Otago Rail Trail vs Murray to Mountains Rail Trail

Otago vs Murray to Mountains Rail Trail

It's the World Cup of the southern hemisphere cycling tours. Two iconic cycling trails, oft referred to as 'Otago Rail Trail' and 'Murray to Mountains'. Two amazing bucket list travel destinations...New Zealand and Australia. Which will come out on top in the battle of these rail trails?

We have compiled a fairly exhaustive list of criteria we think is what you'd like on a cycling holiday, and compared each of the rail trails against each other. We have then nominated a vote for the winner against each criteria to try and determine which rail trail comes out trumps.

Of course this is an entirely subjective judgement, and we'd certainly welcome any comments to the contrary from those that have done both. At the end of the day, the cycling experience on these fantastic rail trails are different, and both have amazing highlights and very few downsides (if any), and are incredible assets for the regions they are in.

Whatever you choose, we know you will have a fantastic cycling experience either way.

Feature	Otago Rail Trail	Murray to Mountains	Winner?
Trail Surface	Packed gravel	Sealed	Murray to Mountains
Length	Approx 150kms	Now approx 150kms	Otago (just)
Towns	Small but cute	Many and varied	Murray to Mountains
Scenery	Grand/Mountains	Alpine/Rural	Otago (just)
Weather	Cool, often windy, hot	Mild, hot	Murray to Mountains
Highlights	Scenery	Autumn colours	Murray to Mountains
Accommodation	Limited	Many, varied	Murray to Mountains
Food	Bistro style	Gourmet, Chef Hat rest's.	Murray to Mountains
Wineries	Nearby	Direct access from Trail	Murray to Mountains
Shopping	Limited	Yes, varied	Murray to Mountains
Crowds	Busy on trail	Busy in towns	Both!
History	Farm stations	Historic town Beechworth, Ned Kelly	Murray to Mountains
Results			Otago 3 Murray to Mountains 10

Of course there is nothing better than actually being able to see - like they say "a picture is worth a thousand words". Check out these short image galleries, if nothing else for a bit of inspiration, but also to give you a feel for both rail trails.