Gold Coast Highway links the coastal suburbs of the Gold Coast in south eastern Queensland such as Miami, Mermaid Beach, Tugun, Bilinga and across the border of New South Wales to the Tweed Heads suburb of Tweed Heads West.

It is characterised by a variety of urban landscapes, ranging from: The highest point of the highway is 42 metres at Currumbin Hill.

The section between Tugun in Queensland and Tweed Heads in New South Wales was formerly part of Pacific Highway.

The first stage of the Tweed Heads bypass, a two-lane road connecting Pacific Highway (today Coolangatta Road) at Bilinga across the border to Kennedy Drive at Tweed Heads West, was opened in 1985 at a total cost of $3.6mil, with the second carriageway completed in December 1986;[3] the second stage, bypassing Tweed Heads South connecting Kennedy Drive over Terrenora Creek to Pacific Highway (today Minjungbal Drive, renamed 19 February 1997[4]) was completed on 15 November 1992, at a total cost of $46 mi,[5] and Pacific Highway redefined to use this new alignment.

The Tugun Bypass, connecting Pacific Motorway at Tugun Hill in Queensland to Pacific Highway about 1 kilometre north of the interchange with Kennedy Drive at Tweed Heads West in New South Wales, opened in June 2008, extending the motorway around (and under) the Gold Coast Airport.

[11] A project to upgrade the Toolona Street intersection in Tugun, at a cost of $1.5 million, started in September 2021.

On Sunday to Thursday nights it continues north of Broadbeach South to the Gold Coast University Hospital.

It is complemented by limited stops route 777 from Broadbeach South to Gold Coast Airport.

The G:link light rail line opened in July 2014 between Gold Coast University Hospital and Broadbeach South.

It has frequent flights to Sydney and Melbourne as well as international services to New Zealand, Japan and South-East Asia.