In shortThe Great Ocean Road Ultimate Two Day Tour is a great ocean road tour 2 days long, running round trip from Melbourne in an 11 seater mini bus with a local driver-guide who guides in English. It includes hotel pickup, national park fees, cold water, coffee and/or tea and an overnight stop at Apollo Bay in a dorm bed in a shared room, with upgrades available. It suits travellers who follow the official advice to spread the road over more than one day and who want time at each stop rather than a single long dash to the Twelve Apostles and back.
2 daystour length
from $265per adult
★ 4.678 reviews
What the great ocean road tour 2 days includes
The Great Ocean Road Ultimate Two Day Tour runs from Melbourne and back over two days in an 11 seater mini bus. The price starts from $265 and the rating is 4.6 ★ (78 reviews). Included are a driver/guide, hotel pickup, an air-conditioned vehicle, national park fees, cold water, coffee and/or tea, and the overnight stay at Apollo Bay Echo YHA in a dorm bed in a shared room, with upgrade options and other providers used if the YHA is fully booked. Food and drinks are not included.
The operator's own description also notes that overnight accommodation comes at an additional cost, while the inclusions list the dorm bed. The two statements sit side by side in the listing, so check on the booking page what the rate you select actually covers before you pay for the room twice.
Two days matches what the regional tourism body advises for this coast: it recommends against covering the road in a single day and suggests at least two or three. The memorial road runs 242 kilometres from Torquay to Allansford, built by more than 3,000 returned servicemen between 1919 and 1932, and the Lorne to Apollo Bay section is narrow, winding and slow. Official advice is to break every 45 to 60 minutes and to avoid that stretch at night, which is roughly how a two-day itinerary paces itself anyway.
Stops on the way include wildlife and waterfalls. Koalas are seen in the trees at Kennett River, halfway between Lorne and Apollo Bay, where Grey River Road is the main viewing spot; large tour coaches are not permitted to enter or stop within the Kennett River precinct, and an 11 seater mini bus is not one. Do not feed or touch animals: the Authority operates under the Wildlife Act 1975 and hand-fed animals lose foraging skills, gather in unnatural numbers and become aggressive. An H5 bird flu warning is active across Great Ocean Road parks, so report sick or dead wildlife to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888 rather than going near it.
Waterfall access changes. At the time of research several Otway walks were listed as temporarily closed, including Erskine Falls, Phantom Falls, Won Wondah and Henderson Falls, St Georges River Loop and Cora Lynn Cascades, and near Kennett River the Kennet Road, the Kennet-Wye Jeep Track and Wye Road were closed after January flood damage. Conditions change, so treat any waterfall on the plan as subject to the day.
Since 16 October 2026 a booking is compulsory to enter the Twelve Apostles precinct, covering the car park and the lookouts as well as the new Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre. Tour operators and regional partners can reserve arrival slots up to four months ahead, earlier than most individual visitors manage. More than 2 million people visit the precinct each year and the land manager advises early morning or later afternoon; an overnight at Apollo Bay puts the second morning within easy reach of those quieter windows.
Great Ocean Road Ultimate Two Day Tour
Two days from Melbourne in an 11 seater mini bus, with driver-guide, hotel pickup, national park fees and a night at Apollo Bay.
Meeting point: wait on the walkway outside Flinders Street Station, just before the traffic lights on the corner of Elizabeth Street, opposite the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
Pickup: wait on the walkway outside your pickup location and be ready 5 minutes before your pickup time. The bus may run slightly late in traffic. Look for a small white mini bus with the company logo "Around And About".
Cancellation: for a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Ages: adult 0+.
Photos: ours and the tour operator's
What is included
Included
Cold water
Stay at Apollo Bay Echo YHA (other providers used if it is fully booked)
Driver/guide
Dorm bed in a shared room at Apollo Bay (upgrade options available)
Overnight accommodation: dorm bed in a shared room, upgrade available
Air-conditioned vehicle
Hotel pickup
National park fees
Coffee and/or tea
Not included
Food and drinks
Other great ocean road tour 2 days options compared
Four two-day options sit side by side here. This page's tour is the coast-only round trip from Melbourne with the night at Apollo Bay. The Grampians overnight from $364 swaps a second coastal day for Halls Gap and comes back to Melbourne with breakfast, lunch and dinner included. The luxury two-day option from $239 is a premium overnight on the same coast. The Melbourne to Adelaide run from $418 is one-way, so pick it only if you are continuing west instead of returning.
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Great Ocean Road Ultimate Two Day Tour (this page)
