Whoever named this 243-kilometre stretch of southern Victoria didn’t do a bad job, but if you know where to hang a left or get into your swimmers, and when to have a scenic argument with your boyfriend about his hair-raising approach to corners, it could be the Amazing Ocean Road. And if you read this guide to the Great Ocean Road, you can keep adding superlatives.
With sand still in my socks, allow me to serve as your B100 guru, starting at one spectacular city hotel and ending at a bijou, close-to-the-beach guesthouse. Buckle up — here’s where to stop on a Great Ocean Road trip.
First stop: United Places Hotel Botanic Gardens
United Places Hotel Botanic Gardens
While some people drive south-east from Adelaide to the far end of the Great Ocean Road, that’s seven hours of driving before you’ve even turned onto the B100. It’s best to start — as most do — in Melbourne, just over an hour’s drive from the start line, poised to follow the route in its intended direction.
United Places Hotel Botanic Gardens is our city crashpad of choice: cocooned by the lush treetops of the Botanic Gardens, and yet just five minutes from the M1 motorway, which will take you all the way down to the road-trip starting point at Surf Coast Shire come morning. There’s plenty of free street parking nearby, and complimentary, freshly-baked pastries delivered to your suite for breakfast. Enjoy them with the verdurous views from your balcony (all rooms have one) and save a couple for the road.
Stop two: Gooley’s Torquay for its cult sandwich
Drive time: 90 minutes
Torquay, the first town on the Great Ocean Road, is very lucky indeed — it’s home to the Surf Coast’s finest ‘sangers’ (AKA sandwiches). Spot the red-and-white stripy awning and you’ve found Gooley’s: Dan Gooley’s beloved deli where locals will go to war to keep their favourite items on the menu (the toasted pastrami and fresh ‘gabagool’ being the two frontline favourites). Whichever sandwich/coffee combo you choose, take it down to the Surf Beach — which is a smidge more interesting than Front Beach — and don’t leave without a look in Torquay Sweet Shop and Torquay Books, two independent stalwarts that radiate small-town charm.
Stop three: Grow in Anglesea — the local champion
Drive time: 20 minutes
As you drive from Torquay to Anglesea, you’re going to want to make pitstops to play at the spectacular string of beaches in between: Bells Beach (home to the annual Rip Curl Pro), South Beach, Addiscot Beach and Point Addis Beach. Now that you’re a suitably salty surfer type, you’ll fit right in at Grow — Anglesea’s all-in-one café, farm shop, and lifestyle boutique, where tanned-and-tousled locals eat vegetarian fare at sun-drenched picnic tables. When full, peruse the selection of pre-loved garments, handmade ceramics and jars of weigh-your-own tea leaves. This is also the best place to stock up on artisanal crisps and cold kombuchas for future beach picnics.
Stop four: the working Split Point lighthouse at Aireys Inlet
Drive time: 15 minutes
Split Point Lighthouse
Next, we’re veering off to see one of the Great Ocean Road’s few working lighthouses, best spied from the golden stretch of Sandy Gully Beach — a truly underrated corner of the coast. I’d love to tell you we’re here for the maritime history (it is worth paying the $12.50 for a self-guided tour and climb to the top), but we’re mostly here for the flower-topped tarts at The Lighthouse Tearooms next door, with its story-book garden bursting with purple Salvia blooms. After scones and cakes, wander a little way down to the series of lookouts that reveal Eagle Rock, emerging golden and crown-like from the waves.
Stop five: Lorne’s waterfall circuit
Drive time: 25 minutes
Heading toward Lorne under the wooden Memorial Arch landmark, there’s not a whole lot to stop for — these roads (the bendiest on the route so far) are all about far-reaching vistas that are easily enjoyed from the car. The real action begins in Lorne, the Great Ocean Road’s waterfall wonderland. Once here, research the nearest carparks and choose your fighter: tall and skinny (Erskine Falls), the rockpool beauty (Phantom Falls), or the one where you can stand behind the thunderous cascade (Lower Kalimna Falls). These are listed in order of difficulty, but — bar some steep steps — the hikes to each are very do-able.
Stop six: Lorne’s Ipsos Restaurant & Bar for a Greek feast
Drive time: 10 to 30 minutes, depending which waterfall you visit
Unlike its dining-options-deprived neighbour Apollo Bay (the next town along), Lorne is a seaside smorgasbord. Pizza Pizza, with its wisteria-strung shed, wins runner-up, but top prize goes to Ipsos, the lauded Greek eatery at the end of Lorne’s main strip. Run by local restaurant royalty, the Talimanidis family, Ipsos was recently and deservedly re-awarded its one-‘hat’ status (Australia’s version of a Michelin Star). We can only assume the inspector took one bite of their fall-apart lamb with smoked hummus and made their verdict on the spot.
Stop seven: Apollo Bay’s Shelter Cafe for a latte, sauna and ice bath
Drive time: one hour
Set inside a darling heritage home (one of the oldest remaining in Apollo Bay), family-run Shelter is where you’ll find Melbourne’s favourite Market Lane coffee beans, sweet sourdough swirls and a fridge full of small-batch natural wines. Dine in one of its retro rooms, or out on the quaint porch or fairy-lit lawn. At the back of the property there’s a secret wellness paradise: The Corner Sauna, where you can sink into an ice bath, sweat it out in a cedar-wood sauna, and shock your system under cold, copper showers. An equally tempting savoury treat is the famous scallop pie at nearby Apollo Bay Bakery.
Stop eight: Maits Rest Rainforest Walk at Great Otway National Park
Drive time: 20 minutes
This is perhaps our favourite stretch of the Great Ocean Road — the one where you wake up to dew-coated mornings, a tangled 300-year-old rainforest and the occasional koala: the Great Otway National Park. Start with the Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, where a footwear-friendly boardwalk takes you through the moss-covered forest and allows for obligatory posing inside giant, hollowed-out trunks. It’s worth wandering off the standard road-trip route at this point to head up to the Otway Redwoods: a mist-slicked forest planted with dizzyingly tall Californian Redwood trees. And down a winding track you’ll find maybe the region’s most spectacular waterfall duo: Hopetoun and Beauchamp Falls. The latter is safely the best wild-swimming spot in all of the Otways.
Stop nine: the carved coastline of Twelve Apostles and Port Campbell national parks
Drive time: 90 minutes
A string of seven limestone sea-stacks jutting out from the waves, the deceptively named Twelve Apostles (there are actually nine stone stacks) is likely what brought you to the road, but it’s also what brings coach-loads of Melbourne day-trippers, too. Still, snag a parking space at the visitor centre and wander the maze of viewing platforms. Yes, you’ll have company, but you’d be a fool to miss it. As you continue to explore the coastline toward Port Campbell, these roadside wonders — including the mighty Razorback and Thunder Cave rock formations — become much less crowded. Hopefully you’ll get to enjoy the Grotto (a mermaid-worthy sea cave) without too much jostling.
Stop ten: gourmet town Timboon
Drive time: 25 minutes
A 25-minute drive north from the B100, Timboon is the tastiest of detours. Of the producers who make up the 12 Apostles Food Artisans Trail, Timboon is home to seven of them, including the renowned Timboon Ice Creamery, the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery, Bouchiers Timboon Butcher and Berry World — home of delicious, pick-your-own strawberries. Just before you reach the main town, make sure to swing in for a glass of unhomogenised milk at star of the gourmet trail: Schulz Organic Creamery & Cafe.
The final stop: Drift House Hotel, Port Fairy
Drive time: one hour, 10 minutes
Drift House
The Great Ocean Road technically ends just before Port Fairy — but this gorgeous little fishing town is unskippable. Go for its tiny boutiques and famous folk festival, windswept walks and Wes Anderson-esque façades; but, above all, go for Drift House. This intimate guesthouse is as intertwined with the make-up of Port Fairy as the giant Norfolk pine trees just outside. Set across three buildings — the original Victorian bluestone, the modern extension, and a neighbouring Edwardian villa — its six suites are super stylish, book-filled, and almost more enticing than the surroundings.
However, all come with a free-to-use bicycle, so you’re all set for a ride to nearby Griffiths Island; and a ploughman‘s breakfast with jammy eggs, cold cuts and pickles. Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the dining room turns into The Salon, where owner and Spanish-food connoisseur, John, puts on his chef’s hat, serving up exquisite snacks, steaks and his famous Basque cheesecake. Sink down onto the hotel’s sunken sofa — a modernist masterpiece and prime board-game-playing perch — to toast to the road well-travelled.
Book-end your road trip with a weekend in Melbourne, or spend 48 hours in Sydney