Day 1: Melbourne
After making your own flight arrangements to arrive at Melbourne Airport, be picked up by airport transfer and taken to your hotel. Spend the rest of the day in Melbourne at your leisure, discovering the waterfront cafes of Southbank by the Yarra River or following the city’s network of lanes lined with boutiques and coffee shops.

Overnight: Mercure Hotel Welcome (standard hotel) or Crowne Plaza (superior hotel), Melbourne

Day 2: Melbourne -- Great Ocean Road -- Melbourne (B)
Following breakfast at your hotel, take a Great Ocean Road day tour that begins with panoramic views as you leave Melbourne from the West Gate Bridge. You'll soon be on the coast, passing world-famous Bells Beach, host of the World Surfing Championships, and the seaside holiday resorts of Anglesea, Lorne and Wye River before traveling along one of the world’s greatest scenic drives, the Great Ocean Road. Pass under towering limestone cliffs, along sweeping beaches and through the mountain-ash rainforests of the Otway National Park all the way to the Twelve Apostles rising abruptly from the sea, as your tour guide shares the tragic legends of Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast. Relax on the drive back to Melbourne, following the rural inland route, and have the evening to enjoy at your leisure.

Overnight: your choice of accommodation, Melbourne

Day 3: Melbourne -- Phillip Island -- Melbourne (B)
After breakfast at your hotel, get picked up and taken to see Melbourne’s major attractions on a 3.5-hour city tour. Discover that Melbourne is a wonderful blend of heritage buildings and modern skyscrapers on your tour past Parliament House, Queen Victoria Market, tree-lined Collins Street, St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne Town Hall, the arts precinct and Shrine of Remembrance. Stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens, and see the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Rod Laver Arena (home of the Australian Tennis Open). Then get out into the country to travel around Westernport Bay to Maru Animal Park, for up close and personal encounters with koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian Devils and much more. Enjoy the opportunity to pat and feed kangaroos, wallabies and a host of farm animals and see the Nobbies rock formations overlooking Bass Strait. As dusk falls, watch the nightly Penguin Parade as cute little penguins break free of the surf and waddle home across the sand to their nesting places. Leaving Phillip Island, relax on the drive back to Melbourne, where you’ll have the evening to spend at your leisure.

Overnight: your choice of accommodation, Melbourne

Day 4: Melbourne (B)
After breakfast at your hotel, be transferred to Melbourne Airport to connect with your onward flight.