Stawell to Melbourne road trip: Best stops, distance & driving time
The best stops to add to a Stawell to Melbourne road trip itinerary are Ararat, Beaufort and Ballarat. By car, the distance from Stawell to Melbourne is 236km, with a driving time of around 2h24m.
Planning a Stawell to Melbourne road trip
A Stawell to Melbourne road trip covers a significant stretch of western Victoria. For many travellers, this is likely to be the last leg of the inland drive from Adelaide to Melbourne.
Stawell on the cusp of the Grampians has several wineries nearby. To investigate Stawell accommodation, choose from the options here.
Melbourne offers street art tours, supreme views from the Melbourne Skydeck and Aboriginal cultural tours in the Botanic Gardens. For a great range of Melbourne tours and experiences, explore here. To track down the best value Melbourne accommodation, come this way.
This guide should help you plan your perfect Stawell to Melbourne road trip itinerary. Or, if going the other way, read in reverse to plan a Melbourne to Stawell drive.
Stawell to Melbourne distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Stawell to Melbourne is 236km. That makes for a driving time of around two hours and 42 minutes. The best stops to add to a Stawell to Melbourne road trip itinerary are Ararat, Beaufort and Ballarat.
👇 7 great day trips while you’re in Melbourne 👇
- Great Ocean Road tour – with koalas 🐨.
- Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary and Phillip Island tour – with penguins 🐧.
- Yarra Valley wine tour – with gin, cider and cheese 🍷.
- Grampians National Park tour – with bushwalks and LOADS of kangaroos 🦘.
- Mornington Peninsula tour – with hot springs bathing 🛀.
- Wilsons Promontory tour – with all manner of native wildlife 🦘🐨.
- Dandenong Ranges steam train ride – plus wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and chocolate-tasting in the Yarra Valley.
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Leaving Stawell along the Western Highway, there are several wineries before you reach Ararat. Best’s Wines, the Seppelt Cellar Door and Grampians Estate are all worth a look.
You’ll also pass the Ararat Hills Regional Park, which has several walking trails. The one to the One Tree Hill Lookout is arguably the best.
In Ararat, the highlight is the J Ward Museum – a former lunatic asylum that hosts ghost tours.
Stawell to Melbourne road trip: Ararat to Beaufort
On the Ararat to Ballarat section of the Stawell to Melbourne drive, you’ll go past Langi Ghiran State Park. There are fine views from the Reservoir Lookout, and the Mount Langi Ghiran winery is just at the eastern edge.
A little further along the drive is Mount Buangor State Park, which has several good walking trails. Many of them are blessed with kangaroos, echidnas and koalas.
The next town, however, is Beaufort. It’s a place lined with handsome 1850s buildings and quirky antiques shops.
Other things to do in Beaufort include picnicking or fishing at Beaufort Lake and smelling the flowers at the Beaufort Memorial Rose Garden.
Ballarat attractions, restaurants and accommodation
Before reaching Ballarat, you can enjoy the lakeside park at Lake Burrumbeet.
The main attraction in Ballarat is Sovereign Hill. This recreated gold rush town offers gold panning, mine tours, plus all manner of shows and craft demonstrations. Fix up your Sovereign Hill tickets here.
4 Ballarat experiences to book in advance ⬇️
- Sovereign Hill tickets – visit Australia’s best open air museum. Give it a full day, too – there’s so much to see and do.
- Ballarat Wildlife Park entry – meet loads of cute native Aussie animals.
- Kryal Castle admission – enjoy a bizarre knights in armour theme park.
- Beer-making course – learn to brew, with tastings and lunch thrown in.
Top places to eat in Ballarat include traditional Spanish restaurant Meigas Ballarat, Latin American joint Pancho and the lakeside Boatshed Ballarat.
Good Ballarat accommodation choices include the apartment-style Quest, the family-friendly Big4 NRMA Ballarat holiday park and the well-reviewed Lake Inn.
Click through to the next section: Ballarat to Werribee Gorge.
Stawell to Melbourne road trip: Ballarat to Werribee Gorge
On the way out of Ballarat towards Melbourne, you might want to visit perennially popular Ballarat Wildlife Park, for which tickets can be booked online in advance.
Other options include Gold Rush Indoor and Outdoor Mini Golf and Kryal Castle in Leigh Creek. This quirky old-fashioned amusement park has a knights and dragons theme, and is better for younger children than older ones. You can save time queueing by buying tickets online.
The Freeway then passes north of Ballan. The best hang-outs in the town itself are Caledonian Park and the Ballan Outdoor Pool next to the Werribee River.
The drive then goes past the scenic Pykes Creek Reservoir. Those travelling with kids may be interested in Pykes Creek Playground at the south-eastern end.
A little further along, Werribee Gorge State Park is right next to the freeway, and hosts a lovely handful of walking trails and lookouts.
The 3km Ironbark Gorge Walk to Falcons Lookout and the 5km Short Circuit Walk are good alternatives for those who don’t want to tackle to the full 10km Werribee Gorge Circuit Walk.
Stawell to Melbourne road trip: Bacchus Marsh to Melbourne
Near Bacchus Marsh, you can make a short diversion to the north for the walking trails of Lerderderg State Park. The Grahams Dam section is closest. There’s also the Melton Botanic Garden in Melton before you enter suburban Melbourne.
14 fantastic experiences that make the most of your free time in Melbourne
- Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
- See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
- Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
- A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
- The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
- Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
- Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
- Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
- Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.
Top attractions to add to your list in Melbourne include the Immigration Museum, Brighton Beach, the Australian Sports Museum and the Albert Park Driving Range.
Also worth doing are street art tours led by local artists, hot air balloon flights over the city and sunset kayaking tours.
Melbourne hotels with a pool include the Intercontinental Rialto, Adelphi Hotel and Novotel Melbourne on Collins.
More Victoria travel
The best Melbourne history museums.
Can I climb the Cape Otway Lighthouse?
The best walking tours in Melbourne.
Guide to the best beaches in Victoria.
Can you do a steam train ride in Melbourne?