25 ways to eat, drink and explore Victoria's coolest coastal city

The Advertiser

6 days ago

25 ways to eat, drink and explore Victoria's coolest coastal city
By Belinda Jackson
Updated August 11 2025 - 4:18pm, first published 4:00pm
An hour's drive from Melbourne - and just three weeks younger than the state capital - Victoria's second city has shed its "second fiddle" reputation. Subscribe now for unlimited access.
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European settlers surveyed Geelong - Djilang to the Wadawurrung people - in 1838. Arriving via the Princes Highway, you're greeted by reminders of its industrial roots: the red-brick 1915 Federal Wool Mills and the former 1920s Ford plant. In the city centre, grand woolstores and mills from its money-spinning past now hum with energetic new cafes, banging breweries and distilleries, browse-worthy galleries, and makers and vintage markets.
Geelong waterfront. Picture: Tim Pescott
Some things never change - Eastern Beach's art deco sea baths still draw crowds, and the waterfront remains perfect for both slow wanders and morning jogs.
But in Australia's fastest-growing city, change is everywhere: the revamped Geelong Arts Centre now anchors the largest regional arts precinct in the country, a major convention centre opens next year, and the Spirit of Tasmania now calls Geelong home.
Taking the plunge at Eastern Beach. Picture: Visit Geelong and the Bellarine
So, before you jump on the freeway (or the ferry), here's how to make the most of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula. Eat and Drink Like a Local
Jack Rabbit. Picture: Visit Geelong and the Bellarine
Fine dining or casual bites
Choose from one of the city's hatted restaurants, including the pared-down La Cachette Bistrot just off the waterfront, the Francophile haunt Bistrot Plume in Belmont, or Igni, with its sell-out set-course surprise menu. In the foodie enclave of Pakington Street, in West Geelong, you'll find the sustainably minded Tulip (not to mention Splatters, Australia's only sushi-train-style bar for cheese and charcuterie!) For a dash of history with your dinner, the 1915 restaurant is set in a century-old, red-brick boilerhouse in the Federal Mills precinct, with local gin distiller Anther distilling its juniper goodness next door - the Gibson martini comes highly recommended as an aperitif before dinner in 1915.
2. Little Malop Street cafe crawl
Geelong's cafe scene is centred around Little Malop Street; so many cafes, so many different styles, from French country to industrial chic: where a moveable feast could see you get your fill of "evil" chicken wings, tacos, Greek loukoumades or ramen served with natural wines. Among it all, Geelong Cellar Door champions wines from the surrounding region and keeps an eye on global wine trends with its ever-changing guest wines.
Geelong Cellar Door.
The region is little pocket of cool-climate winery wonder, with more than 40 family-run cellar doors, and 150 vineyards in Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and further down on the Surf Coast. The pick of the bunch are its cool-climate chardonnays, pinot noirs and shiraz, and with its quiet, scenic roads, the region is ideal for a winery cycling tour. You'll find wineries in the most curious places: Fyansford Paper Mill is the home of Provenance wines - step inside to see murals by leading Australian street artist, Geelong-born RONE, while an upside-down house is the cellar door for Oakdene. Jack Rabbit wins points for not only its top-selling wines, but also the sweeping bay views, while a converted hayshed is the hub for Terindah Estate, and Austin Wines uses an old shearing shed to show its wines and collaboration with local Boom Gallery artists.
Anther Gin.
Geelong is also in the grip of gin fever, with a brace of distilleries in the city and surrounds, including the new Ceres distillery, which lights up the industrial area of Grovedale. Drop in for a taste, tour or even a masterclass, and pop in for a fresh beer at the neighbours, Blackman's Brewery. From the Sorrento-Queenscliff ferry, you can jump straight into the Queenscliff Distillery or the nearby Queenscliff Brewhouse. Otherwise, stay put and try five of the best at the Chamber of Gin, beside the National Wool Museum.
Bollards on the bay.
Follow 104 whimsical sculptures along the 4.4km trail from Limeburners Point to Rippleside Park, telling Geelong's story through lifesavers, footballers, musicians and more.
Geelong is Australia's only UNESCO City of Design, so it's fitting that the Geelong Arts Centre is one of the largest regional art centres in Australia. It's located in the arts precinct between Little Malop and Ryrie streets. Walk through its concrete curtains to soak up comedy and circus, First Nations art and rockumentaries, Beethoven and ballet. On the opposite side of the street, the gracious Geelong Gallery is one of Australia's oldest galleries, dating from 1896, and its collection includes early European depictions of Geelong from painters such as Eugene von Guerard and Frederick McCubbin.
Geelong Arts Centre.
Admirers of 19th-century industrial architecture are spoilt for choice as Geelong celebrates its history as Australia's premier wool hub. Visitors flock (sorry!) to the National Wool Museum, a bluestone - possibly haunted - woolstore, which opened with a banquet for 200 people in 1872. Here, you'll find not only the history of wool, but stories dating back 60,000 years ago to the first living cultures in the region. The centrepiece is the 113-year-old Axminster rug loom, still in use today, the Reminiscence Cottage, a sensory experience of Australian homes between 1930 and 1960 for people living with dementia. The museum is also the only venue to show the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, on loan every year from London's Natural History Museum.
While woolsheds are the lynchpin of its city centre, the old paper mill of Fyansford village, on the edge of the city, is now a haven of design-led businesses including a gallery cafe and artist workspaces, and the Portarlington flour mill - built in the 1850s using local sandstone - is preserved by the National Trust.
Terindah Estate.
For more history that shaped the nation, take a tour of the bluestone Barwon Park Mansion, in Winchelsea, built in 1871 by pastoralist Thomas Austin to entertain the Duke of Edinburgh. Austin will be remembered as the man who, in 1859, brought 24 rabbits from England for hunting game, subsequently establishing one of Australia's worst, introduced pests. His wife, Elizabeth, was far more civic-minded, establishing the forerunner of the Austin Hospital, in Heidelberg.
Eastern Beach fountain.
Early morning in Geelong sees its waterfront busy with dog walkers and joggers, cyclists and those appreciating a wake-up walk to a soundtrack of seabirds' voices on the breeze and the chime of rigging of the yachts moored along Corio Bay. Easy and super-scenic, the Wangim Walk is a winner; an overwater walk into Corio Bay on a series of pontoons from Steampacket Gardens. At just 440 metres each way, it's a smooth roll for wheelchairs and prams. From the furthest point, look back to Cunningham Pier to the right, and the Royal Geelong Yacht Club marina and Giant Sky Wheel on Eastern Beach to the left.
Eastern Beach is Geelong's main spot to take a dip in Corio Bay, with its art deco kiosk, barbecues, cafes and safe enclosure. For a local secret, take a dip at North Shore beach, or go further afield onto the Bellarine Peninsula, for the family-friendly waters of Portarlington Beach and Torquay's front beach. In summer, kids - big and small - can ride a tsunami or a tornado at the popular Adventure Park waterpark, 25 minutes from the centre of Geelong.
Waterpark fun.
Take a spin along the sealed paths of the 20-kilometre Barwon River Trail between pretty Fyansford and South Geelong, stopping at the serene, historic Buckley Falls for a breather and bird-watching. The six-kilometre-return Bay Trail runs the length of Corio Bay following the Baywalk Bollards, with waterfront views all the way, but to stretch your legs, follow the old railway line on the 35-kilometre Bellarine Rail Trail, from South Geelong through farmlands until you reach the sea at Queenscliff. Don't want to stop? Jump on the ferry and continue your two-wheeled adventure on the Mornington Peninsula.
Cunningham Pier. Picture: Moby Dick
14. Electric boat picnics
Hire an easy-to-drive Go Boat, for a floating picnic with friends (dogs welcome). No boat licence is needed to hire the boats from as little as one hour, departing from Wangim Walk.
One of the world's oldest football clubs is the AFL's Geelong Cats, formed in 1859. The 2022 premiers play at their home ground of Kardinia Park, home to the city's largest stadium.
The Federal Mills precinct houses the permanent vintage market, while every town has at least one monthly farmers market, night market, ethical market or community market to stock up on plants, produce, crafts and curios.
The long-stayer of Geelong's hotel scene is the Novotel Geelong, in the centre of Geelong's waterfront, on Eastern Beach Road opposite Steampacket Gardens, with an Americana seafood-grill bent to its waterfront restaurant and a focus on produce drawn from a 60-kilometre radius. Other choices include the centrally located Rydges Geelong, the 128-room, dog-friendly R Hotel Geelong and Vue Apartments, opposite Eastern Beach. Newer hotels include the new 180-room Holiday Inn opposite the Geelong Arts Centre, close to the cafe-filled Little Malop Street and Quest Gheringhap Street.
The Bellarine Peninsula yields cosy cabins and hidden B&Bs in its towns and villages, including The Woods' bush cabins just outside Ocean Grove and stylish self-contained pods with outdoor deck baths at The Nest in Point Lonsdale. Putting the putt into the weekend, the Curlewis Clubhouse sits on one of the region's best golf courses in Portarlington, with signature French restaurant Claribeaux. Otherwise, soak up the wines with a stay in McGlashan's Wallington Estate eco villas, 25 minutes' drive from central Geelong, and pay a visit to Farm Dog Brewing, where the next generation of McGlashans is brewing craft beer and boutique gins. If you love a good glamp, 20 new tents have cropped up on the grounds of Bellarine Estate winery, 25 minutes from Geelong, where the Kenny family's established cellar door is complemented by a Texan-inspired smokehouse restaurant and another newcomer, the Thirty Acres gin distillery.
Surfing at Ocean Grove.
The Bellarine peninsula is Geelong's coastal playground. Less famous than its sister, the Mornington Peninsula, on the other side of Port Phillip Bay, the Bellarine's charms are as plentiful, but without the rush. The two peninsulas are connected by the Searoad ferries, which run between Sorrento and Queenscliff, where the ferry terminal is a destination in its own right, with the new waterfront Tarra restaurant serving all-day meals.
From bar at the Portarlington Grand.
Train lovers, jump straight from ferry onto the hugely popular Q Train, a rolling restaurant that runs between Drysdale and Queenscliff, serving degustation menus that showcase the food, wines and spirits of Geelong, the Bellarine and Otways. Otherwise, book the Blues Train, which grooves its way around the Bellarine several times a month from Queenscliff railway station for a night of music and food, dancing and drinks, with four acts performing on the moving train.
21. Bellarine Taste Trail
Follow the Bellarine Taste Trail, with nearly 50 food and wine stops, from farmgates to provedores on the peninsula. You could even pair it with an e-bike tour, merging food and fitness.
Portarlington Mussel Tours take guests out in the Sea Bounty, a 40-year-old Huon pine trawler, to discover the bay's beloved bivalves. Get your hands on the ropes to pull up the mussels, and then enjoy a feast cooked up on the boat, with local olives, smokehouse dips, and wines and gins from the region.
Bellarine Estate.
Established in 1888, the refurbished Portarlington Grand Hotel has 18 rooms including its Bay rooms, whose balconies let you watch the changing moods of Port Phillip Bay. Balancing its grand staircases and high ceilings, the Grand is still a casual and fun pub for locals, with Portarlington mussels and local wines on the menu. Tapping into the rich mineral waters of ancient aquifers, The Lon Retreat is a family-run, European-style house hotel with just seven suites on its 80-hectare property in Point Lonsdale, with a luxurious day spa that incorporates mineral bathing into its treatments.
24. Surf or swim with seals
There's no better place to learn to surf than on the gentle waves of the Bellarine Peninsula, with surf schools in all the coastal towns from Ocean Grove to Thirteenth Beach at Barwon Heads and Torquay, or watch the pros at work on the renowned waves of Bells Beach. But there's a different reason to don a wetsuit at Queenscliff, where you can swim with Australian fur seals and dolphins.
Belinda Jackson was a guest of the Novotel Geelong and Lon Retreat