This is the Around Melbourne chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

Just a short drive from Melbourne you can experience historic towns, mountains, rivers, wa-terfalls, bush, vine-covered hills, cycle paths and wildlife. Around Daylesford and the Yarra Val-ley there’s fine boutique accommodation, cafes and restaurants, with fresh country air to match.

• sample Australia’s finest cool-climate pinots in the Yarra Valley historic wine-growing re-gion
• maps
• soak in the soothing mineral waters at the charming resort town of Hepburn Springs
• transport
• take in the stunning vistas at the captivating sacred site of Hanging Rock
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: The Dandenongs, Yarra Valley, Healesville, War-burton, Marysville, Lake Mountain, Spa Country, Daylesford, Hepburn Springs, Macedon Rang-es, Trentham.

This is the Goldfields & the Grampians chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victo-ria guidebook.

History, nature and culture combine spectacularly in Victoria’s regional heart. This is a fantas-tic region for touring, with a range of contrasting landscapes, from pretty countryside and green forests, red earth and granite country, to farmland, orchards and wineries.

• set up camp in the Grampians National Park and walk to waterfalls and stunning lookouts
• maps
• wander Bendigo’s historic streets lined with elegant architecture and fantastic restau-rants
• transport
• experience a real gold-rush town at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat’s famous child friendly open-air museum.
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Ballarat, Bendigo, Goldfields Towns, Kyneton, Cas-tlemaine, Harcourt, Maldon, Clunes, Maryborough, The Grampians, Grampians National Park & Around, Halls Gap, Dunkeld & Around, Horsham, Wartook Valley, Mt Arapiles State Park, Dim-boola, Nhill, Little Desert National Park & Around.

This is the Great Ocean Road chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most famous road-touring routes. It takes travel-lers past worldclass surfing breaks, sheer limestone cliffs, through pockets of rainforest and calm seaside towns, and under koala-filled tree canopies.

• be mesmerised by the outlook over the Twelve Apostles limestone pillars rising from the ocean
• maps
• spy koalas as you head through the rainforest en route to the Cape Otway lighthouse
• transport
• lap up life in the relaxed resort town of Lorne, where the coast meets the bush
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, Queenscliff, Ocean Grove, Great Ocean Road, Torquay, Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Wye River, Kennett River, Apollo Bay, Cape Otway, Port Campbell, Warrnambool, Tower Hill Reserve, Port Fairy. Portland & Around

This is the Melbourne chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guide-book.

Stylish, arty Melbourne is both dynamic and cosmopolitan, and it’s proud of its place as Aus-tralia’s sporting and cultural capital. It is best experienced as a local would, with its character largely reliant upon its diverse collection of inner-city neighbourhoods.

• wander the Victorian-era garden landscaping of the Royal Botanic Gardens
• maps
• explore graffiti-as-art in Melbourne’s narrow city laneways and meandering arcades
• transport
• browse national and international treasures at the National Gallery of Victoria
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Sights, Activities, Sleeping, Eating, Drinking & Night-life, Entertainment, Shopping, Information, Getting There & Away, Getting Around.

This is the Mornington Peninsula & Phillip Island chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

Mornington Peninsula is a string of holiday communities that curls around Port Phillip Bay’s eastern half. At the tip of the peninsula, a world of rugged ocean surf beaches, sublime links golf courses and coastal bushwalks opens up.

• settle in at dusk for the famous penguin parade at Phillip Island
• maps
• treat yourself to a day of wine tasting, in between a long lunch and visits to cheesemakers, at Red Hill
• transport
• take in soaring coastal views from the Arthurs Seat gondola
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Mornington, Blairgowrie, Sorrento, Portsea, Point Ne-pean National Park, Flinders, Red Hill & Around, French Island, Phillip Island.

This chapter contains the Welcome to Melbourne & Victoria, Melbourne & Victoria’s Top 12, Need to Know, If You Like…, Month by Month, Itineraries, Victoria Outdoors, Travel with Children and Regions at a Glance chapters from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guide-book.

Your journey to Melbourne & Victoria starts here. You’ll find the tools to plan your adventure: where to go and when, how much to budget, plus in-depth info on Melbourne’s food & wine scene.

• tailor-made itineraries, arranged by region, themes and events
• list of highlights and best experiences
• everything you need to know about exploring Melbourne & Victoria’s great outdoors
• user-friendly country overview ensures you won’t miss a thing

Coverage includes: Welcome to Melbourne & Victoria, Melbourne & Victo-ria’s Top 12, Need to Know, If You Like: Beaches, Country Towns, Live Music, Museums & Gal-leries, Wildlife, Month by Month, Itineraries, Victoria Outdoors, Travel with Children, and Regions at a Glance.

This is the High Country chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

These are Victoria’s Alps – a mountain playground attracting skiers and snowboarders in winter and bushwalkers and mountain bikers in summer. The mountain air is clear and invigor-ating, and the scenery is spectacular.

• cycle Victoria’s second longest bike path – the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail – with winery stops aplenty
• maps
• visit Ned Kelly’s cell, then sample the brews at Bridge Road Brewers in the picturesque historic town of Beechworth
• transport
• ski the piste at fashionable Falls Creek in winter, and zipping downhill on mountain bikes in summer
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Mt Buller, Mt Baw Baw, Lake Eildon & Around, Eildon, Jamieson, Mansfield, King Valley, Milawa Gourmet Region, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Chil-tern, Rutherglen, Mt Buffalo National Park, Bright, Mt Beauty, the Kiewa Valley, Falls Creek, Har-rietville, Mt Hotham, Dinner Plain, Omeo.

This is the Murray River & Around chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victo-ria guidebook.

The mighty Murray River is Australia’s most important inland waterway, and along its banks are some of Victoria’s most historic and captivating towns. The region is a stirring place of winer-ies and orchards, bush camping, balmy weather and river red gum forests.

• relax on a houseboat and dine out on ‘Feast Street’ in the sunny town of Mildura
• maps
• ride an original paddle steamer down the Murray for lunch at a winery in Echuca
• transport
• explore Echuca’s past in its discovery centre, old wharf area and historic Murray Espla-nade
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Mildura, Swan Hill, Echuca, Yarrawonga, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Goldburn Valley.

This chapter contains the Melbourne & Victoria Today, History, Food & Drink, Fashion & Shopping, The Arts, Sport, Directory A–Z and Transport chapters from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

All the info you need on everything from history, food & wine, to flights, public transport, cli-mate, money, the internet... you name it. Get tips for women travellers, gay and lesbian travellers, travellers with disabilities, and travellers with kids.

• a rundown on the best food & drink of the region
• info on the Ned Kelly, the goldfields and all the region’s history
• full coverage of Melbourne’s great obsession: sport
• details on Melbourne’s buzzing art scene

Coverage includes

This is the Wilsons Promontory & Gippsland chapter from Lonely Planet’s Melbourne & Victoria guidebook.

The Great Ocean Road may get the crowds, but Gippsland hides all the secrets. Gippsland is one region where it pays to avoid the cities – the towns along the Princes Hwy are barely worth a traveller’s glance. But beyond the highway are some of the state’s most absorbing, unspoiled and beautiful wilderness areas and beaches. Along the coast there’s Wilsons Promontory National Park, a fabulous destination for hikers and sightseers alike. This is only the start when it comes to stirring beaches. Epic Ninety Mile Beach yields to Cape Conran Coastal Park and Croajingolong National Park. Put them together and it’s one of the wildest, most beautiful coastlines on Earth. Inland, the Buchan Caves are a must-see attraction, while the national parks at Snowy River and Errinundra are as deeply forested, remote and pristine as any in the country..

• hike from Tidal River to Sealers Cove, past remote lighthouses, in Wilsons Promontory na-tional park
• maps
• saddle up for Gippsland’s longest cycle path, the East Gippsland Rail Trail
• transport
• camp in the dunes and fish from the beach at the legendary Ninety Mile Beach.
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: South Gippsland, Inverloch, Koonwarra, Fish Creek, Port Albert, Walhalla, Sale, Maffra, Ninety Mile Beach, Paynesville, Raymond Island, Metung, Buchan, Snowy River National Park, Errinundra National Park, Orbost, Cape Conran Coastal Park, Wilsons Promontory National Park, West Gippsland, Lakes District, Lakes Entrance, East Gippsland, Mallacoota, Croajingolong National Park, The Wilderness Coast.