MELBOURNE · VICTORIA
Coffee, coastline, and the long way down south.
The Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles. Phillip Island penguins at dusk. Yarra Valley pinot, Puffing Billy, the laneways of the inner city — and the day trips Melbourne is built around.
The coast-road day
If you only do one day out of the city.
The Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles. The day Melbourne's built around.
The classics
Melbourne's Most Popular Day Tours
The Twelve Apostles. Yarra Valley vineyards. Phillip Island penguins. Puffing Billy through the ferns. The trips most travellers come south for.
By distance from the city
How far do you want to go today?
Melbourne is the launching pad. Half of Victoria sits inside a return-day drive — walk the laneways in the morning, watch penguins come ashore at dusk, or chase the Twelve Apostles down the coast for a full day.
Inner Melbourne
Walk it.Hosier Lane street art, Federation Square, Queen Vic Market, the Royal Botanic Gardens. The half-day on foot.
Within the city
Just outside
An hour east.Yarra Valley vineyards, Puffing Billy through the Dandenongs, Healesville koalas. Out by morning, back by dark.
60-90 min by coach
Down the coast
The bay and beyond.Phillip Island for the penguin parade, Mornington Peninsula for the hot springs. Tours come back after dusk.
90 min-2 hours
The far reach
All day, all the way.Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles. The Grampians for sandstone and kangaroos. Dawn departures, sunset returns.
3+ hours each way
Only in Melbourne
The three you came south for.
Most cities don’t have a coast like the Great Ocean Road on the doorstep. Most don’t have a nightly penguin parade. Most aren’t an hour from cool-climate wine country. Melbourne has all three — plan around them.
The southern edge
The Great Ocean Road
Built by returned WWI soldiers as a memorial — the world’s largest war memorial, 243 km of coast road. It ends at the Twelve Apostles, limestone sea stacks carved out of the Port Campbell cliffs by the Southern Ocean. There were never twelve, and now there are eight; another collapses every decade or so.
- 1 From Melbourne: Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour
- 2 Great Ocean Road Reverse Itinerary Boutique Tour – Max 11 Guests
- 3 Great Ocean Road Tour w/ Deluxe Minibus & Top-Rated Guide
After sunset
The Penguin Parade
Every evening at Summerland Beach, several hundred little penguins (Eudyptula minor, the smallest species in the world) come ashore in waves. They cross the sand together for safety. The whole crowd watches in silence as the birds waddle home. Nothing else like it on this scale.
- 1 From Melbourne: Penguin Parade, Koalas & Kangaroos
- 2 From Melbourne: Penguin Parade and Koalas Tour
- 3 From Melbourne: Phillip Island Penguin Parade Eco Tour
Within reach
The Yarra Valley Day
Less than an hour from the CBD, Australia’s coolest-climate Pinot Noir country. The Yarra Valley pioneered cool-climate winemaking in the 1960s — old vines, fog mornings, sparkling and pinot houses you can walk between. Hot air balloons lift off the vineyards at dawn most still days.
- 1 Laid back, Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Wine, Cider, Gin, Beer + Choc
- 2 Melbourne: Yarra Valley Wine, Gin, Whisky and Chocolate Tour
- 3 Epic Yarra Valley Wine Tour + Lunch, Chocolate & Gin/Beer Option
By place
Pick a corner of Victoria.
Inner Melbourne for the laneways and the coffee. The Great Ocean Road for the cliffs. The Yarra Valley for the wine. Phillip Island for the penguins. The Dandenongs for the ferns and the steam train. The Grampians for the sandstone and the kangaroos.
By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Wine if you want the Yarra Valley slow. Walking if you want the laneways and the coffee crawls. Bike or river cruise if you want to see the city moving. Wildlife if you came for the penguins and the koalas.
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