If you’re a fan of lighthouses and you’re looking for lighthouse vacations, then one of the best places to visit has to be Australia with its 36,735 km length of coastline which is home to around 350 lighthouses. Australia is a huge place but if you were to visit Victoria and travel along The Great Ocean Road, which is a spectacularly scenic stretch of road, 243 km in length, running between the towns of Torquay and Warrnambool, you would be privy to a number very spectacular lighthouses, The Aireys Inlet lighthouse, commonly referred to as the “White Lady” and The Cape Otway Lighthouse.

The Great Ocean Road is a busy and important tourist attraction within the region which winds along a varied coastline and has several prominent attractions such as the Twelve Apostles which is a breathtaking formation of limestone rocks rising from the Southern Ocean, and are one of the major features of the Port Campbell National Park, as well as the two lighthouses mentioned briefly above.

There are a number of places to stay within the area but if you want somewhere that is fairly quiet and not full of tourists then Aireys Inlet would be a good bet. Unlike most lighthouse Vacations, you really don’t have to travel too far to take in a couple of outstanding lighthouses.

Aireys Inlet offers a quiet destination away from some of the more commercial coastal areas. Laying around 120km west of Melbourne, it is well situated between the New Marine Park and the Great Otway National Park which surrounds Cape Otway and its magnificent lighthouse. The lighthouse whose proper name is “Split Point Lighthouse” was built in 1891 and is the first lighthouse that boats see when they’re travelling around Cape Otway on their way to Melbourne. It has been unstaffed since 1972 when it was converted to mains electricity, but it is open to the public to view.

Cape Otway Lightstation, situated some 222km South West of Melbourne has to be one of the highlights of lighthouse vacations in Australia. It is the longest surviving lighthouse in Australia and has been in constant service since 1848. Surrounded by the Great Otway National Park the lighthouse perches on high cliffs looking out to where the Bass Strait meets with the Southern Ocean. Thousands of lives were lost in the treacherous waters of Cape Otway and this led to the construction of the lighthouse in the foothills of the dense forests of the Otways. The lighthouse is open to the public and once it is closed you can still enjoy the beautiful gardens.

For people seeking perfect lighthouse vacations, Victoria and particularly, the Great Ocean Road, makes for an amazing and varied destination, providing not only lighthouses but spectacular scenery, stunning walks and an abundance of wild life and flora.