Why Geelong and the Bellarine is the ultimate foodie destination

Lucy Cousins Lucy Cousins
hero media
From handcrafted cultured butter to freshly cooked mussels, this part of Victoria is fast becoming known as a farm-to-table paradise.

Whether you’re sipping a latte overlooking the calm Corio Bay, enjoying an overloaded cheese platter with a glass of pinot at a winery or devouring a freshly cooked Portarlington mussel, Geelong and the Bellarine region will ignite the foodie within you.

To experience the best this area offers, work up an appetite and explore the perfectly curated Bellarine Taste Trail. The rich volcanic soil and cool sea breezes have fostered dynamic farmlands, plus the pace of life and strong farm-to-table ethos, have attracted some of the most talented makers and growers from around the country.

Food and craft beer spread at FarmDog Brewing
Food, wine, beer and more are all locally crafted here. (Image: FarmDog Brewing)

Savour a local wine

Known for impressive vineyards with even more impressive bay views, the wineries of this region produce world-respected pinot, shiraz and chardonnay. To say each winery has its own personality is an understatement. There’s the grand and stately Scotchmans Hill, the architecturally led Jack Rabbit Vineyard and the laidback but confident Lethbridge at Hat Rock. Nearby there’s also a little nostalgia on offer at Terindah Estate, where you can dine in Peter’s Odyssey Tram Bar, a fully refurbished W-class tram. Yes Bar is also the perfect place for a tipple.

For wine tasting with a difference, head to the family-owned Bellarine Estate and dive into the ‘trinity of Texas BBQ’ – namely Angus brisket, free-range pork ribs and house-made sausage, alongside house-made rubs. Or enjoy the fruits of owner Sam Murray’s labour at Oneday Estate, a winery he literally built by hand from salvaged material. It’s a functional work of art, as is Oneday wine, crafted by highly awarded winemaker Nyall Condon.

waiter carrying food at the Scotchmans Hill
Relish a scrumptious meal and wine at Scotchmans Hill. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Relax with a cider, gin or beer

This part of Victoria isn’t just known for its award-winning viniculture; it’s also home to a tribe of brewhouses and distilleries that are rapidly carving a name for themselves. Fun-loving Bellarine Distillery serves its multi-layered gin (named after much-loved pet dogs) and rich single malt whisky, both served up in a renovated farm shed called The Whiskery. A short drive away, FarmDog Brewing continues the canine theme with its small-batch FarmDog gins and craft beer, best enjoyed with local salmon pate in the cosy brewery. Or grab a table at the busy Queenscliff Brewhouse and try one of the local craft beers on tap, including their own Prickly Moses beer, before moving on to one of their six house-made gins.

Cider aficionados will love Flying Brick Cider Co, which crafts its tasty drinks from fresh, crispy Victorian apples and Packham pears with no added sugars, colours or concentrates.

bartender making a cocktail with handcrafted gin at Bellarine Distillery
Try a handcrafted cocktail at Bellarine Distillery.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

AI Prompt

Enjoy farm-to-table dining

With so many makers and growers throughout Geelong and the Bellarine, it’s difficult to taste all the best seasonal produce – unless you book a seat on The Q Train. This premier rail journey departs from the small township of Drysdale and heads to Queenscliff, and during the scenic three-hour return trip you’ll enjoy a five-course meal featuring local produce from Geelong, the Bellarine and the Otways.

guests enjoying a meal aboard the qtrain
Book a seat on The Q Train. (Image: Tourism Australia/ QTrain)

The famous Portarlington mussels might be served to your table steaming hot as you glide along; if not, head to the very tip of the peninsula and eat them freshly cooked with luxurious Portarlington Mussel Tours. The award-winning experience includes visiting a working mussel farm, cooking demonstrations and tastings. The company has also recently added Angasi oysters and scallops to its offering, with their much-anticipated Deluxe Seafood Tour launching soon.

For budding chefs who have been watching The Bear, Harvest Experience in Geelong takes you inside a professional kitchen where you’ll learn to cook fresh produce from its kitchen garden. If that sounds a little too labour intensive, you can simply sit back and relax at Piknik in Swan Bay; this welcoming cafe in a converted service station serves up the best local produce, with house-made ice cream, baked goods and preserves.

Cooked Mussels by the sea by Portarlington Mussel Tours
Try different dishes made with fresh mussels. (Image: Portarlington Mussel Tours)

Shop for handcrafted pantry fillers

After eating your way through this region, you’ll be looking to take some of the produce home to your own kitchen. Grab your sustainable shopping bag and look out for notable artisan products.

For extra virgin olive and citrus oils, visit Oakdene Vineyards Cellar Door to taste Lighthouse Olive Oil, or stock up on olives and cold-pressed olive oil at Manzanillo Olive Grove, a biodynamic farm that’s home to over 4500 trees and seven varieties of the fruit.

No visit to Geelong and the Bellarine is complete without a crusty sourdough loaf, pastries and crumbly croissants (that take five days to make) from the ever-popular Ket Baker. Pair the sourdough with handcrafted cultured butter from Lard Ass butter – the only butter factory on the Bellarine – and smoked salmon pate, smoked New Zealand Ōra King salmon or smoked salt from Bellarine Smokehouse.

a table spread with lardass butter
Take home some handcrafted butter. (Image: LardAss Butter)

Want to see more stories from Australian Traveller in your Google search results?

  1. Click here to set Australian Traveller as a preferred source.
  2. Tick the box next to "Australian Traveller". That's it.
Lucy Cousins
Lucy is an experienced travel and lifestyle writer who loves exploring Australia and further afield any chance she gets. Whether it's on the water, in the air, by car or on foot, she’s always planning her next new adventure with her family and rescue dog, Stella.
View profile and articles
A stroll through Austin’s Wines, lined with bottles and warm dining spaces.
Geelong

Makers, good food and the great outdoors: your guide to a long weekend in the Moorabool Valley

Read more
The Queenscliff Hotel at Sunset
Geelong

Victoria’s abandoned seaside hotel to reopen as a luxe boutique with a bathhouse

After seven years sitting dormant, one of Victoria’s grandest coastal hotels is back – and it’s more glamorous than ever.

Read more
dolphins playing in The Bellarine
Geelong

8 experiences that prove The Bellarine is the ultimate multi-gen getaway

No matter your age and no matter your interests, Victoria’s coastal Bellarine region makes for a memorable getaway for the whole family.

Read more
Geelong
Geelong

Inside Geelong’s glow-up from factory town to creative capital

Abandoned mills and forgotten paper plants are finding second lives – and helping redefine a city long underestimated. 

Read more

This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe Cann Chloe Cann
    Continue
    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington, like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours. While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.