What’s worth the drive.
You’re eight kilometres from the CBD and an hour from the Hunter. Here’s what’s worth the drive, and how long it actually takes.
Places to go, nearest first
Showing 8 items, nearest first.
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~3.1 km~8 min drive
McDonald Jones Stadium
Home of the Newcastle Knights and the Newcastle Jets — the closest big-crowd venue to the motel.
New Lambton. Check the draw before you book; game nights fill this road.
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~5 km~10 min drive
Newcastle Entertainment Centre & Showground
Newcastle’s main arena for touring concerts, expos and the Newcastle Show.
Broadmeadow. Broadmeadow interchange is 6.6 km from here if you’d rather not drive.
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8.1 km~15 min drive
Blackbutt Reserve
Free bushland reserve with koalas, kangaroos and wombats, plus easy walking tracks.
Kotara. 182 hectares, free entry — the best-value morning out with kids in Newcastle.
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~9 km~16 min drive
Newcastle Museum
Free museum in the old railway workshops, telling Newcastle’s story from Awabakal country to steel.
6 Workshop Way, Honeysuckle. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am–5pm.
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~10 km~18 min drive
Nobbys Beach & Bathers Way
Newcastle’s signature beach and the start of the 6 km clifftop walk past the ocean baths.
Newcastle East. Park at Nobbys and walk south — the whole Bathers Way is sealed.
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~10 km~18 min drive
Fort Scratchley
1882 harbour fortress with tunnel tours, free museum rooms and the best view in the city.
Flagstaff Hill, Newcastle East. The museum rooms are free; the tunnel tour is ticketed.
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~45 min north
Port Stephens & the Stockton sand dunes
32 kilometres of dunes, sandboarding and dolphin cruises at Anna Bay.
Straight up Nelson Bay Road. Make it a full day.
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~60 km~1 hr drive
Hunter Valley wine country
Australia’s oldest wine region — cellar doors, gardens and ballooning, an hour up the expressway.
Pokolbin. Straight out the Hunter Expressway. Book a driver if you’re tasting.
The whales go past twice.
Newcastle sits right on the migration route. North-bound May to July, south-bound September to November — the southward run is the one with mothers and calves.
- May – Jul North-bound, May to July
- Sep – Nov South-bound with calves, Sep to Nov
- ~10 km Best vantage: the Bathers Way clifftops ~18 min
Every distance, from our front door.
Measured from 503 Maitland Road, and drawn to scale. Drive times are indicative — Maitland Road at five o’clock is its own weather system.
- under 2 km Calvary Mater Newcastle
- ~3.1 km McDonald Jones Stadium ~8 min
- ~5 km Newcastle Entertainment Centre ~10 min
- within 5 km University of Newcastle, Callaghan
- 1.5 km Warabrook station
- 6.6 km Broadmeadow interchange
- ~8 km Newcastle CBD ~15 min
- 8.1 km Blackbutt Reserve ~15 min
- ~10 km Nobbys Beach ~18 min
- ~20.4 km Newcastle Airport, Williamtown ~20 min
- ~60 km Hunter Valley wine country ~1 hr
- ~160 km Sydney ~2 hr
Make a weekend of it.
Ground-floor rooms, free parking, and eight kilometres to the CBD.
(02) 4968 2661