Getting To Geelong

Visiting Geelong, Australia, from Melbourne, Albury or Canberra

Geelong is Victoria's second largest city, and is situated along Corio Bay just inside Port Phillip Heads. Not surprisingly, Geelong boosts fantastic waterfront restaurants, beautifully landscaped gardens and a variety of scenic walking paths. Various places of interest bring tourists from all over Australia. Some just want to wander the waterfront trail past famous bollard characters along the foreshore. Others spend time at the National Wool Museum in Geelong.

If you live in one of the other major, southern east coast cities, how do you get to Geelong? You could drive or catch public transport. Here's a rough guide for getting to Geelong from Melbourne, Canberra and Albury.

The fastest way to travel from Canberra to Geelong is, of course, by plane. Other forms of travel are cheaper if you don't need to get there immediately. Flying is quite expensive; round trip will cost about $500. The Geelong Airport only provides access to small aircraft, private planes and scenic flights. It contains two grass runways. Commercial airlines fly into nearby Avalon Airport (15 miles away.) Car rental, taxi service, or buses operate from the airport to get you to Geelong.

Driving from Canberra will take about 7 ½ hours and cost approximately $160 for petrol. It's a case of "you can't get there from here", at least directly. Several State Forests, National Parks, and the Binburi Nature Reserve are directly west of the city and must be bypassed to the south or north. The simplest route to take is Hwy 25 north to Ngunnawal, Murrumbateman and Yass, where you travel west on Hwy 31 through Browning, Bookman, Jugiong, and southwest at Coolac, on to Gundagai, Tumblong, Tarcutta, Kyeamba, Holbrook, Mullengandra, Table Top, and Lavington, into Albury.

From Albury, continue southwest to Chiltern, Wangaratta, Benalla, Violet Town, Euroa, Avenel, Seymour, Broadford, Wallen, and Coburg, into Melbourne.

To get from Melbourne to Geelong you can choose several methods of transport. You can continue your car trip south from Melbourne through Werribee, Lara, and Cono to reach your destination, Geelong.

The busses run on regular schedules from various Melbourne stations. This mode of transportation lets you enjoy the scenic suburbs of Melbourne and south-western Victoria. A full fare with return costs less than $15.00. Your V/Line Train Ticket also acts as a Metcard that can be used to travel on metropolitan Melbourne trams, trains and busses with no additional charge.

If possible, in order to ensure you get a seat, it is recommended that families travel in off peak times. Once in Geelong, you'll find a taxi rank just outside the station, which is just a 500 metre walk from the centre of town.

The V/Line trains provide links to other nearby towns as well. Current V/Line fares are not integrated with fares for travel within Geelong. A flat fare of $1.60 for a 2-hour GTS bus ticket may be used on urban busses inside city limits and on V/Line trains between Geelong and Lara.

Once you've made if to Geelong, some of the sights to see include: the ambiance of the Eastern Beach walkway where there is an historic carousel. You can also stroll over to the Geelong Botanic Gardens which display cacti and other succulents. A hire car will make it easier for you to explore the countryside outside Geelong. There are plenty of other attractions, making the trip to Geelong well worth the visit.