Mornington Peninsula Full Circuit – Self-Guided

All daily distances are approximate and this itinerary is subject to change. RAW Travel reserves the right to make necessary itinerary or hotel changes based on local conditions, group safety, extreme weather or unforeseen difficulties with local suppliers due to the effects of COVID-19.

Welcome to the Mornington Peninsula! Meet in central Mornington (with ample car parking ) or pickup can be arranged at nearby Frankston train station (approx. 1 hour by train from Melbourne CBD). Then you’ll be transferred to check into your hotel for a night’s stay in Mornington and have a thorough briefing with your driver about the week ahead. Today there is an easy walk option that starts from your hotel heading down to the foreshore and the wonderful harbour framed by red sandstone cliffs and iconic bathing boxes of Mills Beach. You follow a trail that takes you up to the clifftop mansions and beautiful gardens of Beleura Hill from where you can get great views of Port Phillip and the town, looping back to your hotel.

Please note: The 1km clifftop section of the Beleura hill walk is currently closed due to storm damage and some walking on local roads replaces the clifftop path instead.

Later that day explore the nearby town with its huge variety of cafes, bars, shops and restaurants and rest up tonight for the start of your big walk in the morning.

No meals included
Overnight: Mornington

You will be transferred to the start of your walk at Dromana, just below the hill of Arthur’s Seat. Here you’ll start with a climb on the flanks of Arthur’s Seat following the Two Bays Walking Track, which winds from coast to coast across the Peninsula. As you climb you’ll get fantastic views of the Peninsula and Port Phillip Bay spread out below you. The Two Bays Walking Track is identified by a circular symbol displaying a Blue Wren, which can be seen on signage along the track. You will be provided with a picnic lunch today to enjoy at one of the many beautiful locations on today’s route.

After climbing Arthur’s Seat you descend through parkland to emerge briefly in a residential area before you’re soon back in the countryside again. It’s a beautiful and varied walk today through native bushland, banksia groves, Eucalypt forest, past vineyards, rolling hills and pastoral land. Birdsong accompanies you along the way and there’s a very good chance you will spot some native wildlife – many wallabies and echidnas use the trail, particularly in the Green’s Bush section of the walk. You’ll walk through dense groves of very old grasstree forest and then open heathland where large mobs of kangaroos can be seen grazing. At the finish of today’s walk you’ll find a RAW Travel vehicle waiting to transfer you to your accommodation. Tonight you will overnight in Flinders, a charming village with art galleries, cafes and a relaxed atmosphere.

Meals: L
Overnight Flinders Hotel or similar

After breakfast, you’ll start your walk on the Bushrangers’ Bay Track, which leads to the historic Cape Schanck lighthouse. The first section is an easy track above a valley that leads to the wonderful rugged expanse of Bushranger’s Bay, a favourite of local walkers. Take a stroll on the secluded beach before heading off on a well-formed track that will lead you to Cape Schank.

You’ll start to get glimpses of the red-topped lighthouse that sits on the clifftop overlooking Bass Strait. Constructed from limestone blocks and in operation since 1859, this working lighthouse continues to provide ships with safe passage between Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne through Bass Strait. It has an impressive light range of 26 nautical miles (or 48km). Today a historic tourist site, it houses an interesting museum in the old lightkeeper’s quarters. Before you leave make sure you take the impressive boardwalk that leads down to the beach with its multi-hued rock and dramatic views back to the lighthouse and coast you’ve just walked.

From the light station take the beautiful coastal walk that descends to the famous surf beach of Gunnamatta, a popular spot for Aussie surfers. The views along the Peninsula coast and beaches from here are fantastic. Continue walking along the surf beach at Gunnamatta and track to reach Rye beach where you will be picked up and transferred to your accommodation. Consider a trip to the nearby Peninsula Hot Springs after your day’s walk and take a well-deserved and rejuvenating soak in an award-winning complex of natural hot springs (entry fees not included).

Meals: B, L
Overnight Flinders Hotel or similar

This morning, you will be met and transferred to the start of your walk. Today you embark on the Coastal Walk along the southern face of the Mornington Peninsula bound for Portsea. The scenery along the Coastal Walk and the views across the Bass Strait coast are nothing short of breathtaking.

The first stretch sees you walk via inland tracks and around small headlands and past the distinctive Lizard Rock to reach the idyllic Dimmicks Beach from where you follow the Lifesavers Track for the next 11km. This track was established in the 1890s to ensure look-out points for ships in trouble, as well as to provide access pathways for rescuers to assist survivors of shipwrecks. It’s a reminder of how treacherous this coast is and the many ships that have to come to grief here. The track cuts in and out of some beautiful rugged coves and beaches.

The section near Bridgewater Bay is particularly beautiful. From Bridgewater Bay to Sorrento you’ll pass Spray Point and walk to Koonya Ocean Beach and Diamond Bay before continuing on to the Coppins Track heritage trail. Tonight you’ll stay in Sorrento, a popular holiday haven for Victorians in the summer months. The town’s large boulevard is dotted with hotels, restaurants and cafes, and the pretty foreshore area offers shaded picnic spots and sheltered waters for a beach swim.

Meals: B, L
Overnight Sorrento Hotel or similar

Today’s walk sees you reach the tip of the Mornington Peninsula – Port Nepean, located in the Point Nepean National Park. This area provides a great combination of beautiful natural landscapes and an interesting wartime history. Walking along both coastal and bushland tracks you will pass a number of historic sites including the Quarantine Station and military defences, which in WWII played an important role in protecting Victoria’s coast.

You begin with a coastal stretch from Sorrento to Portsea offers stunning views over Sorrento and Port Phillip Bay where you’ll eventually come to the Portsea surf beach. Your entry into Point Nepean National Park is via Wilson Folly Track (an extension of the Coastal Walk) at London Bridge. From Point Nepean you can experience some of the Peninsula’s most exquisite views across to the historic Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula and across the heads of Port Phillip Bay. Point Nepean was home to the indigenous Boonwurrung people who lived along this coast for thousands of years. It later became one of the earliest European settlements in the state.

Please note that on this section of the walk it is up to you how far you walk in Point Nepean National Park as there are various trail options and also an electric bus vehicle if you choose to skip a return leg.

After your visit of the area your walk then takes you to Portsea. The village of Portsea, one of Australia’s most exclusive addresses, is overflowing with cliff-top mansions and grand estates. The town itself is dominated by the famous Portsea Hotel, built in 1927 and extended over recent years. From Portsea you walk to Sorrento via the stunning Artists Trail, otherwise known as the ‘Millionaires Walk’, a spectacular clifftop walk which on a clear day offers views across Port Phillip Bay to the adjacent Bellarine Peninsula and across to Mount Dandenong. The exclusive mansions and properties that dot the coastline are some of the most upmarket property in the country.

Meals: B, L
Overnight Sorrento Hotel or similar

As you farewell Sorrento you’ll join the Bay Trail today and make your way to Dromana. The walk takes you passed the Collins First Settlement site where the first official European settlement of Victoria was established in 1803, the beach of Blairgowrie then over Whitecliffs. The path winds through beautiful sandy bay beaches along foreshore reserve where banksia and tea tree dominate. The trail continues through McCrae and past Port Phillip‘s largest lighthouse, then via the rocky seawall of Anthony’s Nose. As you approach Safety Beach, dotting the beach are the colourful bathing boxes that are an icon of Victoria’s bayside areas.

Approaching Dromana, you’ll have the hills of Arthur’s Seat and Mount Martha in your sights as you close in on where you started on your first day.

After your walk today, you will be met by your driver and transferred back to Mornington or Frankston train station where your trip comes to an end.

Meals: B, L

Looking for more or less on your walk? We can customise and provide flexibility around your travel plans. Speak with us today to design your trip.

• 5 nights centrally located hotel accommodation (twin-share basis)
• 4 breakfasts and 5 lunches included
• Briefing at start of your walk with your local RAW Travel staff member
• Daily trailhead transfers and briefing with your own RAW Travel driver and van (no taxis or ubers)
• Luggage transfer on days your accommodation changes
• Walking app for navigation and track notes
• Pick-up/drop off from Frankston train station
• Carbon offset for your trip and native tree planted

• Single supplement – ask for a quote if you would like a single room
• Travel insurance
• Dinners
• Transfers from Melbourne
• Our rates are based on mid-week stays, if you want to stay over a weekend in either Flinders or Sorrento then a higher supplement charged by the hotels applies, with the below prices:

1. Friday night: additional $50 per room per night
2. Saturday night: additional $140 per room per night