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Melbourne: Puffing Billy Steam Train & Penguin Parade Day Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pickLikely to sell out

1/11

Duration11h

GroupUp to 24

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Steam Train, Seals & Penguins: A Full Day Through Victoria's Coast & Ranges

You're picked up from Melbourne CBD and driven to Emerald Lake for a walk and lunch, then board the historic Puffing Billy Steam Train through the Dandenong Ranges to Belgrave. After a scenic drive to The Nobbies boardwalk with ocean and seal views, you reach Phillip Island for dinner and the nightly Penguin Parade, where little penguins emerge from the waves and cross the sand to their burrows. The coach returns you to Melbourne CBD in the evening, with all entry fees and transport included.

11h

Step-by-step itinerary

Pickup from Melbourne CBD
Visit Emerald Lake and buy lunch
Walk around Emerald Lake
Ride Puffing Billy steam train to Belgrave
Drive to The Nobbies Tourist Information Centre
Explore Nobbies Lookout and boardwalk
Visit Phillip Island Wildlife Park
Purchase and eat dinner
Watch Phillip Island Penguin Parade
Return to Melbourne CBD

The Experience

You're picked up from central Melbourne CBD in an air-conditioned coach and within an hour you're stepping out at Emerald Lake in the Dandenong Ranges, where the air shifts and the trees crowd in close. The lake sits there, still and green, and you've got time to grab lunch from the café or bring your own, then walk the perimeter if you want — it's the kind of stop that feels less rushed than most tours manage. After that, you board the Puffing Billy Steam Train, the famous one that's been running since 1900, and it winds through the hills toward Belgrave with the kind of slow, rhythmic clatter that makes you actually look at the landscape instead of scrolling through your phone.

Once you're off the train, the coach takes you on a scenic drive to The Nobbies, a rocky headland on Phillip Island where you get out and walk a boardwalk with ocean views — seals often haul out on the rocks below, and the blowhole does its thing if the swell's up. It's not a long walk, maybe twenty minutes, but it breaks up the day and gives you a different kind of view than the ranges. Then you head to Phillip Island Wildlife Animal Park, where you'll have time to buy dinner (or in summer, you stop in the historic town of Cowes first for a walk and a meal), and after you've eaten, you settle in for the Penguin Parade — the main event. Little penguins emerge from the ocean at dusk and waddle across the sand to their burrows, and it happens every single night, year-round. You watch from a designated area, and it's genuinely quiet and strange and worth the wait.

The whole day runs about ten hours door-to-door, and you're back in Melbourne CBD by evening. Your guide handles the logistics — timing, entry fees, where to stand — so you're not juggling three separate bookings or trying to catch a steam train on a schedule you don't know. The coach is air-conditioned, which matters on a long day, and the inclusions are straightforward: train ride, penguin parade entry, Emerald Lake entry, The Nobbies entry, and the guide. You pay for lunch and dinner yourself, which keeps the base price reasonable and lets you eat what you actually want.

What’s included

Entry to ride Puffing Billy Steam Train (Belgrave to Emerald Lake).
entry to Emerald Lake.
entry to The Nobbies.
entry to Phillip Island Penguin Parade.
air-conditioned coach transport.
professional guide for the full day. Lunch and dinner are purchased separately on the day.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearby

Operated by Wine Hop And Coastal Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the main Phillip Island and Dandenong Ranges highlights in one day without arranging three separate transport bookings and entry fees — the fixed itinerary and included guide handle the logistics so you just show up and step off the coach.