Geelong, AU

A Newtown institution since 1969 — Cantonese-Australian comfort food in a red-vinyl dining room that hasn't changed decor in decades. The salt-and-pepper squid and Mongolian lamb are the dishes every Geelong family orders without looking at the menu.

Nashville-style hot chicken from a hole-in-the-wall on Little Malop Street — choose your heat from plain to evil, served on white bread with pickles and a slaw side. Tiny room, regular queue, and the single best fried-chicken sandwich in regional Victoria.

James Street Italian doing handmade pasta and a wood-fired pizza list that's been the local pasta benchmark for years. The pappardelle with slow-cooked beef ragu and the Margherita are the regulars' default.

Pakington Street's most ambitious dining room — modern Australian with Mediterranean leanings, a tasting menu, and the wine list Geelong's sommeliers point to. Owner-chef-driven and consistently the city's top-rated restaurant.

Geelong West Italian wine bar — small plates, handmade pasta, and a list deep in natural Italian wines. The kind of place that does cacio e pepe properly and pours obscure orange wines by the glass.

Pakington Street brunch staple in a converted heritage shopfront — full-table service, brunch plates that go well beyond avocado toast, and one of the strongest coffee programs on the strip. Always queueing on weekends.

Bellarine wine bar and restaurant on Kilgour Road — small-plates Mediterranean, an enormous wine list weighted to Bellarine and Mornington producers, and an outdoor courtyard surrounded by vines. Worth the 25-minute drive out of town.

Barwon Heads landmark on the river mouth — wide deck over the water, seafood-leaning menu using Bellarine produce, and the Sunday-session crowd from Geelong's beach houses. The Bellarine restaurant every Melburnian knows.

Little Malop Street's New Orleans-meets-Southern-US room — gumbo, jambalaya, po'boys, fried chicken, and live blues most nights of the week. Loud, generous portions, and the one CBD spot that runs late.

CBD Cal-Mex burrito counter — house tortillas, slow-cooked fillings, and the cheap-and-fast lunch Geelong workers default to. Counter service, take-away or stool seating, salsa bar self-serve.

Pakington Street New York-style deli — house-cured pastrami, hand-built reuben sandwiches, bagels, and the breakfast bagel that has its own Geelong cult. The strip's best counter sandwich.

Pakington Street pâtisserie and bakery — laminated pastries, sourdough, and the kouign-amann that sells out by 10am most days. French-leaning, small, and the strip's most serious bakery.

Pakington Street wine bar and restaurant — Mediterranean small plates, a long wine list, and the leafy outdoor courtyard that's the most pleasant evening spot on the strip. The grown-up neighbour to the brunch cafes.

CBD specialty roaster and cafe — single-origin filters, espresso flights, and a small brunch menu that defers to the coffee. The Geelong cafe other Geelong cafes buy beans from.

Little Malop Street French bistro — steak frites, duck confit, escargot, and a short wine list weighted to French and Victorian. The most classic-bistro-feeling room in central Geelong.

CBD wine bar pouring exclusively Geelong-region wines — 20-plus producers by the glass, charcuterie and cheese plates, and a low-key brick-walled room. The single best place to taste the Bellarine and Moorabool region without driving out of town.

Pakington Street wood-fired pizza — thin Neapolitan-style bases, leopard-spotted crusts, and a tight Italian wine list. The strip's go-to for a proper pizza night out, not a chain delivery.

End-of-pier seafood-leaning restaurant on Cunningham Pier — the only Geelong dining room actually over the water, big windows on Corio Bay, and a menu of local fish and oysters. Touristy by location, decent by execution.

The 9.5km sealed loop along both banks of the Barwon River through central Geelong — flat, shaded in parts, with bridges at Queens Park and Princes Bridge to make shorter circuits. The locals' running, cycling, and dog-walking spine.

The 3.2km return climb to Flinders Peak in the You Yangs — 364m granite summit with 360-degree views over the Bellarine, Geelong, and on a clear day Melbourne's skyline. The standout day hike north of Geelong, just inside the 25km radius.

A 4km loop through Eastern Park's 200 acres of 19th-century parkland adjoining the Botanic Gardens — old cricket grounds, heritage avenues of elms, and quiet paths the tour buses don't reach. Easy, flat, free.

A 2km return walk along the Barwon River gorge to Buckley Falls, named for escaped convict William Buckley who lived 32 years with Wadawurrung people nearby. Heritage paper-mill ruins, basalt cliffs, and a small but reliable cascade.

32.5km sealed rail trail from South Geelong to Queenscliff — flat, gentle, the easiest long ride in the region with wineries, the Bellarine Peninsula coast, and the Queenscliff steam railway at the far end. Cyclable end-to-end in three hours.

A 3km return foreshore walk from the lighthouse along Point Lonsdale's calm Front Beach — rock pools, sandstone cliffs, and Buckley's Cave halfway along. The Bellarine's most accessible coastal walk, edge of the service radius.

The wide, surf-patrolled beach east of Barwon Heads — walk 4km of sand from the river mouth east to 13W carpark, a soft underfoot stretch with consistent surf and dune scrub on the inland side. The Bellarine's most popular beach.

A 3km foreshore path east from Eastern Beach to Limeburners Point — basalt cliffs, the historic lime kilns, and a wide bay view back at the city skyline. Quieter than the waterfront proper and the locals' before-work walk.

The city's main performing arts complex on Little Malop Street — two theatres hosting touring Australian theatre, dance, comedy, and the Geelong Symphony Orchestra. Recently renovated, the only venue of its scale outside Melbourne in southern Victoria.

Three-floor museum in the heritage Dennys Lascelles wool store covering Australia's wool industry, with a working 1910 Axminster carpet loom, rotating textile and design exhibitions, and a children's hands-on space. The country's only museum of its kind.

The 1896 regional art gallery next to the library on Little Malop Street — strong Australian colonial and Indigenous collection (including Eugene von Guerard's 'View of Geelong'), rotating contemporary exhibitions, and free entry. One of Victoria's best regional galleries.

The waterslides-and-rides theme park at Wallington, 20 minutes south of Geelong on the Bellarine — the region's biggest summer family destination, with water slides, splash zones, paddle boats, and dry-side rides on a 27-hectare lake.

Wadawurrung Aboriginal cultural centre in Grovedale — gallery and shop of Indigenous art, native gardens with kangaroos and emus, weekend cultural performances, and didgeridoo workshops. Run by and for the local Wadawurrung community.

The Geelong brewhouse of WA's Little Creatures brewery — converted from the old Valley Worsted wool mill on the waterfront, with brewing tanks visible in the dining hall, a beer garden, and a full menu. Their second site outside Fremantle and a Geelong landmark.

Bellarine winery on Wyndham Street at Bellarine — cellar door, restaurant, and a hilltop with one of the widest views in the peninsula across vineyards to the bay. The Bellarine winery the locals send first-time visitors to.

The Bellarine's oldest and most awarded winery, established 1982 on a north-facing hill above Drysdale — pinot noir and chardonnay are the headline pours, cellar door open daily, lunch hampers available. The Bellarine wine benchmark.

Portarlington winery and microbrewery — wine and beer made on the same property, a 200-seat restaurant in a colonial-style dining room, and weekend live music in the courtyard. The Bellarine's only co-located winery-and-brewery.

Home of the Geelong Cats AFL team — 40,000-seat stadium in the heart of South Geelong, the country town that hosts a top-four AFL fixture. Match day is the city's defining experience between March and September.

The 1930s art-deco sea baths and promenade arc that defines the Geelong waterfront — a tidal swimming enclosure with diving platform, sun deck, and the famous painted bollards lining the foreshore. Free, always open, and the place every local takes a first-time visitor.

The kilometre-long curve of Corio Bay foreshore from Cunningham Pier to Eastern Beach — restored carousel, painted bollards, restaurants in old harbour sheds, and the Boom Gallery's pop-up. Sunset walk territory; the entire orientation strip is here.

The 1850s timber pier jutting 200m into Corio Bay, restored with a single restaurant at the tip and the rest open public deck. Walk the length for skyline-and-water views back at the city; come at sunset when the western light hits the harbour sheds.

An 1892 Armitage Herschell steam carousel — 36 hand-carved horses and two chariots — restored and housed in a purpose-built glass pavilion on the foreshore. One of only a handful of surviving steam-powered carousels in the world and the family ritual every Geelong childhood includes.

Eastern Park's 19th-century botanic gardens — formal beds, a 21st-century dry garden showcasing climate-adapted plants, and the heritage Customs House cafe at the entry. Smaller than Melbourne's but more characterful, and the only one in Victoria with a dedicated dry-climate display.

104 painted timber bollards by artist Jan Mitchell carved from the old Yarra Street pier pylons — each a different character from Geelong's history, lined along the waterfront from Limeburners Point to Rippleside. A free self-guided trail unique to this city.

Bluestone 1849 prison that operated until 1991 — preserved cells, gallows, and exercise yards, run by the Rotary Club for daytime self-guided tours and weekend ghost tours. One of Australia's best-preserved 19th-century jails.

The former Dennys Lascelles wool store on Moorabool Street, now a three-floor museum tracing Australia's wool industry, with a working 1910 Axminster carpet loom and rotating textile exhibitions. The only museum of its kind in the country — and the building itself is a heritage standout.

The 1902 white-stuccoed lighthouse at the Bellarine Peninsula tip, marking the western edge of Port Phillip Heads — guided weekend tours climb the tower, and the foreshore around it has Buckley's Cave and a wild surf beach. Edge of the service radius but the iconic Bellarine landmark.