Finalizing my Melbourne itinerary
 

Thanks to Fodors, I've got my family's 8 day visit to Victoria in March pretty well laid out. sharing it below so anybody can give any tips, perspectives I may have missed. Car and accomodations have been booked!

Saturday Arrive in Melbourne at 7am. Pick up car rental. Get some rest and explore MB in the afternoon.

Sunday sovereign hill day trip

Monday Day 1 of Great Ocean Road drive. Overnight at Anglesea. Include Lorne visit and just circle back to Anglesea.

Tuesday Day 2 of GOR drive. Overnight at Port Campbell.

Wed Day 3 of GOR drive. Head back to MB via Colac

Thu Dandenong day trip. Including Puffing billy

Fri Melbourne

Sat Melbourne

Sun Fly out at 830am


Some queries :
1 - Somebody mentioned I should go straight to Sovereign hill on Day 3 of the GOR drive instead of heading straight to MB ? Does that make sense ?

2 - Any must "eat" in MB ? I know it's a food haven there with so many cuisines. Any local tips ?

Thanks

Eric

That's a good plan, Eric, for the time you have available, but you probably can't do it all. I'd stick with Day One in Melbourne. Rest up, have a wander around by tram. Eat your heart out (it's hardly possible to find a bad meal there, and we can say that, visiting often but living north of Sydney).

Sovereign Hill (Ballarat) at 160km isn't much of a drive in Australian distances (I drive 330km in a day between home/Sydney and return for meetings and stuff), but you might like to know that the road to Ballarat isn't a 6-lane freeway, and getting out of Melbourne can be costly on toll roads, so make sure your rental car has a GPS with option for toll-free routes. Otherwise, ask the rental company to give you a map that takes you to Ballarat on toll-free roads.

So, the Sovereign Hill trip on one day and back to Melbourne, then setting off on Monday on Great Ocean Road drive? You will find it rather exacting to do that all the way to Port Campbell and back to Melbourne via the Dandenongs (which I would leave out, btw) between Monday and Thursday.

Visitors to Australia make a mistake about distances. Australia has much the same land mass as the continental USA, and also much the same land mass as Canada, and again, similar to Antarctica. We also have a very convoluted coastline. When my husband and I drove around the country for a bit of an excursion 4yrs ago, we logged 38,000km in 8 months. The coastline is 60,000km+, much of which is a bit hard to access by land or sea, and the bit in Victoria that you are planning to travel will take longer than you think.

However, it's a beautiful part of the world, spectacular scenery and the people in the towns along the way are really nice Aussies. I hope you have a lovely time.

the tolls to get from Melbourne to Ballarat are minimal and are only on the exits from melbourne. i wouldnt try other ways as using the tolls is the quickest and easiest

Is there a reason you are staying in Port Campbell? It's pretty but there isn't much to do once the beach time is over. It's not much further to Warrnambool where you'll find lots of eating options and things to do with your family ( sorry , I haven't seen your original posts but if you have kids then Lake Pertobe Adventure Playground is great).

You could certainly go to Ballarat on the way back from the GOR. Ballarat is under 2 hours from Warrnambool. This would save you back tracking & effectively give you a day for something else.

I'd be inclined to leave out the Dandenongs too. It always feels like a very long way from the city to me.

Mmm...thanks for the tips.

Kuwaussie -- Unfortunately, Port campbell is a done deal. Have already booked my accomodations. I chose it as it's near the 12 Apostles. Would heading to Ballarat for Sovereign Hill from Port Campbell before ending at night in Melbourne be a good idea ?

All - On the Dandenongs. We are keen to go on the Puffing Billy ; and I thought it would nice to drive around the dandenongs then. What if switched days -- Stay in melbourne, explore, chill out after the Great Ocean Road drive ; and do the Dandenongs Drive the day after ?

Thanks

With your itinerary, it would reduce your driving time to make a circuit of Melb-Anglesea-Port Campbell-Ballarat-Melb (or vice-versa) rather than out to Ballarat and back. I would allow half a day for Sovereign Hill.

Belgrave, where Puffing Billy leaves, is about an hour by train from the city and a bit more by car but the Dandenongs are really nice and a world away from the CBD. I think it's a good choice. No need to decide now which day you visit - decide based upon the weather and how you feel. If you need to hire a car at short notice, that shouldn't be a problem.

A million places to eat but if you want to check out a place, try using urbanspoon website.