Around Melbourne
Melbourne beyond the hills: building the rest of your trip
This day takes the Dandenongs and the Yarra Valley off your list in one booking. Here's how it sits alongside the rest of a Melbourne itinerary.
See Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary tickets on GetYourGuide ↗Fitting it into a trip
| When | Why it works | |
|---|---|---|
| This day trip | A full day, gate to gate | One booking covers two regions |
| Central Melbourne | Half or full day | Laneways, galleries, the CBD on foot |
| Great Ocean Road | Full day (long) | A separate, equally long day — don't stack it with this one |
| Yarra Valley wineries | Full day | A slower-paced alternative to this tour's chocolaterie stop |
| Phillip Island | Evening/full day | Penguins at dusk — a different kind of wildlife day |
This day covers two regions in one booking
Between the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Valley, this tour effectively closes out two of the classic Melbourne day-trip destinations in a single ticket, which is useful if your visit to the city is short. The trade-off, as elsewhere on this page, is a long day — plan the day either side of it as something relaxed rather than another early start.
Don't stack it with the Great Ocean Road
The Great Ocean Road is its own full, long day in the opposite direction from Melbourne, and combining it with this tour on consecutive days without a rest day between them is a common way to arrive home more tired than when the trip started. If your schedule allows, put a lighter day — or a day in the city itself — between the two.
A wine-focused alternative
If chocolate at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie leaves you wanting more of the region, a separate Yarra Valley wineries day trip covers the same general area at a slower pace, with more time in any one place. It's a reasonable follow-up for a longer Melbourne stay rather than a replacement for this tour.
Central Melbourne, before or after
Central Melbourne's laneways, galleries and the general CBD are easily covered on foot in a half or full day and pair naturally with a day trip like this one either side of it — no transfers to plan, since you're already based in the city. Save it for a day when you'd rather walk at your own pace than sit on a coach, ideally the day right before or after this tour so you're not trying to do both in the same stretch.
A different kind of wildlife day
If Healesville Sanctuary leaves you wanting more Australian wildlife in the wild rather than in a sanctuary setting, Phillip Island's penguin parade is a different, dusk-timed experience in the opposite direction from Melbourne — worth keeping as a separate evening rather than trying to combine it with this already-long day.
Wild lyrebirds, back near Belgrave
If the lyrebird at Healesville catches your attention, the Dandenong Ranges National Park — formed in 1987 from Sherbrooke Forest, Doongalla Reserve and the old Ferntree Gully National Park — is one of the best places in the world to hear a wild superb lyrebird, with around 160 of them resident in Sherbrooke Forest alone, close to Belgrave. It's not part of this tour, but for a longer Melbourne stay it's an easy separate morning: the birds are famous mimics, and dawn is the classic time to hear one working through its repertoire of other species' calls.
The view from the top of the range
Mount Dandenong itself rises to 633 metres, and the SkyHigh lookout near the summit gives a 180-degree view back over Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay and, on a clear day, out toward the You Yangs on the horizon — a genuinely different way to see the city than from street level. It sits within easy reach of Belgrave and is a reasonable add-on for a separate Dandenongs day rather than something to try to fit around this already full itinerary.