Sydney, Melbourne & Tasmania Guided Motorcycle Tour

Two of Australia’s best motorcycling regions, joined by a ferry across Bass Strait. Fifteen days from Sydney, thirteen nights and 3,180 kilometres, taking in the Snowy Mountains and the Great Ocean Road before a full loop of Tasmania.

The mainland leg comes first and takes about half the trip. The New South Wales south coast leads to the Snowy Mountains, then the Victorian High Country, which has the best motorcycle roads in the country and very little traffic on them. The Grampians and the Great Ocean Road follow into Melbourne, where the bikes go aboard the Spirit of Tasmania.

Tasmania is the reason to choose this one. It is a small island with an absurd concentration of good road: the Bay of Fires on the north-east coast with its orange lichen boulders, Freycinet and Wineglass Bay, the convict ruins at Port Arthur, then Hobart, the rainforest at Mount Field and the old mining port of Strahan on the wild west coast, before the return sailing to Melbourne.

BikeRoundOz runs it with a lead rider, a tour guide and a support vehicle, thirteen nights in three and a half to four star hotels, daily breakfast and welcome and farewell dinners. The bike is your choice from their fleet, or ship your own for rather less. Fuel is charged at cost, with flights, insurance and most meals arranged separately. The night count sits below the day count because of the overnight sailings, so the ferry arrangements are worth confirming when you book.