Holiday houses in Mount Eliza

You need only travel an hour south of Melbourne to find yourself in one of Australia’s most progressive food and wine regions. Welcome to the Mornington Peninsula, a slip of land curving around Port Phillip Bay, replete with surf beaches, weekender cottages, and sun-kissed coastal towns, where sandy feet and salty hair are de rigueur. This fertile countryside and its proximity to Victoria’s capital has successfully lured some of the country’s finest purveyors, flocking here to open cellar doors, breweries, and distilleries, as well as world-class restaurants where a farm-to-table ethos prevails. And then there’s the art, with sculpture gardens and trails revealing windswept landscapes that have inspired creatives for decades.

Mount Eliza is the gateway, wedged between the suburbs of Frankston and Mornington at the northern edge of the peninsula. Its home beach, Canadian Bay, is a beauty framed by jagged cliffs with trails linking hidden coastal coves. But plenty of other beaches surround it, including the white sands of Mount Martha, the calm waters of Safety Beach, and the turquoise lagoon of Portsea.

The Mornington Peninsula is busy year round, but particularly so over the end-of-year festive season and Easter school holidays, when Melbournians escape the city for a little R&R by the sea. The rest of the year comes with its own allures, whether that’s the grape harvest in March and April, glimpses of migrating whales between May and November, or the prospect of getting cosy beside a fire over winter’s cooler months. Another midyear draw is the Winter Wine Weekend (June), uniting regional tastings, masterclasses, and long lunches in the sun. Come back in spring for October’s Main Street Mornington Festival, showcasing the best the peninsula has to offer through food, drinks, and live entertainment.

Peninsula Hot Springs

A half hour from Mount Eliza, 70 bathing and wellness experiences await at this serene facility, using the peninsula’s healing, mineral-rich geothermal water. Soak in indoor and outdoor pools heated to varying temperatures; work up a sweat in a sauna or cool down in an ice chamber; get scrubbed in a Turkish-style hammam; or simply bliss out with a massage and facial.

Beer, Cider & Spirits Trail

Whether you have a taste for pale ale, pear cider, or gin, you’ll discover delightful flavors on this self-guided touring route passing just east of Mount Eliza. Download a map spotlighting 14 brewers and distillers across the peninsula, including one brewery housed in historic horse stables and a distillery offering gin masterclasses.

Mornington Railway

From 1889 to 1981, the Mornington Railway once ferried commuters around this bucolic peninsula. Today, it has been reborn as a tourist attraction, the gleaming steam train click-clacking and whistling between Moorooduc and Mornington stations, the former within Mount Eliza itself. It’s a short but scenic ride offered every Sunday.