Maitland (New South Wales)

Maitland (population 90,226 in 2021) is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. It's sometimes considered a part of Greater Newcastle, or even a northwestern suburb of Newcastle. Nevertheless, the state's fifth largest city is a destination of its own, and a very different destination from Newcastle.

Understand
Maitland sits on the banks of the Hunter River, a 30-minute train ride or 30-km drive from Newcastle. Since its foundation as a village at the tidal limit of the Hunter River, its use for the shipping of goods along the river has dwindled. Nonetheless, as is evident in Morpeth and the CBD, the Hunter River has maintained its connection to Maitland ever since West Maitland was founded in 1820.

Being a city built upon the river, Maitland is frequently inundated with destructive flooding. The flood of 1955 is one of the worst in Maitland's history, and flash flooding occurred again in 2007 and 2015.

By car
From the Upper Hunter:


 * Follow the New England Highway (A15) or the Golden Highway (B84) south-east towards Branxton, then either:
 * Continue on the Hunter Expressway (M15) and exit at Kurri Kurri onto Main Road, then head north-east to Maitland
 * Exit the Hunter Expressway at Branxton and head east on the Pacific Highway (A43) to Maitland

From Newcastle, either:


 * Follow the Pacific Highway all the way to Maitland
 * Follow Lake Road (A15) to the Pacific Motorway (M1) and head north, exit onto Weakleys Drive (straight ahead) at the end and turn left in Beresfield onto the Pacific Highway, then follow to Maitland

From the NSW North Coast and Brisbane:


 * Follow the Pacific Highway to Hexham, and turn right after crossing Hexham Bridge. Go straight ahead in Tarro, onto the A43, and follow to Maitland

From Sydney:


 * Follow the Pacific Motorway. Exit at the M15 Hunter Expressway and take the "Main Road" exit. Then, turn right and continue straight until you hit Maitland.

By train
There are several options for getting to Maitland by train.


 * From Brisbane and the NSW North Coast (e.g. Port Macquarie, Grafton, Casino), book a journey on a North Coast line XPT. There are typically about three per day, but some will not travel all the way from Brisbane.
 * From Moree, Armidale or Tamworth, book a journey on a North West line XPT. There is one train per day (on both weekdays and weekends) from both Armidale and Moree.
 * From Newcastle, catch a Hunter Line train towards wither Scone or Dungog – services to Maitland run every 30 minutes on average.
 * From Singleton, Muswellbrook or Scone, catch a Hunter Line train - there are four every day.
 * From Dungog, catch a Hunter Line train - these run five times a day.
 * From Sydney and the Central Coast, book a journey on either a North Coast or North West XPT service.

For those arriving from Sydney who are not concerned about the journey time, trains on the Central Coast & Newcastle line run every 30 minutes on average. The faster trains take around 2½ hours to travel to Newcastle, the slower ones take almost three hours. In Newcastle, change at Hamilton Station for a Hunter Line train to Maitland Station (takes about 20–30 minutes).

Stations in the Maitland area are:



All trains will stop at Maitland, Victoria Street and Metford, but some will not stop at East Maitland or High Street. All five stations are served by both branches of the Hunter Line – Scone and Dungog.

Train travel can be planned – if using a non-Intercity train, they must be booked here.

Get around
The above five train stations are connected by the Hunter Line services which usually run every 30 minutes. Buses connect Rutherford, Stockton Green Hills, Morpeth, Thornton and East Maitland to the Maitland CBD.

Do

 * Morpeth is a cute historical town on the outskirts of Maitland. Well worth visiting for a look at the cafes and boutique shops. Be warned though, Thursdays to Sundays are really the only days that are worth visiting- as many shops are closed at the beginning of the week.
 * Morpeth is a cute historical town on the outskirts of Maitland. Well worth visiting for a look at the cafes and boutique shops. Be warned though, Thursdays to Sundays are really the only days that are worth visiting- as many shops are closed at the beginning of the week.
 * Morpeth is a cute historical town on the outskirts of Maitland. Well worth visiting for a look at the cafes and boutique shops. Be warned though, Thursdays to Sundays are really the only days that are worth visiting- as many shops are closed at the beginning of the week.

Go next

 * Newcastle is 30 minutes away