LYD1A KERR

Looking for a short getaway from Melbourne? The Mornington Peninsula is the perfect option. Only 1 hour 30 minutes drive away from Melbourne, you can easily take a road trip down the coast, or stay for a night like we did.

Here is my 2 day, 1 night itinerary to make the most of your time in the Mornington Peninsula!

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Accomodation: Moonlight Bay Apartments, Rye

Car rental: Compare car rental deals here

Peninsula Hot Springs: Tickets here

Day Trip from Melbourne:

• Take this organised tour to the Hot Springs take the stress out of travel!
• Don’t drink and drive – take this day tour of the regions wineries
• Mornington Peninsula and Hot Springs Tour

Day 1: Travel from Melbourne, Beaches, and Peninsula Hot Springs

Travel to Rosebud

Today is pretty chilled out. Start your journey from Melbourne, and drive for around 1 hour towards Rosebud. You can bring a packed lunch, or visit one of the towns cafes or bakeries for lunch. Personally, I got a McDonalds, but who’s to judge!

Rosebud Beach

Park up in the Yacht Club and head towards the beach to enjoy your lunch. If you’re as lucky as we were, you’ll be the only people on this beach! Take in the beautiful clear and shallow water here.

Peninsula Hot Springs

Alternatively, there is a cafe on site at the hot springs where you can choose from a variety of pizzas, wraps, and pies. This is perfect if you really want to make the most of your time here.

The hot springs are a 10 minute drive from Rosebud. You can pre-book your tickets for the Peninsula Hot Springs, or pay on arrival.

There is an additional charge for locker, towel, and robe hire ($25 for the bundle). But there were plenty of people walking around in their own robes from home, as well as pigeon holes outside if you aren’t worried about your belongings.

The tickets for the hot springs are valid until 11pm, so enjoy the relaxing hot springs for as long as you like! Make sure you head up to the Hilltop for beautiful views over the valleys, but beware it can be busy as other people have the same idea as you!

There are over 50 attractions in the Hot Springs, so it’s very easy to spend lots of time here and explore everything.

Check in to your accommodation

After you’re finished soaking up the springs, head to your accommodation to check in. We stayed at the Moonlight Bay Apartments, Rye and highly recommend it. The room was very clean, had everything we needed, and we even got an upgrade when we arrived!

Rye is around 10/15 minutes from the Hot Springs, and is a perfect location with plenty of food options along the main street, as well as a Woolworths for your groceries.

Day 2: Head to Fort Nepean, Viewpoints, and Cape Schanck

Today, you’re going to head to the furthest tip of the Mornington Peninsula, then work your way up the peninsula, all the way back to Melbourne. This way you can cover a lot of locations in a short amount of time.

Drive through Sorrento and Portsea

Sorrento and Portsea are known for being very affluent areas, and home to plenty of mansions. There is a trail called “Millionaire’s walk” where you can admire the expensive architecture here. We didn’t think this was our cup of tea, so we just drove through the towns instead. They’re quite quaint and would be perfect to stop at a cafe!

Fort Nepean

Park at Gunner’s Cottage and decide whether you want to walk the 3.8 km to Fort Nepean, or get the regular shuttle bus to drive you there.

Fort Nepean is an important landmark filled with lots of war history and exploring this area makes for an interesting visit. You can walk inside the fort, go into the bomb shelters, and read all about the history of each room.

We decided to do the walk, but this took around 2 hours out of our morning, as we kept stopping for photos and to read all about the history here.

There is a regular shuttle bus you can take from the Quarantine Cafe, which can save you a lot of time. You can read more about the bus service on the Parks Victoria website.

Beware though, we weren’t able to walk to the absolute tip of the peninsula, as the section of path was closed due to erosion. It looked like a pretty permanent closure, so set your expectations accordingly.

London Bridge

If you walked to Fort Nepean, you’ll be glad to know that was the big walk of the day complete. Now, you can enjoy the views of the road trip back to Melbourne.

First off, drive to London Bridge, and walk 150 metres to the viewing platform to admire the picturesque rock in the water.

Diamond Bay

Hop back into the car for another 10 minutes, and head to Diamond Bay. Here you can take in the breathtaking views, and walk down the stairs to relax on the beach.

Number 16 Beach

You guessed it – hop back in the car and make your way to Number 16 Beach. The walk is slightly steep in sand, and there is a staircase at the end to take you down to the beach.

There are meant to be waterfalls in the ocean here but you’ll have to look harder than us, because we just couldn’t see it! Maybe we went at a wrong time, but the beach was stunning regardless.

St Andrews Beach Brewery

You can rejoice in the fact it is now lunch time! I highly recommend St Andrews Beach Brewery. This venue is big, airy, and serves up delicious food and drinks in no time at all. I got the Buffalo Chicken pizza and it hit the spot perfectly.

Cape Schanck

Head to the final stop of the day: Cape Schanck Lighthouse. You can park up at the Lighthouse car park, which is around 15 minutes drive from the brewery.

There are a variety of walks you can choose to do, depending on time. You can do the circular track from the car park, which can include a beautiful board walk. Take in the incredible views and sea air!

As we were on a tight time frame to return the rental car, we had to end our journey here and head home. However, if we had time I would have included the following:

Bushrangers Bay

Explore the nature reserve at Bushrangers Bay. Or, park here instead of the lighthouse car park, and walk the trail to the lighthouse and back.

Arthur’s Seat

I loved the Arthur’s Seat of Edinburgh, and was delighted to hear there is another one just outside Melbourne! Here, you can take the gondola (The Eagle), to the highest point of the Mornington Peninsula, or go for a scenic drive along the hairpin roads. Either way, the views are meant to be unrivalled.

Head back to Melbourne

Sadly our adventure of the Mornington Peninsula is over, but I can see another trip or two here in my future! It’s a no brainer why this region is so popular.

Enjoy your trip here, and thank you so much for reading! ❤

Love, Lydia x