Australia Guide
Victoria
Australia's second-smallest state, Victoria is also the most densely populated and industrialized, and has a wide variety of attractions packed into a small area. Although you're never too far from civilization, there are plenty of opportunities to sample the state's wilder days when it was a centre for gold prospectors and bushrangers. All routes in the state radiate from Melbourne, and no destination is much more than seven hours' drive away. Yet all most visitors see of Victoria apart from its cultured capital is the Great Ocean Road, a winding 285-kilometre drive of spectacular coastal scenery. Others may venture to the idyllic Wilsons Promontory National Park (the "Prom"), a couple of hours away on the coast of the mainly dairy region of Gippsland, or to the Goldfields, where the nineteenth-century goldrushes left their mark in the grandiose architecture of old mining towns such as Ballarat and Bendigo.
Highlights
1 Great Ocean Road Wait until the sun is down and the crowds are gone and watch the fairy penguins come out to play at the Twelve Apostles.
2 Goldfields Mining memorabilia and grandiose architecture grace the old gold-towns of Ballarat and Bendigo.
3 Wilsons Promontory National Park There's great bushwalking and fantastic coastal scenery at Victoria's favourite national park.
4 Ned Kelly Country Follow in the steps of Australia's most famous bush outlaw, in the historic towns that dot the northeast.
5 Milawa Gourmet Trail Excellent local produce washed down with great wines from the Brown Brothers winery – all sampled against a backdrop of stunning scenery.
6 Victorian Alps Perfect for skiing in winter, the Victorian Alps make ideal bushwalking territory in summer.