In shortLondon Bridge (also signposted London Arch), The Arch and The Grotto are three separate roadside sites in Port Campbell National Park, reached straight off the Great Ocean Road west of the Twelve Apostles. Each has its own car park and a short path to clifftop platforms, and The Grotto adds stairs down to its pool. Dogs are not allowed. Most single-day itineraries turn back before all three.
6separate roadside sites in Port Campbell National Park
10-15 min after sunsetfirst Little Penguins below the London Bridge lookout
from $97starting price of the 12-hour reverse itinerary tour
8-12 hourslength of the private day tour for 1-3 guests
Three roadside stops west of Port Campbell
The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto stand west of Port Campbell, in that order as you drive away from town. The land manager lists them, together with Gibson Steps, the Blowhole (Poombeeyt Koontapool) and the Port Campbell Discovery Walk, as separate roadside sites reached directly from the Great Ocean Road. Each has its own car park, its own path and its own short walk, so you pull off the road for them one at a time.
These are the stops that get cut from a day trip. The Twelve Apostles precinct sits at the corner of the Great Ocean Road and Booringa Road at Princetown, about 7 kilometres east of Port Campbell, and since 16 October 2026 a booking has been compulsory to enter it, car park and lookouts included. A vehicle that has spent its clifftop time there and still has to reach Melbourne by evening turns east again at Port Campbell, which is where these three begin. Reaching all three is exactly what the regional tourism body has in mind when it tells visitors to spread the road over at least two or three days instead of one.
Two things to sort before you set off. Dogs are not allowed in Port Campbell National Park, which covers all three of these sites as well as the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. Mobile reception along this coast drops out without warning, so download your maps and any booking confirmation while you still have a signal in town.
London Bridge on the Great Ocean Road (and why it is also called London Arch)
The formation signposted as London Bridge is the one people also search for as London Arch, Port Campbell. What you look at today is an arch standing clear of the shore, with the stub of the headland it was once joined to beside it, so the view reads as two pieces of the same cliff with open water between them.
Viewing is from fenced clifftop platforms a short sealed walk from the car park, set at different angles so the arch changes shape as you move between them. Stay behind the rail. The cliff here is soft and actively eroding. Allow the walk out, time on both platforms and the walk back, plus a few minutes more if there is swell running, because the water moving under the arch is the part people stand and watch.
Late afternoon is the better slot here, and if you can stay past it, stay. Little Penguins come ashore on the beach beneath this lookout at dusk, the first birds about 10 to 15 minutes after sunset and most of them within 20 to 25 minutes, and their tracks stay in the sand. Do not feed or touch them, and keep to the platform while you watch.
Private day tour, your own stop list
With 8-12 hours and a private group of 1-3 guests, this is the tour on this site where you can ask the driver-guide to carry on west of Port Campbell instead of turning back at the main lookouts.
★ 5.0/5 · 25 reviews
The Arch and The Grotto, the other two stops at Port Campbell
The Arch is the quickest of the three. It is a sea arch sitting in the water close under the cliff, and the platform is near the car park, so you can be out, looking and back inside a very short stop. With swell running, the opening fills and empties in front of you; on a flat morning it is a clean, quiet piece of rock.
The Grotto takes the most time and repays it. The viewpoint combines a sinkhole and a cave: from the clifftop platform a flight of stairs drops to a lower deck beside a pool held inside the cave mouth, with the ocean framed through the opening beyond. Those stairs are why you allow longer here than at the other two, and why smooth-soled shoes are a poor choice after rain.
Coming from Port Campbell you reach The Arch first, then London Bridge, then The Grotto, which makes a tidy run in that order. The Blowhole (Poombeeyt Koontapool) and the Port Campbell Discovery Walk lie in the same stretch and are also separate roadside sites, so add them if you have kept any daylight in reserve.
Timing, light and how long to allow
Do the Twelve Apostles early and work west from there. An early arrival also matches what the land manager advises for the precinct itself: crowds are there in every month of the year, and the two quieter windows it names are early in the morning and later in the afternoon. The car park there opens at 6:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM, with cars free to leave at any time, while the Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre runs 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM with last arrival at 7pm. An early booked slot leaves the whole middle and end of the day for Port Campbell and the three western stops.
Clifftop wind is what most people underdress for on this stretch, so pack a windproof layer even in January. Check hours and access on the day you travel: arrangements along this coast kept changing through 2026, beach access at Loch Ard Gorge only reopened in late October 2026 after being shut since May 2023, and the Gibson Steps beach reopened in February 2026.
The general enquiry line for the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority is 1300 736 533 if you want to confirm anything about these sites before you drive out.
| Stop | Walk from the car park | Time to allow | Better light |
|---|
| The Arch | Short sealed path to a railed platform | Shortest of the three, a quick look and back | Morning, before the day's traffic builds through Port Campbell |
|---|
| London Bridge | Short sealed walk to clifftop platforms at two angles | Longer than The Arch, since there is more than one viewpoint | Late afternoon, and after sunset for the penguins below |
|---|
| The Grotto | Clifftop platform, then stairs down to a lower deck | Longest of the three, because of the stairs | Middle of the day, when light reaches into the cave mouth |
|---|
Which itineraries carry on west of Port Campbell
None of the three tours below names London Bridge, The Arch or The Grotto in its published inclusions, so ask the operator directly whether the route continues west of Port Campbell before you book. That answer decides whether you see these formations on an organised day.
The private day tour is the strongest option here. The group is 1-3 guests, the day runs 8-12 hours, and pickup and drop-off are at your own accommodation, so the stop list is something you can discuss with the driver-guide. The two reverse-itinerary tours come next: they run the order backwards and reach the Twelve Apostles earlier in the day, which is what leaves any daylight at the western end. Each of the three states its fees in the inclusions: tolls and parking on the private tour, national park fees on the boutique minivan, all fees and taxes on the premium coach.
Book your Twelve Apostles entry before you commit to a tour, a car or a bed, and keep a screenshot of the confirmation that will open without a signal. Operators and regional partners are able to lock in arrival slots as much as four months out, a run-up that almost no individual visitor uses.
- Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles Private Day Tour, 8-12 hours, from $280, rated 5.0 ★ (25 reviews): private for 1-3 guests, professional driver-guide, all tolls and parking fees, pickup and drop-off at your accommodation. The one to ask about the western stops.
- Great Ocean Road Reverse Itinerary Boutique Tour - Max 12 Guests, 12 hours, from $97, rated 4.9 ★ (4945 reviews): maximum 12 guests in an air-conditioned minivan, national park fees, bottled water, live commentary and a multilingual interactive audio guide.
- Great Ocean Road TOUR & 12 Apostles Tour Reverse-In Premium BUS, 12 hours, from $63, rated 4.9 ★ (132 reviews): premium coach running the order backwards to reach the Apostles early, with bottled water and all fees and taxes, picking up at 400 Flinders St outside the Immigration Museum building.
Questions people ask
Is London Bridge the same as London Arch?
Yes. It is one formation with two names in common use, and both turn up on signs and in search results. The arch you see today stands clear of the shore, beside the piece of headland it was once joined to. The site is one of Port Campbell National Park's roadside stops, signposted off the Great Ocean Road itself.
Do I need a booking for London Bridge, The Arch or The Grotto?
The compulsory booking introduced on 16 October 2026 covers the Twelve Apostles precinct only: entry there runs through the Booringa Road boom gate and applies to the visitor centre, the car park and the lookouts alike. These three sites are listed separately as roadside sites reached directly from the road. Arrangements on this coast kept changing through 2026, so check the official pages for your date or call the Authority on 1300 736 533.
Can I bring my dog to these lookouts?
No. The park-wide rule in Port Campbell National Park rules out dogs, and these three lookouts fall under it, as do the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. Plan the day around that rather than finding out at the car park.
Are the viewpoints suitable for wheelchairs or strollers?
The official pages publish no accessibility detail for these three sites, so treat them as unknown and ask the Authority before relying on them. Documented facilities sit further east, at the Twelve Apostles precinct: accessible parking and restrooms, Changing Places and a Family Change Room, trails and viewing platforms built for wheelchairs, and a sensory room. The Grotto involves a flight of stairs down to its lower deck.
What else can I add in the same stretch of coast?
The Blowhole (Poombeeyt Koontapool) and the Port Campbell Discovery Walk are in the same area and are also separate roadside sites. Heading back east, Loch Ard Gorge, named after the clipper wrecked on Mutton Bird Island in 1878, had its beach access reopen in late October 2026, and Short-tailed Shearwaters return to Mutton Bird Island at dusk between October and April. Gibson Steps beach access reopened in February 2026.
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