The Great Ocean Road is an important point on the bucket list of many Australian travelers. Anna Wengel also followed the reputation of the imposing cliff road. For Travelbook, she wrote down a list of seven tips for a trip along the street.
Blauer Ocean, which appears behind the wild bushland and crashes against equally gigantic cliffs as gigantic waves, while a kangaroo jumps through the unreal scenery – so I had imagined the journey on the Great Ocean Road. And that’s the same.
The wonderful cliff road in the state of Victoria is worthwhile. Especially in the low season. Depending on what else you have planned on your trip to Australia, it is best to go to Melbourne and fly from there to Great Ocean Road. The famous twelve apostles are the goal. The Great Ocean Road goes a little further behind it, but most of them have already driven when they arrive.
6 tips for the Great Ocean Road
- See the twelve apostles, the highlight of the Great Ocean Road
- Do not underestimate the masses of tourists
- Visit Torquay
- Camp for free
- Be spontaneous when choosing accommodation
- Excellent restaurants on the way
See the Twelve Apostles, the Highlight of the Great Ocean Road
The highlight of the Great Ocean Road is the huge rocks and above all the so-called twelve apostles, which are actually only eighth. These are huge limestone rocks that protrude from the sea without a connection to the mainland off the coast. Years ago they were still part of the cliffs, over time and above all the strong waves, but they were separated from the mainland.
Incidentally, the rocks were not always called “twelve apostles”, but were previously referred to as the “sow with their piglets”. For marketing purposes, they were then called the twelve apostles. And marketing definitely worked, the huge limestones are one of the top sightseeing targets in Australia.
By the way, if you are there, I would recommend that you continue to the Loch ARD Gorge – and also look around the area. In addition to the twelve apostles, there are various other impressive rock formations in the area.
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Do not underestimate the masses of tourists
The twelve apostles themselves are not overestimated, not at all, but if you expect peace in nature, you will definitely be disappointed. There are an incredible number of tourists and the site is also designed. I was there at the beginning of Corona and yet it was full.
At least that was different on the rest of the Great Ocean Road. I recommend looking at the twelve apostles, but expect that you can cuddle with other tourists at the best photo spots.
Visit Torquay
One of my favorite places was Torquay. Torquay is not big and there is not much going on, it’s just a personable, typical surfer location, quite slow and relaxed. Here the typical surfing types and hippies run around and beautiful beaches nearby, such as the Torquay Surf Beach or Bells Beach a little further.
Camp for free
If you want to or have to pay attention to the money, you can save at this point: On the Great Ocean Road as in many other places in Australia, you can sometimes camp for free. The Campermate app is recommended here. It works in New Zealand and Australia and also shows free parking spaces. They are not necessarily well equipped, but at least there are always toilets, sometimes showers.
We found beautiful places with it that do not stand in every travel guide and were not too overcrowded accordingly. Often these free places are a little more in the country and you then drive away something from the Great Ocean Road, but it is worth it, often because of the journey. And if you don’t need toilets, showers, etc., you can stand for free in many places anyway.
Be spontaneous when choosing accommodation
Along the Great Ocean Road, there are many nice small and larger places that are worthwhile for accommodation. I have already mentioned Torquay, otherwise Apollo Bay. On the Great Ocean Road, however, it is mostly recommended to stay spontaneously and simply see how far you want to drive and where you like.
There are some hotels and motels everywhere along the cliff road. If it is not exactly high season, spontaneity works well-and otherwise there are still free campsites off the coastal highway.
Excellent restaurants on the way
On the Great Ocean Road, there are some excellent restaurants with delicious food from burgers to seafood to hipster creations. For example, there are really delicious burgers in the Blackmans Brewery in Torquay. There are various good hipster cafes and bistros in Geelong.
