Melbourne Day Trip Planner: Island, Coast, Hills

November 5, 2026

Victoria rewards a day out of the city. Some trips fit easily into daylight, and others are very long days that deserve a tour or an overnight stay.

Phillip Island penguins

Distance: about 140 km, or around two hours by road. The penguins arrive at sunset, which means a late return to the city.

General Viewing: adult AUD 34, child (4 to 15) AUD 17, family AUD 85.
Penguins Plus: adult AUD 93, child AUD 46.50.
Underground Viewing: adult AUD 103, child AUD 51.50.
Arrive an hour early, book ahead, and expect cashless payment.

A car or a coach is the practical way to go and return. Details are at penguins.org.au .

Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles are 275 km from the CBD by the coast road, about four hours, or 220 km by the Princes Highway, about two hours 45. Torquay is 100 km out, Lorne 145 km and Apollo Bay 190 km. Doing it all in a day means about 600 km of driving, so a guided tour of roughly AUD 150 to 220 is easier than self-driving. Leave by 6am if you drive. The route’s own planning page explains the options, and parts of the road flooded in January 2026, so check live road status.

Healesville and Werribee

Healesville Sanctuary, about 65 km east: native animals only, free for under-16s on weekends and school holidays.
Werribee Open Range Zoo, about 35 km west: home to the Elephant Trail, where the nine Asian elephants from Melbourne Zoo now live.
Koala cuddles are not offered at Victorian wildlife parks.

Dandenong Ranges and Puffing Billy

Take the Metro line to Belgrave and ride the narrow-gauge steam train. Reserve in advance, since there is no buying a ticket on the day, and plan for roughly AUD 60 to 65 for an adult return to Lakeside.

Ballarat

The Ballarat train from Southern Cross takes around 90 minutes. Sovereign Hill is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, and general admission starts at AUD 68. The statewide half-price fare lasts to 1 January 2027.

Getting there without a car

Trains reach Belgrave for Puffing Billy and Ballarat for Sovereign Hill, and the Healesville and Werribee zoos can be paired with a coach tour. The island and the coast road are the two trips where a car or an organised tour matters most, since public timetables rarely match a sunset return.

Mornington Peninsula

Peninsula Hot Springs at Fingal is a half-day soak. Entry is from about AUD 60 and bookings are essential.

Booking

Coach tours to the coast and island are listed on Viator .