The Self-Guided Trip - 4 day

Our self-guided itinerary allows you to travel on your preferred dates (subject to availability), with private transfers and advice from our locally based staff. You’ll be picked up each day with a private transfer arranged to suit your walking pace and abilities.

We’ll provide you with a briefing to get you started, our exclusive walking app for navigation and local information, 2 transfers each day, and lovely pre-booked accommodation with excellent meal options.

ARRIVE MORNINGTON PENINSULA – WALK ARTHUR’S SEAT TO BONEO (21KM)

Welcome to the Mornington Peninsula! Meet at 8am today at the RAW Travel office, conveniently located in central Mornington (with ample car parking nearby) 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.

Meals: Lunch

BUSHRANGER’S BAY – CAPE SCHANCK – RYE BEACH (16.7KM)

After breakfast, you’ll be transferred to the trailhead to 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 the Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne through Bass Strait. It has an impressive light range of 26 nautical miles (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: Breakfast, Lunch

RYE OCEAN BEACH – LIFESAVERS TRACK – SORRENTO (21KM)

Set out from your accommodation this morning and 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, eventually arriving into Sorrento is 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: Breakfast, Lunch

SORRENTO – PORTSEA – TAKING IN THE ARTISTS TRAIL & DEPART

This morning walk from Sorrento to Portsea 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 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, originally built in 1927 and extended over recent years.

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

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.

• 3 nights boutique hotel accommodation (twin share)
• 3 breakfasts and lunches included
• Driver and support vehicle throughout
• Luggage transfer on day your accommodation changes (1 bag per person)
• Briefing with experienced local RAW Travel guide
• Walking app for navigation and track notes
• Pick-up/drop off from Frankston train station

• Travel insurance
• Dinners
• Single supplement
• Items of a personal nature