length
5 Days
difficulty
Moderate
trip cost
from $1850pp
Nature Immersion
Cultural Interest
Highlights
Get Ready For
- Experience the full 100km circuit of the Mornington Peninsula Walk
- Enjoy rugged Surf Beaches and coastlines
- Stay in the vibrant villages of Flinders and Sorrento
- Climb the famous vantage point, Arthur’s Seat
- Walk Arthur’s Seat, Mornington National Park, Cape Schanck Coast and Point Nepean National Park
On the Trail
The experience
Some sections involve walking through grassy dirt paths where the track is firm under foot, while other sections can be muddy, depending on the weather conditions. The trail will be dirt in sections and hikers should be sure-footed. There are also a number of beach and dune sections (in particular along the Coastal Trail) so hikers need to be prepared for walking on sand, which can be tough going but also a highlight. You can expect to walk between 4 and 8 hours each day with regular stops to take in the natural beauty, and for snacks and lunch.
Your driver
More than a shuttle service
On all our self-guided walks on the Mornington Peninsula, you will enjoy the benefits of a dedicated RAW staff driver and private van for your transfers. You’ll be looked after by a local who knows all the nooks and crannies of this region and can elevate your experience with their insider knowledge. Your driver will give you a thorough walk briefing at the start of your trip and will arrange a daily trail pick-up that will suit your walking pace and abilities. You’ll have information on that day’s trail and points of interest – this is so much more than the mere taxi transfer that others provide! If things don’t go to plan (extreme weather, sickness, injury), your driver can be consulted and an alternative transfer time arranged.
Meals
Enjoy
You take breakfast at your accommodation each day, with a full cooked breakfast included. A nutritious and ample packed lunch with snacks is brought by our driver each day but dinner is at your discretion allowing you to choose where and when you want to eat from the great local choices available. The Mornington Peninsula is renowned for its excellent food and wine producers, so you will always have good choices.
Itinerary
Daily details
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). 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.
Overnight: Flinders Hotel (or similar)
Meals: L
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 Schanck.
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.
Overnight: Flinders Hotel (or similar)
Meals: B, L
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.
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).
Overnight: Sorrento
Meals: B, L
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.
Overnight: Sorrento
Meals: B, L
As you farewell Sorrento you’ll join the Bay Trail today and make your way to Dromana. (This proposed walk can also be shorted today if you wish to depart the area earlier in the day.) 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
Looking for more or less distances and days on your walk? We can customise and provide flexibility around your travel plans. Speak with us today to design your trip.
Map
Explore
Mornington
In the cosmopolitan seaside town of Mornington, the main street is lined by almost a kilometre of excellent boutiques, homeware and designer stores, sidewalk cafes and restaurants with outdoor dining. There is always something happening in this town with its galleries, popular racecourse, markets and food and wine events. The beaches here are as refreshing as they are scenic and the wonderful harbour is framed by red sandstone cliffs and iconic bathing boxes.
CLICK ON A PIN TO REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT THAT LOCATION
Arthur’s Seat
Rising above the Mornington Peninsula, Arthur’s Seat is an iconic landmark and provides dramatic views over the whole of Port Phillip Bay and down Point Nepean from its 314m summit (a steep and wonderful climb on a well formed trail). On a clear day the view extends as far as the city skyline, the You Yangs and Mount Macedon. It’s common to see wallabies and mobs of kangaroos in this area, and birdsong will accompany you as you walk.
Green’s Bush
Peaceful Green’s Bush is the heart of the Mornington National Park and the largest remnant of bushland on the Peninsula. It offers wonderful remote walking through eucalypt and grass tree forests, and with many resident wildlife and bird species it is a wildlife haven. Echidnas, swamp wallabies and reptiles are a regular sight along the walking tracks.
Cape Schanck
Cape Schanck is characterised by unspoilt and wild beaches, scenic walking tracks and spectacular ocean views. Constructed from limestone blocks and in operation since 1859, the working lighthouse continues to provide ships with safe passage between Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne through Bass Strait. From the lighthouse you can walk down the clifftops on a boardwalk that give dramatic views along the coast.
Rye Ocean Beaches
The wild and long back beaches that stretch from Cape Schanck to Portsea give wonderful ocean views and artfully eroded sandstone cliffs. They are famous for their rugged surf and beachside communities.
Sorrento
Sorrento is a stylish and charming resort town dating back to the 1800s. It is one of the most eclectic shopping destinations in Victoria, with antiques, galleries, homewares, books, artworks, jewellery, maritime keepsakes and more. Numerous historical buildings have been preserved, and there are plenty of great pubs, restaurants and cafes.
Point Nepean National Park
Point Nepean National Park is an amazing formation; a thin wedge of the Mornington Peninsula that juts out between Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait. It once housed an army base and quarantine station, and there are many historical buildings to explore.
Portsea
The wealthy seaside village of Portsea is famous for the Millionaire’s Walk along the clifftops, which gives walkers closeup views of enormous mansions and gardens. Portsea is where Australian prime minister Harold Hold went missing while spearfishing off Cheviot Beach in 1967. Hi body was never recovered and the area where he went missing is now known as the Harold Holt Marine Reserve.
Inclusions
What's included?
- 4 nights centrally located hotel accommodation (twin-share basis)
- 4 breakfasts and 4 lunches included
- Daily Trailhead transfers with RAW Travel staff & van
- Luggage transfer on days your accommodation changes (1 bag per person)
- Briefing with experienced local RAW Travel guide
- Walking app for navigation with track notes
- Pick-up/drop off from Frankston train station
- Your trip is carbon offset and a native tree planted
- Travel insurance
- Dinners
- Single room supplement ( odd numbers) – please enquire a price on your chosen dates
- Items of a personal nature
- 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:
- Friday night: additional $50 per room per night
- Saturday night: additional $140 per room per night
Walking App
Finding your way
Our unique RAW Travel walking app has been designed to help you navigate easily on the trail, so you never get lost. Simply download your map with the unique link we send you and you’ll be able to follow your route with ease, showing your location in real-time without any internet connection needed. The app has many great features; it shows you weather forecasts localised for each of your overnight stops, information on the location of each night’s accommodation. There are important reminders, safety information, videos and emergency contact information for your route. It also has a unique audio feature that can tell you about places and points of interest as you approach them on the trail.
Local Knowledge
We are the Locals!
Our Mornington Peninsula trips are close to our heart because we live here. Your Mornington Peninsula trip is booked, driven or led by people who actually live in the area and have a passion for our home. We know these walks and eateries because that’s where we go in our spare time and nothing beats being shown around by an enthusiastic and knowledgable local. RAW Travel has had its headquarters on the Peninsula since 2010.
Exclusive Guide
Exclusive Guide
Discover inspiration, travel essentials, practical information and more in our free Destination Guide. All you need to know about walking and exploring Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Australia – Guided walks
Food, Wine and Walking – Mornington Peninsula
- Walk some of the best trails, accompanied by taste sensations
- Feast on lunches featuring fresh and local cuisine
- Learn about wine production at one of the best vineyards
- Local food producers, behind-the-scenes on a farm, vineyard and olive grove
$2,690.00
Australia – Self Guided Walks
Mornington Peninsula 5 days – Self-Guided
- Experience the 100km Mornington Peninsula Walk
- Climb over the famous vantage point of Arthur’s Seat
- Take in the beautiful bay villages of Portsea and Sorrento
- Arthur’s Seat, Mornington National Park, Cape Schanck Coast, Point Nepean National Park
$1,995.00
Australia – Guided walks
Mornington Peninsula Highlights
- Stay in charming villages
- Taste the Peninsula’s many food offerings each day
- Explore the very best of the Mornington Peninsula’s varied trails
- Walk sections of the clifftop between Flinders and Cape Schanck
$2,395.00
Australia – Self Guided Walks
Self-Guided Trip – 4 day – Mornington Peninsula Highlights
- Experience the Mornington Peninsula Walk and Two Bays Trail
- Be supported by our local office and local driver
- Take in the beautiful bay villages of Flinders and Sorrento
- Walk Arthur’s Seat, Mornington National Park, Cape Schanck Coast and Point Nepean National Park
$1,695.00
Australia – Self Guided Walks
The Self-Guided Highlights Trip – Great Ocean Walk
- Personalised locally based service
- Different accommodations booked along the route
- Briefing from our knowledgeable local driver
- Walk over half of the Great Ocean Walk
$1,695.00
Australia – Self Guided Walks
The Self Guided Trip – Cape to Cape Track
- Dramatic granite outcrops and pristine ocean sea-scapes
- Astounding variety of flora including seasonal spider-orchids
- Towering Karri trees
- Stunning scenery and coastal walking
$1,995.00
TRIP date selection
when would you like to travel?
Please select your preferred dates for on-demand trips or select a scheduled date for group departures. If you have booked a self-guided trip please understand that because your trip date is on demand and we must check availability of all properties on your chosen dates before it can be fully confirmed