Mornington Peninsula Tours from Melbourne

A Day on the Mornington Peninsula

The Peninsula starts about an hour south of Melbourne and runs another forty minutes to its tip at Portsea. Most of the drive is the Nepean Highway and then the Peninsula Freeway. Once you are down there the distances between stops are short, and that is what makes it work as a single day: three or four places without a long transfer between any of them.

Wine at Red Hill and Main Ridge

The cellar doors sit up in the hills through Red Hill, Main Ridge and Merricks, well back from the coast. Pinot noir and chardonnay are what the region is known for, and the cellar doors are small enough that lunch usually needs booking ahead. With a chauffeur nobody counts drinks or nominates a driver, which is the main reason these days get booked at all.

Peninsula Hot Springs

The bathhouse at Fingal takes bookings by session, and the drive across from the wine country is about twenty minutes. Tell us the session time and the rest of the day is planned backwards from it. Most guests put the springs at the end, since nobody wants to get back in a car in a hurry afterwards.

The Bay End

Sorrento and Portsea sit at the tip, calm bay beaches on one side and ocean beaches on the other. Point Nepean and the Arthurs Seat gondola are the other two stops guests ask for. The Queenscliff ferry also runs from Sorrento, which makes it possible to finish a Peninsula day over on the Bellarine side instead of driving back the way you came.

How the Day Is Booked

Peninsula days work best as an hourly charter, not a point-to-point transfer, because the vehicle stays with you between stops and holds coats, bags and whatever you buy at the cellar doors. Groups above four move to a van.

Frequently Asked Questions