Victoria is the state where short distances buy the most variety. You can leave Melbourne after breakfast and be in cool-temperate rainforest, alpine country, semi-arid mallee or on a limestone coastline by mid-afternoon — but the driving times are consistently longer than the kilometres suggest.
Victoria is about 227,000 square kilometres, roughly a quarter the size of New South Wales, and almost everything worth driving sits within 500 km of Melbourne. That compactness is the state's advantage and the reason people underestimate it. The Great Ocean Road is only 240 km from Torquay to Allansford, but the section between Lorne and Apollo Bay is a narrow cliff road with constant curves and no overtaking, and once you add the Otways and the coastal viewpoints you are averaging closer to 45 km/h. Driving it end to end in a day is possible and almost always regretted.
The same applies in the north-east. The Great Alpine Road runs 300 km from Wangaratta to Bairnsdale and is the highest sealed through-road in the country. On paper that is four hours. In practice the climb to Mount Hotham and the descent to Omeo are slow, and in winter the road carries chain requirements and can close outright in heavy snow. Flat, fast driving in Victoria really only exists on the Hume Freeway, the Western Highway and the roads north towards the Murray.
Fuel and services are rarely a problem — Victoria is the easiest mainland state for that — but the Otways, the alpine roads and parts of the Grampians all have long stretches without mobile coverage, and the alpine roads have very few places to turn a caravan around once you have committed to the climb.
Three days lets you drive the winding Lorne–Apollo Bay section in daylight, spend a night in the Otways, and reach the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge outside the middle-of-the-day coach window. Driving west to east puts you on the inland side of the road; east to west gives you the ocean side and the easier pull-offs.
Through Myrtleford and Bright, over Mount Hotham and down to Omeo and the Gippsland Lakes. Bright is the natural first night. In summer this is high-country walking and cycling terrain; in winter it becomes a snow road with chain rules and a different set of skills.
Three hours out on the Western Highway to Halls Gap, then two or three days of short, steep walks — the Pinnacle, Mackenzie Falls, Mount William. Spring brings wildflowers; late summer brings fire-danger closures that are enforced without much notice.
Tidal River is the only campground inside the park, and peak-period sites are allocated by ballot months in advance. Without a booking, base yourself in Yanakie or Foster and drive in. The road into the park is sealed and slow, with wildlife on it at dawn and dusk.
River red gum forest, Barmah, Swan Hill and the mallee. Flat, straight and easy, with free and low-cost riverside camping along much of it. Very hot from December to February, and the unsealed forest tracks turn to slick clay after rain.
Cool-temperate rainforest, tree ferns and waterfalls behind the Great Ocean Road. Triplet Falls and the Maits Rest boardwalk are short and sealed; the longer Great Ocean Walk sections need a car shuffle or a shuttle. It rains here more often than on the coast below, and the forest roads stay wet for days afterwards.
Sandstone ranges with the densest concentration of short, rewarding walks in the state, and significant Aboriginal rock art sites in the northern and southern sections. Halls Gap is the only substantial town inside the range and fills completely on long weekends.
Granite headlands, white sand and the southernmost point of the mainland. Day walks to Squeaky Beach and Mount Oberon are the standards; the overnight circuit to Sealers Cove is booked separately. The whole park runs on a booking system, including day parking in peak weeks.
The state's largest park, spanning the high country from Mount Hotham through to the New South Wales border. Many of the interesting tracks — the Bogong High Plains, the Wonnangatta valley — are unsealed and seasonally closed, typically from the Queen's Birthday weekend in June until the start of November.
| To | Distance | Driving time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torquay | 100 km | 1 h 15 m | Start of the Great Ocean Road |
| Apollo Bay | 190 km | 3 h | Via the coast road, not the inland route |
| Port Campbell | 230 km | 3 h 15 m | Faster inland via Colac if you are returning |
| Halls Gap | 260 km | 3 h | Western Highway most of the way |
| Bright | 310 km | 3 h 30 m | Hume Freeway then the valley road |
| Tidal River | 230 km | 3 h 15 m | Last 30 km is slow park road |
| Echuca | 220 km | 2 h 30 m | Flat and quick |
| Mildura | 550 km | 6 h | Long, straight and hot in summer |
February and March are the best coastal months. The water is at its warmest, the January crowds have gone and the weather is more settled than in spring. April holds up well and adds autumn colour through the north-east valleys around Bright and Beechworth. Winter on the coast is not off-limits, but the Great Ocean Road in July is wet, dark by five and much of the accommodation runs reduced hours.
The alpine calendar runs the other way. Walking season in the Alpine National Park is roughly November to April, and the seasonal road closures across the high plains are dated rather than weather-dependent — they open and shut on set weekends each year. If your trip depends on driving a high-country track, confirm the closure dates with the state park service before you commit to the route.
Summer fire risk is the one thing that overrides everything else. On declared extreme fire danger days, parks including the Grampians and Wilsons Promontory close entirely, campgrounds are evacuated and roads through forested country may be shut. This is announced at short notice and is not negotiable. Build a wet-weather or town-based alternative into any January or February itinerary.
Victoria has an unusually good spread of low-cost camping. Along the Murray, riverside camping in the state forests and regional parks is widespread and mostly free or nominal, which makes the Echuca-to-Mildura run one of the cheapest multi-day trips in the country. In contrast, the coastal parks and Wilsons Promontory run on strict booking systems with peak-period ballots, and turning up without a site in January is not a plan.
Victoria does not charge general park entry fees the way New South Wales does; most parks are free to enter and you pay only for camping. A handful of sites charge for parking or facilities. Check current fees with the Victorian park service before you travel, as the arrangements differ park by park.
With a caravan, avoid the Lorne–Apollo Bay section of the Great Ocean Road if you can — it is legal, but it is narrow, has minimal shoulder and creates long queues behind you. The usual approach is to base the van at a caravan park in Apollo Bay or Port Campbell and day-trip the coast without it. The alpine roads over Hotham and the Wonnangatta tracks are not suitable for towing at all.
The most underrated three days in Victoria is the western end of the Great Ocean Road — Port Campbell to Nelson, through the Bay of Islands and Cape Bridgewater. It has the same limestone coast as the famous section with a fraction of the traffic, and you can walk to viewpoints that have no coach parking within twenty kilometres. Most people turn around at the Twelve Apostles and miss it entirely.