Things to do in Gippsland

What is there to do in Gippsland?

Coast walks, wildlife and small towns: hike at Wilsons Prom, watch the penguins come ashore on Phillip Island, cruise to the seals or the whales, soak at Metung, ride the Walhalla railway and go underground at Buchan.

The main things, with where they are and how long to give them:

Walk times are from Parks Victoria and Visit Gippsland, the cruise lengths from the listings. Pick two or three per day. Gippsland is big, and the driving between areas eats more of a day than the map suggests.

Is Gippsland worth visiting?

Yes. In one region you get the southern tip of the mainland, the largest little penguin colony in the world, lakes that cover more than 400 square kilometres and a preserved gold-mining town, mostly within three hours of Melbourne.

Gippsland is a rural region: six council areas with about 300,700 people at the 2021 Census, spread over farmland, forest and coast. Polish explorer Paweł Strzelecki named it in 1840 after Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales. Much of it is Gunaikurnai Country, and the Federal Court recognised Gunaikurnai native title over much of Gippsland on 22 October 2010.

What it is known for: dairy farms and the brown coal of the Latrobe Valley, Bass Strait oil and gas, and for visitors, the coast. Wilsons Promontory alone draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, per Parks Victoria. For the towns, the population figures and the industries, see our Gippsland towns guide.

What can you do at Wilsons Promontory?

Climb Mount Oberon for the view over Tidal River, walk to Squeaky Beach, look for wombats, kangaroos and emus, and in season watch for whales offshore. Entry to the national park is free.

The Prom is the reason many people come to Gippsland at all. From Telegraph Saddle, the Mount Oberon Summit Walk climbs 6.8 km return, about 2 hours, to granite boulders and a view down the whole west coast. Squeaky Beach is named for the sound its rounded quartz sand makes underfoot. At Tidal River, the wombats graze around the campground at dusk.

Driving is about three hours each way from Melbourne. On the Wilsons Promontory day tour a guide drives, helps you pick a walk for the weather and your legs, and stops at the lookouts and Squeaky Beach. Siti wrote in Aug 2026: "We were given the option to hike Mount Oberon, Mount Bishop, or Pillar Point, and Locky guided each of us in choosing a hike that suited our individual preferences and abilities."

Lookouts, a self-guided hike on Mt Oberon, Mt Bishop or Lilly Pilly Gully, then Squeaky Beach, with the drive from Melbourne done for you.

★ 4.8 · 12 hours · from $104

Explore the Wilsons Prom day tour → Tour details

What is there to do on Phillip Island?

See the Penguin Parade at sunset, walk the Nobbies boardwalks, take the cruise to the fur seals at Seal Rocks, meet koalas at the Koala Conservation Reserve and visit the heritage farm on Churchill Island.

Phillip Island sits in Bass Coast Shire on Gippsland's western edge, and Visit Gippsland lists it as one of the region's five destinations. About 40,000 little penguins live here, and they come ashore at Summerlands Beach at sunset every night of the year. General Viewing costs A$34 for adults.

• The Nobbies: boardwalks over the cliffs looking out to Seal Rocks. The boardwalks and car park are open; the Nobbies Centre, its cafe and toilets are closed for now, per Phillip Island Nature Parks.
• Seal Rocks: a 2-hour cruise from Cowes to one of Australia's largest fur seal colonies, with an average of 5,000+ seals sighted. Our seal cruise page has the details.
• The Koala Conservation Reserve: two treetop boardwalks, about 20 minutes each, open 10 am to 5.30 pm.
• Churchill Island: a heritage farm with daily working dog, shearing and milking demonstrations.
• Cape Woolamai: granite cliffs you can see from the water on the 1-hour cruise from San Remo.

Our Penguin Parade guide covers the tickets, the times and the viewing areas.

What to do around the Gippsland Lakes and Ninety Mile Beach?

Bathe at Metung Hot Springs, take the free ferry to Raymond Island to look for koalas, buy fish off the boats at Lakes Entrance and walk any stretch of Ninety Mile Beach, which runs for just over 151 km.

The Gippsland Lakes cover more than 400 square kilometres and are thought to be Australia's largest inland waterways, per Visit Gippsland. Three bases do most of the work:

• Metung: a village on a point almost surrounded by water, and home of Metung Hot Springs: bathing pools, saunas and bathing barrels above the lake.
• Paynesville: the five-minute ferry to Raymond Island is free for pedestrians and cyclists, and the island's Koala Trail is a 1.2 km loop.
• Lakes Entrance: where the lakes break through to Bass Strait, with Australia's largest fishing fleet and fresh fish and prawns (in summer) sold off the trawlers on the Esplanade.

Ninety Mile Beach runs from near Port Albert to Lakes Entrance. Near Golden Beach, the wreck of the Trinculo (1858) still shows in the sand. Visit Gippsland names the lake cruise operators, among them Peels Cruises, which runs out to Wyanga Park Winery, Gippsland's oldest. Our Gippsland Lakes guide goes town by town.

Where to go in Gippsland away from the coast?

Walhalla for gold-rush history and its railway, Tarra-Bulga National Park for fern gullies and a suspension bridge through the canopy, and the Buchan Caves for Victoria's largest cave system.

• Walhalla: a preserved gold-mining town in a deep valley, with 35 residents at the 2021 Census. The Walhalla Goldfields Railway runs to Thomson station and back in about an hour, A$45 for adults, per the railway. Underground tours of the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine take 45 to 50 minutes. There is no fuel in town, so fill up before the climb.
• Tarra-Bulga National Park: mountain ash, tree ferns and myrtle beech, with Corrigan's Suspension Bridge (720 m, 15 minutes) and Cyathea Falls (1.4 km, 35 minutes). Parks Victoria says it stays cool on hot days, and winter is the time for lyrebirds. The Tarra Valley is named after Charlie Tarra, the Aboriginal man who guided Strzelecki through Gippsland in 1840.
• Buchan Caves: limestone caves carved by an underground river, seen only on a guided tour of Royal Cave or Fairy Cave, 45 minutes to 1 hour each. Adult tickets are A$26.60, rising to A$27.30 from 16 November 2026, per Parks Victoria. Online sales close at midnight the day before.
• The Den of Nargun: in Mitchell River National Park, a cave behind a waterfall of great cultural significance to the Gunaikurnai people. Parks Victoria asks visitors not to enter it.

What are some unusual things to do in Gippsland?

Look for dinosaur fossils at Inverloch, see the silo murals at Yarram, camp on a boat-only beach at Bunga Arm, or walk the 30-metre sand dunes at Thurra River in Croajingolong.

The lesser-known places, all on official park and tourism pages:

• Dinosaur Dreaming, Inverloch: at The Caves, more than 15,000 bones, teeth and footprints of small dinosaurs dated to 115 million years ago have been found. Go at low tide.
• Yarram's silo murals: painted by the artist Heesco, with the 5.6 km Tarra Cycling Trail out to Alberton.
• Bunga Arm: seven boat-access-only campgrounds on a 250-metre sand barrier between the lakes and Bass Strait.
• Point Hicks and Thurra River: a lightstation claimed to be Captain Cook's first sighting of mainland Australia, and the biggest sand dunes in Victoria, per Parks Victoria.
• The Noojee trestle bridge: 21 metres of historic timber, one of the last of its kind in Victoria.
• Mitchell River silt jetties: 8 km long, reaching into Lake King, the largest in the southern hemisphere.
• Rail trails: the Bass Coast Rail Trail, 37 km from Woolamai to Inverloch, is Victoria's only coastal rail trail; the Great Southern Rail Trail runs 131 km from Nyora to Yarram.

The Prom's east coast is best seen from the water. The full-day Prom cruise from Port Welshpool is a newer, smaller listing that passes Skull Rock and the lighthouse and stops at Refuge Cove, where you can paddle.

What's on in South Gippsland?

Farmers' markets every month, the South Gippsland Garlic Festival on 27 February 2027 and the Inverloch Equinox Festival from 19 to 21 March 2027. Whale season off the Prom runs until the end of November.

Dated events from Visit Victoria, Visit Gippsland and Phillip Island Nature Parks:

Whales pass Gippsland between May and November, humpbacks and southern rights among them, so early November is the tail of the 2026 season. Our whale season notes cover what is left of it, and the summer 2026-27 post covers the busy months.

Six hours along the Prom's east coast looking for humpbacks and southern rights, with lunch on board.

★ 4.8 · 6 hours · from $179

Explore the Wilsons Prom whale cruise → Tour details

Frequently asked questions