Melbourne Car Tours: Top 5 for an Awesome Ride

Looking to really check out Melbourne at your own speed, but want someone to do all the work? Well, the answer might just be a car tour. Basically, getting driven around lets you actually relax and enjoy what you are seeing without stressing about the road. Often, you learn some interesting tidbits you might otherwise miss. So, I thought I would gather five of the very best car tours Melbourne can offer, so, too you can find the one that suits you best!

1. Phillip Island Penguin Parade Tour

That Phillip Island Penguin Parade Tour, arguably, isn’t technically *in* Melbourne, but it’s an incredibly popular day trip from the city! Very, very many tourists love heading out to Phillip Island to watch those little penguins waddle ashore after a day of fishing. This tour very often provides a relaxed drive to the island. It’s almost always with stops at places, like a wildlife park where you could see kangaroos and koalas up close or some spots with really scenic views. Then, clearly, there’s the penguin parade itself which, in my opinion, is rather heartwarming to witness those little guys making their way home. Plus, some tours offer guided commentary, to really give you some amazing background about the island’s habitat and wildlife conservation efforts. Typically, you’ll find multiple tour operators offering this experience, yet I find that the smaller, more intimate groups offer the nicest time as opposed to the big bus tours.

2. Great Ocean Road Private Tour

The Great Ocean Road! Anyway, it might just be one of Australia’s most picture-perfect coastal drives, and experiencing it with a private car tour can just lift the whole thing to a complete other level. Instead of fighting traffic or squinting at a map, anyway, you get to sit back as well as just completely soak it all up. You might want to stop at some key sights, of course, such as the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, and the charming little coastal towns like Lorne and Apollo Bay, and this kind of tour makes all of that wonderfully easy. Basically, what is special with a private tour tends to be the personal element; so you can actually create your own itinerary, linger at the places that grab you, and dodge the really touristy traps that, I mean, some of the larger tours always seem to stop at! That really does depend on you though!

3. Yarra Valley Wine Tour

That Yarra Valley! That is, if you fancy some amazing wine tasting in the countryside, just a short trip away from Melbourne. In a way, a car tour allows you to sip away with no worry about driving responsibilities. Many tours frequently include visits to many boutique wineries where you get to taste both of those amazing cool-climate wines and get an amazing understanding about wine-making from some of the pros so it really has a high educational value too. Some also feature gourmet food pairings or a delightful lunch at a vineyard restaurant. So, too, you might as well check what the tour covers to make sure that it ticks all your boxes.

4. Melbourne City Sights Tour

Want to hit all of Melbourne’s landmark spots? Alright, a city sights tour in a cozy car is just your thing! Right, some of these tours actually whisk you to spots, like Federation Square, the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Shrine of Remembrance and St Paul’s Cathedral. Usually, tours incorporate little gems hidden from all the typical tourist trails. Tours almost always give some local insight and interesting stories about the city’s past as well as what makes it tick so that’s good if you’re into cultural bits! They can come in different styles; that is, from rather historical to modern-focused.

5. Dandenong Ranges and Puffing Billy Tour

If you like the idea of the lush, green Dandenong Ranges together with a ride on an antique steam train, too it’s almost as if this tour might be exactly what you are looking for. What you could do on a tour might include riding Puffing Billy! In some respects, it is a beloved steam train that actually winds its way through fern gullies and forests, as well as stop at scenic lookouts, and visit little mountain villages with cute cafes and craft shops so you could get a really nice look on the historical life. Many, actually really many, tours offer a serene retreat from all the urban vibe plus some sweet experiences with nature.