Gippsland Travel Guide

Gippsland is a region of Victoria that extends from East Melbourne all the way to the New South Wales state border. A diverse geographical region, Gippsland is an extensive area known for its stunning natural beauty offering breathtaking coastline, spectacular lakes and rivers, picturesque forests and even snowfields.

Wilsons Promontory National Park is one of Gippsland's top attractions and forms mainland Australia's southernmost tip, offering imposing granite peaks and a wide range of local flora and fauna. In the west, Gippsland's lush undulating hills are home to major farming and dairy industries which provide the basis of the Gourmet Deli Trail. A popular attraction, the trail follows Drouin, Yarragon, Warragul, Neerim South and Jindivick visiting vineyards, farms, dairies and produce outlets selling local harvests and smallgoods for visitors to sample and purchase.

Check out the range of accommodation options in Gippsland.

The Strzelecki Ranges are another popular Gippsland attraction and are a low mountain range situated between the Bass Strait and the Latrobe Valley. Named after an 1840s Polish explorer, the Ranges feature wet forest, tall Mountain Ash and rainforests and although some of the native vegetation has diminished over time, much has been protected by the Morwell National Park, Tarra-Bulga National Park and the Mount Worth State Park.

The Latrobe Valley is renowned as Victoria's biggest power generation and coal mining industries and extends from Moe to Traralgon. Just north of the Latrobe Valley are the iconic mountains of Australia's Great Dividing Range, the snowfields of Mount Baw Baw and several of Gippsland's famous large lakes.

East Gippsland is home to rugged forested terrain, abundant wildlife and pristine beaches as well as the famous Gippsland Lakes. Scattered from Sale to Lakes Entrance, these large lakes are Australia's most extensive inland waterway systems and cover more than a million hectares of public parks. Ideal for water activities and bushwalking, the lakes include Lake King, Lake Wellington and Lake Victoria. Fed by the Thomson, Avon, Latrobe, Nicholson, Tambo and Mitchell Rivers, the lakes are home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Protected areas within the region include the Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park and The Lakes National Park as well as the Gippsland Lakes Wetlands. With more than 400 native flora species and 300 indigenous fauna species, these protected areas are a nature lover's paradise with a recently discovered species of Bottlenose dolphin and waterbirds from Siberia and Alaska also calling the area home. Around these areas, waterway cruises are a popular way to explore however there are also some picturesque beaches nearby which are ideal for enjoying the excellent fresh seafood found in the area.