Adelaide to Melbourne via Great Ocean Road: complete guide

Discover geological wonders and sleepy seaside towns on a road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road. Hit all the highlights, including The Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, The Grotto, Coorong National Park, Blue Lake, Great Otway National Park and so much more!

Use this 5-day guide when planning your road trip from Adelaide to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road. It can be modified to suit the exact number of days you have available and includes all the best attractions and camping spots. Plus, we’ve thrown in a heap of extra information like drive time, distance, the best season to travel and much more!

Travel the coast in comfort - use Camplify to find campervan hire in Adelaide.

Adelaide to Melbourne via Great Ocean Road: 12 places you can’t miss

Total Distance: 1,100 km | Recommended duration: 2 - 5 days | Best Time to Visit: Between October and April | Route on Google Maps

1. Adelaide

Start your Adelaide to Melbourne road trip via the Great Ocean Road by picking up your campervan hire in Adelaide. If you’re visiting as a tourist, spend a day checking out the local attractions or take on one of the best road trips from Adelaide.

Adelaide is surrounded by some of Australia’s most renowned wine regions , including the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley. Be sure to visit the National Wine Centre, where you can learn about the winemaking process through the interactive experience and taste over 120 wines that are dispensed from the Enomatic systems.

Afterwards, relax in the Adelaide Himeji Garden - a perfectly manicured Japanese garden inside the Park Lands. This garden commemorates the Japanese city of Himeji (one of Adelaide’s sister cities) and features rippling lakes, stepping stones and ornate features.

Stay at the Brighton Beachfront Holiday Park, a family-friendly campground with powered sites and facilities including a mini-golf course, games room, go-kart hire and much more.

2. Coorong National Park

After setting off from Adelaide, make Coorong National Park your first stop. Stretching over 150km of the South Australian coastline, this park is popular for bird watching, boating, kayaking, fishing, camping, walking, four-wheel driving and history.

Coorong is also a wetland of international importance. Be sure to do the Jack Point Pelican Observatory Walk (1.2km return), which winds its way through the coastal dunes to a viewing area overlooking pelican breeding islands.

You can find evidence of ancient Aboriginal campsites around the park, where tribes have left mounds of discarded shells. Also, take the 900m circuit walk to Chinamen’s Well Historic Site, where you can learn about the difficulties that the Chinese faced when travelling to the goldfields in Victoria.

Stay at the 42 Mile Crossing campsite, which offers campervan and caravan camping sites amongst the coastal flora. There are some awesome walking trails nearby and basic facilities.

3. Robe

Continue your Adelaide to Melbourne road trip along the coastline and make a stop at one of South Australia’s favourite seaside holiday spots - Robe.

The first thing you should do is take a coastal walk to the famous Robe Obelisk - a white and red lighthouse structure that was built by a local builder in 1855 for £230. There are several walking trails that you can take, ranging from 1.4km to 12km return.

Spend your afternoon relaxing on Long Beach, famous for its aquamarine water and kilometres of white sandy beach. Afterwards, beer lovers can enjoy a tasting at the Robe Brewery, which operates the only wood-fired brewing kettle in Australia.

Stay at the highly-rated Robe Discovery Holiday Park, which offers unpowered and powered campsites with shade and shelter. Facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool, adventure playground, barbecues and much more.

If you would rather see The Grampians than the Great Ocean Road, you could diverge at this point. For more information, see: Adelaide to Melbourne road trip via northwest Victoria.

4. Mount Gambier

Near the border of South Australia and Victoria is the country city of Mount Gambier - the heart of the Limestone Coast.

The Blue Lake fills the crater of an extinct volcano and turns an intense deep turquoise blue during the summer months (November to late February). Walk or drive the loop road (3.6km) around the circumference of the lake and grab a photo from one of the viewing points.

From one crater to another, your next stop is the beautiful Umpherston Sinkhole. Walk down into the sinkhole and admire this sunken garden from the terraces. Enjoy a picnic lunch or grab something from the kiosk and watch as the resident possum colony climbs the hanging vines at dusk.

Stay at the Blue Lake Holiday Park, which offers unpowered and powered campsites set over 27 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens. Facilities include a swimming pool, playground, tennis courts, games room and much more.

5. Port Fairy

Port Fairy is the next stop on your journey from Adelaide to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road. Step back in time and admire the 19th Century whitewashed cottages that line the streets of this quaint little fishing village.

Cross over the Moyne River causeway and explore Griffiths Island, a beautiful island that is home to a massive colony of short-tailed shearwaters (between September and April). Take the 1-hour loop walk and see the historic Griffiths Island Lighthouse before hiring a stand-up paddleboard on the stunning Killarney Beach.

Only a short drive out of Port Fairy is the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. Set on top of Victoria’s largest dormant volcano, this area was pronounced Australia’s first national park in 1892. Take a guided bush and nature tour with an indigenous guide, during which you will learn about their 65,000-year-old culture and get close to some of Australia’s most iconic animals.

Stay at the Southcombe Caravan Park, which offers a large camping area next to South Beach with views of Griffiths Island. Facilities include tennis courts, a playground, easy beach access and much more.

6. Warrnambool

Warrnambool marks the start of the Great Ocean Road on your journey from Adelaide to Melbourne. Nestled amongst green farm country and overlooking the waters of the Southern Sea, it also forms part of the Shipwreck Coast.

Visit the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village, where you can explore the cobblestone streets and buildings of an early European settlement. At night, catch the sound and light show that tells the dramatic stories of the hundreds of ships and the souls that have been claimed by the Shipwreck Coast.

If you’re travelling in the winter months (June to October), head to the viewing platform at Logans Beach for your chance to see a Southern Right Whale. The whales use the beach as a nursery and can often be seen just 100 metres off the shore!

Stay at the Surfside Holiday Park, which offers unpowered and powered campsites only metres away from Lady Bay Beach. Facilities include a camp kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, barbecues and more.

7. Great Ocean Road (Port Campbell)

Devote an entire day to seeing all the major attractions along the Great Ocean Road when travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne.

Leaving from Warrnambool, your first stop on the Great Ocean Road should be the Bay of Islands. Pull up at the car park and check out the two viewing areas, which provide great views over the sheer cliffs and unusual rock stacks.

Just down the road is the Bay of Martyrs , where you can do a self-guided walk along the tops of the cliffs and spot the Falls of Halladale shipwreck (1908) in the waters below.

Continue for a few minutes to The Grotto , an enchanting rock formation that is part blowhole, part archway and part cave! You can view the formation from above at the lookout or follow the boardwalk down to view it from eye level.

Another minute’s drive and you’ll arrive at the London Bridge rock formation. Named after its resemblance to the famous bridge in England, this sea stack was previously connected to the mainland before collapsing in 1990 (leaving two tourists to be rescued by helicopter).

Grab lunch in Port Campbell before continuing to the lookout for Loch Ard Gorge. This was the site of one of Australia’s most famous shipwrecks when the Loch Ard crashed into Mutton Bird Island in 1878. Only two people survived, taking shelter in the cove before scaling the sheer cliffs to find help.

End your day by visiting the most famous attraction on the Great Ocean Road - The Twelve Apostles! These slowly eroding limestone formations tower up to 45m above the crashing waves of the Southern Ocean. You can view them from the cliff-top lookout or walk down the Gibson Steps to view them from the shoreline.

It’s only a short drive back to the quirky seaside village of Port Campbell, where you can stay at the NRMA Port Campbell Holiday Park. They offer spacious powered camping sites that are only a minute's walk from the beach and Campbell’s Creek.

8. Great Otway National Park

Continue along the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne and spend another day exploring Great Otway National Park.

One of the best ways to see the park is with Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, where you can take the Fly Zipline Tour and ride six different ziplines through the rainforest canopy. Alternatively, take on the Treetop Walkway (600m) which hangs 25m in the air amongst the giant trees.

And don’t miss the short easy walk to Hopetoun Falls (1km return), descending the 200 stairs into a rainforest gully and admiring the falls as they plummet 30m into the Aire River.

Camp at the unique Bimbi Park Campground, which is surrounded by tall gum trees and sleeping koalas. It’s also only a short drive from the oldest standing lighthouse on Australia’s mainland - Cape Otway Lightstation.

9. Lorne

Lorne is another popular beach town on Great Ocean Road, where you can chill out on the beach and explore some of Australia’s most beautiful rainforests.

One of the best hikes in the area is The Canyon Circuit (8.5km return) (aka The Lorne Waterfall Circuit ), which is easy but takes about 3 hours to complete. Along the way, you’ll see three waterfalls and visit a small canyon that is filled with giant moss-covered boulders and dense rainforest vegetation.

Only a short drive from Lorne, you will also find the popular Erskine Falls. These are easy to access via a 5-minute walk from the car park. However, if you want even better views of this 30m cascade, descend the 230 steps to the second lookout set amongst the luscious fern gully.

Stay at the Lorne Foreshore Caravan Park, which offers five separate camping areas with views of either the ocean, river or forest.

10. Melbourne

After travelling along the Great Ocean Road, your road trip from Adelaide comes to an end in Melbourne. But the fun doesn’t have to end just yet!

Before returning home, make sure that you see all that Melbourne has to offer. Some of the city's top attractions include the National Gallery of Victoria , Eureka Skydeck , Royal Botanical Gardens and Shrine of Remembrance.

Stay at the Werribee South Caravan Park, located in a quiet beachside spot just outside of Melbourne. This is the perfect place to end your Adelaide to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road trip!

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