Victoria's plated pleasures

On arrival in Melbourne, you will be met by your private driver and vehicle and transferred to your accommodation.

This evening, meet your host and fellow travelling companions over a welcome dinner at the winner of Gourmet Traveller’s Best New Restaurant 2022, Andrew McConnell’s Gimlet, where old world glamour and contemporary class combine.

This morning, we travel to the Mornington Peninsula to begin a tour of some of Victoria’s most delicious destinations, hatted eateries and fabulous foodie finds.

First stop is a hands-on cheesemaking masterclass, followed by a decadent chocolate tasting en-route to our overnight accommodation at the sleek and chic, Jackalope, surrounded by Willow Creek Estate’s vines.

After a welcome drink in the hotel’s fabulous Flaggerdoot cocktail bar, we will be treated to a degustation dinner in the highly-acclaimed Doot Doot Doot restaurant.

A short drive to the Mornington’s highly-awarded Montalto estate serves up the opportunity to stroll their rolling vineyards, sculpture gallery and kitchen garden; enjoy a tasting of their premium wines and settle in for lunch to enjoy a menu flavoured with local and estate-grown produce, whilst enjoying wines overlooking the vines from which they came.

On return to Jackalope, enjoy some time to explore your surrounds, sample the estate’s wines or simply relax before coming together again for dinner at the property’s Rare Hare restaurant.

After a welcome drink in the hotel’s fabulous Flaggerdoot cocktail bar, we will be treated to a degustation dinner in the highly-acclaimed Doot Doot Doot restaurant.

Transfer by road to Sorrento and travel by ferry across the entrance to Port Philip Bay to Queenscliff. Call in to Anther Distillery and sample their small-batch gins flavoured with fragrant Australian native botanicals.

Continue by road to the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld for a true destination dining experience. Dinner this evening is at the hotel’s more relaxed Parker Street Project.   

This morning, join one of the chefs for a tour of the property’s impressive kitchen garden, orchards and greenhouses that supply the Wickens and the Park Street Project kitchens with much of their fresh produce and menu inspiration.

A short, privately guided Piccaninny (Bainggug) Walk in the nearby Gariwerd (Grampians National Park) provides a sense of place showcasing views to Mr Abrupt, over the town of Dunkeld and its pastoral surrounds.

The afternoon, join the Royal Mail Hotel’s sommelier for a tour of the hotel’s award-winning cellar (that houses more than 30,000 boutique local and internationally renowned wines).

Finish the day with a degustation dining experience to remember at the hatted and heralded, Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel.

Enjoy the scenic drive to Daylesford travelling over rolling hills and farmlands. On arrival at the architecturally designed Daylesford Longhouse, enjoy a personal introduction to the working farm, cooking school and place of residence with its owners Trace and Ronnen. Learn about their sustainable design principles and farming practices that have earned this property an impressive collection of architectural awards, then roll up your sleeves to enjoy a hands-on cooking experience that will flavour your Longhouse lunch.

A short transfer delivers you to your overnight accommodation, the Lakehouse Daylesford for some time to settle in and refresh before enjoying dinner at nearby Sault surrounded by fields of lavender and picturesque gardens.

Take the opportunity to explore your scenic surrounds with a walk around Lake Daylesford before traveling to the nearby Passing Clouds winery to enjoy a tasting and lunch cooked over the restaurant’s signature charcoal fire pit, whilst drinking in the sweeping vineyard views.

Call in to Daylesford Cider for a private, guided orchard tour and tasting en route back to the Lake House.

Our final dinner together is decadent degustation-style affair in the Lake House’s picturesque dining room. The highly-awarded regional dining experience, under the direction so legendary culinary director, Alla Wolf-Tasker AM, showcases local suppliers and produce.

After a hearty breakfast at the Lake House, return to Melbourne for independent onward travel arrangements.