# Road trips in Victoria > 8 road trips and 58 hand-picked places in Victoria, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/victoria/ 8 road trips and 58 hand-picked places in Victoria, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Victoria - [Great Ocean Road: Torquay to Warrnambool](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-great-ocean-road/): A three-day drive along Victoria's surf coast, through the Otway rainforest to the Twelve Apostles and the Shipwreck Coast, ending in Warrnambool. - [Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-mornington-phillip-island/): Beaches, lookouts and forts around Port Phillip Bay's southern shore, then across to Phillip Island for fur seals and the nightly penguin parade. - [Grampians (Gariwerd) from Melbourne](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-grampians-gariwerd/): A loop through the goldfields to Gariwerd's sandstone ranges, waterfalls and lookouts, with Aboriginal rock art culture and a detour to Mount Arapiles. - [Wilsons Promontory and Gippsland](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-wilsons-prom-gippsland/): From Melbourne to the granite coast of Wilsons Promontory, then through historic Walhalla to the Gippsland Lakes and the caves of East Gippsland. - [Victorian High Country and Yarra Valley](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-victorian-high-country/): Wineries in the Yarra Valley, the Black Spur to Mount Buller, Kelly country and Beechworth, then the Alps around Bright, Mount Buffalo and Falls Creek. - [Goldfields and the Murray River](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-goldfields-murray/): A loop from Melbourne through Hanging Rock, the spa towns, Ballarat and Bendigo to the paddle steamers of Echuca and the red gum forests of the Murray. - [Sydney to Melbourne: the Princes coast out, the Hume home](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-hume-and-princes-sydney-melbourne/): A loop between Australia's two biggest cities: about 1,030 km on the coastal Princes Highway south, then about 880 km back on the faster inland Hume Highway, with Big Things and historic stops. - [Outback NSW: Mungo, Broken Hill and the opal fields](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/au-outback-nsw-mungo-broken-hill-opals/): From Mildura through Mungo and the Darling River to Broken Hill, then east via White Cliffs, Cobar and Bourke to Lightning Ridge: roughly 1,600 km of far-west New South Wales, much of it remote. ## Places worth the detour in Victoria - [Royal Exhibition Building](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-royal-exhibition-building/): Built for the 1880 International Exhibition, this domed hall in Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage-listed survivor of the great exhibition era. Look at the exterior and gardens for free. - [Penguin Parade, Phillip Island](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-phillip-island-penguin-parade/): Each evening little penguins waddle from the surf to their burrows at Summerland Beach. It is Victoria's best-known wildlife spectacle; book ahead in school holidays and bring warm layers, as the beach is windy. - [Cape Otway Lightstation](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-cape-otway-lightstation/): Built in 1848, this is the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Australian mainland, on a windswept headland at the end of a 13 km side road. Whales pass offshore in winter and spring. - [Twelve Apostles](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-twelve-apostles/): Limestone stacks standing in the Southern Ocean off the Port Campbell National Park. Only a handful remain, as the cliffs keep eroding. Sunrise and late afternoon give the best light and fewer crowds. - [Loch Ard Gorge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-loch-ard-gorge/): A sheltered cove between high limestone cliffs, named after the clipper Loch Ard, wrecked here in 1878. Steps lead down to the beach; stay out of the water, as currents and swell are dangerous. - [MacKenzie Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-mackenzie-falls/): One of Victoria's largest permanent waterfalls, dropping over sandstone into a pool in Gariwerd (the Grampians). A steep stairway leads to the base; flow is best in late winter and spring. - [Tidal River campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-tidal-river-campground/): The main base in Wilsons Promontory National Park, beside a tidal river and Norman Beach. Wombats and kangaroos wander through the sites. Sites are booked well ahead for summer and school holidays. - [Port of Echuca](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-port-of-echuca/): The historic wharf of the Murray River's busiest 19th-century inland port, with a long red gum wharf and the world's largest fleet of operating paddle steamers. Short river cruises depart from here. - [Sovereign Hill](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-sovereign-hill/): An open-air museum re-creating Ballarat's 1850s gold-rush town, with costumed staff, a working mine and gold pouring demonstrations. It suits families and is best visited with a full morning or afternoon. - [Hanging Rock](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-hanging-rock/): A volcanic rock formation near Woodend, made famous by the novel and film Picnic at Hanging Rock. A short climb to the summit rewards you with views across farmland, and the reserve has wild koalas. - [Queen Victoria Market](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-queen-victoria-market/): Open since 1878, Melbourne's big covered market sells fresh produce, cheese, deli goods and street food. Go early on a market day and check which days it trades before planning your visit. - [Hosier Lane street art](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-hosier-lane/): A cobbled laneway near Federation Square covered in ever-changing stencils, murals and paste-ups. It is the best-known corner of Melbourne's laneway art scene, and the walls look different from one visit to the next. - [St Kilda Breakwater penguins](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-st-kilda-breakwater-penguins/): A colony of little penguins nests among the rocks at the end of St Kilda's breakwater. Watch from the viewing area around dusk, stay quiet, and never use flash photography. - [Puffing Billy Railway](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-puffing-billy/): A narrow-gauge heritage steam railway winding through the fern gullies of the Dandenong Ranges from Belgrave. A classic family outing, and the open carriages make for good photos. - [Healesville Sanctuary](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-healesville-sanctuary/): A wildlife sanctuary set in bushland that specialises in Australian animals, including platypus, wombats, koalas and Tasmanian devils. A reliable way to see native species up close in the Yarra Valley. - [Yering Station](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-yering-station/): The site of Victoria's first vineyard, planted in 1838, now a winery with a cellar door and restaurant. A good first stop for tasting Yarra Valley chardonnay and pinot noir. - [Point Nepean and Fort Nepean](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-point-nepean/): At the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, forts and tunnels guarded the entrance to Port Phillip from the 1880s. Walk or cycle out from the visitor centre; the coastal views across the heads are excellent. - [Arthurs Seat](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-arthurs-seat/): The highest point on the Mornington Peninsula, rising behind Dromana, with wide views over Port Phillip Bay and, on clear days, towards the Melbourne skyline. Reached by a short, winding road. - [Cape Schanck Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-cape-schanck/): A 1859 lighthouse on basalt cliffs at the southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula, with boardwalks down to a rugged coast. Wind and swell can be strong, so keep well back from the edge. - [The Nobbies and Seal Rocks](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-nobbies-seal-rocks/): Boardwalks on the western tip of Phillip Island lead past blowholes and sea cliffs to a view of Seal Rocks, home to a large colony of Australian fur seals. Binoculars help; it is often very windy. - [Cape Woolamai](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-cape-woolamai/): The granite headland at Phillip Island's south-east corner has a long surf beach and a clifftop walk past the Pinnacles. Short-tailed shearwaters nest here in summer; check tides and surf before swimming. - [Churchill Island Heritage Farm](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-churchill-island/): A small island linked to Phillip Island by a bridge, with a working heritage farm and an 1860s homestead. A quiet, easy stop with shoreline walks, farm animals and bird life. - [Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-great-ocean-road-memorial-arch/): The timber arch at Eastern View marks the official start of the Great Ocean Road, which was built by returned soldiers after the First World War as a memorial to those who died. A quick photo stop. - [Bells Beach](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-bells-beach/): Australia's most famous surf break, host of an international surf contest held each Easter since the early 1960s. Even if you do not surf, the cliff-top viewing platform is a good place to watch the swell roll in. - [Split Point Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-split-point-lighthouse/): The white tower above Aireys Inlet, built in 1891, is a landmark of the Great Ocean Road and appeared in the children's TV series Round the Twist. Tours of the tower run on set days. - [Kennett River koala walk](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-kennett-river-koalas/): A short gravel road, Grey River Road, climbs from the Great Ocean Road through eucalypt forest where koalas sit in roadside trees. Look up carefully, and keep a respectful distance from wild animals. - [Otway Fly Treetop Walk](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-otway-fly/): A steel walkway rising to about 25 m above the floor of cool temperate rainforest in the Otway Ranges. It is a good wet-weather stop, as myrtle beech and tree ferns look best when damp. - [Triplet Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-triplet-falls/): A walking loop of about 2 km descends through tall mountain ash and tree ferns to a viewing platform at a three-stepped waterfall in the Great Otway National Park. Flow is best after rain. - [London Arch](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-london-arch/): Formerly known as London Bridge, this limestone formation lost its landward span in 1990, leaving two visitors stranded briefly on the outer section. It is now a free-standing arch seen from a lookout. - [Gibson Steps](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-gibson-steps/): Roughly 86 steps cut into the cliff lead down to a wild beach beneath the Twelve Apostles coast. It gives a very different perspective from the platforms above, but the beach floods at high tide. - [Bay of Islands Coastal Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-bay-of-islands/): West of Peterborough, rock stacks and cliffs stretch along an unspoilt stretch of coast, with lookouts reached by short gravel tracks. Far quieter than the Twelve Apostles, it suits visitors who like space. - [Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-flagstaff-hill/): A re-created 19th-century port village overlooking Lady Bay, with a museum of local shipwrecks from the so-called Shipwreck Coast. Worth a stop at the end of the Great Ocean Road. - [Logans Beach whale viewing platform](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-logans-beach-whales/): Southern right whales come to the shallow waters here to calve and nurse, usually from around June to September. A clifftop platform gives free views; bring binoculars and check recent sightings. - [Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-tower-hill/): A volcanic crater lake with islands, surrounded by walking tracks where emus, koalas and kangaroos are regularly seen. The crater was revegetated after being cleared for farming. Kangaroos are most active at dawn and dusk. - [The Pinnacle lookout](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-the-pinnacle-grampians/): A sandstone lookout above Halls Gap reached by a walking track of a few kilometres return from Sundial Carpark, with views across Gariwerd's ranges and the Wartook and Fyans valleys. Start early on hot days. - [Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-brambuk-cultural-centre/): Run by the Traditional Owners of Gariwerd, the centre introduces local Aboriginal culture, history and rock art, and is a good first stop in Halls Gap before heading into the park. - [Mount William (Duwil)](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-mount-william-duwil/): The highest point in the Grampians at 1167 m, reached by a steep sealed road to a car park and then a short, stiff walk. Weather can turn cold and windy, even in summer. - [Mount Arapiles (Dyurrite)](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-mount-arapiles/): A rock massif rising abruptly from the Wimmera plains, one of Australia's best-known rock climbing areas. Non-climbers can drive to the summit lookout for far views over flat farmland. - [Giant Koala, Dadswells Bridge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-giant-koala-dadswells-bridge/): A large concrete koala beside the Western Highway, a classic Australian roadside oddity and a handy leg-stretch on the way to the Grampians from Melbourne. - [Squeaky Beach](https://camping-spirit.com/places/au-squeaky-beach/): A white quartz sand beach north of Tidal River whose fine grains squeak underfoot. It lies beside Picnic Bay, with granite boulders at both ends and a walking track from the road end. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Victoria?** Popular routes include Great Ocean Road: Torquay to Warrnambool, Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island, Grampians (Gariwerd) from Melbourne and Wilsons Promontory and Gippsland. CampingSpirit has 8 trip guides that pass through Victoria, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Victoria are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Royal Exhibition Building, Penguin Parade, Phillip Island, Cape Otway Lightstation, Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and MacKenzie Falls.