilometres from Torquay to Allansford, this popular scenic drive offers 109 foodie stops to choose from – averaging at 4.5 options every ten kilometres.
Rounding out the top three is the Great Alpine Road, a drive that offers quality over quantity with a strong line-up of paddock-to-plate stops heroing the abundant produce of Victoria's alpine region.
Want more foodie road trip inspo? These are the best road trips in Australia for food lovers:
- Legendary Pacific Coast (NSW-QLD)
- Epicurean Way (South Australia)
- Great Barrier Reef Drive (QLD)
- Cape to Cape (WA)
- Grand Pacific Drive (NSW)
- Coastal Melbourne to Sydney (VIC to NSW)
- Great Ocean Road (VIC)
- Tasmania’s Southern Edge (TAS)
- The Great Alpine Road (VIC)
- Great Beach Drive (QLD)
You can check out the full study (and plan your next road trip accordingly) here.
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