Mornington Peninsula & Phillip Island - 1 Day Private Tour

This tour is the perfect pairing of Mornington Peninsula wineries and the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. The tour comprises a full day touring Mornington Peninsula, exploring the wineries and gourmet food providores then in the afternoon, we depart for the iconic Penguin Parade at Phillip Island.

This Combined Tour takes in the best of region for those who want to get the most out of their day. We first travel to the Mornington Peninsula for a scenic chairlift ride atop Arthurs Seat, offering magnificent views of the bay and beaches. Then we head to the wineries to taste the regions’s cool-climate maritime wines.

You’ll enjoy lunch at the award-winning Montalto Estate before we visit the Moonlit Wildlife Sanctuary for kangaroo and koala encounters. The wildlife park features all-Australian native animals in a small, family-run environment that enables you to hand feed many of the marsupials.

In the late afternoon, we head off to Phillip Island to see Seal Rocks and then on to view the famous Penguin Parade, where thousands of Little Penguins return to their burrows after a day at sea. We upgrade you to Penguins Plus viewing platform for a premium encounter with the penguins.

Dinner is at the local seaside town of Cowes on Phillip Island. There is a range of restaurants for you to select from and your guide will pre-book for you. Dinner is not included in price.

Tour Highlights

Visit 2-3 wineries
Lunch at Montalto Winery
Famous Bathing boxes
Arthurs Seat Chairlift Ride
Optional Animal Sanctuary
Hand Feed Kangaroos and Koalas
The Nobbies and Seal Rocks
Famous Penguin Parade
Upgraded to Penguins Plus
Seaside Dinner in Cowes

Lunch

Alfresco Piazza Dining Restaurant – The Piazza Café is all about sharing: food, wine and good times with loved ones. Connecting with each other and to the surrounding environment. The menu is designed to share, with a generous selection of the best of the seasonal menu arriving as it is made.

The relaxed elegance of the Montalto Restaurant is set in a striking and harmonious landscape building featuring rammed earth walls, timber frames and rough-hewn floor boards. Floor to ceiling windows take advantage of the breathtaking and rambling rural outlook of vines, olive groves, sculpture, lakes and wetlands, with pasture, and a hint of the ocean as the backdrop.

FAQ

Whats Included

Expert guide, luxury vehicle, lunch at Montalto (Alfresco dining), wine tasting and entrance fee’s, Arthurs Seat Chairlift, upgrade to Penguin Plus viewing platform.

Extra fee's per passenger?

The cost is based on a minimum of 1 passenger.. Extra passengers above 1 are charged an additional $ 100.00 pp.

Children 4 and under are free of charge.

Whats for lunch

The award winning Montalto Piazza Cafe Restaurant serves up a selection of the meals on offer for all to share. Set on the patio of this award winning winery. If you want to upgrade to fine dining at Montalto please choose our Mornington & Phillip Island Indulgent Tour.

Alternatively if you want something else please ask and we can take you anywhere. You may just want Fish & Chips and a bottle of wine by the beach..we can do that too.

How long is the drive

Mornington is only 1 hr from Melbourne and Phillip island is a further 1.25 hr from Mornington.

Departure time & return

Tour departs from your accommodation at 10.00 am and your return is approx 10.30-11.00.

Is this a Winery Tour

This tour includes visiting wineries but it is not specifically a winery tour. If you prefer to visit more, or less wineries, we can arrange this. The standard is to visit 2-3 wineries. Alternatively if you prefer exploring the region and visiting beaches and other specialist food providers like chocolatiers, cheese makers, glass blowers etc, we can arrange on the day.

Do we visit the Hotsprings?

No. We provide the Hotprings on our Indulgent Tour. If you would like to add to this tour select in options.

  Super fun day with Steve,our informative, articulate guide. We saw a non touristy side of just outside of Melbourne in the Dandenong mountains. We saw moving art celebrating aboriginal culture in a serene forest, fed enormous whitecockatoos, enjoyed the green wonderland of the botanic garden,...More

jinjeet
2/08/2018

  Can't tell you how happy my group was with the Great Private Tours experience! We were visiting from the US (Los Angeles and New York) and for many of us it was our first time to Melbourne or Victoria. Steve set up a multi-day itinerary...More

TBentsen
8/28/2017

  We had a wonderful day touring the Dandenong Ranges with our guide, Steve. From the moment we were picked up, the seven of us had a fantastic day. Steve was very knowledgeable about so many pertinent aspects of the tour and the greater Melbourne area,...More

Bob H
11/19/2018

  Our all day tour with Steve was the highlight of our trip to Melbourne. Each step offered a different experience.The pace was perfect. Do not miss this once in a life time experience.

Connie P
10/22/2018

  My wife, Michelle and I from Sydney, along with her parents ( 83 years old and slowing down a bit from Wollongong ) and her cousin, his wife and their 8 month old baby from London visiting Australia for the first time, decided a visit...More

Peter W
5/14/2018

  Wonderful day from beginning to end. The lunch was good and we enjoyed Steve's company. However, we find out there was a new interesting bakery just opened where others in our group had lunch. Would suggest they omit option to pay for lunch ahead. We...More

2/21/2018

  Steve, our knowledgeable and very personable guide, took us out to the Dandenong area and delighted us with visits to some wonderful spots that we would never have been aware of, otherwise! Beautiful botanical park, very meaningful sculpture garden, quaint little town for lunch, a...More

2/10/2018

  Steve, our knowledgeable and very personable guide, took us out to the Dandenong area and delighted us with visits to some wonderful spots that we would never have been aware of, otherwise! Beautiful botanical park, very meaningful sculpture garden, quaint little town for lunch, a...More

susan a
2/10/2018

  This was a great day tour out of Melbourne. We especially enjoyed the William Ricketts Sculpture Gallery. The rhododendron gardens were beautiful and the lunch was very good. The guide also did a great job.

Dream521454
11/28/2018

  Great guide!!! Highly recommend. There were more stopes/sites than I thought there would be. Even saw roo and emu in the wild.

4/30/2018

  Today was a lovely day touring the 12 Apostles with my mom and dad! We went on a helicopter ride, had coffee with wonderful treats to go with, learned about aboriginal artwork, had lunch at the breathtaking lighthouse, and more amazing stops along the way....More

2/16/2018

  We booked Steve for a guided wine tour of the Mornington Peninsula. Steve was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the region as well as the wines produced in the area. He planned a great day allowing us the chance to get to see the...More

3/22/2018

  Great guide!!! Highly recommend. There were more stopes/sites than I thought there would be. Even saw roo and emu in the wild.

vickywith
4/30/2018

  We had a fabulous day touring the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles with Steve. Steve was a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide who kept us moving throughout the day. Starting with pick up at our hotel in the morning until he dropped us...More

Catherine H
2/21/2018

  Excellent tour. Steve Andrew was our tour guide and driver and he was wonderful. Very knowledgeable of the area and took us to some pretty awesome places. Check out the pics they tell the tale. He even supplied rainbows all over Australia😊

joker2222222
3/20/2018

  Our guide Steven Andrew picked us up at our hotel in St. Kilda at 7:30 am and got us to the far end of the Great Ocean Road first, to see the 12 Apostles before the big tour buses would arrive. On the way we...More

Patty M
1/25/2019

  We booked Steve for a guided wine tour of the Mornington Peninsula. Steve was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the region as well as the wines produced in the area. He planned a great day allowing us the chance to get to see the...More

meadowsatm
3/22/2018

  Steve drove my husband and I to the Yarra valley and we had a lovely time. He was very flexible and helped us tailor the day to suit our interests. We highly recommend him as a tour guide to those interested in a private and...More

6/10/2018

  Steve drove my husband and I to the Yarra valley and we had a lovely time. He was very flexible and helped us tailor the day to suit our interests. We highly recommend him as a tour guide to those interested in a private and...More

stephandchris15
6/10/2018

  If you’re traveling solo or with a group of up to 11 members, I would highly recommend you to book your tours with “Great Private Tours” for the following reasons:

1- Other tour companies are often packed with many tourists, thus it will take longer time at the stops, and will restrict you with limited time at the attractions, where as with Great Private Tours, you’ll be in control of the time.

2- Steve will provide you with the best itinerary that will meet your expectations! He’ll consider every aspect, starting from the weather, sunrise/sunset, meals, peak hours, and since he has been in business for many years he already has good relations with the employees of the touristic attractions who will not hesitate to facilitate your tours.

3- The price is very reasonable, specially if you’re a group, it’s totally worth it.

4- Steve, being a professional tour guide, in addition to his experience as a sustainability specialist, be ready to enjoy the knowledge transfer he’ll share with you on the environment of all places you’ll visit as well as the anthropology of Australia and specially the province of Victoria.

I personally have really enjoyed all of my tours with Steve, and I would highly recommend it to everyone planning to visit Melbourne for an unforgettable experience!

Regards,
Mohamed More

Maa1441
7/14/2019

  My family and I had a truly memorable day with Steve. Not only did he take us to some wonderful spots that were in addition to the usual tourist areas, but he is incredibly knowledgeable about so many different topics. We would highly recommend Great...More

Tony R
1/14/2018

  Today was a lovely day touring the 12 Apostles with my mom and dad! We went on a helicopter ride, had coffee with wonderful treats to go with, learned about aboriginal artwork, had lunch at the breathtaking lighthouse, and more amazing stops along the way....More

MorganMiller12357
2/16/2018

  Steve was very informative and interesting, wonderful selection of locations to visit. Recommend the lunch option. Recommend the tour!

gvrunner99
3/16/2019

  We had a wonderful day with Steve at Wilson’s Prom. He thought of our interests,comfort and well being the entire day. The walks were perfect and the food delicious. Steve knew where to spot wildlife! We learned about the area. We would highly recommend a...More

Scuzzle192
9/07/2018

  Our trip to Melbourne was one of the most memorable trips we’ve had and a big reason for this was traveling with Steve in his lovely van and sharing conversations with him! We had planned two tours with Steve- Day 1 - Covering the Yarra valley, William Ricketts sanctuary, Puffing Billy and Brighton boxes. Day 2 - Covering Wilsons promontory and Phillip island. Steve was active in helping us plan our days before landing in Australia and came up with best ways to build trips customised to our taste and comfort. Flexibility in travel plans is something which most tour operators don’t appreciate and provide, but I think Steve understands a traveler’s mind very well and so he teamed up with us even when we changed our plans last moment ( truly appreciate this attitude). We got great insights into customs,people and places of Australia during our drive time and he elaborated on the facts and history which helped us connect better with the place. He is extremely punctual and still accommodated politely when we got late or stayed around in a place for more time than possible. During a hill climb, my mom got extremely tired and couldn’t walk further up and he happily walked down with her to make her comfortable ( Thanks and we truly appreciate your understanding). He knows some really good bakeries and cafes. So if you’re a foodie you’re with the right... Our trip to Melbourne was one of the most memorable trips we’ve had and a big reason for this was traveling with Steve in his lovely van and sharing conversations with him! We had planned two tours with Steve-
Day 1 - Covering the Yarra valley, William Ricketts sanctuary, Puffing Billy and Brighton boxes.
Day 2 - Covering Wilsons promontory and Phillip island.
Steve was active in helping us plan our days before landing in Australia and came up with best ways to build trips customised to our taste and comfort.

Flexibility in travel plans is something which most tour operators don’t appreciate and provide, but I think Steve understands a traveler’s mind very well and so he teamed up with us even when we changed our plans last moment ( truly appreciate this attitude).

We got great insights into customs,people and places of Australia during our drive time and he elaborated on the facts and history which helped us connect better with the place.

He is extremely punctual and still accommodated politely when we got late or stayed around in a place for more time than possible. During a hill climb, my mom got extremely tired and couldn’t walk further up and he happily walked down with her to make her comfortable ( Thanks and we truly appreciate your understanding).

He knows some really good bakeries and cafes. So if you’re a foodie you’re with the right tour guide.

He puts in every effort to try and make every request possible- A big differentiator from other operators!

All in all a worthwhile trip with loads of memories and funny time! More

pracheea2018
8/16/2019

  Steve was professional and accommodating to our requests, highly recommended. The itinerary he put together was excellent and the group was impressed!

Alex D
6/04/2019

  We were with a group of Ten people and Steve was our tour guide. It was a full day 9:00am to 5:00 pm. Steve was so knowledgeable about the area, animals, fauna, and history of the Aboriginal people. We started with the William Ricketts Sanctuary,...More

Ed M
10/27/2017

  Highly recommend Steve. He was knowledgeable & really helpful. Nothing beats a private tour with a great smile. The kids love him too. We traveled in a family of 14 with 7 young children. So imagine the chatter & chaos! But Steve was really good...More

revsg
6/09/2019

  Steve picked us up at our hotel in St. Kilda in his Mercedes van, roomy and comfortable which is important if you're going to be driving around for almost 12 hours! There were five of us including Steve and we hit it off immediately especially...More

GoCougsHolmberg
2/10/2019

  We had a fabulous day touring the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles with Steve. Steve was a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide who kept us moving throughout the day. Starting with pick up at our hotel in the morning until he dropped us...More

2/21/2018