Melbourne is the base. The best days are out of town.
Which Great Ocean Road bus turns around before the crowds, what the Penguin Parade costs once transport is in, and whether the Yarra Valley beats the Peninsula on a Saturday.
The coast road, the penguins, a wine valley and the river.
Four days out that a first week in Melbourne is usually built around. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The long day westGreat Ocean Road Small-Group Eco Tour from MelbourneTwelve hours down the coast in a small bus, with the Apostles saved for late light. Book the eco tour, not the big coach.
02The dusk bookingPenguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from MelbourneKangaroos and koalas in the afternoon, then the penguins walking up the beach after dark. The one day out with a fixed finish time.
03Somebody else drivesLaid back, Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Wine, Cider, Gin, Beer + ChocFour cellar doors, cider, gin and chocolate in the Yarra Valley. The point of a tour here is that nobody has to stay sober.
04Two hours, no plan2-Hour City Highlights River CruiseUp the Yarra and back with the city on both banks. The cheapest way to work out how Melbourne fits together.
Every good Melbourne day out is a drive. Pick the direction.
West to the limestone stacks, south-east to the penguins, north-east to the vines, or four hours to sandstone country. Four directions, what boarding each one costs, and how long you lose to the road.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Great Ocean Road Small-Group Eco Tour from Melbourne
West to the ApostlesTwelve hours, surf coast, rainforest and limestone.
South-east to the penguinsWildlife in daylight, the parade after sunset.
North-east to the vinesFour cellar doors, lunch, and a driver.
North-west to the GrampiansSandstone lookouts, waterfalls, rock art.
All 188 days out of Melbourne →
The Twelve Apostles are three hours out. The road is the reason to go.
Bells Beach, the Memorial Arch, koalas asleep over the road at Kennett River, then rainforest at Maits Rest before the limestone. Run it clockwise and you eat lunch with everyone else at Apollo Bay. Run it in reverse and you get Loch Ard Gorge to yourself.
Victoria puts koalas, kangaroos and penguins inside an afternoon of the city.
Healesville keeps platypus and lyrebirds an hour from the CBD. Kangaroos graze on the Mornington golf courses at dusk. On Summerland Beach the little penguins come up the sand every night of the year, and nobody is allowed to photograph them.
- 1Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tourfrom $94
- 2Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from Melbournefrom $118
- 3Melbourne Great Ocean Rd Reverse Tour London Bridge Wildlifefrom $46
The days out Melbourne books more than any other.
Every review on the site →More travellers take these than anything else leaving the city, and each one earns the slot for a different reason.
1
Great Ocean Road Small-Group Eco Tour from Melbourne
Travel from Melbourne to the Twelve Apostles, Gibson Steps, Loch Ard Gorge, Kennett River, Apollo Bay, and Mait’s Rest in a small-group minibus. Guides such as Thomas, Lucy, Jacqui, and Reuben add local stories, wildlife tips, and safe driving to a very full day.
From · $106
Read our review →
2
Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour
from $94
3
Laid back, Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Wine, Cider, Gin, Beer + Choc
from $93
4
Great Ocean Road Reverse Itinerary Boutique Tour – Max 11 Guests
from $106
5
Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from Melbourne
from $118
6
Yarra Valley Wine, Gin, Whisky and Chocolate Tour
from $93
7
Great Ocean Road Tour w/ Deluxe Minibus & Top-Rated Guide
from $105
8
Melbourne Great Ocean Rd Reverse Tour London Bridge Wildlife
from $46
Two wine regions, an hour apart, and they are not the same day.
The Yarra Valley is cool-climate pinot and chardonnay, big cellar doors, and a balloon over the vines at dawn if you can stand the alarm. The Mornington Peninsula is coastal, smaller, and pairs its tastings with hot springs and a beach. Both are best with a driver.
Every wine day out →What a day out of Melbourne actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. The gap between a river cruise and a full day on the coast road is smaller than it looks.
River cruises, gallery and museum entry, laneway walks, the MCG tour and a gondola up Arthurs Seat.
The standards: the coast road in a small bus, the Penguin Parade with transport, a Yarra Valley cellar-door day.
Balloons at dawn, helicopters over the bay, private drivers and the two-day runs to Adelaide.
- 1Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Scenic Tourfrom $162
- 2Puffing Billy and Penguin Parade Combo Tourfrom $165
- 3Yarra Valley Wine Day Tourfrom $222
Three things that only happen in this corner of Australia.
Coastlines and wine countries exist everywhere. A penguin parade on a fixed nightly timetable, a hundred-year-old steam train through tree ferns, and a coast that is still falling into the sea do not.
The Penguin Parade
Little penguins spend the day at sea and come ashore at Summerland Beach after sunset, in groups, because a lone bird on open sand is a meal. The time moves with the season: close to nine in January, before six in June. Cameras are banned outright on the beach, phones included, and the rule is enforced.
- 1Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from Melbourne★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,774 reviews
- 2Penguin Parade, Koalas & Kangaroos★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,932 reviews
- 3Penguin Parade and Koalas Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,287 reviews
Puffing Billy
A narrow-gauge steam railway from 1900 that survived because volunteers dug it out of a landslide. It runs from Belgrave through mountain ash and tree ferns to Lakeside, and passengers are still allowed to sit in the open windows with their legs hanging over the trestle bridge. Book the carriage, not just the day.
- 1Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Scenic Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,220 reviews
- 2Puffing Billy and Penguin Parade Combo Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,184 reviews
- 3Puffing Billy Steam Train & Wildlife Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 640 reviews
The Twelve Apostles
There were never twelve, and there are eight left standing. The limestone erodes at about two centimetres a year, London Bridge dropped its span in 1990 with two people stranded on the far side, and another stack fell in 2005. Late afternoon light is the reason the small-bus tours run west last.
- 1Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 6,020 reviews
- 2Melbourne Great Ocean Rd Reverse Tour London Bridge Wildlife★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,252 reviews
- 3Great Ocean Road Extended–Top Stops&London Bridge★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,920 reviews
Four Melbourne bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be sorted over a coffee the morning of. These four run on sunset times, seasons and weather windows that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from MelbourneThe birds come ashore after sunset and the viewing stands are capped. Summer nights sell out weeks ahead, and the tour has to leave the city by mid-afternoon.
- 02Hot Air Balloon Flights over Melbourne City (optional breakfast)Balloons fly at first light or not at all, and they scrub for wind. Book early in the trip so a cancelled flight has somewhere to move to.
- 03Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Scenic TourOne narrow-gauge line, a fixed timetable and open carriages that fill first. School holidays take the whole train.
- 04Lake Mountain Snow Trip including Yarra Valley Chocolaterie from MelbourneThe Victorian snowfields only run from June to September, and the access roads need chains fitted. Outside those months there is nothing to book.
When the southerly arrives and the coast road stops being fun.
Melbourne weather turns inside an hour, and it does it in every month. The city is built for it: arcades and laneways run under cover for blocks, the galleries are free, and the hot springs on the Mornington Peninsula are better in the rain than out of it.
By place: the city and the drive
By kind of day: coast, cellar door, river or laneway
Nobody moves hotel for this. Melbourne, and a different direction each morning.
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