🌊 Geelong — Australia’s Most Underrated City? It Might Just Be

If your last experience of Geelong was a drive down the Princes Freeway sometime before 2010, you are working with badly out-of-date information. This city has reinvented itself — and then some.

Geelong (known by its Wadawurrung name, Djilang — meaning ‘Tongue of Land’) is Victoria’s second largest city. For decades it was defined by Ford, wool and the Cats. Then the factories closed, the city looked hard at itself, and a serious transformation began.

The result? A waterfront that genuinely rivals Melbourne’s Southbank, a food and bar scene centred on the magnificent Little Malop Street precinct, a city centre threaded with clever laneways and public art, and a cultural confidence that feels earned rather than performed.

It’s also 20 minutes from Torquay and the Great Ocean Road. Which makes it an excellent first night for anyone heading south on a Great Ocean Road trip.

 

🏭 What Geelong Was — And What Changed

Geelong’s story is one of reinvention. In the 20th century it was an industrial powerhouse: wool processing, petroleum, Ford manufacturing. At its peak, Ford employed thousands here. When the plant closed in 2016, it was a symbolic moment for the whole city.

But the transformation had already begun. As far back as the mid-1990s, the first stages of the waterfront redevelopment were underway. The historic Eastern Beach swimming enclosure was restored. Parklands were built out. Public art arrived — including the now-famous hand-painted bollards by local artist Jan Mitchell, each depicting a character from Geelong’s history.

Government investment followed through the Geelong City Deal, funding the Green Spine on Malop Street, new civic precincts, laneway breakthroughs, and the centrepiece currently under construction: the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre on the waterfront.

The city that once defined itself by what it made is now defining itself by how it lives.

🌊 The Waterfront — The Jewel

Geelong’s waterfront is the city’s greatest asset and the most visible symbol of its transformation. What was once a derelict wool port is now one of Australia’s finest waterfront precincts.

The Wangim Walk (opened 2021) extends the foreshore path and opens up new views across Corio Bay. Eastern Beach’s art deco swimming enclosure is beautifully restored and still in daily use. The Cunningham Pier — once home to the deeply unglamorous Smorgy’s — now houses restaurants, bars and a function centre.

Walk the foreshore on a clear autumn evening and Geelong doesn’t feel like a regional city. It feels like a place that’s found its groove.

• Eastern Beach Swimming Enclosure — restored art deco pool and promenade
• Wangim Walk — new 440m foreshore extension, stunning bay views
• The Bollards — Jan Mitchell’s painted wooden figures, each telling a Geelong story
• Cunningham Pier — dining, bars and the famous Bavarian restaurant
• Carousel at the waterfront — heritage wooden carousel, great for families

🍽️ Little Malop Street — Victoria’s Best Regional Food Precinct?

Little Malop Street is the real surprise for visitors who haven’t been paying attention. This compact stretch has become one of the most exciting dining and drinking precincts in regional Victoria — a genuine rival to Melbourne’s laneways in terms of quality and atmosphere.

The precinct runs alongside the Malop Street Green Spine — a new landscaped linear park that connects Johnstone Park to Eastern Park through the heart of the CBD — and the combination of greenery, outdoor dining and clever repurposed heritage buildings gives it a genuinely European feel on a good day.

• Little Malop Street precinct — the heart of Geelong’s dining and bar scene
• Malop Street Green Spine — landscaped linear park through the CBD (grab a coffee and walk it)
• Geelong Laneway network — revamped laneways linking precincts, winner of the 2025 Victorian Architecture Award for Small Project
• Ryrie Street — quality retail and dining strip
• Pakington Street, Newtown — boutique shopping, coffee and the Woolstore (a beautifully restored historic wool store turned venue)

🎨 Culture, Art & History

Geelong’s arts scene punches above its weight. The Geelong Gallery is one of Australia’s oldest regional galleries and houses a genuinely impressive collection. The Geelong Museum (part of the National Wool Museum precinct) tells the industrial story of the city with more texture than you’d expect.

Murran, which opened recently on Malop Street, is a dedicated First Nations business, arts and retail space — a great place to engage with Wadawurrung culture and purchase Indigenous-made works.

• Geelong Gallery — significant regional gallery, free entry (geelonggallery.org.au)
• National Wool Museum — Geelong’s industrial heritage told well (woolmuseum.com.au)
• Murran — Wadawurrung/First Nations arts, retail and co-working space, 143-157 Malop St
• GMHBA Stadium (GMHBA) — home of the Geelong Cats AFL club, stadium tours available

📍 Nearby — The Bellarine & Beyond

Geelong is also the jumping-off point for the Bellarine Peninsula — a wine region and coastal playground that’s been quietly building an impressive reputation.

• Queenscliff — historic Victorian-era seaside town with fantastic pubs and fish and chips
• Ocean Grove & Barwon Heads — popular surf and swim beaches, lovely cafes
• Bellarine Wine Region — cool climate wines, Flying Brick Cider Co, Oakdene Vineyards
• Point Lonsdale — lighthouse, calm bay beach, great prawns at the kiosk
• Queenscliff–Sorrento Ferry — cross to the Mornington Peninsula from the Bellarine (oneway for vehicles, seasonal timetable)

🚐 Staying in Geelong in a Campervan

Geelong has good options for campervan travellers. The CBD is compact enough to walk once you’re parked, and the waterfront is easy to access on foot from the main caravan parks.

• Geelong Holiday Park — 7 minutes from CBD, close to Torquay and the GOR. Powered sites, pool, full facilities.
• BIG4 Geelong Surfcoast Highway Holiday Park — another solid option, well-reviewed

Dump points are available in the region — check WikiCamps or Campermate for current locations.

 

🤝 Acknowledging Country

Geelong sits on the Country of the Wadawurrung People, the Traditional Custodians of this land, waterways and skies. The name Djilang — meaning ‘Tongue of Land’ — reflects the bay geography that has always defined this place. We pay our respects to Wadawurrung Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people visiting or connected to this region.

 

👉 Heading South for Easter? Start Here

Geelong is the perfect first night on any Great Ocean Road campervan trip. Pick up your van in Melbourne, settle into Geelong for the night, and hit the Surf Coast fresh in the morning.

👉 Compare campervans from Melbourne on DriveNow →

👉 Read our full Easter Bells Beach Road Trip guide → 

Images courtesy of Visit Victoria