Byron Bay sits roughly 800 km north of Sydney, reached by a short flight to Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (about 30 minutes further by car or shuttle to Byron itself) or to Gold Coast Airport, with a longer transfer south. Direct coach services exist but run overnight or most of a day; for four nights, flying frees up more of the trip for the coast rather than the journey. Book flights early: this route fills with both domestic tourists and international arrivals routed through Gold Coast.
The logic of this excursion is pacing, not sightseeing density. The first day or two should stay close to Byron's town beaches and cafes, genuinely easy on legs recovering from a marathon; the more active options, the lighthouse walk and the hinterland day trip to Nimbin, are better placed toward the end of the four nights once recovery is further along.
Byron's town centre is compact and walkable, with a beach on both the town side and the more surf-oriented Wategos side beyond the headland, and a cafe and restaurant scene built around long, unhurried mornings that suits a slow recovery trip better than a packed itinerary would.
Main Beach and the town centre
Main Beach, directly in front of Byron's town centre, is flat, easy to reach on foot from most accommodation, and safe for a gentle swim. The town itself runs to cafes, bookshops and a Thursday farmers' market, all within a few minutes' walk and none of it demanding on tired legs.
Cape Byron Lighthouse walk
The Cape Byron Lighthouse walk circles the headland to mainland Australia's easternmost point, roughly 3.5 km return with some incline near the lighthouse itself. It rewards better legs and a clearer head than the day after a marathon provides, so it is worth scheduling for day three or four of the stay rather than the first morning.
Nimbin day trip
Nimbin, about an hour inland by car or organised tour, is a hinterland town built around the 1973 Aquarius counterculture festival and still carries that identity in its shopfronts, murals and pace. It makes a complete change of scene from Byron's beach towns, best done as a single day trip rather than an overnight, and works well slotted into the middle of the four nights as a lower-impact day between beach time.
Getting back
The return flight from Ballina or Gold Coast back to Sydney runs the same route in reverse; book the return leg with enough buffer before any onward international connection, since regional Australian flight schedules are thinner than the Sydney-to-capital-city routes most connections assume.