The outer-Melbourne suburb offers a starting point for driving the Great Ocean Road.
The southwestern Melbourne suburb of Werribee offers the best of several worlds: it’s near the big-city attractions of Melbourne without being in the thick of it, it’s near some of Melbourne’s fun city beaches, and it’s an easy jumping-off point for visiting parks, reserves, and driving the Great Ocean Road. Many visitors also come to check out the Werribee Open Range Zoo, a family-friendly spot with some cool animals, including giraffes and zebras. Campers can head to a couple of well-equipped coastal holiday parks at Werribee South Beach.
You Yangs Regional Park
The closest regional park to Werribee is the small You Yangs Regional Park, which is popular with walkers, horse riders, and mountain bikers in particular, with some 50 kilometres of purpose-built mountain biking trails in the park. Active travellers might want to climb to the summit of Flinders Peak, for great views of Melbourne and Geelong. You can’t camp in You Yang but there are many options in and around nearby Lara, Geelong, and southwestern Melbourne.
Great Otway National Park
A couple of hours’ drive southwest of Werribee and along the Great Ocean Road, the Great Otway National Park is worth a detour while on this road trip, whether to camp or just hike and check out the beautiful surroundings. The park is divided into four main sections, each of which has campsites and facilities available. The nearby Otway State Forest—plus the towns and villages surrounding the park—offer other camping options.
Lake Connewarre Wildlife Reserve
Drive south from Werribee and through Geelong and you’ll reach the Bellarine Peninsula. As well as a few attractive seaside towns, you can find the Lake Connewarre Wildlife Reserve in the middle of the peninsula. Set around Lake Connewarre, which flows into the ocean via the Barwon River, the reserve is home to around 150 bird species, including protected migratory birds, so is a good spot for birdwatching. There are many places to camp around the Bellarine Peninsula, particularly in coastal Barwon Heads, as well as Geelong.
Werribee can be visited year-round thanks to its proximity to central Melbourne. If the weather is cold and wet, head into the city to enjoy the urban attractions. When it’s fine, get outdoors and enjoy the nearby beaches, coast roads, and regional and national parks. Because most of the camping options around Werribee are well-equipped caravan parks, camping can also be enjoyed comfortably year round.