Flat white in a laneway. Sunset at the Twelve Apostles.
Which Great Ocean Road coach runs the route backwards to beat the crowds to the cliffs, what a Yarra Valley lunch across four cellar doors costs, and whether the penguins are worth the late drive home.
The coast road, the penguins, a valley lunch and the laneways on foot.
Four bookings that most first trips to Melbourne are built around, with what each costs and what the people who went thought of it.
01West to the limestoneGreat Ocean Road Small-Group Eco Tour from MelbourneTwelve hours, small group, a koala stop on the way and the limestone stacks in late light on the way back.
02After dark on Phillip IslandPenguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from MelbourneTwo hours south-east, a wildlife park in the afternoon, then the little penguins coming up the sand at last light.
03The lazy valley lunchLaid back, Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Wine, Cider, Gin, Beer + ChocWine, cider, gin and a chocolate stop in the Yarra Valley, with somebody else doing the driving back.
04The first morning in townUltimate Melbourne Walking Tour: History, Laneways & CultureArcades, bluestone lanes and the river on foot, with the coffee stops a local would make.
Coast, penguins or ranges: pick your day out of Melbourne.
Most of what people fly to Victoria for sits two to four hours from the CBD. These are the four directions a day trip can take, and what it costs to go.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour
The Great Ocean RoadSurf beaches, rainforest and the Twelve Apostles. A twelve-hour day.
Phillip IslandKoalas by day, the penguin parade at sunset, home around midnight.
The GrampiansSandstone ranges, waterfalls and kangaroos grazing on the oval at Halls Gap.
Wilsons PromontoryGranite headlands and wombats at the southern tip of the mainland.
All 461 Melbourne day trips and tours →
What a day out from Melbourne costs.
Every tour on the site sorted into three price bands. Plenty of the good Melbourne days come in under fifty dollars.
River cruises, the MCG tour, the Skydeck and the budget coaches that still reach the Twelve Apostles.
The full-day standards: the coast road, the penguins, a winery lunch in the Yarra Valley.
Dawn balloon flights, helicopters over the bay, private drivers and two-stop combination days.
- 1Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Scenic Tourfrom $162
- 2Puffing Billy and Penguin Parade Combo Tourfrom $165
- 3Yarra Valley Wine Day Tourfrom $222
Melbourne keeps its best things down the lanes.
Degraves Street coffee, the paste-ups on Hosier Lane, a cruise past Southbank and a walk round the MCG. The city rewards anyone who leaves Swanston Street.
Yarra Valley chardonnay, Healesville gin and a chocolaterie stop on the way home.
An hour north-east of the city the cellar doors open at ten. The popular tours string four or five together with a long lunch, and some add a distillery or a dairy.
The Melbourne tours that fill first.
The full Melbourne list →The days out more travellers take than any others from Melbourne, and what puts each of them there.
1
Great Ocean Road Small-Group Eco Tour from Melbourne
Leave Melbourne at 7am for a full day on the Great Ocean Road, with a guide, koala spotting at Kennett River, a walk at Mait’s Rest and time at the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. Guides such as Thomas, Lucy and Reuben have been praised for safe driving, lively stories and clear directions. Lunch and dinner are at your own expense.
From · $106
Read our review →
2
Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour
from $94
3
Laid back, Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Wine, Cider, Gin, Beer + Choc
from $93
4
Great Ocean Road Reverse Itinerary Boutique Tour – Max 11 Guests
from $106
5
Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from Melbourne
from $118
6
Yarra Valley Wine, Gin, Whisky and Chocolate Tour
from $93
7
Great Ocean Road Tour w/ Deluxe Minibus & Top-Rated Guide
from $105
8
Melbourne Great Ocean Rd Reverse Tour London Bridge Wildlife
from $46
Three things you will only see in Melbourne.
Other cities have coffee and a river. Penguins walking home under a grandstand of tourists, a hundred-thousand-seat cricket ground and a laneway repainted every week are another matter.
The Penguin Parade
The smallest penguins in the world spend the day fishing in Bass Strait and come ashore at sunset, in rafts, before waddling up the dunes to their burrows. Viewing is from stands and boardwalks above the beach, and cameras stay in bags: photography is banned so the birds are not dazzled. Wrap up. The wind off the strait is cold in any month.
- 1Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from Melbourne★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,774 reviews
- 2Penguin Parade, Koalas & Kangaroos★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,932 reviews
- 3Phillip Island Penguin Parade & Koalas Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,408 reviews
The MCG
The Melbourne Cricket Ground holds around a hundred thousand people, staged the 1956 Olympics and hosts the AFL Grand Final every September. The tours walk the members’ pavilion, the change rooms and the boundary edge, and the Australian Sports Museum sits in the same building. On a match day there is no tour, so check the fixture before you book.
- 1Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,004 reviews
- 2MCG and Australian Sports Museum Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 638 reviews
- 3Melbourne Sports Experience + MCG Tour Combo★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 137 reviews
Hosier Lane
A bluestone lane off Flinders Street where every wall, bin and drainpipe is painted over, then painted over again. Nothing stays long, which is the point: the lane you see this week will not be the one in last year’s photos. The guided walks add the commissioned murals and paste-ups tucked into the lanes nearby.
- 1Melbourne Street Art Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 378 reviews
- 2Street Art Walking Tour with a Street Artist★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 147 reviews
- 3Street Food & Street Art, Backroads & Boroughs★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 23 reviews
Four Melbourne bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of Melbourne can be sorted the night before over a glass of something local. These four run on capped stands, fixed departures, fixture lists and the weather at dawn.
- 01Penguin Parade, & Wildlife Encounters Eco Tour from MelbourneThe parade happens every night, but the viewing areas have a cap. Summer evenings and school holidays sell out well ahead.
- 02Puffing Billy Railway: Heritage Steam Train JourneySeats on the open-sided carriages are sold for set departures, and weekends and school holidays go first.
- 03Hot Air Balloon Flights over Melbourne City (optional breakfast)Flights launch at first light and only when the air is calm. Book early in the trip so a cancelled morning can be flown again.
- 04Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Guided TourThere are no ground tours on match or event days, which in footy season covers a lot of weekends.
When a Melbourne southerly blows in and the sky turns grey by noon.
The joke is that Melbourne gets all four seasons in a day, and the joke is accurate. When the cold front comes through, move indoors: a chocolate walk through the arcades, the Skydeck above the cloud line or a hot pool on the Mornington Peninsula.
By place, from the bay to the ranges
By kind of day, from the vines to the snow
Lanes, valley, ferns, penguins, coast, ranges: Victoria in seven days.
Melbourne
Dandenong RangesFresh Melbourne tour reviews.
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Yarra Valley Foodie Tour, Devonshire Tea, Cheese and Chocolate
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Yarra Valley luxe private tour with Champagne Brunch
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Foodie’s Guide to Footscray: Private Food Tour in Melbourne
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Phillip Island and French Island Wildlife Expedition
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Private Helicopter Tour to 12 Apostles & Great Ocean Road
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