Portland: History, Trams and Walking Trails

Portland offers a range of reasons to stay: a historic tram ride along the waterfront, walking trails and several ways to explore the town’s history. If you’re looking for a hotel in Portland, it helps to sort these highlights by the activities you have planned. Options range from short circuit walks to a 250 km loop trail. There are also gardens, historic buildings and exhibitions with maritime themes.

Getting around by tram and on foot

The Portland Cable Tram runs along Portland’s historic waterfront. On board its fully restored saloon and grip cars, you can enjoy views of Portland Bay. You can ride the tram and hop off along the way to visit the Portland Maritime Discovery Centre. The ride therefore connects the historic waterfront route with a specific place to visit.

The Great South West Walk starts at the Portland Visitor Information Centre and returns to Portland as a loop trail. It is 250 km long. Alongside this full-length route, the Great South West Walk offers short circuit walks of one to two hours. The time applies to the short circuit walks; 250 km is the length of the loop trail. This lets you choose between a short walk and the longer trail when planning, without confusing distance and duration.

Another morning walk at Portland Harbour starts at the shoreline. From the World War II Memorial Lookout, you reach it by descending 145 steps. The number of steps is a useful point of reference when adding this walk to your day’s plans.

Gardens and waterside trails

Portland’s Botanic Gardens are the second-oldest botanical gardens in Victoria. Walking trails connect them with Fawthrop Lagoon and the Foreshore precinct. The focus here is on a garden and trails to two named places; by contrast, the Great South West Walk is a loop that returns to Portland. These different formats give you a clear guide when choosing between a walk near the gardens and a longer hiking route during your stay.

Discover Portland’s history

Portland offers a self-guided Historical Buildings Walk and has more than 200 buildings of historic significance. The walk focuses specifically on the town’s historic buildings. At History House, the core exhibitions include stories about sealers and whalers. The historical themes therefore range from the self-guided walk to the maritime stories in the exhibitions. If you’re choosing Portland primarily for its history, you’ll find different ways to explore it.

Discover more destinations: Yarragon, Kangaroo Flat, Ballarat East, Bundalong, Ringwood, Taggerty, Ultima, Murray-Sunset

For the broader travel overview: Victoria.