murray river cruise albury to echuca

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Echuca River Cruises

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Albury to Echuca road trip: Drive time, distance & best attractions

• David Whitley
• Attractions

The drive from Albury to Echuca along the Murray Valley is 226km long. The Albury to Echuca driving time is around two hours and 35 minutes. If doing a Murray River road trip, highlights on the route include Lake Mulwala, Cactus Country and Ulupna Island.

Albury and Echuca are two of the largest towns on the Murray River. And, if doing a road trip along the longest river in Australia , it makes sense to have them as the first and second bases on the trip.

To fix your Echuca accommodation,  look through your options here .

It’s a 553km drive from Sydney to Albury , while the Melbourne to Albury drive is 328km long. Once there, though, it’s the most logical point to start that Murray River road trip.

Dip into the Woomargama National Park , visit the Bonegilla Migrant Experience , go kayaking on the Murray and walk the Yindyamarra Sculpture Trail . Then prepare to set off for Echuca.

The drive from Albury to Echuca is 226km long, travelling mainly along the Murray Valley Highway.

That makes for an Albury to Echuca driving time of roughly two hours and 35 minutes.

However, you can add a few minor detours to the route to turn it into a fun day out.

Best Albury accommodation picks

The best places to stay in Albury are:

• For a heated pool and spa in a gorgeous location next to a riverside park: Best Western Plus Hovell Tree Inn .
• For apartments with kitchenettes in a central location: Mantra Albury .
• For a good quality motel next to the train station: Winsor Park Motor Inn .
• For a holiday park with lots of facilities for the kids: Big4 Albury Tourist Park .
• For a motel with cheap rates and fairly central location: Allawa Motor Inn .

Next section: Albury to Echuca road trip attractions.

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10 best things to do in Echuca

There’s plenty to discover when you explore this historic river region. 

Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.

On the junction of the Murray and Campaspe rivers in Victoria’s north, Echuca is named for an Aboriginal word meaning “meeting of the waters” to the area’s Yorta Yorta first inhabitants. 

It became a thriving inland port in the latter 19th century, and its preserved fleet of paddle-steamers has helped make Echuca and its cross-border twin, Moama, on the NSW side of the Murray, a tourist drawcard today. The community is on the comeback trail after flooding two years ago, with much to offer the winter roadtripper.

Best detour

Cornella is a farming hamlet about 70km south of Echuca, and home to Shiraz Republic , a winery and cellar door taking its name from the surrounding Heathcote region’s most famous varietal. Call in for a $15 self-guided tasting of four wines or a $20 paddle of beers from the on-site Cornella Brewery, with a wood-fired pizza or German-style pretzel. In winter, fire drums burn in the beer garden for live music on weekends. Six on-site cabins overlook the vines.

Best country stay

Letitia Edwards and Jon Keetelaar have transformed a derelict 1928 landmark, the Gunbower Butter Factory , on the banks of Gunbower Creek half an hour from Echuca, into an enchanting place to stay since they bought the building and made it their home in 2018. Inside, upstairs offices have been converted into the Wattle Room, a fully contained three-room apartment with a kingsize bed and claw-foot bath, and outside, the factory’s old boiler comes filled with red gum, ready to tell tales by the firelight.

Best winter restaurant

The Mill – built in 1881 as a flour mill – capitalises on its history, with industrial interiors of exposed brick walls and concrete floors. The menu delights in mashing up world cuisines, and share plates are the go, especially if you can sit near the open fire.

Best breakfast

The “Mighty Murray” isn’t only a river; it’s a souped-up way to start a day of sightseeing. Poached eggs, bacon and mushrooms are piled on sourdough toast with chipolatas and a hash brown filling out the plate at the Wren Courtyard Café . The café overlooking historic High St is in a building that was once the Bank of Victoria, and an old vault still sits in the wall behind the coffee machine.

Best quirky museum

A 10-minute drive out of Echuca’s town centre is the Great Aussie Beer Shed & Heritage Farm Museum , a passion project for dedicated collector Neil Thomas. Celebrating 21 years in September, the “Shed”, adjoining buildings and shipping containers hold beer cans, steins and ephemera from around the world, historic farming equipment, and a vast collection of Australiana. The original 1940 CUB clydesdale wagon donated to the museum eight years ago has pride of place.

Best historic attraction

Fans of the ’80s TV miniseries All the Rivers Run will recognise a main character docked at Echuca’s timber wharf . The Pevensey played the paddle-steamer Philadelphia, and passengers on an hour-long cruise along the Murray, past houseboats and red gums, can peek into cabins set up as they would have been in the pre-railway heyday of river trade.

Best cocktail

One way to warm up in winter is a spicy cocktail, and at Bar Lee on High St, you can order a chilli lime margarita with as much heat as you can stand, made with small-batch agave spirit distilled metres away. The bar shares its High St premises with the De Vries family-run Echuca Distillery , one of the few in Australia making Mexican-inspired agave.

Best provedore

Yarrawonga’s Rich Glen olive estate’s airy Echuca outlet opened in November selling olive oil, dressings and sauces, oil-based skincare and household products. 

Best market days

Echuca’s Aquatic Reserve hosts a farmers’ market on the first and third Saturday of the month. Across the bridge, Kerrabee Soundshell hosts the Moama Market on several Sunday mornings each month selling crafts and more.

Best silo snapshots

Rochester, en route to Echuca, has three nature-based silo art works by Jimmy Dvate – an azure kingfisher, sugar glider and platypus – and take a detour to see scenes of farming history at Colbinabbin by muralist Tim Bowtell.

The writer was a guest of Murray Regional Tourism and Campaspe Shire Council.

What is the best way to get to Echuca?

Echuca Moama is 220km north of Melbourne, an hour and 40-minute drive on Calder Freeway. V/Line train and coach services are $10.60 each way and take 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Bendigo Airport, with direct Qantas flights to Sydney, is an hour away.

When is the best time to visit Echuca? 

Weekend nights will be brighter on the Murray in July, when Moama Lights is on at Horseshoe Lagoon on the NSW side. Light, sound and art – some by Indigenous artists – combine to show how spectacular nature can be after dark.

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Originally published as 10 best things to do in Echuca

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On Sale 4-Night Murray River Cruise – 12/8/2024 SAVE , a limited number of cabins left!

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Albury to Adelaide

Join a unique Murray River tour which includes a number of day cruises along the Murray River. It begins as a small stream in the Australian Alps and 2520 river kilometres later it empties into the Southern Ocean near Goolwa in South Australia. Along the way, it meanders through contrasting Australian landscapes and river towns that record the history of what used to be the most important trade route in Australia. The Murray has also allowed the development of Australia’s most important irrigated region and is widely known as the food bowl of the nation. Our tour begins in Albury on the Victorian-New South Wales Border and ends near Goolwa in South Australia. Along the way we will visit historic river towns such as Echuca, Swan Hill and Mannum, see a number of the major river lakes and be entertained and informed by local characters who live by and are part of the history of the Majestic River Murray.

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10 Day Majestic Murray River Albury to Adelaide Tour

10 Day Majestic Murray River Albury to Adelaide Tour, a great package to explore the regional towns and day cruises along the Murray River.