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
inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
Geelong

This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

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.

Read more

From coast to bush: these are Gippsland’s best hikes

    Michael Turtle Michael Turtle
    Continue

    Video credit: Tourism Australia

    From coast to mountains, hiking in Gippsland offers a stunning array of landscapes, with trails that take you deep into the region’s heritage.

    I step out onto the sand and it cries out underfoot. Kweek! I take another step and there’s another little yelp. Screet! Picking up the pace, the sounds follow me like my shadow, all the way down to the water. It’s obvious how this spot got its name – Squeaky Beach – from the rounded grains of quartz that make the distinctive sounds under pressure.

    For many, Wilsons Promontory National Park is the gateway to Gippsland, and the best way to explore it is by walking its network of hiking trails, from coastal gems such as Squeaky Beach through to the bushland, among the wildlife. But it’s still just a taste of what you’ll find on foot in the region.

    Venture a bit further into Gippsland and you’ll discover the lakes, the rainforest, and the alpine peaks, each changing with the season and offering summer strolls or winter walks. Just like that squeaky sand, each step along these trails has something to tell you: perhaps a story about an ancient spirit or a pioneering search for fortune.

    The best coastal hikes in Gippsland

    sunset at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Wilsons Promontory National Park is a sprawling wilderness with many coastal bushland trails. (Image: Mark Watson)

    Wilsons Promontory National Park (or ‘The Prom’, as you’ll end up calling it) is an easy three-hour drive from Melbourne, but you might ditch the car when you arrive, with much of the park’s 50,000 hectares accessible only by foot. From the inky water of Tidal River (dyed dark purple by abundant tea trees), I like the easy walks along the coast, among lichen-laden granite boulders, to golden beaches and bays.

    a couple on Mount Oberon
    Panoramic views from the summit of Mount Oberon. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    The trail to the panoramic views at the summit of Mount Oberon is a bit harder, up steep timber and granite steps, but it’s a popular 6.8-kilometre return. The more remote hikes are found through the open banksia and stringybark woodland of the park’s north, or along the multi-day Southern Circuit, which ranges from about 35 to 52 kilometres, with sunrises and sunsets, kangaroos and cockatoos, and maybe even whales.

    a golden sand beach at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Walk ‘The Prom’s’ golden sand beaches. (Image: Tourism Australia/Time Out Australia)

    You might also see whales on the George Bass Coastal Walk, even closer to Melbourne on the western edge of Gippsland. This dramatic seven-kilometre trail along the clifftops takes in sweeping views of the wild ocean, occasionally dipping down from grassy green hills to coastal gullies and a secluded beach. It also now links into the Bass Coast Rail Trail for an extra 14 kilometres.

    the George Bass Coastal Walk
    George Bass Coastal Walk trails for seven kilometres along clifftops. (Image: Visit Victoria/Time Out Australia)

    Over at the eastern edge of Gippsland, in Croajingolong National Park, you can wander along the lakeshores beneath koalas and around goannas (I keep my distance since one chased me here!). For those who are even more adventurous, the park is also the starting point for the 100-kilometre Wilderness Coast Walk, usually done over seven days.

    the Croajingolong National Park, Gippsland
    Wander along the lakeshores in Croajingolong National Park. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    The best bush hikes in Gippsland

    the Baw Baw National Park
    The alpine heath of Baw Baw National Park. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Deep in the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine at Walhalla, mining guide Richard tells me how this small town in the mountains east of Melbourne boomed when prospectors found gold here in 1862. These days, you’ll find most of the town’s treasure – its heritage – above ground, with the Walhalla Tramline Walk a wonderful way to explore it.

    Just seven kilometres long, the walk takes you through decades of Gold Rush history, following the original rail trail from lush bushland to the mining sites, and through the charming village of just 20 residents with its wooden cottages and old shopfronts adorned with turn-of-the-century advertising posters. Blazing a trail where trailblazers once opened up the region, this is also the starting point for the 650-kilometre Australian Alps Walking Track.

    Nearby, Baw Baw National Park has walks through gnarled snow gums and alpine heaths that show off the colourful wildflowers in summer and the pristine carpet of white in winter. Several trails are perfect for snowshoes, including a 45-minute route from St Gwinear up to vast views across the Latrobe Valley.

    Further up into the mountains, the Toorongo and Amphitheatre Falls Loop Walk is an easy 2.2-kilometre path that serenades you with the sound of flowing water as you pass mossy rocks and tree ferns en route to two sets of waterfalls cascading over boulders in the remote wilderness.

    The best cultural hikes in Gippsland

    the Mitchell River National Park, Gippsland
    Hike the Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    Across a pool in a natural sandstone amphitheatre, deep within a cave behind a waterfall, it’s said the Nargun has its lair. A fierce creature, half human and half stone, that abducts children and can’t be harmed by boomerangs or spears, the story of the Nargun has been told around the campfires of the local Gunaikurnai people for generations.

    As a culturally significant place for women, hikers are asked not to go into the Den of Nargun, but a 3.4-kilometre loop walk leads you through a rainforest gully to the entrance where you can feel the powerful atmosphere here in Mitchell River National Park, along Victoria’s largest remaining wild and free-flowing waterway.

    the bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park
    Bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    The Den of Nargun is part of the Bataluk Cultural Trail, a series of important traditional Gunaikurnai sites through central Gippsland. Another location is Victoria’s largest cave system, Buchan Caves Reserve, with trails to important archaeological sites of human artefacts up to 18,000 years old. The FJ Wilson Interpreted Walk includes the naturally sculpted white limestone steps of the 400-metre-long Federal Cave, while the Granite Pools Walk goes among tall timber and moss-covered gullies.

    the ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park
    The ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park. (Image: Josie Withers)

    Also important to the Gunaikurnai people is Tarra-Bulga National Park, known for its ancient myrtle beeches and enormous mountain ash trees. Just 40 minutes return, the Tarra Valley Rainforest Walk offers a taste of this verdant landscape, while the Grand Strzelecki Track takes you deep into the lost world of forest giants on an epic 100-kilometre trail rich with tradition.

    A traveller’s checklist

    Staying there

    the WildernessRetreats in The Prom
    Wilderness Retreats in The Prom. (Image: Christian Pearson)

    Wilderness Retreats in Wilsons Promontory offers glamping-style tents with luxurious queen beds. Star Hotel is a reconstruction of a Gold Rush-era hotel from 1863 in the heart of heritage Walhalla. Caves House is a historic three-bedroom house with views over the Buchan River.

    Eating there

    the Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    Enjoy a post-hike lunch at Carrajung Estate. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Kilcunda General Store serves great coffee and meals of local produce at the George Bass Coastal Walk. Alpine Trout Farm is located near Toorongo Falls in Noojee. Fish for your own lunch and barbecue it with the provided cookware.

    Carrajung Estate is a short drive from Tarra-Bulga National Park. The winery’s restaurant offers a seasonal menu of regional ingredients and you can stay at The Lodge.

    a seafood feast at Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    The table is set for a seafood feast at the estate.

    Video credit: Tourism Australia