Melbourne, coast to laneway.
The Twelve Apostles at golden hour, penguins coming ashore on Phillip Island, coffee in the laneways and a long lunch in the Yarra Valley. What each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven that make the trip.
First visit or fifth, these carry an itinerary. The sunrise run down the Great Ocean Road, penguins after dark on Phillip Island, a Yarra Valley cellar door your hotel won’t think to mention.
Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour
Full-day Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles wildlife tour from Melbourne with koalas, rainforest walk, Loch Ard Gorge views, and guided photo stops.
From $94 per person
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★ 5.0Safe betGreat Ocean Road Reverse Itinerary Boutique Tour – Max 11 GuestsFrom $1064,186 reviews
★ 5.0Books out fastYarra Valley Wine, Gin, Whisky and Chocolate TourFrom $933,667 reviews
★ 4.8Crowd favouriteGreat Ocean Road Tour w/ Deluxe Minibus & Top-Rated GuideFrom $1052,644 reviews
★ 4.7Worth every dollarMelbourne Great Ocean Rd Reverse Tour London Bridge WildlifeFrom $462,252 reviews
★ 4.5Easy winPenguin Parade, Koalas & KangaroosFrom $1121,932 reviews
★ 4.5Traveller favouriteGreat Ocean Road Extended–Top Stops&London BridgeFrom $421,920 reviews
The whole coast in one day.
Leave early, chase the Great Ocean Road west past the surf breaks and rainforest, and reach the Twelve Apostles as the afternoon light turns them gold. Koalas in the gum trees at Kennett River, dinner back in the city. This is the day people plan a Melbourne trip around.
Which day out of Melbourne is yours?
Every visit needs one big day beyond the city. The coast, the wildlife, or the wine. Pick the one that sounds like your trip, and every tour behind it is already reviewed and priced.
The coast day
The Great Ocean Road
from $106 · 6,607 reviews
West at dawn, the Twelve Apostles by mid-morning, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge before lunch, koalas at Kennett River on the way home. Long hours in the coach, but the payoff is the best coastline in the country.
Compare the coast tours →
The wildlife day
Phillip Island penguins
from $118 · 3,774 reviews
Kangaroos and koalas in the afternoon, then the boardwalk at dusk while hundreds of little penguins waddle up the beach to their burrows. Bring a warm jacket. Nothing else on the itinerary lands quite like it.
See the Phillip Island trips →
The slow day
Yarra Valley wine
from $93 · 4,552 reviews
Four cellar doors, a long lunch, chocolate and gin tucked between the vines. An hour from town and a world away from it. For the day you would rather taste than tick off.
See the Yarra Valley days →
The nights hide the best of it.
Hidden laneway bars behind unmarked doors, a rooftop with the skyline lit up, the Old Melbourne Gaol by lantern with its ghost stories. Some of the best hours in this city start after the coffee shops close.
Eat your way through it.
Eight tastings down a hidden laneway, a Queen Victoria Market graze at opening, a Yarra Valley table of local cheese and cured meats. If you book three food hours in Melbourne, make them these.
Cellar doors and copper stills.
Cool-climate pinot in the Yarra Valley, small-batch gin from a city distillery, craft beer poured a block from where it is brewed. Melbourne pours seriously. Here is where to start.
The old steam train still runs.
Puffing Billy has climbed through the Dandenong Ranges and their fern gullies for over a century, windows down and legs swinging over the side. Pair it with Healesville Sanctuary and you have a gentle day among tall mountain ash and native wildlife.
Pick your part of Melbourne.
The city rewards a bit of a plan. Laneways for coffee and street art. Southbank and the river for the cruises. St Kilda for the beach and the cake shops. The MCG if sport is your religion.
Know what you’re after?
Twelve ways to spend a day in and around Melbourne. Pick the one that sounds like you and every tour behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Melbourne’s best days leave the city.
Two hours in any direction and the scenery changes completely. Surf coast and rainforest, penguin beaches, cool-climate vineyards, gold-rush towns and a mountain range. The seat back to Melbourne is part of the ticket.
Your first three days.
You can’t see all of Melbourne in one trip, but three days done well covers it. This is the order I’d give a friend flying into Tullamarine tomorrow.
Day 1
Get to know the city
Coffee in a laneway, street art on Hosier Lane, a wander through Queen Victoria Market, then the view from the Skydeck as the lights come on. Easy pace, feet on the ground.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Down the Great Ocean Road
The early coach west, surf beaches and koala country, the Twelve Apostles at their best in the afternoon light, home by dinner. The big one. Do it while the legs are fresh.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Wildlife and the penguins
Kangaroos and koalas in daylight, then the Penguin Parade at dusk as they cross the sand. Or swap in a slow Yarra Valley day if you’d rather taste than travel.
Plan day three →
Fresh off the road.
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