Getting to the Mornington Peninsula

If you plan on driving from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula there are two main routes that you can take. The most direct route takes one hour and follows the M1 to the Eastlink tollway before continuing along the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and onto the Moorooduc Freeway where you'll reach the stunning Mornington Peninsula in no time. Despite being mostly freeways, this route still offers some wonderful sights, particularly an eclectic range of roadside artwork, the most popular of which is Emily Floyd's giant bird and the Callum Morton high-rise hotel.

An alternative and more scenic route is to follow the coastline out of Melbourne and travel via Frankston where you'll enjoy some of Port Phillip's bayside towns such as Morninton, Rosebud, Sorrento and Portsea. To visit some of the villages at Westernport Bay you can also take the M1 and continue on until it meets the Western Port Highway.

If you want to catch public transport, you have a number of excellent options including the metro train service from Southern Cross Station which departs every 15 to 20 minutes and runs to Frankston where you'll connect to services via Hastings, Stony Point and Westernport Bay. There are also buses that depart Melbourne and operate to towns along the Mornington Peninsula. Departing Frankston, the 788 bus runs to Port Phillip Bay and Portsea approximately every hour. There are also regular bus services departing the airport that operate to Frankston, Mornington and Rosebud.

However, by far the most scenic option, ferry services run from Queenscliff to the Great Ocean Road and Sorrento, departing daily every hour. This is a wonderful way to enjoy the scenery and spot dolphins on your way to the Mornington Peninsula.