Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road

Six days from Melbourne to Adelaide by the coast: the Great Ocean Road, a lake in a volcano, a fishing port with a lighthouse, and the long lagoon of the Coorong

The direct drive from Melbourne to Adelaide is about 730 km of inland highway in a day. This route takes six days and keeps to the sea: the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles, the old whaling ports of the western district, the volcanic lakes and limestone coast of South Australia, and the Coorong, a lagoon that runs for more than 100 km behind the dunes. Choose it if you want the Apostles and want to keep going west, not turn round.

6 days · 5 nights · four bases · by car · Melbourne to Adelaide, about 1,000 km.

It suits travellers with a car and a week, who would rather walk to a lookout than tour a city. It drives west so the passenger sits on the sea side of the Great Ocean Road. If you only want the Apostles, our Great Ocean Road guide covers the drive as a trip from Melbourne.

How this page was madeWe rode from Adelaide to Warrnambool by bike in September 2009, the other way round: across the Murray at Wellington, down the Coorong, through Kingston SE, Robe and Mount Gambier, then Heywood to Warrnambool. Friends later drove us to the Twelve Apostles. We have not driven the route, so the driving and the advice on where to stay are researched, from the park services, tourism bodies and operators named on the page. Distances are from OpenStreetMap, without stops.

Last updated 29 October 2026

The itinerary, day by day

Open one day, or all of them.

Day 1Melbourne to Apollo Bay — onto the Great Ocean Road195 km · about 3¼ hoursTorquay Lorne Kennett River Apollo Bay

The first day gets the city behind you and the coast road under you, with time to stop at the surf beaches, a seaside town and, with luck, a koala. Our Great Ocean Road guide has more on the road itself.

Morning
West to TorquaySeeBells Beach·the surf towns
Leave on the West Gate Bridge and the M1 to Geelong, then turn south to Torquay, where the Great Ocean Road begins. The bridge is toll-free; the new West Gate Tunnel is tolled. Bells Beach, a few minutes past Torquay, is where Australia’s best-known surf contest is held: a cliff-top lookout over the breaks.
The road reaches the sea at Anglesea and stays on the cliffs to Lorne.
Midday
LorneSeethe beach·the pier·Erskine Falls inland
Lorne is the holiday town of the Great Ocean Road: a curve of beach on Loutit Bay, a pier, and cafés along the front. People stop for lunch and a walk on the sand. If you want a waterfall, Erskine Falls is a short drive inland into the forest. From here the road clings to the cliffs, with the sea below on the passenger side.
Afternoon
Kennett RiverSeekoalas in the gums·the river mouth
Kennett River is where people look up. Wild koalas are often seen in the gums along Grey River Road, just inland from the highway. Walk slowly and look for a grey bundle in the forks of the trees. Nothing here is fenced or fed, so there is no guarantee.
Evening
Apollo BaySeethe long beach·the harbour
Apollo Bay sits where the Otway Ranges come down to a long, curving beach. It is a fishing town with a harbour and a quieter feel than Lorne. Walk the beach at the end of the day, with the green hills behind you, and eat by the water.

Sleeping here · Apollo Bay, night 1. Stay near the foreshore or the harbour, so the evening is on foot. Pick a motel, apartment or holiday park in town. It suits a first night that ends the hardest driving early. Watch the summer and Easter school holidays, when the town fills; book well ahead. We have no Apollo Bay guide yet.

Drive: 195 km via Geelong, Torquay and Lorne · about 3¼ hours without stops
Stay: Apollo Bay — near the foreshore
Eat: Lorne for lunch; Apollo Bay by the harbour in the evening
Check: The road between Lorne and Apollo Bay can close after storms and landslips: check VicTraffic before you set out

Day 2Apollo Bay to Port Fairy — the Apostles and the shipwreck coast186 km · about 3 hoursCape Otway Twelve Apostles Loch Ard Gorge Warrnambool Port Fairy

The day of the famous coast: the road leaves the sea to cross the Otways, then comes back to it for the limestone stacks and gorges that most people have driven from Melbourne to see.

Early morning
West from Apollo Bay
The road leaves the sea and climbs through the forest of the Otways. Start early: this is the day with the most to see.
Morning
Cape OtwaySeethe lightstation·the forest road
A side road runs south through the forest to Cape Otway, the headland that ships rounded on their way into Bass Strait. The lightstation, built in 1848, is the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Australian mainland and a paid visit; check its days, because it does not open every day and access to the tower varies. Allow about an hour and a quarter extra for the detour, about 66 km there and back.
Late morning
The Twelve ApostlesSeethe stacks·Gibson Steps·the new visitor centre
This is the stop the whole route is built round. Friends drove us here, and we remember the scale of it: stacks of yellow limestone standing in the surf below the cliffs, the sea working at their feet. Gibson Steps, just before the main viewing area, take you down 86 steps to the beach beneath the cliffs; they reopened in February 2026.
A new visitor centre opened here in October 2026 with timed bookings, free until a fee starts in April 2027. The authority does not yet say clearly whether a booking covers parking and the lookouts or only the centre, so check the Twelve Apostles site before your day.
Midday
Loch Ard Gorge and Port CampbellSeethe gorge·the shipwreck story·Port Campbell for lunch
Loch Ard Gorge is a narrow inlet between two headlands, named after the ship wrecked at its mouth in 1878: two of the fifty-four aboard survived. The lookouts are open; the steps down to the beach have been closed since 2023, with reopening planned, so check before you go. Port Campbell, a few minutes on, is the place for lunch.
West past London Bridge and the Bay of Islands lookouts; Warrnambool is about an hour from Port Campbell.
Afternoon
Warrnambool and Tower HillSeeLogans Beach·the crater reserve
We rode into Warrnambool in 2009, from the other side, chasing a tailwind. From June to September southern right whales calve off Logans Beach, and the council keeps a viewing platform. Between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, Tower Hill is a volcanic crater whose floor is now a wildlife reserve, where emus, kangaroos and koalas are often seen from the boardwalks.
Evening
Port FairySeethe Moyne River·Griffiths Island
Port Fairy is a small old port with fishing boats on the river and streets of stone cottages. At dusk, walk out to Griffiths Island and its lighthouse; the island is about 1.5 km long, and some of its tracks are uneven. From September to April short-tailed shearwaters nest there and fly in from the sea after sunset.

Sleeping here · Port Fairy, night 2. Stay in the old town between the river and the main street, so the evening is a walk to the river and the island. Pick a bed and breakfast, cottage or motel. It suits anyone who wants a quiet, walkable night after a busy day. Watch the folk festival weekend in March, when the town is booked out. We have no Port Fairy guide yet.

Drive: 186 km via the Twelve Apostles and Warrnambool · about 3 hours without stops; 252 km with Cape Otway
Stay: Port Fairy — the old town
Eat: Port Campbell for lunch; Port Fairy in the evening
Check: The Twelve Apostles booking, Cape Otway’s opening days and the Loch Ard Gorge steps, all on the day

Day 3Port Fairy to Robe — volcanoes and the border290 km · about 3¾ hoursMount Gambier Blue Lake Umpherston Sinkhole Robe

The longest drive. The road leaves the sea, crosses into South Australia and reaches Mount Gambier, a city built on a volcano, before turning back to the coast at Robe.

Morning
West to Mount Gambier
Take the Princes Highway west through Portland country. At the border, put your watch back half an hour: South Australia runs thirty minutes behind Victoria all year.
Midday
The Blue LakeSeethe crater rim·the lookouts·the Gordon obelisk
People come to Mount Gambier for one colour. From about November to March the lake in its crater turns a vivid blue, then fades to grey for the winter. Drive the rim road to the lookouts, or walk the 3.6 km circuit, about an hour on a flat path beside the road. We rode through Mount Gambier in September 2009, before the blue arrives.
Early afternoon
Umpherston SinkholeSeethe sunken garden
A few minutes away, a cave whose roof fell in has been made into a garden: terraces of flowers and ferns on the floor of the sinkhole, reached by steps. Entry is free. It takes half an hour.
North-west to Millicent, then the coast road to Robe.
Evening
RobeSeethe Obelisk·Guichen Bay
Robe is a small port of limestone buildings on Guichen Bay, and a holiday town where Adelaide families have come for generations. Walk out to the Obelisk, a red-and-white navigation marker from the 1850s on the cliffs above the sea, for the evening light.

Sleeping here · Robe, nights 3 and 4. Stay in the old town near the bay, so the Obelisk, the jetty and the cafés are on foot. Pick an apartment, cottage or motel; with two nights, self-catering pays. It suits a base for a day out of the car. Watch the summer and Easter school holidays, when Robe is full. We have no Robe guide yet.

Drive: 290 km via Portland country and Mount Gambier · about 3¾ hours without stops
Stay: Robe — the old town
Eat: Mount Gambier for lunch; Robe in the evening
Check: Clocks go back 30 minutes at the border

Day 4Robe — a day by the sea, or under the groundno driving, or 208–251 km returnRobe the jetty Naracoorte or Coonawarra

The one still day. Spend it in Robe, or drive inland to caves that hold a record of animals that lived here half a million years ago.

Morning
Robe on footSeethe Chinese landing story·the jetty·Long Beach
Robe has a story most visitors do not expect. In 1857, to avoid a tax Victoria charged on Chinese arrivals, about 15,000 Chinese miners landed here and walked hundreds of kilometres to the Victorian goldfields; sources give the distance as 320 to 400 km. The waterfront tells it. Then walk the jetty, or drive onto the firm sand of Long Beach.
All day, instead
Naracoorte CavesSeethe fossil cave·the guided tours
Naracoorte’s caves are World Heritage listed, since 1994, for their fossils: the bones of giant marsupials that fell into the caves over hundreds of thousands of years. Four caves are open on guided tours; book a time. It is about 125 km each way, so it is a whole day.
Or
Coonawarra and PenolaSeethe red soil·the cellar doors
Coonawarra is a strip of red earth famous for its cabernet sauvignon, with Penola, a small town of old cottages, at its southern end. About 104 km each way. Choose one of the inland days, not both.

Drive: None in Robe; Naracoorte 251 km return, about 3½ hours; Coonawarra and Penola 208 km return, about 2¾ hours
Stay: Robe — second night
Eat: Robe; or Penola for lunch
Check: Book the Naracoorte cave tour time

Day 5Robe to Meningie — up the Coorong188 km · about 2¼ hoursKingston SE Salt Creek the Coorong Meningie

A short drive through some of the emptiest country on the route: past Kingston’s giant lobster and north along the Coorong, the lagoon and dunes that separate the road from the Southern Ocean.

Morning
North from Robe
Take the coast road north to Kingston SE, 44 km, then the Princes Highway.
Mid-morning
Kingston SESeethe Big Lobster·Lacepede Bay
Kingston is a fishing town on Lacepede Bay. When we rode through in 2009, Larry the Lobster, a fibreglass rock lobster about 17 metres high, stood by the highway at the edge of town. The latest reports we found, from 2018, say he was still there; we have not confirmed it since.
North on the Princes Highway; the Coorong starts at Salt Creek.
Midday
The CoorongSeeSalt Creek·Jack Point pelican hide·the dunes
People come to the Coorong for space and birds. It is a long, shallow lagoon, Ngarrindjeri Country, with the dunes of the Younghusband Peninsula between it and the sea. We rode this road for a day: the water on one side, scrub on the other, and very little traffic. Jack Point, about 7 km north of Salt Creek, has a walk of about 20 minutes to a pelican observatory.
We passed Policeman’s Point, once a camp for mounted police and now a bird sanctuary. Pelicans, swans and flocks of waders work the shallows. To cross to the ocean beach you need a four-wheel drive or a boat.
Evening
MeningieSeeLake Albert
Meningie is a small town on the shore of Lake Albert, where the Coorong meets the lakes at the mouth of the Murray. It is a place to stop rather than to see: a quiet night by the water. Coorong Wildside Tours is based here; check where its tours leave from when you book.

Sleeping here · Meningie, night 5. Stay in town, near the lake front. Pick a motel or a holiday park cabin; there is little else. It suits a quiet night that puts the Coorong in the evening light. Watch the choice: it is small, so book ahead in any season. We have no Meningie guide yet.

Drive: 188 km via Kingston SE and the Coorong · about 2¼ hours without stops
Stay: Meningie — by Lake Albert
Eat: Kingston SE for lunch; Meningie in the evening
Check: Fuel at Kingston SE: there is little between there and Meningie

Day 6Meningie to Adelaide — across the Murray and over the hills145 km · about 2¼ hoursWellington ferry Langhorne Creek Hahndorf Adelaide

The last day crosses Australia’s biggest river on a small ferry, passes through wine country and ends in a German village in the hills above Adelaide.

Morning
The Wellington ferrySeethe Murray·the river bank
At Wellington the road crosses the Murray on a cable ferry, free and running day and night. We spent a night here in 2009, in motel rooms made from shipping containers, and crossed on the same ferry the next morning. The river is wide and slow, near its end. The ferry closes now and then for maintenance; check the South Australian ferry status page.
Late morning
Langhorne CreekSeethe vineyards·the cellar doors
We stopped for lunch at Langhorne Creek on the bikes. It is a small wine region of red gums and vineyards on flat land near Lake Alexandrina, quieter than the better-known valleys.
Afternoon
HahndorfSeethe main street·The Cedars
Hahndorf was founded in 1839 by Lutheran settlers from Prussia and keeps its old German main street, now lined with shops and cafés. The painter Hans Heysen’s home and studio, The Cedars, is just outside town and opens Tuesday to Sunday. From here the freeway drops through the hills into Adelaide in about half an hour.

Drive: 145 km via Wellington, Langhorne Creek and Hahndorf · about 2¼ hours without stops
Eat: Langhorne Creek or Hahndorf for lunch
Check: The Wellington ferry’s status, before you leave Meningie

Four bases without a guide of their own yet

Apollo Bay, Port Fairy, Robe and Meningie have no where-to-stay or where-to-eat guide on this site yet, so their days name the areas without links. The sleeping advice in each day is ours; for individual places, use the tourism bodies linked at the foot of the page. Adelaide, where the route ends, has its own guide.

What writers and artists have made of it

Adam Lindsay Gordon, once called Australia’s national poet, lived, rode and wrote in this corner of South Australia from the 1850s. At the Blue Lake an obelisk marks the place where, in 1864, he is said to have jumped his horse over a fence on to a narrow ledge above the crater, “Gordon’s Leap”. A local committee keeps a Poet’s Trail through Robe, Penola and Mount Gambier. The Coorong has its own book: Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy (1963), about a boy and a pelican.

Pause and notice · The Coorong, day 5

Stop at a lay-by where the lagoon comes close to the road, and switch off the engine. The water is flat and shallow, and it goes on further than you can see. Beyond it the dunes hide the ocean, but you may hear it. Watch the pelicans: they fly low over the water in a line, barely moving their wings. Notice how little there is: water, sand, sky and birds. You may find the stillness strange after the cliffs and crowds of the Great Ocean Road. Let it last.

The route at a glance

Four bases, five nights
Base	Nights	The leg in	What these nights are for	Pressure
Apollo Bay	1	195 km from Melbourne, about 3¼ hours	The first of the Great Ocean Road, with a beach at the end	One night; summer beds go early
Port Fairy	1	186 km via the Apostles, about 3 hours	The Twelve Apostles, then a quiet old port	A full day; check the Apostles booking
Robe	2	290 km via Mount Gambier, about 3¾ hours	The Blue Lake on the way; a still day by the sea or in the caves	The longest drive in
Meningie	1	188 km up the Coorong, about 2¼ hours	The Coorong in the evening light	Few beds; book ahead

Distances and times without stops from OpenStreetMap routing, 29 October 2026. The last day, Meningie to Adelaide via Wellington and Hahndorf, is 145 km.

The shape of the route

The route follows the coast west from Melbourne, then turns north-west to Adelaide. It runs along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay for one night and Port Fairy for one, then inland through Mount Gambier to Robe for two. From Robe it goes north up the Coorong to Meningie for one night, and crosses the Murray into the hills above Adelaide. About 1,000 km, against about 730 km on the direct inland highway.

Route figure: Melbourne to Adelaide by the coast in six days, one night at Apollo Bay, one at Port Fairy, two at Robe and one at Meningie — The four numbered bases and their nights. Notice the inland leg from Port Fairy to Mount Gambier, and the Coorong running north to Meningie. The dashed box on the small map shows where the large map sits. Lines are simplified; not a navigation map.

Before you commit

The hardest move is day 3: 290 km and nearly four hours of driving, much of it inland, with the border and its half-hour time change in the middle. Break it at Mount Gambier, and reach Robe in daylight.

The bookings, in order. Before anything else, the car: a one-way hire from Melbourne to Adelaide usually carries an extra charge; forum posters put it at A$200 to A$300, and we found no hire company publishing a figure. Get a quote and check what the insurance covers.

Book ahead: beds at Apollo Bay and Robe in summer and the school holidays, then Meningie, which has few; and a Naracoorte cave tour if you choose that day. Check before day 2: the Twelve Apostles visitor centre’s timed booking, since the authority does not yet say what it covers.

What this route leaves out is the Grampians, the mountains north of the coast. Taking them in means different bases and a different first half, so they get their own route: our Great Ocean Road and Grampians loop from Melbourne.

The Great Ocean Road is slow. It is a winding two-lane road with tight bends and drops to the sea, busy in summer and at weekends. Use the pull-over bays and let faster cars by. Storms and landslips close sections for hours or days; in January 2026 it was shut between Lorne and Skenes Creek. Check VicTraffic, and in South Australia the state traffic site, before each day.

Bushfire. Our Melbourne reviewer, who has lived there for forty years, told us to avoid the hot months, December to February. Both states use the national fire danger ratings, and South Australia declares a total fire ban on Extreme and Catastrophic days. Check the rating for each day’s district on VicEmergency and the CFS before you set out, and leave the forest on a Catastrophic day.

Driving at dusk. Kangaroos and wallabies are most active at dawn and dusk, and the Otways and the Coorong road have plenty. Plan each day to arrive in daylight, slow down where the signs warn of animals, and brake rather than swerve.

With children. Gibson Steps are 86 steps down and up again, too many for a pushchair; the authority does not say whether the new Apostles paths suit one. The Blue Lake circuit is flat and listed as pram friendly, but it runs beside the road, so hold small hands. Umpherston Sinkhole has steps to the garden floor.

At Naracoorte, Stick-Tomato Cave is a self-guided walk ($8 a child) and the guided caves are $17 to $24 a child, prices as listed in October 2026. Tower Hill’s emus and the Kennett River koalas are the best moments for small ones. We have no guide to Australia with children yet.

Make it yours

Lorne instead of Apollo Bay. Lorne is livelier, with more places to eat. It makes day 1 shorter, about 45 km, and day 2 longer by the same distance, which then needs an early start for Cape Otway and the Apostles.

Slower: a third night at Robe. It gives you both inland days, the caves and Coonawarra, or one of them and a day on the beach. Nothing else on the route moves.

A Fleurieu finish. After the Wellington ferry and Langhorne Creek, go south-west to Goolwa, near the mouth of the Murray, then Victor Harbor and the McLaren Vale wineries, before turning north into Adelaide. It is about 233 km and 3½ hours without stops, against 145 km by the hills, and you give up Hahndorf.

Reverse it. It works from Adelaide too, but the sea is then on the driver’s side of the Great Ocean Road, so the views go to the passenger less often. Clocks go forward half an hour at the border.

If the route slips

The fixed points are the car’s drop-off in Adelaide and, if you booked it, the Naracoorte tour on day 4. The Twelve Apostles slot is the one to protect on day 2.

Safety and the connection first. On a Catastrophic fire day, or with a road closed by fire or landslip, stop where you are safe and wait; do not look for a back road through the forest. Follow VicTraffic and VicEmergency. If the car’s drop-off time is then at risk, ring the hire company, and cut from the middle of the route, never the last day.
Use the local fallback. If the Great Ocean Road is closed between Lorne and Apollo Bay, go inland by Birregurra and Forrest to Skenes Creek, about 200 km from Melbourne. If it is shut west of Apollo Bay, the inland road through Colac and Cobden reaches the coast at Port Campbell.
Drop the peripheral stop. Cape Otway first, then Tower Hill, then Umpherston Sinkhole. None is booked.
Rebook the night. If you lose a night, give up Robe’s second and the inland day, and move the Robe booking through whoever you booked it with. Keep Meningie if you can, so the Coorong is not driven in a hurry.

A final word on Melbourne to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road

With one day, take the inland highway. With six, take the coast: the Apostles in the surf, a lake that turns blue in summer, a still day at Robe, and the long, quiet water of the Coorong before the hills and Adelaide.

Andrew + Margaret

Australia itineraries Overview
The Great Ocean Road Highlight
Adelaide Overview
Melbourne Overview
Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra Journeys
Melbourne to Sydney via the Princes Highway Journeys
Getting around Australia Practical
Perth to Sydney by bike Journeys

Useful elsewhere

Great Ocean Road authority — the Twelve Apostles visitor centre Booking
Tourism Australia — Melbourne to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road Official
South Australia — driving from Melbourne to Adelaide Official
SA Government — River Murray ferry status Official
VicTraffic — road closures in Victoria Safety
Traffic SA — road closures in South Australia Safety
SA CFS — fire danger ratings and total fire bans Safety
The Adam Lindsay Gordon Poet’s Trail Reading
Colin Thiele, Storm Boy (1963) Reading