Travel along the Great Ocean Road route in reverse to avoid the crowds on this guided day trip from Melbourne. Visit the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, and more. Stop at the Great Otway National Park for a guided rainforest walk. What makes this tour unique is that it goes in reverse compared to typical Great Ocean Road tours. Your guide will drive inland in the morning, arrive at the attractions before all the crowds get there, and come back through the world-famous coastline, the Great Ocean Road. First, stop at a rural town for breakfast, where you can get in a good stretch and enjoy a coffee (cost not included). From there, go straight to the first attraction, the Twelve Apostles. Enjoy the internationally famous limestone formation lookouts without the crowds of people. See the Razorback rock formation, the lookout at the Gibson Steps, and the enchanting Loch Ard Gorge Beach. Learn about Loch Ard's shipwreck story, then make a lunch stop in the town of Port Campbell or Apollo Bay (cost not included). Choose to go for a walk to the beach for more pictures. When you depart the Twelve Apostles area, drive through Great Otway National Park. Connect with nature during a 20-minute rainforest walk to witness some of Australia's most amazing rainforest scenery. On your way back, travel along the Great Ocean Road coastline, through Apollo Bay. Listen as your guide shares stories and facts about the city while on your way to Kenneth River. At the river, be camera-ready as you may encounter some local koalas and colorful parrots. Before returning to Melbourne, the final stop will be at the quaint coastal town of Lorne for another epic beachfront view. 

Day 1 Guests on this small group tour are picked up from their city hotel or Federation Square and quickly depart Melbourne via the West Gate Bridge. Travel through the vast volcanic plains en route to Geelon, where you have time to stroll along the beautifully transformed waterfront. Start your journey along the Great Ocean Road at Torquay, stopping at various places along the coast including Bells Beach and the scenic morning tea location. Your focus then turns to Australian native wildlife as you observe Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the wild. This is one of many opportunities to see and hear about Australia's unique and unusual animals in their native habitat. Your journey then begins along the very scenic, cliff-hugging section of the Great Ocean Road. While winding your way along you stop to view sites such as the 'Memorial Arch' and hear about the intriguing story of this incredible road. Lorne is the largest of the seaside resorts. With its abundance of cafes and restaurants, it is the perfect place for a lunch break. You may even find time to have a swim or do some shopping. After lunch you cruise along the spectacular road, stopping at many scenic spots, including Kennett River where you can see koalas and many colorful native birds in the wild. Visit Apollo Bay before checking in to Chris's Beacon Point or Beacon Point Ocean View Villas. Your private self-contained villa is set high on a hill overlooking the Southern Ocean. This amazing setting is a great place to relax and unwind for a couple of hours. You'll have dinner tonight at the the award-winning Chris's Restaurant, next door to your accommodation, where the only thing that matches the food are the views. After breakfast in Apollo Bay, you go into the Great Otway National Park. Enjoy a 1-km guided walk through a cool temperate rainforest gully to see the world's tallest flowering plants, prehistoric trees and ferns, and unique features such as 'yabbie chimneys'. We traveling through the Otway ranges and onto the so-called 'Shipwreck Coast'. Your first stop is at Castle Cove overlooking the Aire river valley. Your guide will introduce you to the strong Aboriginal heritage of the region, where many tribes prospered around the coastline for thousands of years. In the same area, millions of years ago, when Australia was part of the great southern land, Gondwana, dinosaurs roamed the land. A unique find along the coast in 1987 uncovered important clues into the world's prehistoric past. The 12 Apostles are icons of Australia's natural beauty. You'll arrive as the stacks are lit with the morning sun, making them perfect for photos and crowd-free. This is a bonus for taking a 2-day trip as the stacks are silhouettes in the afternoon and overcrowded. After hearing of the creation of the stacks and holding some of the limestone rock you can explore the boardwalks or brave a helicopter flight along the coastline at your own expense. You'll then visit 'Loch Ard Gorge', the site of the most famous 19th-century Australian shipwreck. You'll hear the entire story, from the calm voyage, to the tragic wreck, to the courageous survivors and their ultimate fate. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artifacts, photos, and documents from the 'Loch Ard' contained in treasure chests. Port Campbell is your lunch stop for today. This small fishing village of just 350 is set in a beautiful natural port and has some wonderful cafes and restaurants for food and views. After lunch you'll travel to a lesser-known but highly impressive area of the Great Ocean Road west of Port Campbell. This section includes London Bridge, the Bay of Islands, the Bay of Martyrs, and Boat Bay before your journey turns inland and travels through open farmland towards Melbourne, arriving there around 18:00.

We start by traveling in to the Adelaide Hills. Here we explore Hahndorf, a traditional German town in the Adelaide Hills and Mt Lofty Summit with sweeping views of Adelaide. Our journey then takes us through grain and stock lands towards the town of Keith for lunch. Next we visit the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves to learn of the fossil discoveries of Mega Fauna. The Coonawarra wine region is close by, recognized as the premium Cabernet Sauvignon region of the world, where we stop for wine tasting. Tonight we are accommodated in luxurious rooms at ‘The Barn’ which also houses an award winning restaurant for dinner and breakfast. We start the second day with a visit to the ‘blue’ crater lake in Mt Gambier. Then drive on to Port Fairy before visiting Tower Hill Reserve where we are likely to see Emus, Koalas, Kangaroos and Echidnas. We then start the Great Ocean Road with the impressive limestone stacks of the Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands. London Bridge is next before ‘Loch Ard Gorge’, the site of the most famous 19th century Australian shipwreck. We retell the entire story from the calm voyage, the tragic wreck, the courageous survivors and their ultimate fate. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artifacts, photos and documents from the ‘Loch Ard’ contained in our treasure chests. Twelve Apostles is close by, here we explain the creation of these limestone stacks and the constant wearing away of this coastline. Our journey then takes us into the Otway National Park and through to Apollo Bay and Skenes Creek where we arrive at your 4 star accommodation set high on a hill with great views overlooking the Southern Ocean. These private villas set within native forest offer the perfect environment to relax and unwind. Tonight’s dinner is at the award winning ‘Chris’ at Beacon Point’. This modern, Greek-Australian restaurant is a famous attraction in the area as well as being a superb restaurant with incredible views. The third day sees us leave our tranquil overnight setting to have breakfast in Apollo Bay. Our first stop is within the Otway National Park at ‘Maits Rest’. This is a 1km walk through a cool temperate rainforest gully discovering trees and ferns. We then turn towards Melbourne and travel along a very scenic section of the Great Ocean Road en route to Kennett River for a fantastic viewing of wild Koalas in their native setting. We also visit many scenic spots for photos and tell numerous stories behind the making of the road. We stop for lunch at the largest of the seaside villages, Lorne. After lunch we drive along the surf coast and take in the surf culture of the region with a visit to Torquay and Bells Beach. Our journey then takes us through the historic gateway to the Great Ocean Road, Geelong before we travel from the west over the ‘West Gate Bridge’ and escort you to your hotel and welcome you to Melbourne.

Our first stop along the coast is at a famous surfing beach before travelling the very scenic Great Ocean Road. While winding our way along we stop to view the ‘Arch’ and tell you of the intriguing story of this incredible memorial road. Lorne is the largest of the seaside resorts and is a perfect place for a lunch break. After lunch we cruise along the spectacular road, stopping at many scenic spots including Kennett River where we try to spot koalas in the wild. Your private self contained villa is set high on a hill overlooking the Southern Ocean. This amazing setting is a great place to relax and unwind for a couple of hours (accommodation based on availability). Dinner tonight is at the most renowned restaurant along the coast, Chris’s at Beacon Point. Our journey starts after breakfast with us travelling through the Otway ranges where we take you on a 1km guided walk through a cool temperate rainforest gully to see the world’s tallest flowering plants, prehistoric trees and ferns. Our first stop along the Shipwreck coast is at Castle Cove overlooking the Aire River valley. In this area millions of years ago when Australia was part of the great southern land, Gondwana, dinosaurs were roaming the land. A unique find along the coast in 1987 uncovered important clues into the world’s prehistoric past. The 12 Apostles are Icons of Australia’s natural beauty. We arrive as the stacks are lit with the morning sun making them perfect for photos and crowd free. After hearing of the creation of the stacks and holding some of the limestone rock you can explore the beautiful sights. We then visit ‘Loch Ard Gorge’, the site of the most famous 19th century Australian shipwreck. We retell the story from the calm voyage, the tragic wreck, the courageous survivors and their ultimate fate. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artefacts, photos and documents from the ‘Loch Ard’ contained in our treasure chests. Port Campbell is our lunch stop for today. After lunch we travel to a lesser known but highly impressive area of the Great Ocean Road west of Port Campbell. Our journey then continues through Warrnambool and onto Tower Hill Game Reserve where we may have the chance to see Koalas, Kangaroos and Emus. Our journey then continues through picturesque Port Fairy towards Mount Gambier, home of the ‘Blue’ crater lake and numerous ‘sinkholes’. We check into our overnight accommodation at ‘The Barn’, or similar, in Mount Gambier and start enjoying friendly country hospitality in complete comfort. Our third day starts with a visit to the Naracoorte Caves National Park for a cave tour with a local guide. These limestone caves are World Heritage listed area due to the fossils of the ‘Mega Fauna’ found buried in the Caves. We stop in Keith for lunch before joining the highway towards Adelaide. On our approach to the city we visit the very popular tourist village of Hahndorf and Mount Lofty summit.