Must See Sights of Victoria, Australia

My first week in Australia has been absolutely amazing. We’ve packed SO much into the few days we have been here. Granted I’m only spending 10 days of my holiday in Australia, and even less of that in the greater Melbourne area.

While the average traveler probably wouldn’t try to squeeze as much into their week in Victoria as we have…. we wanted to make the absolute most of my time in Australia. As such… it means lots to do, see, eat, and enjoy in such a short amount of time.

Here’s our travel itinerary for our 5 days in Victoria:

Day ONE:

Pick up a car… you really cannot get around Melbourne, nor see and do all the things without renting a car. We went with an economy rental as it was just us two, and we did not have fancy car needs. Once you have the car head out!

Ready. Set. Great Ocean Road

We opted to do the Great Ocean Road on days 1 and 2. With the vast majority of the GOR done on day 1. If you want to see the different stops we made along the Great Ocean Road read my blog post here.

Day TWO:

Finish up the remainder of the GOR and end in Mornington Peninsula. This day was mostly about travel… and less about stops along the route. We did get to see wild Koala along our drive… but mostly our drive was a commuter travel day.

Day THREE:

Spend the day exploring Mornington Peninsula. We ventured out to Fort Nepean, London Bridge Outlook (if you are like me and expected the “bridge” to look like the “London Bridge” think again…. It’s a rock formation that looks nothing like a bridge… and definitely not like the London Bridge.) But it does have amazing tide pools and rock formations that are great to explore.

We had plans to see Arthur’s Seat… but never made it. We simply ran out of time. We did make time to hit up Port Philip Estate and Montalto wineries. Port Philip Estate is a great winery with an even better view. The weather definitely cooperated for this trip. If you love wine, or like vineyards definitely make this a must see and taste during your travel plans. It’s worth the detour, or major stop.

And when you are hungry stop in for lunch at Montalto The food was SUPERB and the waitstaff was exceptional. I’m gluten free and they were able to create a lunch of fantastic flavors that was safe to eat, even considering the cross contamination aspects that so few other restaurants (especially in the States) actually care about. The wine tasting was fun, but I didn’t like the wines enough to purchase any… Which was for the best as the 1 bottle I bought from Port Philip Estate I ended up leaving behind with our B&B hostesses as I didn’t end up drinking enough of it to warrant keeping it.

If you have time check out the Peninsula Hot Springs while in the Mornington Peninsula area. While you wont need to spend hours and hours there, 1-3 hours will be plenty long enough. You can enough different aspects of the hot springs and mineralized water.

We finished our day 3 by heading out to Yarra Valley. Warburton to be exact. The cute B&B was nestled up in the hills, tucked away from the city. We were the first of the weekend guests to arrive so we had the whole B&B to ourselves.

I would definitely recommend that if you spend ANY time in the Yarra Valley, make the journey to Warburton and DEFINITELY stay at the Buttercup Hill B&B. It was amazing. From the amazingly delicious food (even accommodated my GF/DF life), to the interactive wild life and household pets (They have AMAZINGLY friendly goats and a cute pup), and the beautiful garden. They have fresh eggs from their chickens, fresh tomatoes form the garden, and other veggies.

Be sure to check out these places, tastes, and sights to make the most of your Victoria, Australia trip!