Great Ocean Road
February 2025
Basics
The most important thing is to rent a car! We used DiscoverCars website and rented a car from the Melbourne airport Tullamarine.
I would recommend to save three days for the Great Ocean Road trip, not to rush too much and enough to make stops in every crucial spot.
*be careful, many speed cameras on the Great Ocean Highway
Day 1
Torquay to Apollo Bay
94km
Things to do:
Torquay: first stop after picking up the car for coffee and some breakfast ( Torquay Larder)
Bells Beach: beautiful beach, you can spot some surfers
Point Addis Beach: lookout
Aireys Inlet: lighthouse and Eagle Rock Lookout
Memorial Arc: iconic photo spot
Lorne: tiny town, can stop for lunch/snacks
Kenneth River Reserve: great place to spot kangaroos and koalas, especially during the sunset
Apollo Bay: our motel location, PS be mindful that restaurants close early here, so plan your dinner :)
Day 2
Apollo Bay to Warrnambool
160km
Things to do:
Apollo Bay: we start with delicious breakfast at Icaro Wholefood Cafe
Great Oatway National Park: we take the Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, roughly 30mins loop
Cape Otway: iconic lightstation, great views, paid entrance
Castle Cove: lookout
The Redwoods Otways: incredible forest with giant redwoods
Moonlight Heads: cliffs
Twelve Apostles: the highlight
Loch and Gorge
London bridge
The grotto
Warrnambool: stop for the night
Day 3
Warrnambool to Port Fairy and back to Melbourne
approx 260 km
Things to do:
Warrnambool: breakfast at Rough Diamond or Cafe at Provincial, careful for the paid parking
Logan’s Beach: apparently you can spot whales here (not in the summer tho)
Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve: that place surprised us a lot, many nature walks and wildlife at an inactive volcano site. We saw many koalas, birds and even an emu!
Port Fairy for a quick snack stop and we hit the road back to Melbourne
Foodie
Recommended places
Foodie places
Some places we visited on the way:
Cafes in little towns are pretty cute, like Icaro in Apollo Bay or Rough Diamond in Warrnambool
Hecho in Mexico has its restaurant in Warrnambool
Fish & chips