Phillip Island

Phillip Island sits in Western Port Bay on Bunurong country, connected to the mainland by a bridge from San Remo to Newhaven. The island is 26 kilometres long and home to around 13,000 permanent residents, but receives over 3 million visitors a year.

The headline attraction is the Penguin Parade at Summerland Beach. Every evening at sunset, hundreds of little penguins (the world's smallest penguin species, also known as fairy penguins) emerge from the sea and waddle up the beach to their burrows in the dunes. Phillip Island Nature Parks runs the experience with a series of viewing platforms and a visitor centre that opened in 2019.

The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix has been held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on the island's south-west coast since 1989. The track is one of the most picturesque in world motorsport, with views of Bass Strait between the corners.

The island also has Cape Woolamai for surf and walking tracks, the Koala Conservation Reserve, and the Nobbies Centre with views over the Seal Rocks fur seal colony. Most travellers visit as a day trip from Melbourne but staying overnight in Cowes (the main town) avoids the rush.