Great Ocean Road with Kids: A 3-Day Itinerary That Isn’t a Marathon

Updated July 2026 with current information.

The Great Ocean Road is on every “do before you die” list, and most of those lists quietly assume you’re doing it childfree, in one heroic day, stopping wherever the light’s nice. Try that with a toddler and a five-year-old and you’ll spend the whole drive handing snacks over your shoulder while someone announces they feel sick on the windiest stretch of bitumen in Victoria. We did versions of this trip while we lived in Melbourne, and the lesson was simple: slow it right down. Three days, not one. Here’s the itinerary that actually works with little kids.

One bit of planning first: drive it east to west – Torquay through to the Twelve Apostles – so you’re on the ocean side of the road the whole way, which means the lookouts are on your left and you’re not darting across traffic with children. And check VicRoads and Parks Victoria alerts before you leave; parts of the road have had flood and landslip closures, and you don’t want to discover a detour with a carful of kids.

Day 1: Torquay to Lorne — ease into it

Start at Torquay, the surf-culture town where the road begins. Let the kids run on the beach, grab lunch, and don’t rush. Just up the road, Anglesea has a genuinely odd family highlight: kangaroos that graze on the golf course, out in the open, completely used to onlookers. Kids lose their minds; it’s free.

Push on to Aireys Inlet for the Split Point Lighthouse – anyone who grew up on Round the Twist will get a nostalgic jolt, and the short walk out is manageable for little legs. Overnight in Lorne, a proper family beach town with a patrolled beach, a great foreshore playground and enough cafés to keep everyone fed.

Day 2: Lorne to Apollo Bay — the koala day

This is the day the trip earns its place. In the morning, walk to Erskine Falls just behind Lorne (there’s a viewing platform near the top if the full stair descent is too much with a toddler – and it is).

Then the highlight of the whole drive for kids: Kennett River. Pull into the car park, walk about 50 metres up Grey River Road, and look up. Wild koalas, in the gum trees, most days of the week – often ten or more if you take half an hour over it. It’s one of the most reliable koala spots in Victoria, and it is completely free. Watching your kid spot their first wild koala, pointing and whispering so they don’t scare it, is one of those moments the guidebooks can’t sell you. Go early or late; that’s when the koalas (and the resident king parrots) are most active.

Amble on to Apollo Bay for the night – another easy, kid-friendly beach town.

Day 3: The Otways and the Twelve Apostles

Detour inland to the Otway Fly Treetop Walk – a 600-metre steel walkway 25 metres up in the rainforest canopy. Adult entry is around $30 and it takes an hour or so; it’s pram-friendlyish but a carrier is easier for the under-twos. Being up in the treetops feels genuinely magic to a small child.

Confirm current Otway Fly pricing at otwayfly.com.au before you go.

Then the big finish: the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. The lookouts are fenced, sealed and short-walk-accessible, so they’re realistic even with a pram. Time it for late afternoon if you can – the limestone stacks glow gold and the crowds thin. Fair warning: it’s often windy and there are cliffs, so it’s a hand-holding, eyes-on-the-kids stop, not a wander-off one.

From here you can loop back inland to Melbourne (a faster, straighter run of around three and a half hours from Apollo Bay), or push on to Warrnambool if you’ve got a fourth day in you.

The stuff that saves the trip

• Break the drive constantly. The road is winding and kids get carsick. Short legs between stops, not long hauls.
• Book accommodation ahead, especially in summer and school holidays – Lorne and Apollo Bay fill up months out.
• Pack for cold and wind even in summer. The coast is exposed and the wind off the Southern Ocean has opinions.
• Snacks, wipes, a spare set of clothes, and a bag for the inevitable carsickness. Romantic, I know. Also true.

So, is it worth it with little kids?

Yes – as long as you stop treating it like a bucket-list sprint and start treating it like three gentle days by the sea with a koala day in the middle. Do that, and the Great Ocean Road with kids isn’t an endurance test. It’s wild koalas, treetop walks, golden cliffs at sunset and a five-year-old who won’t stop talking about the roos on the golf course. Slow is the whole secret here.

Great Ocean Road is a place that holds significance for a lot of people, and it’s beautiful when seen through the eyes of children. If you like getting outdoors on your family-friendly holidays, then be sure to check out our camping and caravan recommendations.