Car

Driving from:

• Melbourne - Take the Hume Highway to Wangaratta and then the Great Alpine Road through Harrietville. This will take about 4.5 hours.
• Sydney - Take the Hume Highway to Albury-Wodonga, follow the signs to Yackandandah, turn off to Myrtleford and from there turn onto the Great Alpine Road and through to Mount Hotham. This is about 8.5 hours driving.
• Queensland - Take the Newell Highway to Cobram, then on to Wangaratta and the Great Alpine Road as per the route from Melbourne. This is a lot of driving - you’ll need many Appy Travels apps!

In all cases, cars must carry snow chains when travelling on the Great Alpine Road between Harrietville and Omeo between June and October. You must be able to fit them when the signs indicate and there are numerous chain fitting bays located on the road. If you don’t own any, chains are available for hire in Harrietville and Omeo. Otherwise, drivers who don't wish to drive in the snow can park in the secure car park at Hoys Skis in Harrietville for $15 a day/$50 a week and catch a bus from there to Mount Hotham.

Parking fees at Hotham are substantial: $28 per day, paid in cash at the gate at either end of the resort. You will be given a permit to stick on the inside of your windscreen. Parking is free until midnight if you enter after 3pm, but you still need to stop at the gate and get an evening parking sticker. Parking inspections are frequent, particularly after midnight when the free evening parking passes run out. If you are just driving in to drop someone off you do not need to pay a parking fee but you must pay a drop-off fee of $10 per person. If you're just driving through without stopping, let them know, because no fee applies.

Bus

• Snowball Express is the Mt Hotham Winter bus service that runs from Melbourne (Southern Cross Train Station and Melbourne Airport), and between Myrtleford, Bright and Hoys Skis in Harrietville.
• Christian's Bus Company has buses to and from Albury Airport on fridays and sundays during the snow season from June to September. They depart the airport at 10am, 1.45pm and 5pm and return 8.30, 12.30pm and 4pm.
• O'Connell's Omeo Bus Service provide services between Omeo, Bright and Mount Hotham.

Train

The nearest train station is in Wangaratta, on the main Sydney to Melbourne line. Travellers would then need to transfer by bus to Bright, and again to Mount Hotham.

Plane

Mt Hotham has a functioning airfield but no large commercial flights go there at this point. The closest nearby airport with commercial flights, is Albury. Your other option is to hire a privately chartered plane. That could be fun. See below:

• Lilydale Airport One of the closest airports to Hotham.
• XJET A plane charter service that runs out of Essendon Airport in Melbourne.
• Vortex Air A plane charter service that runs out of Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne.
• Smartair A plane charter service that runs out of either Albury or Bathurst airports in New South Wales.