Warrnambool is 260 kilometres from Melbourne on Victoria’s far southwest coast between Port Fairy and Port Campbell. It’s the largest city on the iconic Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool tours take in the area’s spectacular coastline, stunning beaches, and beautifully maintained parks and gardens. The city is an easy and interesting place to explore and for the more mobile, there are fantastic walking and bike trails along the seafront.
Situated on Victoria’s famous ‘surf coast’ there are so many places throughout Warrnambool to stop and enjoy panoramic views over the magnificent Great Southern Ocean or dip your toe (or more) into the sparkling waters. Between June and September, visit Warrnambool to watch the majestic Southern Right Whales. A ‘must-see’ is Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village with its large shipwreck collection and displays about the area's turbulent seafaring history.
The ‘Shipwreck Coast’ lies from Warrnambool to Cape Otway. The award-winning Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village shares stories of the large number of vessels that ran aground from the 1800s to the early 1900s. Take a trip to Warrnambool and it’s easy to see why. The rocky coastline combined with sometimes fierce weather would have proven challenging for the most experienced sailors.
It’s not surprising, given its shipwreck history that Warrnambool boasts two light stations - the red and white ‘Lady Bay High’ which is open for tours, and ‘Lady Bay Low’ - both with views across the town's breathtaking bay. While at the maritime museum, learn about the infamous 1878 shipwreck of the 1693-ton iron clipper ‘Loch Ard’ brought to life with a fascinating sound and laser show.
If you love history, stroll through the city past the Western Hotel built in 1869, the Post Office built in 1870, and the Courthouse in 1871.
The city of Warrnambool has an amazing coastline, a captivating shipwreck history, unique volcanoes, and even visiting whales! Warrnambool’s Bathing Beach is a patrolled sandy expanse that’s the perfect spot for a dip. The foreshore boasts the fabulous 20-hectare Lake Pertobe Adventure Park where kids and grown-ups have hours of fun.
Thunder Point Coastal Reserve offers scenic walks along the rocky shoreline, past wetlands, and a river estuary with an abundance of coastal wildlife along the way. Logans Beach, near the mouth of the Hopkins River, has one of the area’s best whale-watching points. From a purpose-built platform, you can see the whales at play during their calving season.
The Warrnambool Botanic Gardens are centred around a large lily pond that attracts an amazing array of bird life, while the colourful Fletcher Jones Gardens are floodlit at night offering visitors a fascinating way to enjoy its beauty.
Warrnambool is the largest city in the Great South Coast region and lies on the famous Great Ocean Road. The city is 260 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, a three-hour drive via Geelong on the Princes Highway or Hamilton Highway. If you plan to drive to Warrnambool along the Great Ocean Road, allow approximately five and a half hours.
Warrnambool is the eighth-largest city in regional Victoria with a population in 2021 of 35,406. The regional population of the Great South Coast is around 130,000.
Between June and September, female Southern Right whales return to the waters of Warrnambool's Logans Beach to calve. The whales often swim within a hundred metres of the shore and the Logan Beach Whale Watching Platform just east of the Hopkins River, is the ideal spot to view the Southern Right Whale Nursery.
The name Warrnambool comes from the language of the Kuurn Kopan Noot people. It is believed to have several meanings - ‘two swamps’ ‘ample water’ or ‘place of plenty.’ All seem apt due to Warrnambool’s location between the Hopkins and Merri Rivers.
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