Top Melbourne Day Trips

Be prepared for an early pickup at 6:45a.m. and 2.5 hours on the bus to get to the Twelve Apostles, but by doing the reverse tour gets you there early before everyone else. About 45 minutes outside of Melbourne there is a stop for coffee, restroom at Maccas (McDonalds). After TTA, you move on to Lard Noch Gorge, Melba Gully rain forest, koala "hunting", The Great Ocean Road - lunch in Apollo Bay where the curried scallop pie was quite tasty followed by Dooley's ice cream and some souvenir shopping. Then, the road is a bit curvy and twisty so you may want your Dramamine or sea bands if you get motion sick. Quite dramatic scenery along the coast. We saw some kangaroos and white cockatoos at one of the brief stops. Then, on back to Melbourne with a 7pm arrival. Our guide Steve was a good natured bloke with just a little bit of non-pc cheekiness to make it interesting. He had a lot of good information without being too long winded. He made sure the guests were doing ok, provided water and had the bathroom breaks paced quite well.

From the start, communication was well organized. A special shout out to our amazing guides Jacqui and Zoe. They were knowledgeable, friendly and shared local stories and history. This is an incredible itinerary with breathtaking scenery. An experience not to be missed

It is an amazing experience. If you love nature and animals, don’t miss it. We got to see the koalas in the conservation center, even a baby on mom’s back. The penguins were soooo incredibly cute, coming out of the water at sunset and finding their way up the hill. It was crowded but well organized, everyone got to see them. Vicky , our tour guide gave us good tips. Thank you Vicky.

Mark gave us a great visit on the GOR, starting in the reverse direction was brilliant. No crowds and new 12 Apostles visitor center had just opened. It is beautiful and set the stage for what we needed to know. Loved going through the forests and hills as well, felt like a very good orientation to what that area of Australia has to offer. Cute little towns as we headed back to Melbourne. Long day and worth every minute of it! Even saw koalas and kangaroos in the wild. That was a bonus, Hit the Road knew the out-of-the-way spots and with only 12 people could see so much and keep moving along.

This was an excellent day! John was an excellent tour guide! He was funny, told good stories, got us to all the sites on the itinerary in a timely fashion, and stayed positive on a rainy & windy day! We felt safe with him on a wet, windy road! He even pointed out kangaroos and koalas. Highly recommend this tour and John!

This was an absolutely fantastic trip from the minute we boarded the bus. Exceptional tour guide Matty so good loads of knowledge so Friendly. Saw so much wildlife and both the steam train and Penguins were excellent. Also got to feed Kangaroos. Long day but so good.

Be ready to sample a lot of different kinds of very nice wine. There were some very seasoned wine buffs in our group but I am not one of them since I am only equipped to discuss the merits of Boone’s Farm versus Ripple…still I had a great time and learned a lot; so much so that I will have to find somewhere where they offer Australian wines when I get back to Atlanta. Yay Yarra!

The cost is very reasonable. Similar trips in China would include things like kangaroos and small trains, and the price would be 800+ or more. I prefer this, just for wine tasting. Departing at 9 AM, we passed a kangaroo viewing area, wow, the kangaroos were very close, and then we started drinking. The three wineries are completely different, and the flavors are also completely different, so if you have decided on a particular wine, just take it. I had a beef burger for lunch, it was very substantial. The director is also very talkative and can timely introduce relevant itineraries and attractions, so I understand Melbourne a bit better. Overall, the weather was suitable and the itinerary was reasonable, I give it full marks!