Tours of the Great Ocean Road.
There's a wide range of Great Ocean Road tours for visitors to consider. Either go it alone and drive the route yourself for the freedom or consider a guided tour. You can do guided walks, whale watching and fishing tours, surfing lessons and even scenic flight tours of the majestic Twelve Apostles. Many choose to do an entire Great Ocean Road tour from start to finish.
Self touring is an easy choice; simply load up the car, or rent one, and drive. This is one of the world's most scenic routes, stretching for around 250kms, going via beautiful coast and fun towns. It officially goes from Torquay to Allansford, near Warrnambool, taking in places like Lorne, Apollo Bay, Otway National Park and the Twelve Apostles.
There are plenty of places to stay en route, with accommodation ranging from backpacker hostels to full-on luxury spa resorts. You can do it in both directions and detour at many points into the Otway Forest, to boot. If you start in Melbourne, simply head down to Geelong and then Torquay.
Walking tours take in the coast and rainforest and there are many guided walking options. The Great Ocean Walk is the most famous one, going from Apollo Bay through the Great Otway National Park and towards the Twelve Apostles. Tours of the Otway Fly Treetop Walk or to Cape Otway are alternatives. There are also surf coast walks along the Shipwreck Coast, or, if you're after adventure, consider a mountain bike tour.
The Great Ocean Road has some of the best surf in the country and there are places to learn to surf and rent equipment at towns along the coast. Just don't begin at Bells Beach in autumn! Whale watching is also possible in winter mainly and is best around Warrnambool and Portland.
Scenic flight Great Ocean Road tours are also very popular here. You can take a helicopter tour right from the Twelve Apostles visitor centre, as well as from towns and airstrips in the region.