Great Ocean Road Tour From Melbourne, Small-Group Eco Day

What this Great Ocean Road tour from Melbourne covers

This Great Ocean Road tour from Melbourne is the long version of the day: 14 hours, from $112, west-bound to the Twelve Apostles and back. Pickup runs from selected hotels between 7am and 8am depending on the hotel, and the coach returns to the city at roughly 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Groups are capped at 24 guests in an air-conditioned vehicle with WiFi, the guide speaks English, and the audio guide application is available in 16 languages, including German, Italian, French, Russian and Spanish.

Stop times come from the operator's listing: 60 minutes at the Twelve Apostles, 45 minutes at Loch Ard Gorge, 45 minutes of free time in Apollo Bay, 30 minutes of koala spotting at Kennett River, 30 minutes on the rainforest walk at Mait's Rest, 15 minutes under the Memorial Arch and a 30-minute dinner stop in Colac on the way home. National park fees, morning tea near Torquay and coffee or tea are included. Lunch, other meals and gratuities are not.

The order is the classic west-bound one, so the Apostles come in the afternoon rather than first thing. More than 2 million people visit the precinct each year and the land manager advises arriving early in the morning or later in the afternoon; if being there outside the middle of the day is your priority, compare the reverse-itinerary and sunset tours on this site instead.

Since 16 October 2026, the day the Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre opened, a booking is compulsory to enter the Twelve Apostles precinct, including the car park and the lookouts. Tour operators and regional partners can reserve arrival slots up to four months ahead, which is why arrival is handled for you on a coach day like this one. Coaches and coasters use their own boom gate on Booringa Road, Princetown, about 7 kilometres east of Port Campbell.

One practical note on distance: the memorial road runs 242 kilometres from Torquay to Allansford, and the Lorne to Apollo Bay stretch is narrow and slow. Fourteen hours sounds long on paper and it is a genuine day out, which is the trade-off for seeing the coast, the Otways and the Shipwreck Coast between one Melbourne breakfast and one late Melbourne evening.

What happens on the day, stop by stop

1. Great Ocean Road 240 min
   The driving sections along the coast road, with commentary between stops. The day is built around the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and the chance of koalas in the wild.
2. The Great Ocean Road 45 min
   Morning tea is included at a stop near Torquay, the surf town where the memorial road begins.
3. Great Ocean Road Memorial Archway 15 min
   A short photo stop under the Memorial Arch. The road itself is a war memorial, built by more than 3,000 returned servicemen between 1919 and 1932.
4. Kennett River 30 min
   Koala spotting in the eucalypts at Kennett River, halfway between Lorne and Apollo Bay, with native birds in the same trees. Do not feed or touch the wildlife. From 20 July to 20 September 2026 the operator uses an alternative koala location while Kennett River is temporarily closed.
5. Apollo Bay 45 min
   Free time in Apollo Bay, between the water and the Otway Ranges. Lunch is bought here at a local cafe or restaurant, so decide where you are eating as you walk up the main street.
6. Mait's Rest 30 min
   A guided walk in cool-temperate rainforest in the Otway Ranges, among tall trees and ferns, with the guide explaining what grows there. Expect it to be damp and cooler than the coast.
7. The Twelve Apostles 60 min
   An hour at the limestone stacks rising out of the Southern Ocean, with time for the lookouts and photographs. When conditions and access allow, the guide may add Gibson Steps for a view closer to sea level; beach access there reopened in February 2026 and can change.
8. Loch Ard Gorge 45 min
   Cliffs, a sheltered beach and the story of the clipper Loch Ard, wrecked on Mutton Bird Island in 1878 and the source of the name. Beach access at the gorge reopened in late October 2026 after repair works.
9. Colac 30 min
   A 30-minute dinner stop in the country town of Colac, with time to buy a meal at your own expense before the last run back to Melbourne.

What is included

Meeting point, pickup and cancellation

• Pickup: only from the list of hotels shown at checkout. The pickup window is 7am to 8am depending on which hotel you select, and the exact time is confirmed after the booking is placed.
• Return: the full-day tour gets back to Melbourne at approximately 8:30pm to 9:30pm.
• Cancellation: full refund if cancelled at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
• Ages: infant 0-3, child 4-15, adult 16+.

Other Great Ocean Road tours from Melbourne compared

The alternatives below change three things: group size, the direction of the route and how long the day runs. The boutique reverse tour caps the group at 12 guests and reaches the Apostles earlier in the day; the small-group reverse coach does the same thing at a lower starting price with hotel pickup; the lunch-included reverse option handles the midday meal for you; and the classic day tour keeps the familiar west-bound order in a small group with morning tea.

Pick this page's 14-hour eco tour if you want the longest stop times and the most reviewed option here. Pick a reverse itinerary if standing at the Twelve Apostles outside the busiest hours matters more to you than the order of the rest of the day.

Tour details from the operator's listing, checked 10 November 2026. Prices and times can change; the booking page has the current ones.

← Compare all 15 Great Ocean Road tours

More ways to plan your visit

The Twelve Apostles precinct and how arrival works

The Twelve Apostles precinct and how arrival works

Koalas and Kennett River

Koalas and Kennett River

What to expect on a Great Ocean Road tour

What to expect on a Great Ocean Road tour