Pick the plan that matches your days and who is in the car, then bend it to the weather.
The shape most first-timers end up doing by accident, tidied into two days with the driving kept short. Sleep in Dunsborough or Yallingup so both mornings start near the coast. Day two ends at the Margaret River mouth for sunset, about an hour from the airport for a morning flight out.
Pick up the keys, see the jetty while you are beside it, then spend the afternoon on the sheltered side of Cape Naturaliste.
Walk or take the train the 1.8 km out, and go down to the observatory if the water is clear. Coffee on the foreshore.
First swim. Calm, clear and shallow; the picnic lawn behind the sand is the lunch spot if you brought food.
Tour the lighthouse, then the short loop walk along the cliff top. In season the lookouts here are the whale-spotting place.
Five minutes down the road. The lookout is a short walk from the car park; it is the photo everyone takes.
Beers and a pizza on the lawn with the bay below. Book on weekends.
Last swim or just a walk; the bay faces north so the light lingers. Dunsborough for dinner and bed.
The Yallingup coast early, before the sea breeze, then inland through the wineries to Margaret River.
Walk the footbridge across the channels while the swell is doing something. Twenty minutes is enough.
The rock pool the swell fills; only get in when it is small. Rock-hop from the car park at the south end of the beach.
The oldest show cave in the region, a cool break if the day is hot. Tours run through the day.
The region's founding estate. Taste, then lunch in the restaurant or a picnic on the lawn; book the restaurant ahead.
Across the road in spirit: biodynamic, family run, and a quieter tasting than its neighbour.
Stretch the legs among the fibreglass cows and pick up a pie or a coffee.
The main street for provisions, bookshops and an early dinner.
Watch the Main Break from the headland. The airport is about an hour back up the highway.
Numbers match the stops. Drive times assume no traffic and no stops.
Three days built around cellar doors, grouped so nobody spends the afternoon on Caves Road. Nominate a driver each day, or swap the car for one of the tour operators on the home page and let the whole group taste. Lunch bookings are the thing that sells out, not tastings.
Straight from the airport into the heart of the northern wine region, ending in Cowaramup.
First tasting, twenty minutes from the airport on the Dunsborough road; a gentle start.
Biodynamic, family run since 1971, and the tasting room everyone remembers.
The region's first commercial vineyard; the art gallery upstairs is worth ten minutes.
Swap grapes for gin at the distillery on the edge of Cowaramup. Sleep in Cowaramup.
The two big names south of the river, a smaller cellar door, then the coast.
Sand and granite outcrops. Swim between the rocks only when the sea is calm; the rips here are serious.
Back north to Prevelly for the sunset over Main Break, then dinner in Margaret River township.
The region's southern end, then back north to the airport.
Stingrays glide along the shoreline near the old jetty. Watch from the shallows; do not touch or feed them.
Drive the forest road through the karri and stop at the lookout.
Last stop before the highway north. The airport is under an hour from Margaret River township.
Numbers match the stops. Drive times assume no traffic and no stops.
Built for children who do not love the car: no leg is longer than about forty minutes, every day has a swim or an animal, and there is a wet-weather option each day. Base yourself in Busselton or Dunsborough where the beaches have no surf.
Stay close to the airport on arrival day.
The solar train out and the underwater observatory at the end. Book the observatory in school holidays.
Chocolate and gelato on the foreshore; the free factory tour is at 2 pm.
Meelup Regional Park beaches and the lighthouse.
Short walk to the granite headland and a second cove to swim in.
Cafe at the lighthouse, then the tour; children like the stairs and the view.
Yallingup in the morning, farm animals after lunch.
The first cave: stairs, colour and a guide who knows what children ask.
Swim in the reef-ringed lagoon left of the main stairs, not the surf beach.
Free chocolate buttons and a look through the factory window on the way back.
The longest driving day, with a maze and a farm to break it up.
The easiest cave for small legs: a boardwalk and an audio guide, with fossils.
Twenty minutes of driving under the karri trees; stop at the lookout.
Picnic on the beach and watch for stingrays in the shallows. Look, do not touch.
Scones and berry ice cream in the garden, then north to the airport or your bed.
Numbers match the stops. Drive times assume no traffic and no stops.
The southern half of the region gets skipped because it is an hour past the wineries. Give it a night in Augusta and it becomes the best drive on the coast: limestone caves, the tallest karri, Hamelin Bay's rays and the lighthouse at the bottom of the continent.
Caves in the morning while it is quiet, the lighthouse for the afternoon light.
Down the long staircase through the collapsed doline to the lake and the suspended table.
Boranup Drive through the karri, then the lookout over the forest to the sea.
Stingrays along the shore by the old jetty ruins. Watch from the water's edge.
The largest show cave in the region; the last tour of the day is the quiet one.
Where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. Walk to the waterwheel, then into Augusta for the night.
Flinders Bay first, then the national park beaches up the coast to Prevelly.
In whale season (roughly May to August here) this is where the boats leave from; otherwise a coffee and a look at Flinders Bay.
Gravel road in; a long white beach under limestone cliffs with nobody on it. Check the park alerts first.
The headland over Main Break, five minutes up the road.
Coffee and the main street, then about fifty minutes back to the airport.
Numbers match the stops. Drive times assume no traffic and no stops.
Every desk at the airport in one place. Book before you fly; keys are at the terminal.
Independent guide, not affiliated with the City of Busselton or the airport. Links to hire companies may be affiliate links; if you book through one we may earn a commission at no cost to you.