Melbourne to Lakes Entrance road trip: Distance, drive time & stops

Top road trip stops on the 319km Melbourne to Lakes Entrance drive include the Old Gippstown Heritage Park and Adventure Fun Park Gippsland. The drive should take around 3h50m.

A Melbourne to Lakes Entrance road trip links Victoria’s capital to the most popular resort town on the East Gippsland coast. This drive is almost entirely along the Princes Highway.

Before leaving, you may want to tick Melbourne Cricket Ground tours, Yarra River dinner cruises and cross-city hot air balloon flights off your Melbourne wish list. For a great range of Melbourne tours and experiences, explore here. To track down the best value Melbourne accommodation, come this way.

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Melbourne to Lakes Entrance distance and driving time

The distance from Melbourne to Lakes Entrance by car is 319km. This makes for a driving time of around three hours and 50 minutes, although this can increase substantially if there is heavy traffic coming out of Melbourne.

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There are several moderately interesting towns along the route, starting with Warragul. Here, the Brandy Creek Estate and Wild Dog Winery offer wine-tasting, while the nearby Mount Worth State Walk has some pleasant walking trails.

Melbourne to Lakes Entrance drive: Road trip stops

The Warragul to Traralgon section of the Melbourne to Lakes Entrance drive takes you through Yarragon, Trafalgar, Moe and Morwell.

Yarragon has a nice collection of antique shops. Trafalgar is home to petrolhead favourite, the Trafalgar Holden Museum, and acts as the gateway to Narracan Falls. Moe hosts the Old Gippstown Heritage Park – an enjoyable open air museum – while you can learn about the region’s coal industry at PowerWorks in Morwell.

Melbourne to Lake Entrance drive: Traralgon, Sale and Bairnsdale

Things to do in Traralgon once you get there include testing your nerve on an aerobatic flight with Bandicoot Adventure Flights or spotting native wildlife in the Wirilda Environment Park.

The section from Traralgon to Bairnsdale is more rural. It passes Holey Plains State Park before reaching Sale. Here, attractions include the Sale Botanic Gardens, Sale Commons Wetlands Walk and Port of Sale Heritage Cruises.

The Princes Highway then goes through Stratford on the way to Bairnsdale, the biggest town in East Gippsland.

Things to do in Bairnsdale include admiring at the frescoes of St Mary’s Church and learning about local Aboriginal culture at the Krowathunkooloong Keeping Place.

Road trip attractions near Lakes Entrance

It’s only 40km from Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance. Good stops along the way include  Adventure Fun Park Gippsland, which offers activities such as laser tag and go-karting. There are also two good lookouts over the lakes in Kalimna.

Things to do in Lakes Entrance once there include wildlife-focused lake cruises with Lonsdale Eco Cruises and playing in the waves at Lakes Entrance beach. Affordable accommodation options include the NRMA Eastern Beach holiday park, the well-rated Cunningham Shore Motel and the Big4 Whiters Holiday Village.