Holiday and journey planning
Plan for your journey over holiday periods and long weekends using these resources, tips and tools.
Tools to plan your journey
The NSW Winter school holidays will begin on Friday 3 July until Sunday 19 July 2026, with the potential of increased traffic volumes expected, especially heading to the Alpine region.
There is a suite of planning tools available to make it easier to plan your trip, stay safe driving on ice and snow, avoid the busiest times on our roads and get to and from your destination and events safely. Make sure you also check weather warnings and take regular breaks.
Live Traffic NSW is the go-to app for commuters and holiday travellers seeking information about potential delays they might face on their trip.
The app and website provide real-time information about incidents and disruptions on the network. The Live Traffic app also gives customers the ability to receive notifications to their phone, alerting them about incidents and disruptions on their chosen route and time period.
Customers can choose to ‘follow’ individual incidents to receive notifications when the incident is updated or has ended.
By receiving notifications, road users can ‘set and forget’ and won’t have the hassle of constantly checking the app or site and means they can make the best decisions for their trip at the earliest opportunity. Learn more about the features by visiting the Live Traffic NSW.
Holiday and journey planning: Live Traffic App
Are you planning a trip to the snow? Many parts of the state often experience snow which creates driving conditions different from most drivers’ daily commute and motorists need to be prepared. If you are planning to go snow seeking or heading down to the Snowy Mountains ensure you read up on driving in the snow tips.
Heading to the Snowy Mountains?
The best way to get to the slopes is Public Transport. The Snowy Mountain Bus Service runs daily from Saturday 6 June to Sunday 4 October, with services connecting the Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne townships to Perisher, Thredbo and the Skitube at Bullocks Flat.
If you choose to drive, please be aware that Transport for New South Wales is required to temporarily close Kosciuszko Road or Alpine Way once parking availability at Perisher and Thredbo reaches capacity. You can stay up to date when the road closes through our SMS alert service, or by setting up push notifications for our alpine Live Traffic pins through your Live Traffic app. This will inform you when the road is closed, chains are required, and road conditions change.
What to expect these holidays
We anticipate traffic volumes and delays at known pinch points in Sydney and regional areas.
While difficult to predict, significant delays may occur at these locations, increasing the risk of incidents relating to driver frustration, fatigue and hazards caused by traffic queuing in high-speed zones.
Transport for NSW will have traffic management initiatives in place at the major known pinch points, but travellers should still be prepared to experience delays.
Before leaving on your winter holiday, we strongly recommend setting up your trip to receive real time updates with Live Traffic NSW on road conditions and possible delays.
Regional NSW
The known Regional NSW pinch points are M1 Princes Motorway at Wahroonga, Hexham, Coffs Harbour, Tugun, Pheasants Nest and on the Great Western Highway, Princes Highway and Kosciuszko Road.
The Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains can experience significant congestion during long weekends, school holidays and other special events. The ongoing closure of Victoria Pass on the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass is expected to contribute to additional delays.
For more information, visit our Great Western Highway road closure updates page.
As during previous busy travel periods, Transport for NSW will work to help manage this congestion to minimise your travel delays and keep everyone safe on their journey through the mountains.
Learn more about how we manage congestion through the Blue Mountains.
The Princes Highway from Nowra to Ulladulla can experience significant delays in peak periods. Visit the Princes Highway holiday congestion page to learn more about key Princes Highway pinch points and how to plan your journey to the beautiful NSW South Coast.
The Hume Highway is one of Australia’s major highways, linking Sydney and Melbourne. Currently there is a number of roadworks on sections of the highway between Sydney and Albury. We make every effort to minimise impacts to motorists, however, due to the nature of our work there can be unavoidable delays.
Visit the Hume Highway traffic impact page to learn more about current works and cumulative delays.
The M1 Pacific Motorway at Beresfield and the Pacific Highway at Hexham are linked via John Renshaw Drive and the New England Highway, forming a key north-south travel route. Hexham is one of four known pinch points people travelling from Sydney to Queensland.
Significant improvements have been made on the M1 Pacific Motorway and New England Highway since last summer, with noticeable changes in traffic flow.
Speed limits remain reduced over the holiday period, even when work is paused. This is for your safety, as conditions may include; narrow lane merges and altered traffic configurations.
Visit the Newcastle and surrounds traffic impact page to learn more about current works and cumulative delays.
Sydney
If you’re heading interstate or overseas, allow extra travel time as the queues to get into the airport precinct and through airport security may be longer than usual. Public transport is the easiest way to get to the airport with trains running to and from the domestic and international terminals every day from 5am to midnight. Bus services also connect the airport with surrounding suburbs.
Plan your journey before you leave home and pre-book your parking ahead of time.
Planned trackwork will be taking place during the Easter break and may affect how you travel.
Plan ahead using the Trip Planner.
Have you mapped out your rest stops?
The Transport for NSW Rest Areas map allows you to view more than 650 Transport for NSW and council managed rest areas and highway service centres across the state. The Plan your Trip feature has recently launched, where you can view rest areas and available facilities along your route. Making it the perfect tool to find a safe place to stop, rest and refresh yourself.
The interactive map is customisable, allowing you to find rest areas that suit your needs, including toilet facilities, a playground, BBQ’s, fuel, and/or wheelchair accessible facilities.
Driver reviver sites also operate across NSW during peak holiday periods, such as school holidays and long weekends.
Use the Driver Reviver map to locate sites to stop along your route.
Have you used the Rest Areas map?
Tips for a safe journey
If you are planning to travel into regional NSW during a holiday period or long weekend, there is a few simple steps you can take to make your journey as enjoyable as possible. These include:
- driving safely
- taking regular breaks and pre plan your driver reviver stops
- being patient
- being prepared for delays
- allowing extra travel time.
The Centre for Road Safety has some useful documents to help you prepare for a safe holiday, including:
- Live Traffic NSW: For the latest traffic information, download the Live Traffic NSW app or visit the website.
- Victoria traffic: Find information about road conditions for customers travelling into Victoria.
- Queensland traffic: Get information about road conditions for customers travelling into Queensland.
- Centre for Road Safety website: Get some helpful tips to avoid driving tired and other safe driving information.
- Latest public health orders at NSW Health
- NRMA website: For car maintenance tips and advice.
- NRMA Sloway: Are you taking your caravan on holidays and not in a hurry? NRMA has some tips for those customers looking to take their time to get to their destination.
- Rest areas in NSW: Use this interactive map to show you where you can safely stop, revive and survive.
- Electric vehicle charging map: Use this interactive map to help you plan your journey if you are travelling in an electric vehicle.
- NSW TrainLink bookings: Get to your destination on one of our regional trains or coaches.
- NSW SES: Get updates in the event of wet weather.
- Great Western Highway traffic congestion management
- Travelling on the Princes Highway
- Driving in the Snowy Mountains
- Sharing the road with trucks: See tips on how to be “truck aware” this summer holidays.