From Geelong, the Great Ocean Road starts 21 km away in Torquay. In one day you can drive the coast to the Twelve Apostles, about 200 km and over three hours each way, and return inland via Colac. Two or three days is better: sleep in Lorne or Apollo Bay and walk at Erskine Falls and Cape Otway.
The best Great Ocean Road itinerary from Geelong depends on how many days you have. With one day, drive the coast from Torquay to the Twelve Apostles and come back inland via Colac: about 350 km and close to six hours behind the wheel. With two or three days, sleep in Lorne or Apollo Bay, and you have time for the waterfalls, the lighthouses and the beaches instead of just the views from the car.
Geelong is the natural base. Torquay, where the road officially starts, is 21 km away, so you skip the hour out of Melbourne that every tour from the city has to drive first.
Distances and times are from Geelong city centre, following the coast in order, and come from a route planner using OpenStreetMap data. They are free-flow times: add 10 to 20 percent, more on summer weekends.
| Stop | From Geelong | Drive time | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torquay | 21 km | 25 min | Surfing museum, beaches, start of the road |
| Bells Beach | 29 km | 35 min | Clifftop platforms over the Rip Curl Pro break |
| Anglesea | 36 km | 40 min | Beach town; paddleboard lessons on the river |
| Aireys Inlet / Split Point Lighthouse | 47 km | 50 min | 1891 lighthouse, open daily weather permitting |
| Memorial Arch, Eastern View | 52 km | 55 min | The road’s war memorial arch |
| Lorne | 65 km | 1 h 10 | Pier, beach, Erskine Falls, Teddy’s Lookout |
| Apollo Bay | 110 km | 2 h | Lunch stop, and the V/Line coach’s last stop |
| Cape Otway Lightstation | 142 km | 2 h 30 | 1848 lighthouse, 12 km down a side road |
| Twelve Apostles | 196 km | 3 h 15 | Limestone stacks and Gibson Steps |
The Great Ocean Road map lists the same towns measured from Torquay, plus the road’s far end at Allansford.
This works if you start early and accept that you will see the main sights briefly.
Don’t try to add Cape Otway as well. Its side road adds about 12 km each way, plus time at the lightstation.
Slowing down is the point. Most of what is good about this coast happens when you get out of the car.
Take the morning on the Surf Coast. Spend an hour at the Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay, watch the surfers at Bells Beach, then stop at Anglesea and walk up to Split Point Lighthouse. Reach Lorne in the afternoon. Drive the 10 km up to Erskine Falls, where the water drops about 30 m into a fern gully, then catch the evening light at Teddy’s Lookout above the town. Sleep in Lorne.
Drive on to Apollo Bay in the morning, then take the side road to Cape Otway Lightstation, built in 1848. The lightstation’s own site calls it the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia. It opens Friday to Tuesday, and the tower is closed for conservation works (Checked October 2026), so you visit the grounds but cannot climb.
Continue to the Twelve Apostles for late afternoon. Parks Victoria says seven stacks are visible today; one collapsed in 2005 and another in 2009. Sleep near Port Campbell.
Return inland via Colac, about two and a half hours, or retrace the coast if you want a second look. With a third night, split day 2 and stay in Apollo Bay, giving you time for the rainforest walk at Maits Rest, which several tours also stop at.
There are two ways: the public coach from Geelong, or a day tour, which almost always starts in Melbourne.
V/Line coach. A coach run by McHarry’s goes from Geelong Station along the Great Ocean Road via Torquay, Anglesea and Lorne to Apollo Bay. There is a summer timetable from mid-December to late January. Services can be cancelled on Catastrophic fire danger days. Check times on transport.vic.gov.au or call V/Line on 1800 800 007. It does not reach the Twelve Apostles.
Day tours. The big Great Ocean Road tours all start in Melbourne, and they go round Geelong on the ring road without stopping. Our Great Ocean Road tours page compares them; the short version (prices and ratings from GetYourGuide, checked October 2026):
| Tour | Rating | From | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Ocean Road, 12 Apostles, Wildlife Tour | 4.7 (6,444) | A$125 | Most reviewed; Torquay surf beach with a look at Bells, koalas, Twelve Apostles; Melbourne CBD pickup |
| Boutique Tour in Reverse | 4.9 (1,903) | A$138 | 12 people or fewer; inland to the Apostles first, Apollo Bay and Lorne on the way back |
| Deluxe Minibus tour | 4.8 (2,798) | A$159 | Morning tea near Torquay, Memorial Arch, Apollo Bay, Maits Rest |
| Private Luxury tour with hotel pickup | 4.0 (41) | A$105 | The only one of these that lists Geelong as a pickup point |
One more Geelong exception: a private 12-hour tour run in English, Mandarin, Cantonese or Vietnamese spends an hour on the Geelong waterfront before heading for the coast. It was new in October 2026, with no reviews yet.
If you are coming from Melbourne anyway, Melbourne to Geelong covers the train, which takes about an hour, and all tours lists the shorter trips near Geelong.
For a one-day trip, stay in Geelong and drive out early: our Geelong accommodation guide covers the city hotels. For two or three days, plan nights in Lorne and around Apollo Bay or Port Campbell. Book ahead for summer weekends and for Easter, when the Rip Curl Pro brings thousands of visitors to the Surf Coast.
In Geelong, January and February average about 26 °C and are among the driest months (Bureau of Meteorology, Breakwater station), so late summer suits a beach-heavy trip. June to August averages about 14 to 15 °C, with short days that make the one-day plan hard to finish in daylight. Easter brings the Rip Curl Pro and full Surf Coast towns. Whatever the season, check VicTraffic for road conditions before you set off, and expect the Erskine Falls path to be slippery after rain.
13.5 hours
The most-reviewed Great Ocean Road day trip, run by a family business: Torquay surf beach with a look at Bells Beach, wild koalas, a tall-forest walk and the Twelve Apostles.
fromA$125
Check availability12 hours
Heads inland via Winchelsea to reach the Twelve Apostles and Gibson Steps before the coach crowds, then works back along the coast through Apollo Bay and Lorne in a van of 12 or fewer.
fromA$138
Check availability13 hours (multi-day options up to 3 days)
A long-running minibus tour that starts the coast with morning tea near Torquay, then the Memorial Arch, Apollo Bay, Maits Rest rainforest walk and the Twelve Apostles.
fromA$159
Check availability10-12 hours
One of the few Great Ocean Road day tours that lists Geelong as a pickup point, running to the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Maits Rest rainforest and Apollo Bay.
fromA$105
Check availabilityPrices and ratings were taken from GetYourGuide and can change. Booking through these links supports this site at no extra cost to you.
Updated
Yes, but it is a long day. Driving the coast from Geelong to the Twelve Apostles is about 200 km and over three hours without stops, and the fastest way back, inland via Colac, is about 150 km and two and a half hours. That is close to six hours of driving before any stops, so leave by 8 am and pick only a few places to stop.
Geelong to Lorne is about 65 km, roughly 1 hour 10 minutes with no stops, going through Torquay, Anglesea and Aireys Inlet and under the Memorial Arch. Route planners give free-flow times, so add 10 to 20 percent, and more on summer weekends.
Apollo Bay is about 110 km from Geelong on the coast road through Lorne, about 2 hours without stops. Route planners sometimes send you a slightly longer, faster way of about 120 km. The Lorne to Apollo Bay stretch is about 45 km on its own, and RACV puts it at about an hour.
Mostly no. The big day tours start in Melbourne and go round Geelong on the ring road without stopping. In the tours we checked in October 2026, only one day trip listed a Geelong pickup, and one private Mandarin and Cantonese tour spends an hour on the Geelong waterfront. From Geelong, driving yourself or taking the train to Melbourne for a tour are the usual options.
From Geelong, drive west along the coast from Torquay. That way you are on the ocean side of the road and the lookout car parks are easier to pull into. Some tours go the other way, heading inland via Colac first to reach the Twelve Apostles before the crowds, then coming back along the coast, and that also works if you start early.
The Great Ocean Road starts in Torquay, 21 km south of Geelong, and runs about 240 km west to Allansford near Warrnambool.
Torquay is the surf town where the Great Ocean Road begins, about 21 km and 25 minutes' drive south of Geelong, or 45 to 50 minutes on bus 53.
Lorne is a beach town on the Great Ocean Road, about 65 km and 1 hour 10 minutes from Geelong.
Bells Beach is the surf break 8 km west of Torquay and about 29 km from Geelong, home of the Rip Curl Pro at Easter, a contest first held there in 1962.