Date ideas in Geelong

Lon's contrast-therapy space on a hill by the ocean draws mineral water from springs beneath the family's farm: a mineral pool, hot mineral soak, Finnish sauna and magnesium plunge, with ocean and lighthouse views. Add a massage, or a farm-sourced grazing platter.

A small day spa on the first floor of Queenscliff Harbour, looking over the marina. The Couples Retreat runs side by side: an hour's relaxation massage with hot stones, a facial and a foot treatment, finished with bubbly and a grazing box on the marina view.

A guided night walk through Mt Rothwell Sanctuary, a reserve of woodland and granite outcrops protected from invasive predators, looking for eastern barred bandicoots, bettongs, possibly an eastern quoll, and the southern brush-tailed rock-wallaby, of which fewer than 100 remain in the wild.

Gardens established in 1851 on Eastern Park, with plant collections from around the world, lawns to lie on, the modern 21st Century Garden, sculptures and a few of Geelong's painted bollards. The Where You Meet café is in the gardens.

The volunteer-run Bellarine Railway's Swan Bay Express runs from historic Queenscliff Station along the Swan Bay wetlands to Lakers Siding, usually behind a 100-year-old-plus steam locomotive, in restored timber carriages with windows you can open.

Fort Queenscliff is a 19th-century coastal artillery fort that is still an Army base, so the only way in is a guided tour: 1.5 hours through ammunition magazines buried under Shortland's Bluff and out to the gun emplacements overlooking the Rip.

Council-run museum in Torquay's Surf City precinct that calls itself the world's largest surfing museum: more than 150 surfboards from century-old timber slabs to modern craft, the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame, and more than a dozen of the brass bell trophies from the Bells Beach contest.

Take the staircase down to The Dell, a council picnic and swimming spot on Corio Bay, and follow the heritage sign trail along the beach where Victoria's only 19th-century seaside mineral springs resort ran from about 1875 to 1920. Circular brick wells, earthenware pots and the uprights of the old steamer and bathing jetties still show along the shore; look, but leave what you find.

More than 100 painted bollards by artist Jan Mitchell line the foreshore from Rippleside Park through the waterfront to Limeburners Point, each a Geelong character from its history. Do the 30-minute Waterfront Bollards Trail, then walk out over Corio Bay on Wangim Walk, the 440-metre wave attenuator at the yacht club.

A 35-kilometre shared trail on the old Geelong to Queenscliff railway line. For a date, ride the Drysdale to Queenscliff section (about 17 km on compacted crushed rock), through rolling farmland beside the heritage railway to the coast, and have lunch in Queenscliff.

A restaurant sitting on the Barwon Heads jetty, with ocean views from the river to the Bluff. The menu leans on Australian seafood: oysters shucked to order, a fish pie, barramundi with Portarlington mussels, or the big seafood platter to share.

The fine-dining restaurant at Jack Rabbit Vineyard looks across Port Phillip Bay to Geelong, the You Yangs and Melbourne, and won Best Contemporary Dining at the 2024 Golden Plate Awards. Book for a long lunch, or come on a Saturday night.

A boutique Bellarine vineyard whose Shed restaurant looks over the vines and across the bay. Order the house-baked rosemary focaccia and a glass of the estate's own wine, then linger on the Deck Lounge by the cellar door.

A Bellarine winery since 1982, rated among James Halliday's Top 100 Australian Wineries, with a cellar door looking over the vines to Port Phillip Bay. Staff guide you through five current wines; add an artisan cheese platter.

Every Saturday, Little Malop Street in the city fills with a produce, food and drink market: a local growers' co-op, bakers, smokehouse meats, pasta and hot food stalls, with buskers playing on the market stage.

Portarlington is famous for its mussels, and this cafe by the pier, a two-minute walk from the ferry terminal, serves them several ways, from garlic and white wine to a Sri Lankan curry, with water views of Port Phillip Bay.

A James Halliday 5-star vineyard planted in 1979 on the hills above the Moorabool River, 30 km north of Geelong. Take a guided tasting of the latest releases, then lunch in the Barrel Hall bistro with its observation deck over the valley.

Provenance Wines pours inside the restored bluestone buildings of the Fyansford Paper Mill, with high ceilings and a hosted tasting of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Geelong, Ballarat and Henty. It calls itself a Top Red 5-star winery in the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion.

At Blackman's Geelong brewery, one of the brewers walks you through the brewing process among the tanks, with a tasting paddle included. Stay on for the 16 taps and the Gypsy Burger truck that visits every week.

The redeveloped arts centre on Little Malop Street, which calls itself Australia's largest dedicated regional performing arts complex, runs theatre, comedy, dance and concerts across the Play House, Story House and intimate Open House. Eat first at Tutti, its in-house restaurant; the bars open an hour before each show.

An upstairs cinema on Verner Street, a short walk from South Geelong station, screening a curated mix of films from around the world with Dolby Atmos sound. Its licensed candy bar pours local beers and wines, and it was named Australia's Best Regional Cinema in 2024.

A South Geelong pub that lives for live music: touring and local bands in the band room, plus DJ nights and comedy, with a beer garden and a pub kitchen, so you can roll straight from dinner into the gig.

Running since 1980, the Geelong Jazz Club puts on a live jazz band one Sunday afternoon most months at White Eagle House, the Polish community club in Breakwater. Order lunch at the meals counter and it is brought to your table.

Three days of music across Queenscliff's venues, with a 2026 line-up including Lime Cordiale, Matt Corby, Kate Miller-Heidke, The Bamboos and Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos, plus comedy, the Blues Train (Friday only) and sets aboard a bay cruise.

The Bellarine's own arts centre in Drysdale, previously known as The Potato Shed, runs a program of tribute shows, string quartet concerts and a short-plays night. A small-town night out without driving into Geelong.

On the first and third Friday of the month, WYM, the cafe-bar in Geelong Botanic Gardens, hosts an hour of acoustic music by local artists, with drinks and seasonal bar nibbles in the garden.

Sea All Dolphin Swims takes a half-day boat into the southern bay: a snorkel at Pope's Eye in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, fur seals at Chinaman's Hat, then a search for dolphins, with 5 mm wetsuits supplied. Not swimming? Take the 90-minute sightseeing cruise, then climb Queenscliff Harbour's 42-metre observation tower.

Go Ride A Wave, teaching surfing since 1987, runs two-hour introductory group lessons in Torquay from a shop a short walk from the beach: how to paddle, pop up and ride a wave, with a soft beginner board and full wetsuit supplied.

Outside Adventures guides a two-hour evening paddle along the Barwon River under the full moon, from the West Fyans Street boat ramp. Single sit-on-top kayaks, paddles and life jackets are supplied; difficulty is rated 2 out of 5.

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club matches first-timers with a skipper and crew for its Wednesday evening race around Corio Bay, sailing as the sun goes down. Back at the club afterwards, the bar and café are open for a drink and the results.

Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary protects 17 hectares of reef at the mouth of the Barwon River: snorkel among kelp forests, sandstone arches and sponge gardens, go rock-pooling on the shore platforms, then walk around the Bluff and along Thirteenth Beach for views over Bass Strait. Keep clear of the cliff bases.

A light-filled pottery studio among the gum trees in Drysdale runs social ceramics evenings where you make a full piece from start to finish, step by step. BYO wine and a platter; the studio glazes and fires your pieces for you.

A two-hour wheel-throwing class at Elizabeth Bell Ceramics, a studio inside the historic Fyansford Paper Mills, capped at eight people with two teachers when full. You each keep your two favourite pieces, glazed and ready to collect about four to five weeks later.

At a small Bellarine cooking school with its own productive garden, you make pizza dough from scratch, stretch fresh mozzarella in pairs, then bake Margheritas in the wood-fired oven and sit down to eat them with a glass of Bellarine wine and a homemade limoncello.

Magic Meadow runs small cheese-making workshops on its working farm at Lovely Banks, off the M1 at the Anakie Road exit. The 90-minute Easy Cheeses class covers fetta, mascarpone, sour cream and yoghurt; bring an esky to carry your cheese home.

An after-work life drawing workshop at Geelong Gallery with Peter Leigh: practise observation and explore drawing techniques. Materials are supplied and all skill levels are welcome.

Volunteers from the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum take groups of up to eight into the lantern room for views over the entrance to Port Phillip Heads and along the coast to Ocean Grove and Cape Schanck. At low tide afterwards, go rock-pooling on the Point Lonsdale intertidal platform below.

Start on Torquay's promenade, take in the lookout at Point Danger, then follow the wide clifftop trail over Rocky Point, past Jan Juc's cliff-backed beaches and the Bird Rock lookout to the famous clifftops above Bells Beach.

Climb the steps to the timber viewing platform over the rock cascades of Buckley Falls on the Barwon River, walk the river loop, then follow the Barwon River Trail downstream to Balyang Sanctuary, nine hectares of lake, islands and bushland by Princes Bridge that is one of Geelong's most popular picnic spots.

An easy walk along Stony Creek through a dry gorge in the Brisbane Ranges National Park, where wallabies and a resident koala watch from the trees. Parks Victoria calls the ranges the state's richest wildflower habitat, so come in spring for duck orchids, and bring a picnic.

Geelong Helicopters flies straight off the waterfront, no airport needed: ten minutes over Corio Bay and the city, or longer runs down the Barwon River to Barwon Bluff, Bells Beach and Torquay.