Melbourne hotels -Great Ocean Drive
 

We are travelling to Australia at the end of June for 3 weeks. Most of our time will be spent in Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. We do plan to fly to Ayers Rock and then on to Melbourne to drive the Great Ocean Drive before heading back to Sydney to fly home. Any hotels you would recommend? There seem to be so many! Also, will it be freezing on the drive?

Hi Patty, Looks like you are having a very busy 3.weeks. in oz.<BR>July on the Great Ocean Road is our Winter, however as far as cold goes it never snows it will be coat weather but not freezing !<BR>There are a lot of b & b's along the way. As it is off season you should be able to get accom. everywhere. Enjoy

It really depends where you wanted to stop for the night. I can recommend Port Fairy there are 3 fabulous places to stay right on the river - If you have some idea of where you'll be overnighting I can probably help a bit more.

Patty,<BR>Lorne is very popular (packed in summer) and so is Apollo Bay. The Cumberland Hotel in Lorne has a good reputation. June will be cold down south, probably with some rain. Bring warm clothes and a rain jacket or umbrella for the Great Ocean Road. At that time of year, I wouldn't bother pre-booking accommodation for the GOR, you'll probably get a better rate by just turning up.<BR>Kay

Port Fairy is a good place to stop - it's a little old fishing port with lots of B&Bs, motels, etc. <BR>Yes - it will be cold and windy, but the scenery is spectacular.<BR>The Cumberland at Lorne is another good place to overnight.<BR>

Patty<BR>Most definitely the most beautiful drive in the world. However, DO NOT try to do it in one day (as we did last July). Although it is only ~180 miles or so and seems do-able in one day, it is VERY scenic on VERY narrow and windy roads. Enjoy the scenery and pull out at EVERY stop. In my opinion, the Twelve Apostles is not as scenic as Loch Ard Gorge, but is the most visited because it is the closest to Melbourne. Take your time and enjoy!

We drove parts of the Great Ocean Road a few years ago, not in June, but I think that will be a spectacular time to go. Yes it will be cool, but should be nice and sunny. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast in Lorne called Stanmorr (www.stanmorr.com), up on the hill. Full breakfast on the veranda - watch out for the kookaburras swooping down to steal your bacon! Quite a few good little restaurants just down the hill. In Port Fairy we stayed at Hearns Cottage Suites. Hadn't booked anything in Queenscliff, just drove around to see what we liked. Stayed at the Ozone Hotel (www.ozonehotel.com.au) which was beautiful. Have a look at this site - www.greatoceanrd.org.au - it's got heaps of information. Have fun.<BR>

Just a suggestion from another Yank who's done a similar trip. I would consider flying from Alice Springs to Adelaide rather than Melbourne and then driving the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne. After several weeks around Alice/Ayer's Rock/Coober Pedy, I thought that Adelaide was an extremely pretty city and a great start to the Great Ocean Road. We stayed at small hotels in Port Campbell, Port Fairy and Lorne. Enjoyed it all immensely.