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Victoria’s compact size means you can travel from high in the mountains to the rugged southern coast and back to the city in just a short space of time.
Magical memories await along the region’s dramatic coastlines, within lush national parks, in historic towns and at welcoming cellar doors. Best of all, so many of these highlights can be experienced easily on a day trip from Melbourne.
Get your itinerary started with three of our favourite roadies in Victoria:
For families: Phillip Island Touring Route
- Total distance: 297 km
- Driving time: 4.25 hours
- Recommended duration: 1 day or overnight
Find sandy beaches and cute penguins just two hours south-east of Melbourne. Set your GPS for the seaside fishing village of San Remo. Cross the bridge to Phillip Island before midday and head to the Sam Remo wharf where the kids will love the daily pelican feeding session.
Next head towards Cape Woolamai on the island’s southern sea-facing coastline. This wild surf spot is a beautiful place for a walk – have fun on sweeping golden sands backed by the pink granite cliffs, or walk the coastal trails for a view of the magnificent Nobbies headland.
Inland, the Koala Conservation Centre gives little ones an up-close encounter with koalas from a treetop boardwalk, while award-winning theme park A Maze’N Things entertains with illusions, puzzles and mazes.
Refuel with a cafe lunch or fish and chips at the relaxed town of Cowes on the bay-facing northern coast. From here, get out on the water with an eco-cruise, greet the happy creatures on Seal Rocks, or walk the Nobbies boardwalk to discover the blowhole.
The island’s famous highlight comes last of all: as dusk falls at the Penguin Parade, watch hundreds of cute little penguins as they waddle back up the beach for the night before heading back to Melbourne.
Tip. Visit spectacular Churchill Island for a tour of the historic 19th-century farm, homestead and gardens.
For wine lovers: Tall Trees and Vines Touring Route in Yarra Valley
- Total distance: 196 km
- Driving time: 3.5 hours
- Recommended duration: 1 day or overnight
Discover award-winning cellar doors, a menagerie of Australian wildlife, secluded valleys and lush rainforest waterfalls on this scenic route to the north-east of Melbourne.
The picturesque food and wine hub of Healesville is your first stop, just 1.25 hours’ drive from Melbourne. Meet some of your favourite Australian critters at the Healesville Sanctuary, a wildlife park with more than 200 species of native animals and birds in a natural bush setting. See majestic birds of prey and stunning parrots soar, and say hi to lyrebirds, koalas, dingoes and platypi.
Break for lunch at Habituel bakery, the Healesville pub, Innocent Bystander winery restaurant or Four Pillars Gin distillery.
Travel 20 minutes through the Yarra Ranges towards Marysville along the sublime Black Spur road. This scenic route takes you through a canopy of mountain ash and lush green ferns. Tiny Marysville is the jumping-off point for Steavenson Falls – Victoria’s highest waterfall – which tumbles 84 metres into the fern-fringed river below.
Follow the Lady Talbot Forest Drive and stretch your legs on walking trails through old-growth myrtle beech forest to Phantom Falls, Keppel Falls and Taggerty Cascades. (Check ahead for closures after heavy rains.)
Meander back to Melbourne through the Yarra Valley, calling in for tastings and dining at numerous award-winning cellar doors around Healesville and Yarra Glen before the sun dips down.
Tip: With extra nights on your hands, head to the snowy slopes on Mount Donna Buang and Lake Mountain for some fun-filled tobogganing and cross-country skiing in the snow season.
For freedom-seekers: The Great Ocean Road
- Total distance: 192 km to Torquay return; 664 km to Port Fairy return (via Colac)
- Driving time: 3 hours to Torquay return; 9.5 hours to Port Fairy return (via Colac)
- Recommended duration: 1 day to 2 (or more) nights. Torquay marks the start of the Great Ocean Road and is less than 1.5 hours’ drive from Melbourne’s CBD – a comfortable day trip. If you have more time, see our three-day Great Ocean Road Touring Route for details.
You can make your route as flexible as you like. Choose a destination along the Great Ocean Road that works for you – see the detailed Time and Distance Calculator to start planning.
One of Victoria’s most scenic drives, the magnificent Great Ocean Road stretches from Torquay, past the iconic 12 Apostles, and ends at the historic fishing village of Port Fairy on the region’s south coast.
Cruise from Melbourne to the dramatic coastline at Torquay – the official start of the Great Ocean Road. This is Victoria’s surf capital. Don your wetsuit for superb waves, learn to ride a board, or walk the famous sands at Bells Beach – home to the Rip Curl Pro, it draws the world’s hottest surfers each year to compete for glory on the waves.
Off the water, capture the spirit of surf culture at the Australian National Surfing Museum, or dose up on sea air and magnificent vistas along the Surf Coast Walk. Torquay is awash with surf shops for gear, and eateries and bars to refuel in. Check out local brewers Bells Beach Brewing while you’re here.
Scenic flights leave from Torquay to the spectacular 12 Apostles, making it possible to visit the iconic limestone formations on a day trip. Unmissable.
More time? Lucky you. Carry on along the panoramic coast, stopping in at Otway National Park for rainforest walks and ziplining. There’s top-notch regional dining to enjoy at MoVida in Lorne and Brae just inland in Birregurra, and fish and chips and local produce along the way, too.
Between Lorne and Apollo Bay the highway curves along sheer cliffs that drop spectacularly into the Southern Ocean. Rest up for the night in Apollo Bay or Wye River.
Continue on the following day to Port Campbell and its famous 12 Apostles. Take in the incredible view from a platform or descend Gibsons Steps onto the beach. Drive the final stretch along the south coast to overnight at peaceful fishing village Port Fairy, from where you can return by coast or inland via Colac to Melbourne.
Tip: Keep your eyes open for koalas and kangaroos, and stop at the lookout points along the way. Whales can be spotted off the south coast from May to October.
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There’s so much to discover just a couple of hours’ drive from Melbourne. Hot springs, stunning vistas, galleries, golf courses, seaside villages, craft breweries and cellar doors await at every turn. Go for shorter trips along the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, and around Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges.
Of course, the further you venture, the longer you’ll want to stay in beautiful regional Victoria.
Ready to get a new perspective on Victoria? Book your flight to Melbourne and Victoria now!
Please note that travel restrictions and government recommendations may change quickly and without notice. We’ve got the latest COVID-19 travel advice and updates to keep you up to date and ready to go.
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