When you think of Victoria, the first thing that comes to people’s mind is Melbourne, but Victoria is way more than good coffee, good shopping, good restaurants, a great transport system and affordable house prices… Victoria has so much more – more reasons to move from Sydney, I suppose. 

We’ll take a look at some places to should check out and some activities you can do in Victoria. Some of my favourite picks in VIC.

High Country

Bright, Victoria

Located in Victoria’s north-east, I can’t talk about the High Country highly enough! Personally, I think it’s what makes Victoria an amazing place.

This is where you’ll find some of the prettiest towns in the state.

Porepunkah is a little town near Bright with modern looking quaint shops, beautifully curated streets and walkways with well manicured and greenery and trees througout the town. Nothing looked out of place!

The Porepunkah Riverside Park is a must visit anytime of the year. Beautifully green, vibrant colour plants with the most picturesque flowing water stream that runs through it. Perfect for summer pinics and dips, and colder weather picnics with friends and family.    

Chiltern is a charming small town with 19th century streets made for walking. Check out the heritage listed buildings, cafes and shops. Even their caravan park is cute (Lake Anderson Caravan Park)

As the name suggests, the High Countryy it’s also the place to go to for outdoor adventures considering the changing elevation.

Dinner Plains, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller & Falls Creek all have epic snowboarding, skiing and backcountry trekking in the winter; then amazing cycling and mountain biking in the warmer months.

There’s also 6 stand alone mountain bike parks you can visit all year round and they’re all near each other. Bike park hopping anyone?

Dinner Plains also has dog sledding activities and competitions in winter.  

All the pretty towns are linked in several Rail trails

• High Country Rail Trail (HC)  from Lake Hume to Upper Murray (120kms)
• Murray to Mountain (M2M) from Wangaratta to Bright (78kms)
• Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) from Mansfield to Tallarook (134km

Gippsland

Gippsland Lakes

Victoria’s Gippsland is a special blend of sand, sun, salt spray and cool rainforests.

It’s home to Victoria’s largest coastal wilderness area, Wilsons Promontory National Park where you can get some world class hiking. The 59km Southern Circuit is the most iconic walk that takes you from Mount Oberon Bay to the Wilsons Prom lighthouse – the most southern tip of Victoria.

It’s also home to Gippsland Lakes Australia’s largest and most beautiful inland waterways. The Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes, marshes and lagoons covering over 600 square kilometres, making it a hot spot for a lot of water based activities.

It’s also home to the Metung Hot Springs, an award winning bathing and wellness experience with views over the Gippsland Lake. It just recently opened it’s Lagoon Precinct where you can try a floating sauna.

You can also check out Raymond Island which has a koala colony that you can visit from the shore. Just take a cute boat ride from any of the waterside villages and towns to the island. Try the Koala Trail which is relatively easy 20 minute walking trail that takes you through the gum trees.

TIP: Pack a nice lunch. The walk leads you to a nice scenic place.

Phillip Island

When you think Victoria how many of you think of penguins?

You can watch the famous Penguin Parade at Phillip Island. the home to the largest little penguin colony in the world.

Here you get to watch the penguins waddle home from the ocean to their burrows any night of the year from their viewing platforms and boardwalks, as long as you book tickets in advance. This is to avoid large crowds to protect the penguins and their habitat.

The penguins arrive at sunset every evening to go to their burrows and you can watch the penguins in their borrows by linking up to Phillip Island’s live burrow cameras, kinda like the Big Brother house.

Phillip Island is also known for surfing, home to Victoria’s first National Surfing Reserve, with fantastic surf spots with a range of breaks.