Cap off your Great Ocean Road getaway by raising a glass at one of these Warrnambool pubs.
From timeless country boozers full of character to renovated heritage hotels serving elevated fare, there’s nothing like finishing your day with a meal and a pint while you’re on the road. When you inch towards the end of the Great Ocean Road, you’ll be rewarded with plenty of places that fit the bill. Instead of scrambling to find the best pub to suit your mood when you arrive, bookmark these Warrnambool pubs before you go.
1. The Cally Hotel
Settle into the Cally bar for hearty pub-style meals. (Image: Canterbury Creative)
This centrally located beauty located a five-minute stroll away from the train station offers pub meals, craft beer, cocktails on tap, barista coffee and accommodation all week long. The menu features meals ranging from old faithful pub standards like beer battered fish and chicken schnitzel, as well as veggie-packed side salads, pizzas and vegan burgers. Travelling with your best (furry) friend? Pooches are welcome to join you for a meal on the heated streetside seating.
Address: 112-114 Fairy St, Warrnambool
2. The Whalers Hotel
The Whalers Hotel serves up much-loved pub grub such as fried calamari.
There’s always plenty happening at this longstanding historic pub with stained-glass windows. With a sports bar, dining room and stage, this pub attracts a diverse range of locals and visitors from near and far. You’ll see everyone from tradies having a feed while watching a game of AFL to couples settling in for dinner and groups of friends gathering to see one of the many live music acts that populate the gig calendar each year. Apart from all the usual pub fare, this hotel also serves local, sustainably farmed abalone. With a seniors and kids menu, this is a top spot to take all the family.
Address: 53 Liebig St, Warrnambool
3. The Flying Horse
Order the Rump Surf ‘n’ Turf lunch and dinner special.
Located just off the Princes Highway, the Flying Horse is a solid dinner or lunch pitstop option while you’re on the road. With a restaurant, bar, kid’s playroom, drive-thru bottle shop and coffee shop (yes, drive-thru coffee) a visit to the Flying Horse can be as long or as short as you need. You can also order online and pick up meals from your car if you’re short on time and want to eat while on the road. Genius!
Address: 10691 Princes Hwy, Warrnambool
4. Rafferty’s Tavern
This family-friendly tavern with outdoor seating and a kid’s play area is a top place for families to enjoy a stress-free meal. Getting kids to sit through dinner can be tough, but dining somewhere with big-screen televisions, pool tables and a play area just for kids makes things a whole lot easier. Depending on when you visit, there might be prizes and games for kids too if you’re lucky. There are lots of plant-based meals on the bistro menu here, so vegans and vegetarians will be happy too.
Address: 1145 Raglan Parade, Warrnambool
5. Victoria Hotel
Eaton mess, berries and passionfruit for dessert.
Established back in 1905, this old-school country pub has undergone renovations over the years but lost none of its charm. Behind the near-original heritage facade, you’ll find a good honest watering hole, bottle shop and bistro serving pub classics for lunch and dinner and easy-drinking beers and ciders on tap. If you’re on the hunt for affordable accommodation, you can bed down here too.
Address: 90 Lava St, Warrnambool VIC
6. Hotel Warrnambool
History buffs get together for a pint at the heritage-style Hotel Warrnambool.
This large heritage hotel is open 7 days a week and is well worth a visit if you’re a fan of history and architecture. With a long and storied history dating back more than 100 years, this grand old dame is an important Warrnambool landmark. Settle into the dining room to enjoy hearty pub meals like red wine braised beef cheek or head out to the beer garden to snack on fish tacos or woodfired pizza in the sun with an ice-cold ale. You can also stay upstairs in one of the neat and simple yet comfortable rooms.
Address: Cnr Koroit And, Kepler St, Warrnambool
7. Seanchai Irish Pub
Keep the good times rolling at the pool table.
Wherever you are in the world, it’s comforting to know that you’re never too far from an Irish pub. If you’re jonesing for a pint of Guinness while you’re in town, then head to Seanchai Irish Pub . Inside you’ll find all the hallmarks of traditional pub décor: Chesterfield-style leather couches and armchairs, a pool table, framed photos of years gone by, bookshelves filled with old tomes and the odd taxidermy animal too. If you love Irish pubs, start the night here with a pint or stop in for a whiskey nightcap after dinner.
Address: 62 Liebig St, Warrnambool
Jo Stewart is a freelance features writer who pens stories about nature, pop culture, music, art, design and more from her home in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria. When not writing, you can find her trawling through vinyl records and vintage fashion at op shops, antique stores and garage sales.
The Great Ocean Road has captured the hearts of Australians with its astounding scenery since 1932, but going off-course can enrich your experience with untouched nature, foodie delights and charming towns.
It’s a chilly 16 degrees. My husband pulls on a steamer and jogs – as all seasoned surfers do – into the water. We’re at Bells Beach , the legendary break on Victoria’s Surf Coast that’s home to the Rip Curl Pro, the world’s longest-running event in competitive surfing. Each year, over the Easter long weekend, up to 40,000 people descend on the region for the event. Today, though, we have the beach almost to ourselves, and the less-than-favourable temperature doesn’t deter my husband from surfing this famous break.
Bells Beach is known for its epic surf break and is at the start of the Great Ocean Road. (Image: Tourism Australia)
Torquay to Anglesea and Aireys Inlet
The red dome of Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet. (Image: Tourism Australia)
The nearby surf town of Torquay marks the starting point for the Great Ocean Road . Unfolding our map, which we have marked out with a highlighted route for our children to follow, we set off for lesser-known Anglesea, a chilled-out town 20 minutes south of here. Its wide, sandy beach is a gentler swimming option for our young family. Groms can learn to surf here with Go Ride a Wave, which also runs stand-up paddle boarding on the Anglesea River.
The lighthouse overlooks the Shipwreck Coast. (Image: Tourism Australia)
After a couple of nights in Anglesea, we hit the road again, first stopping at Aireys Inlet. Here we stretch our legs at Split Point Lighthouse, which was made famous by the 1990s television series Round the Twist, before driving under the Memorial Arch that welcomes us, officially, to the Great Ocean Road.
This 243-kilometre coastal road was built by returned First World War servicemen and serves as a permanent memorial to those who fought and died during the war. Carved into rock using hand tools and horse-drawn carts, it was a huge engineering feat and provided much-needed access to isolated coastal communities.
Lorne to Birregurra
Lorne is a delightful beachside stop for lunch and browsing boutique stores. It’s also the gateway to Great Otway National Park , which comprises a varied landscape of old-growth forests, cool-temperate rainforests, heathy woodlands and rugged coast. With the highest rainfall in Victoria, the region is home to many waterfalls – 10 of which are within 10 kilometres of Lorne.
Turning slightly off the main drag, we wind along a gum-shaded road to Erskine Falls. Here, our son leads the way through the hyper-green rainforest and down 200-plus stairs to the cascade that drops 30 metres into a lush fern gully. We hop over large boulders to get closer to the falls, enjoying the entire place to ourselves; it’s worth the return climb.
From Sheoak Falls Picnic Area, there are walking trails to Henderson Falls, Phantom Falls, Won Wondah Falls and Kalimna Falls, some of which follow an old timber tramway from forest-logging days, which only came to an end in 2008.
Erskine Falls is one of many falls within a day trip of Lorne. (Image: Visit Victoria)
You can follow your appetite north to the town of Birregurra, which is part of the Otway Harvest Trail that connects farm gates, markets, wineries, breweries and distilleries. It’s home to three-hatted modern Australian restaurant Brae , helmed by celebrated chef Dan Hunter, set among native gardens and an organic farm, and Otways Distillery, which produces small-batch spirits using local produce and botanicals.
Brae is a three-hatted restaurant in Birregurra. (Image: Tourism Australia)
Apollo Bay to The Otways
Back on track, the cliff-hugging stretch between Lorne and Apollo Bay is breathtaking. At Teddys Lookout, we overlook the winding road ahead and St George River spilling into the ocean. We spend languid days in Apollo Bay, a buzzy seaside town that boasts a three-kilometre-long, crescent-shaped beach with a backdrop of rolling green hills. One evening, as the sun sets, we take the steep 10-minute walk to Marriners Lookout, which affords panoramic views of the ocean, hinterland and town.
A 15-minute drive along the road, Maits Rest is a lush rainforest gully that has been protected since the early 20th century. Wandering along the 800-metre boardwalk, we inspect the delicate moss-covered forest floor and the gnarled roots of 300-year-old myrtle beech trees, then crane our necks to see their canopies, some 50 metres above us. It’s therapy in nature.
Cape Otway to the Twelve Apostles
One of the famous Twelve Apostles, limestone sea stacks that rise from the Southern Ocean. (Image: Ben Savage)
The southernmost tip of Cape Otway is a delightful detour, home to the 1848-built Cape Otway Lightstation, the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia. We climb the narrow winding staircase to the gallery deck, explore the keepers’ quarters and telegraph station, and enjoy a coffee and some ‘famous’ scones at the charming onsite cafe.
It’s a pinch-me moment to finally see the Twelve Apostles in person. This unmistakable cluster of limestone stacks rising abruptly from the sea were never 12, however. When coined this in the 1890s as a marketing ploy, there were only nine; today, only seven remain after two collapsed in 2005 and 2009. We admire these Aussie icons from the viewing platform, in awe of Mother Nature’s ever-evolving artwork.
The Grotto is another natural attraction within Port Campbell National Park. (Image: Carmen Zammit)
Edging the wild Southern Ocean, this part of the coast – dubbed Shipwreck Coast – is made up of many sea-carved natural wonders including London Bridge, The Grotto and Gibson Steps. After exploring the lookout trails of Loch Ard Gorge/Poombeeyt Kontapool – its English name taken from the site of the 1878 shipwreck – we nestle into the sandy beach encircled by towering sandstone cliffs, as our children splash about on the water’s edge, and soak it all in.
Port Campbell to Timboon
Timboon Fine Ice Cream is part of a regional foodie trail. (Image: C McConville)
Just north of Port Campbell National Park, the region of Timboon is part of the 12 Apostles Food Artisans Trail, filled with purveyors of delicious foodstuffs such as Timboon Fine Ice Cream , Timboon Railway Shed Distillery and Apostle Whey Cheese. As an antidote to the indulgence, the 20-kilometre Poorpa Yanyeen Meerreeng Trail is a self-guided ride or walk between Port Campbell and Timboon through tall forests, over historic bridges and past sparkling lakes and farmland with grazing cattle.
Warrnambool to Port Fairy
A 19th-century building in Warrnambool. (Image: Peter Foster)
In Warrnambool, a town rich in maritime history, we take the four-kilometre Thunder Point Walk that traces the coast. The kids squeal when an echidna shuffles out from beneath the wooden boardwalk, and we stop to admire a seal lazing on a rock at the port.
Further along, the streets of quaint fishing village Port Fairy are lined with 19th-century cottages, old stone churches and Norfolk pines. Follow the historic walking trail to see some of the 60-plus National Trust buildings. Port Fairy is also home to Port Fairy Folk Festival (6-9 March), one of the country’s longest-running music and cultural festivals. You could time your road trip with the event for a fittingly celebratory end to any journey.
The Great Ocean Road can easily be done in three days, but we’ve spent a week on the road. The highlighted line on our now creased and well-worn map doesn’t follow the famous route precisely. It has sprouted branches in many directions, leading us to untouched rainforest and charming rural towns filled with culinary delights, and where we experienced some of our most memorable moments on the Great Ocean Road.
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
The Oak & Anchor in Port Fairy.
The Monty is a highly anticipated, newly refurbished motel with a chic Palm Springs-inspired aesthetic set across the road from the Anglesea River.Basalt Winery in Port Fairy grows cool-climate wines such as pinot noir and Riesling in rich volcanic soil. Stay among the vines in its tiny home, complete with a kitchen, lounge area and outdoor firepit.
The Oak & Anchor Hotel has been a Port Fairy institution since 1857. Cosy up by the bar in winter or bask in the sunshine of the Lawn Bar in summer. The rooms are beautifully boutique with considered details, such as luxe baths for sinking into post-road trip.
Eating there
The Coast in Anglesea is a modern Australian restaurant focused on local ingredients. Grand Pacific Hotel has been a local landmark in Lorne since 1879 and recently underwent a restoration. It serves a mix of traditional pub and Italian fare alongside ocean views.
Graze is a cosy 40-seat dining room in Apollo Bay with a modern Australian menu complemented by regional wines. Apollo Bay Distillery offers tasting flights, a gin blending masterclass and serves woodfired pizzas.
