Small-Group Grampians Great Wildlife Escape Day Trip with Hiking

Recommended by 98% of travelers

Melbourne, Australia

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5+ bookings last month.

12 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Explore the history and beauty of Grampians National Park on this full-day trip from Melbourne. Climb to the top of Boroka Lookout and other natural vista points for sweeping valley views, and bushwalk through the parklands to explore diverse habitats and spot local wildlife such as kangaroos. Learn about the area’s original inhabitants with a visit to Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre, and admire the cascading rush of waterfalls.

Full-day tour to Grampians National Park, from Melbourne
Get great photo ops of the spectacular Balconies rock formation
Learn about local aboriginal culture and rock art sites at Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre
Small-group tour with a maximum of 24 people allows for a more personalized experience

What's Included

Admission to Grampians National Park
Australian wildlife sightings, guided bush walks (2 hours in total)
Experienced local driver guide to assist you throughout the day
Comprehensive live commentary in a fun and social atmosphere
Air-conditioned mini-coach travel, small group touring experience

Meals not included, guests will have an opportunity to support locals and buy lunch along the way.
Hotel transfers pre/post tour itinerary to a nominated pickup point.
Travel insurance is highly recommended
Personal expenses

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.7:35 am

Itinerary

Grampians National Park offers visitors a chance to connect with diverse landscapes, native wildlife, and aboriginal history. In the early morning, make your way to central Melbourne to meet your guide and board a comfortable air-conditioned minibus. Stop to purchase morning tea and snacks midway through the drive to the park.

Get your first introduction to the dramatic Grampians landscape at Halls Gap Valley then head straight to the Boroka Lookout, where you can admire spectacular views of the eastern plains. A moderately challenging hike through the surrounding landscape leads you to the glorious cascade of MacKenzie Falls. Feel free to cool off with a dip in the pool at the base of the falls.

Another short hike takes you to Balconies Lookout, where you can see a rock formation shaped like an open mouth known as the ‘Jaws of Death.’

Stop in the nearby town of Halls Gap to purchase lunch, and then continue on to Reed Lookout for more impressive views.

Finally, visit the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre to learn about the area’s indigenous people. Explore interactive displays and maps that will help you appreciate the abundance of aboriginal rock art scattered throughout the park.

After a packed day of exploring, sit back and relax on the return drive to Melbourne. Stop for dinner along the way (own expense), and be dropped off back at the original departure point in the late evening.

Please note: In the event that MacKenzie Falls is inaccessible due to weather, you will visit Silverband Falls instead.

Melbourne (Pass By)

Beaufort Visitor Information Centre

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Grampians (Pass By)

Grampians National Park

5 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Halls Gap Visitor Information Centre

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Brambuk The National Park & Cultural Centre

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Boroka Lookout

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

The Balconies

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

MacKenzie Falls

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Ararat

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Melbourne (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
A minimum moderate level of fitness is required to complete the walks.
Limited storage space on our vehicle, baggage kept to 1 x 5-7kg day bag per person.
Not wheelchair accessible
Child fare prices apply from 6 to 12 years old. This tour is not suitable for children 5 years old and under, due to the nature and walking involved.
Autopia Tours reserves the right to alter the route or itinerary schedule during seasonal weather fluctuations and/or during park closures.

Service animals allowed
Please ensure you have checked the average temperatures for the time of year you are travelling and have packed adequate clothing.
Near public transportation
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 23 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Natalie_C

Our tour guides were so kind and informative! They made the bus ride enjoyable by sharing facts and history about Australia. The park was breathtaking. Highly recommend this tour!

Reviews

4.8

based on 165 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

My trip to the Grampians...

Rachel_O, Dec 2025

My trip to the Grampians was absolutely brilliant - a very long day but most definitely worth it. Our guide, Lauren, was fun, friendly and very knowledgeable, sharing stories and information about places we passed through and stopped at and making sure we had all needs catered for, from tea, coffee, Tim Tams and toilet stops, to driving us around to find emus and kangaroos. The amount of time given at the stop-off points felt just right: the Cultural Centre, Halls Gap, Mackenzie Falls, The Balconies and Boroka Lookout, each with their own scenery and features. The Grampians also feel like a less busy place than some of the other tour destinations, and while I know I contribute to the numbers, it's sometimes hard to enjoy something fully when you're surrounded by hundreds of others! There were a lot of solo travellers like myself, but I always felt like I was part of the group and it was great to chat to people from all around the world. Thank you for a great day.

Response from Host, Dec 2025

Thank you for joining our Grampians Wildlife Escape! We’re thrilled you enjoyed the scenery, wildlife, and Lauren’s guiding. Wonderful to hear the day felt welcoming and memorable 🌿🦘

Nice tour, unfortunately...

David_M, Dec 2025

Nice tour, unfortunately one of the girls in our group became lost where there was no phone reception. Our guide, Craig, went on a major search. After a bit over 2 hours she was found safe. Craig did his best to get to most of the highlights.

Response from Host, Dec 2025

Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the tour overall. We're very grateful for Craig's dedication and quick action during the situation with your group member. Ensuring everyone's safety is our top priority, and we're relieved she was found safe. We appreciate your understanding and hope to have the opportunity to provide you with an even better experience in the future.

Such a fun time!

Natalie_C, Dec 2025

Our tour guides were so kind and informative! They made the bus ride enjoyable by sharing facts and history about Australia. The park was breathtaking. Highly recommend this tour!

Response from Host, Dec 2025

Thank you for your wonderful feedback! We're delighted to hear that your tour guides made the experience enjoyable with their kindness and knowledge. It’s great to know that you found the park breathtaking and that you recommend the tour. We truly appreciate your kind words and hope to welcome you back for more amazing adventures in the future!

Fantastic wildlife spotting

jennifer_g, Sep 2025

A long day but a very satisfying one. Spent time at 2 lookouts and the waterfall. Lots of time spent with wildlife including huge mobs of kangaroos, emus, and some very curious wallabies. Worth the long drive for sure

Response from Host, Oct 2025

Thank you for sharing your experience! It sounds like you had a rewarding day exploring the lookouts, waterfall, and getting up close with some incredible wildlife. Spending time with kangaroos, emus, and wallabies must have been amazing. While the drive was long, it's great to hear that the overall experience was worth it. We appreciate your feedback and hope you enjoyed the beauty and wildlife of the area!

Views for days! Spectacular! 🌸

Nehal_R, Nov 2024

Had a really great time on this trip. We explored the Grampian view points and it was spectacular. Graham was the best tour guide ever. He made sure we were well informed, made sure we were taken care of, made sure that no one was left behind, made sure that we enjoyed nature and hiking just as much as he does. It was a superb trip. Would highly recommend this.

Response from Host, Nov 2024

G'day, Thank you so much for your fantastic feedback! We’re thrilled to hear that you had a great time exploring the Grampians and enjoyed the stunning viewpoints. Graham will be delighted to know his care and passion for nature and hiking made such a positive impact on your experience. Thank you for highly recommending the trip, and we hope to welcome you on another adventure soon! Kind regards, Autopia Tours

Hiking with Jake

Victoria_C, Jul 2024

The Grampians Hiking Day trip was a fun adventure in beautiful country. Our guide, Jacob, did a great job of personalizing the stops based on what the group wanted to do, and I appreciated his sense of humor along the way. It was a long drive, but we made multiple stops for small towns, lookouts, animal sightings, and several long and short hikes through the mountains. I learned a lot, not just about Australian ecology, but also Aussie culture! Fair warning: if you get the “fish and chips” for lunch, that fish may very well be shark meat!!

Response from Host, Jul 2024

Hi Victoria, Thank you for your review! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your Grampians Hiking Day Trip and that Jacob made it a personalized and entertaining experience. It's great that you got to see so much of the beautiful landscape and wildlife, and that you learned about Australian ecology and culture. We'll be sure to pass along your compliment to Jacob. As for the fish and chips, that's definitely a unique touch to remember! We hope to see you on another adventure soon. Kind Regards, Autopia Tours

Grampians for a solo traveler

Dollaya_P, Mar 2024

Best experience with group tour. Very convenient to book and contact your operator. Troy, out tour guide, is very friendly and informative.

Saw quite a few...

Kely_S, Dec 2023

Saw quite a few kangaroos! Love visiting the national park. The weather that day is a cloudy. It’s definitely be more pretty if it’s sunny

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Hi Kely, We're so glad you got to see Kangaroos! We're sorry the weather didn't pull through for you but hope you still had the most incredible time :) Shania

This was a great tour that my girlfriend and I really enjoyed!!

Randall_S, Mar 2023

My girlfriend and I looked on Viator for some full day sightseeing options, and really got interested in seeing the Grampians, even though neither of us had ever heard of the national park. This had the best reviews and we loved the tour and experience. We got lucky and had great weather so all the views were clear. People complain about the walk down/up related to the waterfalls, and while yes it is steep with lots of steps, even people with just an okay fitness level can handle it. Our tour guide was fantastic and made the experience even better, and we were both really happy with how the day went. We felt we did have enough time at all the spots we stopped at, but that also might be because the Aboriginal museum wasn't open or available, so we might have spent more time at some spots than other groups have in the past who were able to go to the museum and center. I'm 6'5" and bigger, so yes the bus/minivan was super small, but I was able to make it through just fine.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Hi Randall, Thanks a lot for your review, it's good to hear you enjoyed the Grampians with us! Yes the walk back from the waterfall is a bit tiring but totally worth the effort :) Looking forward to seeing you again soon! Kind regards, Luis

Best trip we’ve had

Jill_S, Jan 2023

This is a must do tour , it was very laid back not getting rushed around from one place to another and we saw so much wildlife and beautiful scenery . There is a climb down to the waterfall which is strenuous but you don’t have to do it no one is forcing anyone. Steve our guide was one in a million a perfect guide , very knowledgeable, welcoming and a genuine nice guy . Thanks for a great day which we will never forget , Jill , Michael and the slow coaches Taz and Kiran

Response from Host, Feb 2023

Hi Jill, thanks a lot for your review! We will make sure to let Steve know how much fun you had on the tour :) Looking forward to seeing you on another tour! Kind regards, Luis

Great experience

Izzy, Sep 2022

Excellent tour with Britney the tour guide. Very well organized. Pickup was on time, it was a long day, but the scenery is amazing. Highly recommended.

Over all good

Varkha_L, Jun 2019

The van seat was not very comfortable and could not recline to take a break. The tour was overall good. Kids were excited

Response from Host, Jun 2019

Hi, and thank you for your review! We are glad to hear your kids were excited and you liked the tour. While we aim to be transparent in our vehicle sizes and do not claim them to have the highest comfort level, we do find that the small bus offers many advantages, such as access to areas big buses could not enter, and having a very high safety record. It is also a great vehicle for the driver-guide to be able to connect with a small group. However, the flip side of this is, that these smaller buses do not offer the reclining seats afforded by a coach. Thanks again for your feedback and we hope to see you on our tours again!

Awesome Itinerary and very well Organised!

Alolika_M, Apr 2019

Really enjoyed a very well planned and informative trip with Jerry as our guide. Great small group. Perfect for quiet time or a group activity as per personal choice.

This trip was amazing! We were at...

Craig C, Mar 2018

This trip was amazing! We were at some beautiful lookouts, saw great waterfalls, wild kangaroos and wallabies and had a lot of fun. Our tourguide Tara was great, enthusiastic and explained a lot. I would highly recommend this tour!

A good opportunity to see the...

Dmitry D, Jan 2018

A good opportunity to see the Grampian Mountains. However, in my opinion, a lot of time was spent on a less interesting walk in the forest before reaching the mountains. It would be better to have more trekking in the mountains themselves. The guide was good

It was OK, but I'd like to spend...

Marina L, Oct 2015

It was OK, but I'd like to spend more time in walking and seeing more waterfalls. Also, the bus was very old and with bad stereo system - we could barely hear our guide.

Very good tour but please note that...

Deborah C, Oct 2015

Very good tour but please note that it's not quite a hiking excursion.

Tour guide was great but its an...

Megan R, Jun 2015

Tour guide was great but its an expernsive trip considering it only includes transport and guide

Tina, the driver/guide was...

Victor, Jan 2015

Tina, the driver/guide was fantastic. We went on a 38°C day and she entertained us well throughout the journey. The scenery on each look out point is beyond breathtaking. Warning: A moderate level of fitness is required for McKenzie Falls. Other attractions just involve walking on leveled ground, but for a certain amount of distance. Remember to bring Gatorade to hydrate yourself! Cheers.

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