Mornington Peninsula & Yarra Valley holidays

Windswept beaches, rural wineries, and artisan villages will feature on any holiday to the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley. But there’s plenty more to fill your days in these stunning regions, just a short drive from Melbourne.

Take a horseback ride along the beach. Soothe your body in natural hot springs. Explore national parks by hiking, biking, or using a convenient hop-on hop-off shuttle ride. Take a picnic into the wilderness, walk among wildlife, or surf in the ocean. And swim alongside bottlenose dolphins and Australian fur seals.

Peruse galleries, boutiques, and village markets. Head to Ashcombe to lose yourself in the oldest circular rose maze in the world, take your chances in the original hedge maze, or breathe in the scent of the lavender gardens. Ride the railroad on the famous Puffing Billy, drive the winding track of the Black Spur, or float gently down the Yarra River on a cruise.

Follow the curving coast of Port Phillip Bay from the city of Melbourne, and you’ll find the summer playground of the Mornington Peninsula. Here, you can discover beautiful beaches, clifftop walks, and stunning parks, alongside historic towns and family attractions.

Visit fashionable Sorrento on the site of Victoria's first mainland European settlement, where you can wander streets lined with 19th-century limestone buildings which now house boutiques, cafés and restaurants. Take a studio tour of Peninsula galleries, or spend an afternoon on the wide, ocean-facing sands of Back Beach.

Explore the former military sites of Point Nepean National Park, or the windswept coastline of Mornington Peninsula National Park where kangaroos and wallabies graze the grasslands beside honeyeaters, parrots, and wedge-tailed eagles. Take a soothing dip in the natural pools of the Peninsula Hot Springs. Or ride the Arthurs Seat Eagle gondola to take tea with a view at the peninsula's highest point.

Step into Victoria’s most famous wine region and spend your days sipping vino, nibbling cheese, munching on delicious chocolates, and riding an iconic railroad.

You can tour some of Australia’s most picturesque wine estates and family-owned cellar doors in the shadow of the Dandenong Ranges. Taste finely-prepared dishes made from local produce in vineyard restaurants. Then top off your afternoon with an indulgent visit to the Yarra Valley Dairy or Yarra Valley Chocolaterie.

Ride through the mountains in a 120-year-old open-sided carriage of the iconic Puffing Billy from Belgrave to Gembrook. Visit the hippie village of Warburton on the Upper Yarra River, the pretty bush-lined lanes of Marysville, and the hipster cafés, shops, and galleries of Healesville. Meet koalas, platypus, corroboree frogs, and 200 other species at the Healesville Sanctuary. Taste refreshing gins at the Four Pillars distillery. Or soar over the valley in a hot-air balloon at sunrise.

March brings the harvest to the Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley, making this the ideal time to sample the freshest wines, as you tour the vineyards and cellar doors of the region. Temperatures are mild at all times of year – they drop to 5°C in July and August, then climb to 30°C in the summer peak of January.

If you’re looking to swim with dolphins, October to April is the best time for your trip. Equally, fur seals are most likely to be seen between October and January. Crowds are at their highest during Australian school holidays from Christmas until the end of January, so you may wish to avoid the crowds by travelling between March and April, or September and November.