Melbourne was our first stop in Australia, and when Melbourne says winter, they mean winter. Oddly enough the city doesn’t get snow and Melbourne is closer to Antarctica than it is to Darwin.
It was actually a pretty good place to start our Australian adventure. It gave us a chance to adjust to the country, get used to the accents, figure out the driving situation, and settle into a completely different part of the world. It helped that my friend lived here and was able to host us. It made Melbourne feel a little more familiar right from the beginning.
📍 Google Map Bookmark: Melbourne, Geelong, and Great Ocean Road.
🗓️ Itinerary: 6 Full Days
Click Arrow for Day to Day Itinerary:
Day 1: Puffing Billy Railway
Day 2: Phillip Island (Churchill Island Heritage Farm, Koala Conservation Reserve, Penguin Parade)
Day 3: Melbourne CBD, Shrine of Remembrance, Queen Victoria Market, Shot Tower Museum, Flinders Street
Day 4: Geelong, Australian Football League Match
Day 5: Great Ocean Road Scenic Drive
🚗 Transportation: Car
For transportation, we did use local public transportation to get into the CBD, but our main mode of transportation was a car. My friend was able to drive us around, and we all kind of played tourist for the week we were there. I tried to sit behind her whenever possible because they drive on the opposite side of the road, and sitting behind the driver helped me acclimate. Our next stop Cairns we were going to be driving ourselves around, so it was a helpful way to ease into it.
My friend lives in Brunswick West, which is where we stayed most of the time. On the days we visited Puffing Billy and Phillip Island, we stayed at her uncle’s house to cut down on the driving. When we did the Great Ocean Road, we stayed with her parents in Geelong for the same reason. Having places to stay in different areas made a huge difference because some of these day trips involve a lot of driving.
🏙️ Melbourne CBD
📋 Things to Do:
Shrine of Remembrance: $Free
The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s national memorial honoring the service and sacrifice of Australians in war and peacekeeping. The memorial is surrounded by gardens, memorials, plaques, and beautiful views of the city. Entry is free and they have a complimentary walking tour every hour.
Oddly enough, my friend had been around the Shrine before but never realized there was a museum inside. The Galleries of Remembrance present stories of Australians in wartime spanning more than 100 years through artwork, historical objects, interactive multimedia, images, and films.
It was much bigger than we anticipated, and I would recommend allowing around two hours depending on how thoroughly you want to explore. If you are in a time crunch, make sure you at least visit the Sanctuary, Crypt, and Balcony. The Balcony alone is worth the visit because it has one of the best views of the city.
The Queen Victoria Market was a unique experience for us because we don’t really have anything quite like it near us. It’s an indoor and outdoor market where you can find food to eat, ingredients to cook with, clothes, household goods, and souvenirs all in one place. You could stop in every day for fresh food or simply pop in when you’re in the area to walk around and see what you discover.
We walked around with slamming hot chocolate and tried different cheeses and meats throughout the food market. It’s a great place to pick up fancy cheeses and meats if you’re putting together a charcuterie board.
Shot Tower Museum: $Free
A unique and small place to check out is the Shot Tower Museum. This tower was once used to make lead shot and is now a museum enclosed inside a shopping mall atrium. Even more interesting, to get to the Shot Tower Museum, you have to walk through a clothing store to access it. You’ll spend more time looking for its entrance than the visit inside it.
Flinders Street:
If you’re taking the train into Flinders Street Station, make some time before or after your train to swing by Hosier Lane, AC/DC Lane, and Duckboard Place to see the graffiti.
Flinders Street Station itself was absolutely gorgeous lit up at night, so if you’re nearby after dark, it’s worth taking a moment to stop and look at the building.
Sake Festival: $80
During our stay, my friend mentioned that the Sake Festival was happening at the Royal Exhibition Building. We had never been to one before, wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves into, but “yes” is usually our answer when someone suggests something new.
Our ticket included a four-hour tasting session, a tasting cup souvenir, and access to more than 400 sakes from local wholesalers and sake brewers from Japan. You have the ability to purchase sake, food, and other products.
If you go, make sure you eat a good breakfast beforehand and plan to spend the entire time there. There is no way you’re going to taste everything! If you’re a serious buyer, I would also recommend bringing a portable utility cart to carry your sake purchases.
Yes, it was totally an awesome experience and we’re going to have to look for a sake festival close to home.
🍽️ Restaurants:
Located on Level 55 of Rialto Towers in Melbourne CBD, Lui Bar boasts views over Port Phillip Bay and the Melbourne skyline. We made reservations for sunset. It was the perfect timing because we got to enjoy our drinks while watching the city transition from day to night. Every drink we had was thoroughly enjoyable and super smooth, and of course, the view was the real star of the show.
Musashi Izakaya and Sweetie and Moustache:
This ramen spot was top-notch, but be prepared to wait for a table. We enjoyed the Red Dragon. AND leave room for dessert at Sweetie and Moustache. We went purely for dessert, even though they have plenty of other things on the menu. We got the lychee mille crêpe and Tim Tam bingsu, which were both a fun way to end the night.
🌅 Day Trips:
🚂 Puffing Billy Railway: $44-85 per person
We initially weren’t able to secure tickets for Puffing Billy and were devastated. Since we were traveling during school holidays, families and tourists had all the tickets sold out for the week we were going to be there.
Our second attempt was the night tour, but that failed too because those tickets sold out within minutes of being released. I checked every day, around the clock, for two weeks and was still disappointed. I didn’t want to buy tickets from a third party because they were significantly more expensive.
Then, randomly checking sometime before our trip, I managed to score tickets. I couldn’t have been happier. After experiencing it, I’m so glad we got lucky because this ended up being one of the highlights of our entire trip.
Book your tickets early. I would recommend at least two months in advance, if not earlier, especially if you’re traveling during school holidays.
There are four different packages to choose from, ranging from $44–85 per person. We booked the Belgrave to Lakeside route, which was approximately four hours. I will say that sitting on the side of the train for that long eventually became uncomfortable. It was fine going one way, but by the return trip, my thighs and back were definitely tired from sitting like that.
You don’t get to pick your train car or seats. The train car is assigned automatically and printed on your ticket. Once you get to your car number, though, you can choose your own seat. I will say, everyone makes a dash to their car because people definitely have a particular side they want.
When leaving Belgrave, it’s recommended to sit on the right side of the carriage in the direction you’re traveling. Basically, sit on the side where the platform is because you’ll get the best photos of the trestle bridge. If you miss that view on the way out, sit on the left side on the return trip.
🐧 Phillip Island: $58.50 3 Parks Pass
We purchased the 3 Parks Pass with general viewing for the Penguin Parade, but there are several different packages to choose from. If you’re looking for a free option, you can visit the St Kilda Penguin Viewing Experience, which is a much easier outing compared to making the trip out to Phillip Island. Just keep in mind that St Kilda tickets are released every Tuesday at 10 a.m. AEST for the following week’s sessions.
Churchill Island Heritage Farm:
Churchill Island Heritage Farm had daily activities that included blacksmithing, whip cracking, working with horses, cow milking, sheep shearing, and working dogs. There are cottages to walk around that had been arranged with furniture and historical items.
Koala Conservation Reserve:
Despite the rain we encountered during this part of our trip, we really enjoyed the treetop boardwalks where we could look for koalas. They move signs around with arrows pointing toward where the koalas are in the trees. Obviously we turned it into a competition to see who could find them first.
Penguin Parade:
The main highlight of Phillip Island is, of course, the Penguin Parade. We went when it was rainy and cold, so make sure you pack layers, blankets, and something to sit on whether you’re on the stands or choose to sit on the sand.
Make sure to get there early if you want to claim the best seats. To be honest, it could be either side, left or right, as long as you’re close to the bottom and toward one of the edges. We sat toward the edge closer to the ocean because we thought more penguins would come that way, but the other side, closer to the rocks, actually saw more action. I’m sure there’s no real rhyme or reason to it, so it could change from night to night.
Once the sun set, we got to watch the littlest penguins emerge from the ocean and waddle across the beach. We probably sat there for about an hour before deciding to walk along the boardwalk. Honestly, that’s where I thought the real magic was.
From the boardwalk, you could see the penguins much closer, and I could have listened to them squawk all night. Watching them waddle around and hearing them communicate with each other was fantastic. We even started making up our own little stories about what we thought they were saying.
Unfortunately, there are people who can take away from the experience. They announce multiple times that phones, cameras, and all lights need to be turned off. Staff walk around reminding people to put them away. The bright light from screens and flashes can harm, frighten, and disorient the penguins’ sensitive eyes, disrupting their natural journey back to their burrows.
We watched many people disregard the warnings, and we made sure to be vocal about it and tell people to put their phones away. This is one of those situations where following the rules isn’t just about being respectful to other visitors. It’s about protecting the animals and making sure people can continue experiencing this in the future.
So do us all a favor and don’t be that person. Put the phone away and just experience the movement in real life. Take the time and space to enjoy it. Phillip Island’s website even offers free-to-download photos and videos that you can share, so you don’t need to sacrifice the experience just to get a picture.
Pure Peninsula Honey isn’t exactly close to Phillip Island. It would be a manageable stop on the way to the island.
If this hadn’t been the beginning of our trip, I have a feeling we would have bought way more goodies from them. Since we didn’t want to carry everything around with us for the rest of the trip, we really had to think about what we wanted to purchase. We decided on a jar of stringybark honey and a three bundle package that included cinnamon, ginger, and chili oil.
🏉 Geelong:
My friend’s parents live in Geelong, and it ended up being a great stop for us. We visited the Botanic Gardens, walked along the beach promenade, and caught an AFL game.
Geelong is about an hour west of Melbourne, which worked perfectly because the next day we were heading out on the Great Ocean Road. Staying there helped cut down on the amount of driving we had to do.
The Botanic Gardens and Eastern Beach Promenade are next to each other, making them an easy combination for a day of exploring. The AFL game we attended was at night, so these two stops filled our daytime adventures.
AFL: Geelong Cats vs Brisbane Lions
Geelong is home to the Cats, and they were playing the Brisbane Lions. At the time, their standings were close, so we got to watch an epic game where both teams scored more than 100 points.
We understood the general idea of how the game was played, but we didn’t quite understand all the technicalities. Luckily, my friend was there to help decipher the rules and answer all of our questions.
It was a marvel to watch. The game lasted about two hours and was insanely physical. If your travels take you to Australia, make sure you try to catch a game somewhere. Even if you don’t fully understand everything happening on the field, it’s still an experience worth having.
🌊 Great Ocean Road Scenic Drive:
The Great Ocean Road is a HUGE driving trip. I think we spent about nine hours in the car traveling from Geelong down to Loch Ard Gorge and then back to Geelong.
If you plan on going past Loch Ard Gorge, I would recommend making a stop overnight and continuing your trip the next day. Along the way, you hug the coast and make all the important stops, but you can return inland on the way back to shorten the drive.
There is no better way to start a Great Ocean Road drive than by stopping at The Chocolateries! We walked in and our jaws dropped when we discovered they had more than 480 handcrafted chocolates, ice cream, desserts, and hot chocolate.
There was so much to choose from that you could honestly get lost in the store. We got a hot chocolate cow mug and a few chocolate bars inspired by local flavors and Australian ingredients. And yes, they do have a vegan line of chocolate available to purchase.
If you’re local, keep them in mind for events like their hot chocolate festival or enjoy high tea with the family.
Split Point Lighthouse was a trip down memory lane for my friend, who grew up watching the TV show Round the Twist. We ended up watching a few episodes afterward, and it reminded me of Are You Afraid of the Dark? We now have plans to finish watching the show.
The view of the lighthouse and the neighboring ocean lookouts was spectacular. Some of my favorite photos from the Great Ocean Road include the lighthouse in the distance. We had a lot of driving ahead of us, though, so we skipped the lighthouse tour.
Memorial Arch:
The Memorial Arch and statue commemorate the returned World War I soldiers who built the Great Ocean Road. This arch is currently the fifth installment since the previous versions were destroyed.
Apollo Bay:
We made a midday stop in Apollo Bay to stretch our legs and fill our bellies. We ate at Great Ocean Road Brewhouse, but there are plenty of choices to pick from.
We were racing against the early winter sunset, so we didn’t have much time to mosey around town. If you have more time, though, there are plenty of gift shops, stores, ice cream places, and the beach to explore.
The Twelve Apostles are the main attraction along the Great Ocean Road. These limestone stacks are one of Australia’s most iconic natural landmarks.
At the time of our visit, there was a small visitor and gift shop, and the cliff’s edge included a newly constructed boardwalk for viewing. There’s a massive visitor center being constructed that’s expected to introduce a parking/access fee once opened. I didn’t see a price for admission on the website. Access to Gibson Steps and Loch Ard Gorge should remain unchanged.
Loch an Gorge and Thunder Cave:
By the time we reached Loch Ard Gorge, the sun had already set and it was getting pretty dark. With the winter sunset happening around 5 p.m., make sure you get an early start for this extremely long drive.
The drive from Geelong to Loch Ard Gorge alone takes two hours without stops, so plan accordingly. We definitely underestimated how much time the Great Ocean Road would take.
Unfortunately, the beach access steps were closed during our visit because of geological instability. The site is expected to remain closed until remediation is completed. There didn’t seem to be a clear timeline for when that would happen. If you’re planning your own trip, make sure to check the current conditions before you go.
💭 Final Thoughts:
I feel like every time we travel and visit a new city, it automatically gets compared to New York City. It’s not a bad thing. It’s more of a, “Hey, Melbourne is kind of like Brooklyn” comparison. It’s said with affection and comes from trying to find that connection to something familiar; something that makes a new place feel a little closer to home.
Melbourne is the largest city in Australia by continuous urban area, so with that being said, you’ll definitely find something to do with ease. The amount of things you can do and explore in the CBD, combined with the number of day-trip excursions nearby, makes Melbourne a place worth visiting.
Capsule Customs Travel 