Large sections of Highway 1 are shared with the Australian
National Highway, though the two are not synonymous. Where they diverge, Highway 1 follows a coastal route, such as the
Princes Highway from Sydney to Melbourne, whereas the National Highway follows an inland (and generally more direct) route between major cities, such as the
Hume Highway and Freeway from Sydney to Melbourne. From
Sydney, it heads southwards to
Melbourne and onwards toward
Adelaide. This section mostly follows the
Princes Highway, except sections where that highway has been bypassed by freeways. It leaves the Sydney central business district via the
Eastern Distributor, and continues southward through the Sydney metropolitan area via
Southern Cross Drive,
General Holmes Drive, The Grand Parade, President Avenue, and the
Princes Highway (NSW). From Sydney's southern outskirts, it proceeds to
Wollongong via the
Princes Motorway, which bypasses the parallel section of the Princes Highway. Highway 1 returns to the Princes Highway south of Wollongong, from which it traverses the length of the
NSW South Coast and into Victoria. East of Melbourne, Highway 1/Princes Highway turns into the eastern section of the
Princes Freeway. Within Melbourne, this freeway turns into the
Monash Freeway, and then into
CityLink, which passes just south of the Melbourne central business district. Highway 1 exits Melbourne to the west via the
West Gate Freeway and the western section of the
Princes Freeway towards
Geelong, which it bypasses via the
Geelong Ring Road. It then proceeds west following the Princes Highway to
Warrnambool, into South Australia to
Mount Gambier, and then to Adelaide. From there, it runs to Perth via
Port Wakefield Road,
Augusta Highway,
Eyre Highway,
Coolgardie-Esperance Highway,
South Coast Highway and
South Western Highway. It then heads to Darwin via
Brand Highway,
North West Coastal Highway,
Great Northern Highway,
Victoria Highway, and
Stuart Highway. From Darwin, Highway 1 follows the
Stuart Highway to
Daly Waters, and thereafter the
Carpentaria Highway to
Borroloola. The
Savannah Way is the largely unsignposted route for Highway 1 between the QLD/NT border, east of Borroloola, and
Normanton, Queensland. From there, it follows the
Gulf Developmental Road and
Kennedy Highway to
Cairns and southwards via the
Bruce Highway to
Brisbane. It then returns to Sydney via the Queensland/northern NSW section of the
Pacific Motorway (QLD/NSW), the
Pacific Highway (NSW), and the Sydney–Newcastle section of the
Pacific Motorway. The motorway ends in Sydney's northern suburbs, and Highway 1 follows the Pacific Highway through Sydney's upper north shore, before turning onto the
Gore Hill Freeway,
Warringah Freeway. It crosses beneath Sydney Harbour in the
Sydney Harbour Tunnel, and follows the
Cahill Expressway for a short stretch before joining the Eastern Distributor. In
Tasmania,
Highway 1 starts at the
Brooker Highway in
Hobart and heads towards
Launceston via the
Midland Highway. At Launceston it becomes the
Bass Highway to
Burnie. Highway 1 ends at Burnie; the Bass Highway continues to
Marrawah on the west coast as Highway A2.
Route markers The Savannah Way section The section from the eastern end of the Carpentaria Highway at
Borroloola in the Northern Territory to the western end of the Gulf Developmental Road near
Normanton in Queensland is part of the Savannah Way but has no highway name/s. Wollogorang Road runs from Borroloola to the NT/Qld border, and Westmoreland Road runs from there to
Doomadgee. From there Doomadgee Road runs to
Burketown, and Nardoo Burketown Road then runs to the
Leichhardt River. Burketown Normanton Road runs from the river to the
Burke Developmental Road near Normanton. National Highway 1 follows this south for to the Gulf Developmental Road. ==Road conditions==