Twelve Apostles Tours

Not yet. Since 16 October 2026 you need a timed-arrival booking to park at the new Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre, and the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority says it is free until April 2027. A booking fee starts after that; the amount has not been announced. Locals and the Eastern Maar community are to be exempt. Tour coaches have their own parking bays, so on a tour there is nothing to book. Details in booking and entry.

Yes, if you drive in yourself. The booking is made on the official Twelve Apostles website and guarantees a car park at a set time. Without one you may have to wait, or be turned away when the car park is full. Gibson Steps and Loch Ard Gorge are not part of the booking system and stay open to the public as before.

One to two hours covers the visitor centre, the walk to the viewing platforms and Gibson Steps, 2 km east. Allow half a day to add Loch Ard Gorge, The Razorback and London Bridge. The day tours from Melbourne fit several of these stops into the day, and the 2-day tour stops at all nine lookouts of the Shipwreck Coast.

For most people the reverse boutique tour ($97, 4.9 from 1,922 reviews): it drives inland first, reaches the Apostles before the crowds and comes home along the coast. The 10 stops tour has the lowest price here at $56, and the sunset tour ends the day with the evening light on the stacks. All are compared in Twelve Apostles tours from Melbourne.

About 3 hours for 230 km on the inland route via the Princes Highway and Colac. Along the Great Ocean Road it is about 285 km and 4 to 5 hours of driving, before any stops. Most people take the coast road one way and the inland road the other. The route and stops are in the Melbourne to Twelve Apostles drive.

Early morning and sunset. The morning is quieter, which is why the reverse tours go inland first, and sunset lights the limestone gold. Little Penguins sometimes come ashore below the cliffs at dusk. The visitor centre is open 8am to 8pm in the daylight-saving months and the car park 6am to 9pm. The trade-offs are in reverse, classic or sunset.

Seven of the original nine stacks still stand, and six are visible from the main viewing platform. A stack about 50 m tall collapsed in July 2005 and another fell in 2009. There were never twelve: the name was chosen for tourism, after "the Pinnacles" and "the Sow and Pigs". More in how many are left.

Yes, at Gibson Steps: 86 steps cut into the cliff lead down to the beach, about 2 km east of the main car park. They open when conditions allow, and at high tide most of the beach is under water. Swimming is not allowed. The beach steps at Loch Ard Gorge are closed for repairs, though the lookouts are open.

Both work. The classic plan is the coast road out from Melbourne in the morning and the faster inland road back in the evening. The reverse plan drives inland first and reaches the Apostles early, then takes the coast road home. Tours offer both, and the sunset tour simply starts later.

Port Campbell, about 7 km west, is the closest town and the best base for sunrise or sunset at the stacks. Apollo Bay is the bigger town on the coast road, and Warrnambool, further west, is the nearest city. The visitor centre itself is in Princetown, on the corner of the Great Ocean Road and Booringa Road.

No. V/Line trains run from Southern Cross to Geelong and Warrnambool, and V/Line coaches run along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay, but there is no same-day service that stops at the Apostles and brings you back. A day tour from Melbourne, from $56, is the simple answer without a car.

The Keerray Woorroong Visitor Centre is open 8am to 8pm in the daylight-saving months, with last arrival at 7pm, and 9am to 5pm in standard time. The car park is open 6am to 9pm, and cars can leave at any time. There is a rooftop deck, a cafe and restaurant, accessible parking and audio translations; dogs are not allowed in Port Campbell National Park.