The 6 finest auto-no cost day journeys from Melbourne

Melbourne’s exceptional community transport connections necessarily mean travellers dependent in the town can hop on a train or bus to swap the buzz of active streets for forest strolling trails, spa towns and stream practice rides – all without worrying about getting a parking space. This is our tutorial to the greatest working day excursions from Melbourne.

At its peak, Victoria’s passenger practice network stretched into every nook and cranny of the point out. Sadly, that achieve has lengthy since long gone, but over the last decade or so a lot of of the previous rail corridors have been remodeled into ‘rail trails’: walking and cycling paths which slice by means of wonderful landscapes and be a part of up towns. As the railways were being crafted to cope with lower grades, the ensuing trails are quick to stroll or cycle producing them an accessible family-helpful day out.

The best rail trail to entry from Melbourne is the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Path. Stretching from Melbourne’s japanese edge into the Higher Yarra Valley, it is a pleasant 38km (24 mile) route that winds past farmland, indigenous forests, the Yarra River and several compact towns, with a good deal of foodstuff choices and charming old-fashioned pubs. Provide your own snacks and water for the major path wander!

How to get to the Warburton Rail Trail: The path starts in Lilydale on the japanese edge of Melbourne. Trains operate to Lilydale from Parliament station in the centre of the city (journey time: 1 hour). Bus 683 from Lilydale to Warburton typically follows the trail, that means you can hike a smaller segment of the route and hop on the bus back again to the get started if you get exhausted.

North of the town of Melbourne and a sacred website for the Wurundjeri folks, the traditional custodians of the land right here, enigmatic Hanging Rock rises substantially from the plains around it – the consequence of a volcanic eruption which established a multi-headed mound of lava.

Hanging Rock was produced famed by Joan Lindsay’s novel describing the mysterious disappearances of Victorian-era schoolgirls on Valentine’s Working day 1900. Picnic at Hanging Rock was later on turned into a film by Australian director Peter Weir, and a lot more just lately a Television sequence starring Natalie Dormer and Yael Stone.

Hanging Rock also can make for an fantastic working day vacation from Melbourne: it’s the fantastic spot for, nicely, a picnic. The Discovery Centre will fill you in on the area’s background and geology. Following searching its displays, climb the path to the prime of the rock. For refreshments later on, seize a snack or a beer at the well known Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend on the journey back again.

How to get to Hanging Rock: Hanging Rock is located to the northwest of Melbourne. Trains run to Woodend from Southern Cross Station in central Melbourne (journey time: a person hour). From Woodend it’s an 8km (5 mile) walk, or a 10-moment taxi journey to Hanging Rock Reserve.

French Island lies just past Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs, in the centre of Western Port Bay. Named by a French discovering expedition in 1802, it’s maintained an air of mystery to mainlanders.

The nearby population and farming routines have waxed and waned in excess of the hundreds of years, and today the islanders stay mostly ‘off the grid’. Considering that 70% of the island is a countrywide park, and there is no bridge from the mainland and no nearby transport providers, it’s been hard for a visitor to get to grips with its historical past and landscapes.

These days, nonetheless, Naturaliste Tours does a regular tour of the island, with associates driving aboard a chunky ex-mining car or truck which can take care of the tough tracks that penetrate into its inside. Highlights incorporate a check out to the Pobblebonk Swamp with its resident frogs, a travel by way of an abandoned chicory farm with its eerie deserted properties and koala-spotting among the trees on the island, with the tour culminating in a check out to the French Island Typical Shop, the island’s only shop. Lunches, bike employ the service of and accommodation are also readily available here.

How to get to French Island: French Island is situated southeast of Melbourne. To access it, capture a suburban teach to Frankston, then adjust to a V/Line teach to Stony Point (complete journey time: two several hours). From right here the French Island ferry sails at approximately two-hour intervals.

The regional city of Ballarat was the epicentre of the Gold Rush of the 1850s – 1 of the finest the earth has ever viewed. Over the next decades, the rough-and-tumble miners’ town grew into a swish metropolis, with a lot of frontier enjoyment along the way.

People heady times are relived at Sovereign Hill, a historical village manufactured all over a previous gold mine in the city’s suburbs. It is an outstanding spot, with the streets lined by painstakingly investigated replicas of buildings from the Gold Rush period, from pubs to Chinese temples. Several of these show crafts and trades of that period of time. There are a number of areas to consume on web-site, from the Hope Bakery to the eating home of the United States Hotel.

Household-friendly actions consist of gold panning, horse-and-carriage rides and a tour within an aged mine shaft. To add to the exciting, costumed actors routinely phase entertaining (and traditionally correct) performances during the internet site. If you have time, other local attractions really worth a pay a visit to in the region are the Ballarat Wildlife Park and the acclaimed Art Gallery of Ballarat.

How to get to Ballarat: Ballarat is located to the west of Melbourne. Trains run direct from Southern Cross Station in central Melbourne to Ballarat Station (journey time: just one hour 25 minutes).

Marketed as the ‘spa centre of Victoria’, this couplet of conjoined towns is a hugely preferred weekend getaway for Melburnians. Set amongst the scenic hills, lakes and forests of Central Highlands, it really is a amazing calendar year-round location where you can soak absent your problems in warm, mineral-wealthy waters and dine in some of regional Victoria’s most effective eateries. The area inhabitants is an attention-grabbing blend of New Agers, urbanites and down-to-earth farmers. There is also a flourishing homosexual and lesbian scene listed here.

The overall health-supplying attributes of the area’s mineral springs had been very first claimed in the 1870s, attracting droves of stylish Melburnians. The properly-preserved and restored buildings clearly show the prosperity of these cities, as properly as the long lasting affect of the many Swiss-Italian miners who arrived to operate the tunnel mines in the surrounding hills. Aside from the different springs and bathhouses, there are also picnic spots, BBQ places, children’s playgrounds and going for walks trails to love.

How to get to Daylesford: The quickest way to get to Daylesford is to capture a coach from Southern Cross Station in central Melbourne to Woodend, then hop on a bus to Daylesford (full journey time: two several hours).

Getting a practice trip for a train journey sounds like a strange way to commit a day, but then Puffing Billy is no standard prepare. 

Holding fond memories for numerous Melburnians, well-known Puffing Billy is an iconic restored steam coach that toots its way from Belgrave to Emerald Lake Park and Gembrook on a five-hour return trip. It really is feasible to hop on and hop off en route to appreciate a picnic or wander. It’s a terrific day out for youthful travellers and teach enthusiasts specially. A diesel locomotive replaces the steam engine on complete hearth ban days.

How to get to Puffing Billy Railway: The Puffing Billy Railway is located to the east of the town. The least difficult way to reach it is by practice from Parliament station in central Melbourne to Belgrave station (journey time: 1 hour).

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This report was initial posted in September 2019 and past up to date in May well 2021.