Melbourne in Four Nights — Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island and the Yarra Valley

You are met at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport and driven to your hotel. Your package includes a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and admission to the city's observation deck, both supplied as entry tickets without transport, so you use them in your own time and make your own way there. Both sit close to the city centre. If you land early, the arrival day is the natural time to use them.

A full day southwest along the Great Ocean Road, where the route runs close to the water for long stretches before reaching the limestone stacks standing offshore below the cliffs. The road is as much the attraction as any single stop. This runs as a small-group eco tour on a shared basis, returning to Melbourne in the evening.

A full day southeast to Phillip Island, ending at the penguin parade. At dusk, little penguins come in from the sea and cross the sand to their burrows in the dunes, watched from boardwalks and viewing stands. It is a genuinely wild event on a wild beach, and its timing shifts with the seasons. Also a small-group eco tour on a shared basis, returning to Melbourne later in the evening.

A full day northeast into the Yarra Valley, Victoria's best-known wine region, on a tour built around the valley's food and drink. The landscape here is a complete change from the coast — low hills, vineyards and cool-climate country an hour out of the city. This runs on a shared basis and returns to Melbourne in the evening.

Breakfast at the hotel, then check out and a transfer to Melbourne Tullamarine Airport for your onward flight. Tullamarine is some distance from the city centre, so the transfer is timed with that in mind. Your onward flight is not part of this package, so allow the check-in time your airline requires. If your flight leaves later in the day, ask the hotel about storing luggage after check-out.