Portarlington Day Trip Ideas

Held in early January every year, the Portarlington Mussel Festival started as a street festival back in 2007 as a way to celebrate and promote the local mussel industry. Today it’s grown into one of the most popular community festivals in Victoria with over 30,000 visitors, live music all day long, hundreds of market stalls and a whole lotta delicious mussels. It is a great day out for the entire family!

Port Phillip Ferries runs multiple ferries in and out of Portarlington all day during the festival, so you can choose to head over for a few hours or stay for the whole day. Click below for more information.

With a complete makeover in late 2019, the new main playground has been designed to increase the range of play choices for children of all ages with a balance of traditional play equipment alongside nature-based and imaginary play opportunities. Features include a dry creek bed and water play, balancing logs, climbing ropes, swings, a trampoline and a flying fox. Close by are BBQ’s and space for picnicking. Click here for further details.

Located just 300m from Portarlington beach front is the historic Portarlington Mill. The beautiful building is four stories constructed from sandstone. This mill is one of the few remaining Victorian flour mills. The Portarlington Mill closed in 1874 and later became a brick and mortar manufacturing facility and a flat for vacationers. It contains numerous interesting artefacts including memorabilia of the steamship Edina which brought holidaymakers to the Portarlington beach.

Portarlington Pier was built in 1859, and has been popular among local fishermen even today. It hosts commercial fishing vessels, as well as Portarlington Ferries to take you to Melbourne Docklands. The first Pier was deemed dangerous so it was recently rebuilt and expanded. It extends across the bay and walking along pier is a must-do tourist attraction in Portarlington. The port forms the shape of an “L” ), but the plain concrete is replaced by an aesthetically appealing wood-built boardwalk. The Pier is accompanied by a nearby boat ramp to dock your boats or Jet Skis at.

The south facing Portarlington Beach offers uninterrupted views of Melbourne and the You Yangs during summer and is ideal to enjoy the company of your loved one’s. It is an attractive long wide beach with quiet shallow waters, perfect for families with children. A good option for adults who are seeking a different option from the rough coast on another side of the island. There are sandbars and a few stones, virtually no waves and is ideal for using your Blow-up beach toys. Portarlington beaches also offer a beautiful beachfront with tall cypress trees surrounded by grassed areas, a bicycle track, and picnic and barbecue sites.
Australia has many beautiful beaches but Portarlington has ranked amongst the best in Victoria. It’s an excellent shallow protected area, so the beach offers safe swimming for young children. The beaches are shelly, but the feeling of walking down the dirt, sand, or in the water can be liberating! A great place to relax on the seaside. You could even go for a walk to the Pier or maybe a paddle. With an attractive foreshore, and a view overlooking Port Phillip Bay; take the family along for a day trip at this hidden gem!

Visit some of Victoria’s best-kept secrets in terms of wine travel. The Bellarine Peninsula is a relatively small, but highly acclaimed area, with many established vineyards in the vicinity. With names like Scotchman’s Hill Winery, Bellarine Estate and Jack Rabbit, the list of critically acclaimed places goes on and on!
Here the specialists produce cold climate quality wines. Several vineyards offer their own unique growing environment and the wine is carefully harvested and grapes are carefully selected in order to obtain the best possible results. Enjoy a glass of wine, with an exquisite food offering accompanied by panoramic sea views of Port Phillip Bay. At Port Phillip Ferries, we have a list of winery tours and packages, with specials available if you are taking the ferry from Melbourne.