Is a Day Trip Tour to the Great Ocean Road Worth It If You're Not Driving?

For most visitors to Melbourne, a self-drive road trip to the Great Ocean Road is a must. And just like with many Australian cities, it’s always worth getting a car and taking a road trip out of the city. With stunning coastal roads, pristine beaches, and a slice of easygoing small town life not far from the city fringes, Australia has plenty opportunity for great road trips.

However, not everyone might be able to drive out for many reasons.

Whether it makes more financial sense as a solo traveller to just go on a tour, or the preference of not wanting to spend hours behind the wheel, it’s well worth considering day trips out on guided tours.

Normally when in Australia, I’d do a self-drive tour, and have done so in Western Australia and New South Wales in the past.

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As a solo traveller this time though, it just made more sense to do a day trip tour.

It’s all the time I could afford, and honestly? I think it’s worth the trip out.

Booking a Tour

There are many tour operators running this itinerary.

It’s a perennial favourite and sells out quickly, even in the off season.

I booked mine on Viator, on this tour in particular.

With ample positive reviews, and seemingly one of the most affordable options, they were the last tour available for the day that I wanted to make the trip out, and this was me checking three days in advance.

Therefore, I’d highly recommend making your booking as early as possible if you’d like to go on a tour.

Choosing a Tour

With so many tour operators plying the route, it might seem tough to distinguish one from another.

Some advertise their tours as reverse itineraries, as in, they’ll take you straight to the 12 Apostles first to supposedly get there before everyone else, then head east along the Great Ocean Road back to Melbourne.

However, a quick scan of the different tours on Viator shows most operators do that route anyway, so I’m not sure where the label of reverse itinerary comes from, especially since those that do try to market that ‘beat the crowds’ angle.

Then there’s also the time of day.

If you’d like to visit the 12 Apostles at sunset, there are special sunset tours that specially cater to this.

Essentially, they depart from Melbourne quite a bit later.

However, I wouldn’t put too much stock into this, especially if you’re booking early in advance.

Melbourne’s weather is notoriously fickle, in that weather conditions can change at the drop of a hat. Therefore, forecasted sunny days aren’t always a guarantee, and you might not actually get to see the orange hues of golden hour bathing the coastline as imagined.

It’s still a beautiful sight nonetheless, but it’s something worth noting.

The Review of My Tour

Of course, I can’t speak on how every tour is like, as I can only vouch for my own experience, but this is essentially what the tour was like.

I was picked up from Space Hostel in Melbourne CBD at 7:15am, with various pick-up locations available all the way down to St Kilda.

They were pretty on time with the listed pick up time you see at the point of booking.

The minivan was completely full, and there were 8 other travellers on the tour that day.

We took the M1 out of Melbourne and stopped by a nondescript town by the name of Winchelsea to pick up some pastries and breakfast. Mind, all expenses including food were not covered.

From then on, it was just standard views from a highway, and then through the Victorian countryside, so there wasn’t much noteworthy about the actual drive other than farms and sheep.

Going inland, by the way, is a faster route than taking the actual Great Ocean Road along the coast.

Something that I did note was that at multiple points out in the country, I lost reception quite a number of times.

It wasn’t a bother as I wasn’t driving, but I imagine if you’re doing a self-drive tour and you’d like to stop somewhere and restart your route, not being able to load directions on Google Maps would be a worry.

I don’t remember experiencing this in Western Australia and New South Wales the last time I did those drives, and for what it’s worth, I was on a local Vodafone sim card.

12 Apostles

Eventually, we reached the 12 Apostles lookout at Port Campbell National Park.

Our driver was pretty relaxed, so he gave us directions on how to get there from the carpark, and left us to roam on our own.

I actually didn’t mind that so much, as it’d been years since I went on any sort of packaged tour, chiefly avoiding them as I don’t enjoy rushed itineraries.

The 12 Apostles are of course, stunning, and I didn’t think it was too crowded.

There were plenty opportunities along the way to get photos without a ton of people in the background.

We didn’t stay here for long, also because there was construction going on at the further end of the boardwalk, so we couldn’t venture beyond a certain point.

Loch Ard Gorge

A short drive from the 12 Apostles lookout was the famous Loch Ard Gorge.

There were actually three trails to take, two being boardwalk lookouts and the last being a trek down to the beach to view the Gorge.

With the limited time though, I only managed to do two trails.

Gibson Steps

From Loch Ard Gorge, we made it to Gibson Steps in no time at all, featuring another stunning seaside cliff with steps carved into the rock, where you can head down to the beach and view rock stacks up close.

The views here were pretty amazing, and felt otherworldly with the cloud of sea spray just hovering above the shore.

The steps are pretty narrow, steep and slippery though, so wear comfortable shoes and watch your step!

Lunch at Apollo Bay

As mentioned, lunch is not included in the tour, so we stopped by the coastal town of Apollo Bay where we had free reign to choose whatever restaurant we wanted to for lunch.

We only had 45 minutes, and thus I couldn’t make time to see the beach at Apollo Bay as well.

There was a decent bit of selection in town, so this was a nice town to stop at for lunch.

I had a risotto at Great Ocean Road Brewhouse.

Koala Spotting at Kennett River

From Apollo Bay, we headed up to the wilds of Kennett River, where we took an unpaved (but well worn) road up the hills and stepped out to spot koalas.

Perched high in the trees, the fact they’re nocturnal also meant that they weren’t very active in the day.

From down below, being completely honest, we were mostly staring at their behinds. Be sure to grab a camera with a decent zoom as well— don’t expect to come close to one.

Besides koalas we did get to see quite a few birds as well, some of them native to Australia.

Great Ocean Road Archway

On the way back to Melbourne and along the winding Great Ocean Road, there’s a Great Ocean Road memorial arch that was built to honour the thousands of returning soldiers who built the actual Great Ocean Road when they returned home after the war.

It’s a quick photo op, you’ll likely not spend more than 10 minutes here.

With that, alongside some stops along the way at different coastal lookouts, getting out to see kangaroos as they started becoming more active at dusk, that was pretty much it and we were back in Melbourne past 7pm.

Overall

It’s definitely worth taking the trip out even if you can only afford a day trip tour.

I didn’t find the ride there and back too long, and there were just enough breaks to not make the drive boring.

The only time I felt a little pressed for time was the lunch break, but other than that, it was pretty well-paced.

Doing the drive on your own would always give you more freedom to spend longer at whichever stops you’d like, but it’s one that only makes sense financially if you’re travelling in at least a pair.

Getting to see wildlife in their natural habitat was nice as well, and I absolutely do not regret joining this tour, even despite my general aversion to packaged tours.