Best Day Trips from Melbourne

Wine country, Healesville Sanctuary, the Black Spur drive, and the best autumn foliage near Melbourne.

The locals' version: Sanctuary before 10am, lunch at Hargreaves Hill Brewing, one cellar door (Coldstream Hills for serious wine, Helen's Hill for views and quiet), home by 5pm. The Black Spur road between Healesville and Marysville is one of the best drives in Victoria.

One of the best day trips near Melbourne that almost nobody from the city does.

Leave by 8am, drive through the Black Spur (20 minutes of mountain ash avenue), arrive in Marysville, eat at Fraga's Café (they close at 3pm), do the Cumberland Track to Lady Talbot Falls (2 hours return, excellent after rain), drive home. The falls run hard in winter and spring. The forest is regrowth from the 2009 fires and it's extraordinary.

Hot springs, serious wine, the best coastal walk near Melbourne, and enough beaches for a week.

Peninsula Hot Springs in the morning (book ahead — the hillside pools have views across the peninsula). Pt Leo Estate for lunch (book ahead — sculpture park is free with a reservation). Cape Schanck Coastal Walk in the afternoon — wild ocean rock platforms, almost nobody there compared to the bay beaches.

Puffing Billy steam railway, old-growth mountain ash forest, and the best suburban escape near Melbourne.

The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk at Upwey is reachable by train (Belgrave line) and takes 3–4 hours. The Ranges are 10°C cooler than the city in summer — a deliberate strategy on hot days.

A volcanic granite range rising from flat land — significantly less crowded than the Dandenongs.

The Flinders Peak circuit gives 360-degree views over Geelong, Port Phillip Bay, and the Melbourne skyline. Koalas reliably spotted at the base of the peak.

The most underrated day trip near Melbourne.

The gorge circuit drops into genuine rocky terrain with a chain-assisted section and a swimming hole at the bottom. The contrast between the flat western suburbs drive and then suddenly being in a gorge is jarring in the best way.

The Little Penguin Parade is one of Australia's best wildlife experiences and it lives up to it.

Hundreds of penguins emerging from the surf at dusk, waddling past you to their burrows. Allow a full day: Churchill Island in the morning, the Nobbies in the afternoon, parade at sunset.