Port Campbell: Victoria, Australia

After a wonderful day on the Great Ocean Road, we rolled into Port Campbell around 4:30 pm and had a little wander around the town. Settled in the 1870s, this tiny coastal town had a population of only 618 at the time of the last census in 2011. However, it has become one of the main stop over destinations for tourists driving the Great Ocean Road and as a result, was an incredibly welcoming and lovely place to stay.

Accommodation: Best Western Great Ocean Road

We had been pretty relaxed when booking our accommodation for the night since we knew it was just going to be somewhere we slept, rather than somewhere we spent a lot of time. However, the Best Western really exceeded our expectations. The room was huge, impeccably clean and even had a little kitchenette. This seemed to be a common thread for hotels in Australia - the only place we didn't have a kitchenette was in Sydney. Although there wasn't a hot plate in this hotel, you did have a fridge, sink and microwave so could have probably made a decent dinner.

Although the room had air conditioning, we definitely didn't need it - we were amazed at how cold it got at night given we'd been walking around in shorts and t-shirts! But our room was nice and cosy so we had a great night's sleep. The staff were also really friendly and the hotel was walking distance to shops and restaurants which made for a very relaxed evening after our long drive. Before heading out for dinner, we bought some beers from the front desk and sat out on our little front porch with some snacks we had brought along from Melbourne. It was such a lovely peaceful spot!

Dinner: The Port Campbell Hotel

For dinner, we asked around for recommendations and the unanimous answer was to go to "the pub". We were a little confused because we thought this was a hotel (given the name) but it turned out to have a lovely pub area at the front and proper restaurant dining at the back of the building.

We weren't as hungry as we'd thought we'd be (thanks to the pre-dinner snacks) so decided to share an Aussie classic: the chicken parmigiana. At $23AUD (£12.60), we thought it might not be big enough to share so got a bowl of soup on the side. Well... we greatly underestimated the generosity of this pub! This delicious dish was overflowing on the plate with a large portion of chips and a huge breaded chicken cutlet covered in tomato sauce, slices of ham, and melted cheese. Oh and there was a bit of salad on the side as a nod to healthy eating. It was delicious!

Breakfast: Grassroots Deli Cafe

Finally, the next morning we rolled out of bed, checked out of the hotel and headed back down the main street to find some breakfast. We parked the car and decided to hunt on foot so that we could investigate the options more thoroughly and ended up going for the Grassroots Deli Cafe because it was just too cute to skip.

I was thrilled to find they had an incredible avocado sourdough toast with fresh tomatoes, onions and feta topped with a balsamic glaze... literally my favourite things all on one dish!

Meanwhile Matt was equally thrilled with his version which had the same avocado and sourdough toast but was topped with a very generous helping of smoked salmon, feta, greens and a poached egg. Along with two very nice coffees, we were ready for another day of our road trip!

Inside the cafe, they also have lots of gourmet souvenirs which I wish we'd had more room to take home with us! It was such a nice surprise inside after a delicious meal.

This was a lovely little town to spend the night on our road trip adventure - we could have easily stayed another night or two! If you're considering a trip down the Great Ocean Road, definitely make Port Campbell your stop off for the night!