Living in Melbourne there’s unlimited weekend road trip options. Discovering the Great Ocean road, Wilson’s Promontory and Yarra Valley are just a few options. A road less travelled is the inland road trip from Melbourne to Echuca, and back.

I’m sharing why this road trip is special and why it shouldn’t be missed. It’s relatively shorter than other road trips and can be done in a weekend.

There’s options for walks, free campground and tons of free activities. Driving inland through Victoria has dry landscapes compared with the coast. But, it’s a chance to see a different version of Australia and the historic Vicotrian gold rush era, from the mid 1800s.

What I love about this road trip is that it’s not as busy as coastal routes. And, it’s completely different from any other road trip. This route stops in Heathcote, Bendigo, Echuca/Moama and Kyabram. Each town or city has its own natural beauty and community culture.

Less driving to each town also means more time to enjoy the spots and all they have to offer. Check out this road trip guide for where to stop, what to do and where to eat and drink.

Road Trip Guide: Melbourne to Echuca, VIC and Back

Total drive time: Six hours

Minimum Recommended Days: 3 Days

Day 1: Melbourne to Heathcote, VIC

Drive time: One hour and a half (119 km)

Leaving Melbourne, the views quickly change from busy suburbs or city—depending on where you’re leaving—to hilly, somewhat barren landscape. Heathcote is the first stop of the road trip from Melbourne to Echuca. The dry hilly landscape is especially good for wineries. And in Heathcote, shiraz is its specialty.

There’s many wineries around Heathcote to sample wines. Or, the Heathcote Winery has options from multiple local wineries in one location. If you’re travelling around grape season—February to March—the tourist information centre might have local grapes to sample from wineries. It’s neat to see the different sizes and colours of the fruit that goes into making the wine.

For a short walk, and a free history lesson of Victoria’s gold rush, check out Pink Cliffs Reserve. There’s many methods in which gold mining occurred. Some by gold panning, but at Pink Cliffs the area was flooded to get the gold. The result is what’s left now, dry hills, where the gold once tunnelled through. It really does have a pink tone to the hills, explaining the name.

Just remember to stay sun safe, in the outback there’s less trees to hide from the sun.

Free campgrounds

Heathcote has a few free campsites in the area, all are good places to relax after a busy day at wineries and sightseeing. Dargile specifically has trees perfect for hammocks, if you have one.

• Mia Mia Reserve
• Dargile Camping Area
• Tooleen Hotel

Day 2: Heathcote to Bendigo, VIC

Drive time: 30 mins (45 km)

Staying in Heathcote overnight makes for a easy, and quick drive, to the next big town. Bendigo is a delightful regional town characterized by heritage buildings and a big green park in town.

There’s cafes and small restaurants scattered around the town. Most are locally-owned, but there’s some Australian staples such as Grill’d and Schnitz.

For some local favourites check out The Dispensary, Cortille and Wholefoods Kitchen. Bendigo is a good place to stock up on food or other snacks, as it has all the big name grocery stores such as Coles and Woolies.

There’s also historic train rides through town that share information of what took place during the gold rush in Bendigo.

Free campgrounds

Bendigo is the perfect place to enjoy a country town and retreat to a quiet campground for the night. A personal favourite is Notley’s Campground which has a walk to an old gold mine.

• Huntly Lions Park
• Notley’s Campground

Day 3: Bendigo to Echuca, VIC

Drive time: One hour (88 km)

All angles of Echuca scream historic Australia. Echuca is right on the border of NSW which follows the Murray River. Moama is the next town over in NSW. From the tourist information centre in Echuca, the two towns are within walking distance.

The park area surrounding the Murray River is a great place to retreat during a hot day.

River cruises of all sorts take off from the Port of Echuca. In front of the port is an old-fashioned part of town where people can see what life once looked like during the gold rush. Although personally, I was more interested in samples from St Anne’s Winery—on the same block.

Free campgrounds

Unsurprisingly, all of the free campgrounds surrounding Echuca surround the Murray River. Just pray there’s not too many noisy boats on the river while you’re there.

• Casey Bend
• Wills Bend
• Rivers Edge Campground

Day 4: Echuca to Kyabram, VIC

Drive time: 30 mins (40 km)

Leave the gold mining town of Echuca to see some domestic wild animals at the Kyabram Fauna Park. The fauna park is the main attraction of Kyabram. Unlike a zoo, most of the animals in the park roam wild in the 55 hectare facility.

The price tag is also far less than other zoos or sanctuaries, at just A$20 per adult. There’s also kangaroo feeding and an opportunity to take photos with a koala.

The koalas at the fauna park are in a government run relocation program. This program is set up to move the small bears from over populated areas into less populated and more livable areas.

There’s also a barbecue area out front and major grocery stores in town. This makes the fauna park a great place to stay for the day. Depending on the seasons different areas of the park will brighten up more than others, such as the wet area when it (finally) rains.

Free campsites

A twist to unexpectedly finding a gold-mine of a fauna park in Kyabram is that it’s also a free campground. If you choose to stay somewhere else though (no shame in staying at the same place for 24 hours straight) here’s a few options.

• Kyabram Fauna Park
• Greens Lake Reserve
• Aysons Reserve
• Greens Campground Whroo Historic Reserve

Day 5: Kyabram to Melbourne, VIC

Drive time: Two and a half hours (212 km)

It’s less than half a day of travelling back to the big city of Melbourne. Head back and look forward to your next road trip. Check out the road trip from Sydney to Melbourne (or reverse) inland route if you’re planning to go to Sydney.

Remember to drive safely, take breaks and enjoy the outback!

Driving in Australia doesn’t need to be complicated. Check out everything you need to know for vehicle insurance and using an international drivers license.