The Best Day Trips From Melbourne

With a climate that lends itself more to gallery tours than beach days, Melbourne can sometimes feel like the odd city out in a country that’s known for its sea and sun. But there’s more to it than cafe culture – and with vineyards, coastline and wildlife-filled rainforest all within easy reach, here is Culture Trip’s list of what to see and do on a day trip.

Mornington Peninsula & Phillip Island

Just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula is an idyllic, ocean-wrapped getaway characterised by vineyards and rugged beaches. It’s a favourite day or weekend trip for locals and in-the-know visitors, and Phillip Island, with its fur seals and nightly penguin parade, is just a short ferry ride away. Flex your local knowledge and make the trip, but be sure to leave time for a vineyard lunch on the way.

Wilsons Promontory National Park

2. Wilsons Promontory Wilderness Cruise From Tidal River

Tours, Activities

Take a cruise around the coastline of Wilsons Promontory on an amphibious boat. Part boat, part car, this vehicle allows you to sit back, relax and get up close and personal with much of the coastline without even leaving your seat. Take in stunning rock formations such as Skull Rock – a curved boulder with a skull-shaped cave that seems to rise out of the sea – and marvel at the grandeur of nature. Keep an eye out for the dolphins, fur seals and whales, plenty of which can often be seen here.

Daylesford and Ballarat

If it’s a bit of greenery in an idyllic rural setting you’re after, why not take a trip to Daylesford and Ballarat, which offer a captivating combination of verdant gardens and old-school architecture. This lush corner of Victoria is renowned for its fresh produce, and the area is home to plenty of excellent cafes and restaurants that serve great local food.

3. Ballarat to Skipton Rail Trail: Half Day Bike Tour

Activities, Tours

A bike tour is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in this rural area. This one is 37km (23mi) long, from Linton to Skipton, and takes you quite literally off the beaten track, traversing over grasslands, through eucalyptus forests and past historic landmarks and townships. You’ll get a back-road look into Aussie life outside its major cities, and discover the native flora and fauna of the country’s more remote corners.

Yarra Valley

Driving into the green hills of the Yarra Valley, it’s impossible not to slip into holiday mode. This wine-centric patch of Victoria is famous for its quaffable wine, but it’s equally worth the trip for the picturesque scenery. Find a designated driver and head into the rolling hills for a day of drinking and dining well.

4. Yarra Valley Cellar Door and Gin Day

Activities, Tours

This tour is a full-day event, visiting some of the best wineries in the region. Starting at 9am, your host will collect you from the South Yarra Station, where you’ll begin navigating the vineyard-lined hills. Stopping at plenty of award-winning wineries, you’ll sample a wide range of grapes and learn about the wine-making process, with a lunchtime pitstop to feast on paella. Perhaps less widely known, the valley is also a burgeoning hotspot for gin makers, and the tour leaves plenty of time to explore these distilleries too.

Great Ocean Road

Starting in Torquay, a 1.5hr drive from central Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road winds a few hundred kilometres down the Victoria coast. It’s known as one of the most scenic drives in the world, for good reason, as it takes you past spectacular coastline, lush rainforest and through a series of towns that are destinations in their own right. It’s the ultimate Australian road trip, and a must-see while in town.

5. Learn to Surf at Lorne

Activities, Class

Plenty of people drive the Great Ocean Road, but for a unique – and quintessentially Aussie – experience, take to the waves for a surf lesson. In a country that’s world-famous for its breaks and its laidback, ocean-loving residents, trying your hand at surfing is a rite of passage. Lorne beach is the perfect spot: a 2hr drive from Melbourne, it sits near the start of the Great Ocean Road, and its sandy beach and relatively calm waves make it ideal for beginners. You’ll be standing up and catching a wave in no time.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.