A unique way to see Victoria, one stay at a time.

If you're coming from interstate or overseas, you want to see some of Victoria's famous beaches, its cool climate rainforests and national parks, and Melbourne's coolest, most creative corner. This trip covers it all.

Each property is an interesting destination in itself. That's the whole idea behind Dufflebird, we collect places with character, memorable in their own right.

The hours you'd otherwise spend finding a collection like this are considerable. This is for people like us, who'd love to land on stays that are well run, thoughtfully organised, and easy. When other places blend into a vague memory, we're pretty confident these ones will stay crystal clear.

Start in the city: Revel & Hide, Collingwood

Land in Melbourne and live like a local. A couple of nights in the coolest, most hip, edgy part of the city, close enough to walk into the CBD. Art, cafes, bars, parks, the MCG, all within walking distance. And if you want to go further, trams criss-cross through Collingwood and take you wherever you need to go.

West along the Great Ocean Road: McQueen, Anglesea

From Collingwood, head west. The Great Ocean Road needs no introduction, but staying at McQueen means you're not just passing through Anglesea, you're waking up in it. A base for the ocean, the golf course with kangaroos grazing the fairways (hundreds of them), and bush and beach walks that are incredible. It's a ten minute drive to the famous Bells Beach, but there are gorgeous beaches around every corner.

Into the forest: Otways Loft or Steam Carriage, Forrest

Keep heading along the coast, then turn inland, up into the Otways hinterland for a few days. Forrest is a completely different landscape, cool climate rainforest, waterfalls, invigorating bushwalks, and world class mountain biking trails. Otways Loft and Steam Carriage. It's the quintessential Victorian rainforest.

Across the bay: Queenscliff to Portsea

From the Otways, loop back to the Bellarine Peninsula. Take the car ferry from Queenscliff to Portsea or Sorrento, a short crossing that saves hours of driving and turns a transit day into part of the trip. Or head back through Melbourne instead, more city time at Revel & Hide, before continuing east. Either way works.

South Gippsland: Liptrap Loft or Shearwater Beach House, Walkerville

From the Mornington Peninsula side (or back through the city), continue on to Walkerville, on the South Gippsland coast. Liptrap Loft and Shearwater Beach House both sit right on Bass Strait, a different coastline entirely to the Great Ocean Road, wilder, quieter, fewer people, gorgeous beaches, and beautiful farmland.

Side trips: Wilsons Promontory and Tarra-Bulga

While you're based in Walkerville, both Wilsons Promontory and Tarra-Bulga National Park are within reach. The Prom for its beaches and granite headlands, Tarra-Bulga for cool temperate rainforest, canopy walks, and the gorgeous Corrigan Suspension Bridge. Both unbelievably photogenic. Give each a full day, rather than rushing both into one.

Last stop before Melbourne: Dufflebird Farm, Berrys Creek

On the way back toward the city, break the drive at Dufflebird Farm in Berrys Creek, also in South Gippsland. Paddocks, dark skies, the kind of quiet that's hard to find close to a capital city. The local town, Mirboo North, is 8km away and has some great small country town charm, good coffee, and a nostalgic feel worth a wander. A fitting last stop, a chance to let the whole trip settle before you're back in traffic.

Back to Melbourne, or back to Revel & Hide

However long the loop takes you, a night back at Revel & Hide before you fly out isn't a bad way to close it. City, coast, forest, farm, and city again. Four landscapes, one idea running through all of them.

Twenty years on, every detail still orchestrated with the same care.

Stay devoted to your inquisitiveness.

A note on numbers: Revel & Hide and McQueen each sleep two, one bed in each, so taken verbatim this loop suits one or two people. The rest of the properties sleep six to eight, so groups and families can follow the same route, just adjusting the city and Anglesea legs to a different stay. And of course, you can run this loop in any direction, or any variation you like. It's a shape for a trip, not a fixed itinerary.