2 Day Road Trip on Great Ocean Road, Australia: Itinerary and Where to Go

One of the best things you can do in Australia is a 2 day road trip on Great Ocean Road and I’ve put together the ultimate itinerary for how to self-drive the Great Ocean Road!

Contents

Where is the Great Ocean Road?

Probably the most asked question about this road trip is how long is the Great Ocean Road? The Great Ocean Road stretches 243 kilometres or 151 miles. The road is on the South Coast of Australia within the state of Victoria.

If you want to do a 2 day road trip on Great Ocean Road, I suggest starting at the East end so you are driving with the ocean on your left. This is because cars drive on the left hand side in Australia so this is the better view for the Great Ocean Road road trip.

The Great Ocean Road runs between Torquay (East) and Allansford (West). With breathtaking views, it is one of the most scenic drives in the world.

This Great Ocean Road road trip is going to take you on thrill-seeking adventures, iconic viewpoints, relaxed beach visits and encounters with Australian wildlife. I’ve included Bimbi Park which is one of the best places to stay on Great Ocean Road for seeing Koalas!

First, though, you need to get some wheels!

This is Helpful: How to Get an Australian Working Holiday Visa

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How to Rent a Car in Melbourne

Your Great Ocean Road itinerary for 2 days starts in the city of Melbourne where you’ll need to get your rental car. There are lots of companies available for car rental but I suggest using Car Next Door.

I use Car Next Door and can vouch that they are reliable and convenient. Make sure you apply for an account a few days before your intended GOR road trip as it may take a while to confirm. You’ll need a drivers licence, to be over 21 and have an Australian address.

When you rent a car using this company, insurance is usually included, you pay a fixed rate per day, any fuel is reimbursed and you pay $0.33 per kilometre you drive.

On my 2 day Great Ocean Road road trip, it cost me a total of $214.

If you’ve never used Car Next Door before, use my referral link and we’ll both get credit.

2 Day Road Trip on Great Ocean Road – Day 1

Either the day before your trip begins or early on the day, go to the supermarket and get a cool box with some pre-made picnic items. For day 1 of the Great Ocean Road itinerary, you’ll be having a picnic on the beach for lunch.

Morning

Start off with some breakfast in Melbourne about 9am before driving to Torquay to start the 2 day road trip with some adventure. Because what better way than seeing one of Australia’s best landmarks than jumping out of a plane?

Drive from Melbourne to Torquay = 1.5 hours

In Torquay, your very first stop will be skydiving in Australia from 15,000ft!

Skydive in Torquay

There is nothing more exciting or adrenalin-pumping than jumping from a plane. It is so daring when you’re put with just one person who is going to launch you from 15,000 feet over Torquay, Australia.

I went via Red Balloon to book the skydive who are a trusted brand. Red Balloon are a company that offer excursion / adventure trips all over Australia and are reliable to book through.

The tandem skydive costs $300. On arrival, you go to reception and sign a few forms before meeting your tandem partner who gives you a safety briefing.

It isn’t long before the plane is ready and you have an interview about how you’re feeling then board the tiny plane that fits just 5 people max (including pilot).

Above the clouds you’re taken, looking down on Torquay main beach, Bells Beach and the gorgeous Australian landscape on your epic skydive.

Click here to book your own skydive. Or choose your own area to skydive:

Klook.com

Afternoon

The adrenalin from the skydive soon wears off and you’ll need a sugar-boost. Where better to get delicious desserts than the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery?

Drive from Skydive Centre to Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie = 20 minutes

Great Ocean Road Stops – Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery

This real life chocolate factory and store is like something out of Roald Dahl’s imagination. Really, they even have signs to watch out for Oompa Loompas. Sadly, we didn’t see any but try your luck!

As soon as you enter there are mountains of chocolate samples for you to try including white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Beyond this, you can spectate right into the chocolate factory and watch how it is produced.

The chocolate store itself is huge and has so much chocolate varieties on offer that it’s hard to list them all! My favourite part is where they have different cocoa bean information from around the world with the world clocks available.

In the cafe/canteen area, you can choose from an array of Ice Cream flavours and cake treats for your sugar fix.

Mid Afternoon

Continuing the drive on Great Ocean Road and you’ll come to your first glimpse of the gorgeous turquoise water. The first lookout is located at Anglesea Lookout Reserve.

Drive from Chocolaterie to Anglesea = 15 minutes

At this scenic lookout, you can look from the white bandstand out to the ocean or take scenic walks on surrounding paths. There’s also homage to the Inverlochy Wreck from 1902 and some information boards about what happened at the Anglesea River mouth.

Next, we go for lunch on the first beach on Great Ocean Road stops called Urquharts Bluff.

Drive from Anglesea to Urquharts Bluff = 10 minutes

This is a great place to have a picnic on the Great Ocean Road because it has benches available, stretches of sand, free parking and great ocean views. This is a popular place for surfers too if you want to get between the waves or just watch in awe.

Read Next: Day Trip to St Kilda, Melbourne

Late Afternoon

Continuing the drive we go to one of the most popular Great Ocean Road attractions: the Great Ocean Road sign.

Drive from Urquharts Bluff to Great Ocean Road sign = 15 minutes

The Great Ocean Road sign is known as the Memorial Arch at Eastern View. It is a place to commemorate the returning soldiers from WWI who built the Great Ocean Road.

It’s easy to get to the Great Ocean Road sign because there’s clear signs as you approach and lots of parking available. Once there, you can get good photographs of the sign, learn more about the Great Ocean Road and go check out the beach.

On the drive towards your accommodation for day 1 of the GOR road trip, there are two notable stops to visit including:

• Kennett River (potential to spot Koala Bears but guaranteed to see them at camping location)
• Teddy’s Lookout (a scenic lookout in Lorne, but stopping here tomorrow)

Evening

Now is the drive toward the first night stay but on the way be prepared to stop when you find wildlife in their natural habitat and it’s a great sight to see! We stopped twice for wild Koalas in the trees and once for wild Kangaroos on the drive.

The route to take is called Manna Gum Drive and is a hotspot for Koala Bears as well as a cool scene to drive.

Drive from GOR sign to Bimbi Park = 1 hour 40 minutes (not including stops above)

Where to Stay on Great Ocean Road

The accommodation for this 2 day GOR itinerary is a camping place called Bimbi Park in Cape Otway. Bimbi Park is where to stay on Great Ocean Road because it’s just past the centre of the road and has some of the best facilities and attractions for staying in a natural park in Australia. I always use booking.com to book my accommodation and used this site to book Bimbi Park.

Camping on Day 1

At Bimbi Park, you can choose to camp in a tent, stay in your own caravan or rent a hostel-style bunk for the night. The dorm rooms cost $20 per person per bunk per night and is the most reasonably priced stay I’ve ever had.

Bimbi Park is where to go if you want to camp under Koalas on Great Ocean Road!

At the park, there are kitchen, BBQ and woodfire ovens to use as well as shower and toilet facilities. They have pits available for you to make your own campfire and a small fee for wood. You can drive right into the camp and park outside your accommodation.

You also have the opportunity to feed the resident goats and chickens, go horse riding and of course, see the Koalas in the trees everywhere (wild Koalas on Great Ocean Road).

Click here to book your stay at Bimbi Park now! It’s the best place to stay on Great Ocean Road.

2 Day Road Trip on Great Ocean Road – Day 2

Day 2 of your Great Ocean Road itinerary includes seeing famous Great Ocean Road attractions, seeing more Australian wildlife and ending in the quaint seaside town of Lorne.

Morning

First things first, breakfast!

A great spot for some coffee and breakfast after leaving Bimbi Park is a small cafe in Lavers Hill called Yatzies.

Yatzies is a locally-owned cafe with fresh food, coffee and souvenirs and includes a cute garden that attracts dozens of beautiful birds like King Parrots. The owners were on first-name basis with most of the customers and it was warming to visit.

Lavers Hill is a tiny town with a population of just 78 so when you visit, you’ll only see locals or tourists!

Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park

When I first saw the sign for the Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park, I was sceptical because I’m always unsure if these places are ethical or kind to the animals. We decided to go into the cafe first and get a feel for the place.

Drive from Bimbi Park to Wildlife Park = 58 minutes

After speaking with the person behind the counter, we knew that this family-run wildlife park cared for nothing but the animals. They explained how large the park was and their extensive knowledge of the animals changed my opinion on some wildlife (Dingos) as well as confirmed to us that this place was ethical.

Entry to the park is $25 per adult and you are free to walk around to observe the animals. It’s not an instant zoo. You can feed and pet some of the animals (wallabies and emus) but there are signs everywhere on how to behave, how to interact and to respect the wildlife is the most important part.

There are lots of information boards about the animals too such as the Dingos who were given to the park from someone who is trying desperately to save these misunderstood animals. They have petitions you can sign to help save them / reeducate people about them.

Of course, it’s up to you whether you want to visit but from my personal experience and chats with the passionate owners, I believe they are eco-friendly as well as kind to all the animals who live there.

Twelve Apostles

Continuing the Great Ocean Road drive with the sea to your left, carry on until you reach Twelve Apostles. This is one of the most popular Great Ocean Road stops because of its unusual but remarkable, natural forming rocks out of the water.

Drive from Bimbi Park to Twelve Apostles = 1 hour 10 minutes

Klook.com

Before I visited I always wondered are there twelve apostles? When I arrived, I certainly couldn’t count 12! The Twelve Apostles are limestone stacks that originally only stood 8 but I counted 7 and found out from the information boards that one eroded and collapsed in 2005 making the grand total of 7. Apparently, there were never 12 to start with.

Whether you’re on a working holiday visa or just exploring Australia, the 12 Apostles is definitely an unmissable attraction on the Great Ocean Road.

Afternoon

In the afternoon you can visit beaches, gorges and walks in close proximity to Twelve Apostles such as:

• Gibson Steps
• London Arch
• Loch Ard Gorge

For a 2 day road trip on Great Ocean Road, I don’t recommend the entire drive to the end of the road unless you are staying longer. This means the Great Ocean Road itinerary turns back at this point so that the ocean is now on your right side as you make your way back to Melbourne.

Lorne

I’d keep the town of Lorne for the way back as a nice stop before heading home on your Great Ocean Road road trip. This quaint, seaside town is a great place to get some takeaway food to eat on the beach.

Drive from Twelve Apostles to Lorne = 1 hour 45 minutes

We visited Chopstix Noodle Bar and took away some satay and prawn crackers to enjoy on the beach of Lorne. All around this town you see gorgeous white parrots with yellow wings just flying around.

Word of warning: the seagulls! They surrounded us, squawking and demanding our food!!

After this, we had a look at the small boutique shops before heading back to Melbourne.

Drive from Lorne to Melbourne = 2 hours

Tips for a Great Ocean Road Self-Drive

1. Along the drive, there are signs for scenic spots/lookouts and if you have time, stop at any of them for some viewpoints. You won’t be disappointed.
2. I haven’t included waterfalls in this GOR itinerary but there are many you can visit such as Erskine Falls, Phantom Falls and Great Otway National Park.
3. You’ll see lots of wildlife. The best was seeing koalas and kangaroos but always be respectful of them.
4. When you see cars pulled over at random trees, it’s probably a koala.
5. There’s lots of venomous snake signs around so follow the rules and stick to the paths.
6. Take snacks and water for your drive as sometimes a 2 hour drive seems ages on those winding roads.
7. Take an adaptor for your phone to charge and use Google Maps for every stop.
8. Make sure your fuel tank is full. Although there are many fuel stations (also use Google Maps for this), you never know when you’ll be on a long stretch and running out isn’t fitting to this GOR 2 day itinerary.

I hope this Great Ocean Road blog has helped you prepare for your road trip and even inspired you to visit some of the more unusual places. I absolutely love driving and this road is one of the most freeing and gorgeous routes I’ve taken. Stay safe and enjoy!

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