Discover Portland: Tram, Gardens and History

Portland can be discovered in many different ways: aboard the Portland Cable Tram along the historic waterfront, on short or longer walks, and on a self-guided walk past historic buildings. There are also Portland’s Botanic Gardens and stories from the city’s maritime past. Which of these aspects you choose to focus on gives your travel plans a direction of their own.

Along the Waterfront by Tram

The Portland Cable Tram runs along Portland’s historic waterfront. Aboard fully restored saloon and grip cars, you can enjoy views of Portland Bay. Passengers can get on and off the tram to visit the Portland Maritime Discovery Centre. This lets you combine a tram ride with a visit to the centre, without prescribing a particular order. If you’re especially interested in the ride, this experience brings together the historic vehicles and views of the bay.

Walks for Every Schedule

The Great South West Walk starts at the Portland Visitor Information Centre and returns to Portland as a 250 km loop walk. As well as this long route, the trail offers short loop walks of one to two hours. This distinction can help with your travel plans: you can opt for a short outing or consider Portland as the starting and finishing point for a much longer walk. These short loop walks are a separate option within the Great South West Walk, not a shortened description of the entire loop.

A walk at Portland Harbour also has a distinctive starting point. A morning walk begins at the water’s edge, reached from the World War II Memorial Lookout via 145 steps. The number of steps helps you get your bearings for this section of the route. If you include this outing in your plans, you can treat it as a separate harbour walk and distinguish it from the Great South West Walk’s loop walks.

Historic Buildings and Stories

Portland has more than 200 buildings of historical significance and offers a self-guided Historical Buildings Walk. This lets you explore the city’s history on a walk through town. History House offers a different perspective: its core exhibitions include stories about sealers and whalers. The walk and the exhibition have different focuses: one highlights historic buildings in the streetscape, while the other centres on stories from the past.

Botanic Gardens and Walking Trails

Portland’s Botanic Gardens are the second-oldest botanical gardens in Victoria. Walking trails connect the gardens with Fawthrop Lagoon and the Foreshore precinct. This gives you several named destinations for a stay that combines an interest in gardens and walking trails. When planning, you can make the gardens your main focus or consider the walking-trail links to the other two places. The Portland Cable Tram and the Great South West Walk offer different experiences: a ride along the waterfront and walks of varying lengths.

Plan Your Stay in Portland

When choosing a holiday rental in Portland, you can first consider which experiences you want to shape your stay: a tram ride and the Portland Maritime Discovery Centre, a short loop walk, the longer Great South West Walk, historic buildings or the gardens. For a family trip, choosing between the short one- to two-hour loop walks and the 250 km loop walk can be a particularly concrete planning consideration. This way, your search reflects the kind of Portland trip you want to take.

If you’d like to discover more destinations: Malvern East, Camberwell, Terang, Buninyong, Richmond, Keilor East, Pyalong and Venus Bay.

For the broader travel overview: Victoria.