Holiday houses in Lorne

A pretty seaside town on Victoria’s spectacular Great Ocean Road, Lorne sits between the bushland of Great Otway National Park and a beautiful surf beach. The Lorne section of the Great Ocean Road is also the town’s main street. Rows of shops, cafés, and restaurants line one side of the road, facing a grassy foreshore and the sandy beach. The coastal road runs past the beach to Lorne Pier, a popular spot to swim and fish, before continuing on to the surf town of Apollo Bay.

With legions of foodies regularly visiting from Melbourne, the standard of the dining offerings in Lorne is unsurprisingly high. Expect excellent coffee and fresh local seafood and produce. Lorne is also well known for its thriving arts scene, with a vibrant community of artists and craftspeople. There’s a strong wellness vibe here, too, with wellness practitioners and spas offering healing treatments before or after your beachside yoga session.

The ideal time to stay in one of Lorne’s holiday houses is from December to February, when the summer days are warm and dry and the nights are brisk rather than chilly. Lorne is a popular getaway for Melburnians, so it’ll be packed in the warmer months, especially during the school holidays from mid-December. The town is also inundated with indie music fans for the Falls Festival from late December. The waters of southern Australia can be chilly even at the height of summer, so pack a full-length wetsuit if you plan to surf.

From mid-autumn, around April, you’ll encounter more frequent rainy days, and there’s more rain in winter. Whales migrate past Lorne between May and September. The Lorne Festival of Performing Arts happens in October; the outdoor Lorne Sculpture Biennale, in October and November every odd year, marks the return of warmer spring days.

Go waterfall hopping

You’ll find 10 waterfalls within a short drive of Lorne, with Erskine Falls the most photographed. It’s around a 15-minute drive from the centre of town, and flows all year round into a lush rainforest gully. Closer to town, the Won Wondah and Henderson Falls are not far from each other, while to the west the lovely Sheoak Falls also flows throughout the year.

Explore the walking tracks

A wide range of walks start from Lorne, from short strolls along the foreshore to all-day bushwalks in Great Otway National Park. The six-hour Cumberland Falls Walk takes in three of the national park’s most snap-worthy waterfalls southwest of Lorne.

Catch a wave

There are great surf breaks up and down the coast. Lorne Point is known for its right-hand break, and there are more surf spots between the town and Apollo Bay, including Baldy Rock and Sawmills. Cathedral Rock, between Lorne and Aireys Inlet to the north, is also a popular surf spot. And the world-famous Bells Beach is a 40-minute drive up the coast near the town of Torquay.