The Great Ocean Road is a 7-day, 780 km drive from Torquay to Warrnambool by campervan. Any 2WD campervan is fine - it's rated easy. Best in Spring (Sep-Nov) or Autumn (Mar-May). Budget from about A$800 per person, plus roughly A$187 in fuel.
Some drives are a means to an end; the Great Ocean Road is the end itself. Built by returned soldiers after the First World War and dedicated to their fallen mates, it threads for 243 kilometres between the surf breaks of Torquay and the whale nurseries of Warrnambool, hugging cliffs, rainforest and one honey-coloured beach after another. Spread over seven unhurried days in a campervan, it becomes less a route than a rhythm: wake near the water, walk somewhere green, chase the light to the next headland, sleep behind the dunes.
Seven days is the sweet spot. It’s enough to linger at the Twelve Apostles for sunset rather than snatching a daytime photo, to detour inland to Erskine Falls and Cape Otway, and to reach the quieter western coast around Portland that most day-trippers never see.
Surf museum in the morning, a rainforest waterfall by lunch, and the Twelve Apostles glowing gold at sunset - all in a single day’s drive.
Why drive the Great Ocean Road?
Because nowhere else in Australia packs this much variety into so few kilometres. In a week you’ll trade world-class surf breaks for old-growth rainforest, dramatic limestone sea stacks for volcanic wildlife reserves, and finish among the 6,500-year-old aquaculture channels of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, one of the country’s most remarkable Indigenous sites.
It’s also one of the most forgiving big drives you can do. Every kilometre is sealed, the towns sit close together with fuel, supermarkets and beachfront caravan parks, and the daily distances are short - most days are under 90 minutes at the wheel. That leaves the hours where they belong: on the walks, the lookouts, and the long coastal afternoons.
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From A$800 per person for 7 days. Compare the main operators:
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Day by day
780 km total · about 13 hours behind the wheel across 7 days.
- 1
Torquay & Bells Beach
120 km · 1.5hEase into the coast at Australia's surfing capital. Wander the National Surfing Museum and its wall of hand-shaped boards, then stand above Bells Beach as the swell lines stack up and peel across the reef. Grab fish and chips on the foreshore and settle in behind the dunes as the sun drops into Bass Strait.
Highlights National Surfing Museum · Bells Beach · Surf City Plaza
Stay Torquay Foreshore Caravan Park · from A$35/nightcheck availability
- 2
Torquay to Lorne
60 km · 1.5hA short, spectacular run with the ocean on one shoulder the whole way. Detour to the red-and-white Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet, then cut inland to Erskine Falls, where a shady 20-minute walk drops you at the foot of a 30-metre rainforest cascade. Roll into Lorne by early afternoon for a coffee on Mountjoy Parade.
Highlights Split Point Lighthouse · Erskine Falls · Anglesea
Stay Lorne Foreshore Caravan Park · from A$40/nightcheck availability
- 3
Lorne to Apollo Bay
45 km · 1.5hThe road today clings to the cliffs, unspooling a new bay around every bend. Climb to Teddy's Lookout for a clifftop panorama, then step into the cool green hush of Maits Rest, where boardwalks thread between towering mountain ash and dripping tree ferns. Push on to Cape Otway's 1848 lighthouse before dropping into the fishing town of Apollo Bay.
Highlights Teddy's Lookout · Maits Rest Rainforest Walk · Cape Otway Lighthouse
Stay Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve · from A$35/nightcheck availability
- 4
Apollo Bay to Port Campbell
70 km · 2hThis is the day the postcards come to life. Beyond the wild sweep of Johanna Beach, the limestone theatre begins: the Twelve Apostles rise up to 45 metres straight out of the Southern Ocean, glowing gold in the late light. Walk down into Loch Ard Gorge, where cliffs curl around a hidden beach, and time your visit for sunset when the crowds thin.
Highlights Johanna Beach · Twelve Apostles · Loch Ard Gorge
Stay Port Campbell Recreation Reserve · from A$30/nightcheck availability
- 5
Port Campbell to Warrnambool
60 km · 1.5hTrace the last of the rock stacks past London Bridge and the Bay of Islands, where formations march out to sea in the afternoon light. Detour into Tower Hill, a wildlife reserve set inside an old volcanic crater alive with kangaroos, emus and koalas. In whale season (June-September), Logan's Beach delivers Southern Right whales close to shore.
Highlights Bay of Islands · Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve · Logan's Beach
Stay Discovery Parks - Warrnambool · from A$35/nightcheck availability
- 6
Warrnambool to Portland
70 km · 1.5hHead west into deeper, quieter country. At the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape - a UNESCO World Heritage site - stone channels built by the Gunditjmara people over 6,500 years ago still lace the volcanic wetlands around Lake Condah. Finish on Portland's palm-lined foreshore, Victoria's oldest European settlement and a working port town.
Highlights Budj Bim Cultural Landscape · Lake Condah · Portland Foreshore
Stay Portland Caravan Park · from A$30/nightcheck availability
- 7
Portland back to Melbourne
350 km · 3.5hThe long run home up the inland highway. If you have the appetite for one last detour, swing north into the Grampians - Halls Gap, Boroka Lookout and Brambuk sit beneath dramatic sandstone ranges - before the freeway carries you back into Melbourne with a week of coastline behind you.
Highlights Grampians detour · Halls Gap · Boroka Lookout