Looking for a fun day out with the whole family? Hit the road

Entertaining a family of any size has become a costly exercise. Even if we look at a nuclear sample of two adults and two children, a day at the zoo will cost over $90 for admission, an AFL game about the same. Even a movie, on a special family ticket, costs about $50, and that only lasts about two-hours.

While there are some good value family entertainment options out there, Melbourne Museum will set you back about $30 and a walk to the park or the beach will still cost you nothing, we think there’s another good value option sitting in your driveway.

Ask yourself, when was the last time you bundled the brood into the car and just went for a drive?

Not a drive to the shops. Not a drive to the park. But a good, solid run out into some of the most beautiful countryside the world has to offer?

A day trip to a country town or regional landmark can present a whole new world of interest and opportunity out the window. There are some amazing places within a few hours of your home location that I’d wager you’ve still not been to.

What’s sometimes better though, is to draw on the memories of the past and head to places where you were taken on a family day out in the car, and give your family the same experience.

Sure, fuel prices are up, but a modern car is operating in its premium efficiency zone on a touring drive, and what may look like a daunting 250km loop could turn out to require only a quarter of a tank of fuel. Even at prices over $2 per litre, that’s probably less than $50.

For this, you get to show the family something new, breathe in some fresh air, and maybe indulge in a local treat while you’re at it.

On a recent run to Mansfield in the Victorian High Country, the Hyundai Palisade I was driving averaged an even 8.0L/100km on the roughly 400-kilometre run. That’s just over 30-litres of diesel, which at $2.22 per litre, cost me about $70.

For less than a day at the footy, we had a great run through the Yarra Valley where we passed hot-air balloons floating in and above the early-morning clouds. We toured along the Melba Highway, through the lush and green ‘valley of a thousand hills’ to the historic town of Yea where we took a walk with the dog along the rail-trail path, enjoyed a great burger for lunch and just took a moment to wind down.

The drive to Mansfield, to drop Miss 14 at school, is a very pretty run and offered a final bakery stop before waving goodbye and heading back to town.

The run home took in picturesque Strath Creek and the twisty climb up Murchison Gap, before returning to Melbourne along the Hume Freeway.

A nice day out, with full tummies and stretched legs in the fresh air, for what isn’t a huge amount of cost is pretty hard to come by these days. The best part is, if you start doing this on a regular basis, you don’t ever need to go to the same place twice.

We’ve created 50-episodes of Drive TV with scores of great road trip ideas that originate from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra, and have plenty more episodes to come. Basically, there are no shortage of national parks, state forests, rocks, trees, beaches, and wide expanses of sky to see, on a day trip that can involve every member of your family for very little outlay.

So if you are looking for something to do this weekend, just hit the road!

Do you have some favourite day trip destinations? Let us know in the comments below.