Port Fairy: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Port Fairy began as a whaling and sealing camp at the mouth of the Moyne, and in the 1840s a Sydney lawyer, James Atkinson, bought the land and renamed it Belfast. Under that name it became a busy wool and grain port, and it went back to Port Fairy only in 1887. The town never grew much after that, which is why so many of its early stone buildings survive — more than fifty are classified by the National Trust. This walk is about two hours on flat streets, ending on the river.
A short history of Port Fairy
The name Port Fairy comes from a small ship called the Fairy, whose crew found shelter here in the early 19th century. In the 1830s a whaling and sealing station was set up here. In 1843 the merchant James Atkinson bought the land, laid out a town and named it Belfast, after the city in Ireland. The town prospered as a port shipping wool and grain, and many of the stone houses and cottages of that period still stand. In 1887 the town returned to its old name, Port Fairy. Since 1977 it has hosted a folk music festival every March, one of the largest in Australia.
The ten best sights in Port Fairy
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1Port Fairy History Centre
In the old bluestone courthouse; the place to understand the whaling town
2St John's Anglican ChurchBluestone and a quiet garden in the grid of old streets
3Merrijig InnOne of Victoria's oldest inns, by the river; dinner here is worth booking
4Budj BimThe volcano at the heart of the Gunditjmara eel-trap country, a World Heritage site; 45 minutes
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5Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and Café
Run by the Gunditjmara at Lake Condah; eat smoked eel and join a guided tour
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6Griffiths Island Lighthouse
A flat 3 km loop round the island to the lighthouse; wallabies in the scrub
7Battery HillOld guns and a lookout over the river mouth, five minutes from the centre
8Port Fairy wharf, Gipps StreetThe fishing fleet ties up along the Moyne; buy the catch straight off the boats
9Pea Soup BeachA sheltered swimming cove on the west side of town
10Port Fairy Botanic GardensA small old garden by East Beach; a picnic stop
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Port Fairy →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Port Fairy:
Free walking tours in Port Fairy
Belfast, the town that changed its name
Port Fairy began as a whaling and sealing camp at the mouth of the Moyne, and in the 1840s a Sydney lawyer, James Atkinson, bought the land and renamed it Belfast. Under that name it became a busy wool and grain port, and it went back to Port Fairy only in 1887. The town never grew much after that, which is why so many of its early stone buildings survive — more than fifty are classified by the National Trust. This walk is about two hours on flat streets, ending on the river.
- Port Fairy History Centre · The centre is in the old bluestone courthouse, and its collection follows the town from the whaling station through the Irish migrants who came in the 1840s and 1850s. The Belfast name came from Atkinson's own Irish background.
- St John's Anglican Church · The streets around the church were laid out on a grid when Atkinson subdivided his land, and most cottages on them are built of the local bluestone, a dark basalt from the volcanic plains inland.
- The Star Of The West · Bank Street was the commercial street of the port, and its banks and hotels date from the boom years. Since 1977 the Port Fairy Folk Festival has taken over these streets every March, on the Labour Day long weekend, and the town fills many times over.
- Merrijig Inn · The inn faces the river at the old heart of the port and is counted among the oldest inns in Victoria. Its low rooms and fireplaces are what a waterfront pub looked like when the whalers were still working.
- Port Fairy wharf, Gipps Street · The town is named after the Fairy, a small cutter whose crew sheltered in the river mouth in the early 1800s. Today the wharf holds a crayfish and fishing fleet, and the boats along the Moyne are the town's most photographed view.
- Battery Hill · The guns on this hill were put in place in the 1880s, when the Australian colonies feared an attack by the Russian navy. They were never fired in anger, and the earthworks are now a lookout over the river mouth.
The island and the shore
Port Fairy sits between two beaches, with an island at the mouth of its river. This route goes out onto Griffiths Island in the morning, back along the town beaches, and east along the coast to the whale nursery at Warrnambool. Walking shoes for the island loop, and binoculars if you have them. From June to September, finish at Logans Beach; in summer, stay on the island until dusk for the birds.
- Griffiths Island Lighthouse · The island takes its name from John Griffiths, who ran a whaling station on it in the 1830s. The bluestone lighthouse at its tip dates from 1859 and still works, though it is now automatic.
- Site of former Lighthouse Keepers Cottage · The keepers' cottages were pulled down after the light was automated, and only their footings remain. Around them the island is honeycombed with the burrows of tens of thousands of short-tailed shearwaters, which return each September.
- Pea Soup Beach · A reef across its mouth keeps the swell out, which makes this one of the few calm swimming spots on a coast exposed to the Southern Ocean. Locals swim here year round, in water that rarely passes 20 degrees.
- Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail · The trail runs on the bed of the railway that once linked Port Fairy to Warrnambool and on to Melbourne. It is about 37 km, flat all the way, and crosses farmland and wetlands rather than the coast.
- Killarney Beach · The name, like Belfast before it, is a mark of the Irish who settled this district; the farmland inland was known for its potatoes. The reef offshore makes the water shallow and calm, so children can swim far out.
- Logans Beach Whale Watching Platform · Southern right whales come to this beach to give birth, often only a hundred metres or so from the sand. They were hunted almost to extinction by the same whaling stations that founded Port Fairy, and have been slowly returning since protection.
Volcano country
Inland from Port Fairy the plain is dotted with volcanoes, and their lava shaped how people lived here for thousands of years. The Gunditjmara built stone channels and weirs on the lava flows to trap and farm eels, and the system is now a World Heritage site. This is a full-day drive of about 150 km, from the crater at Tower Hill to Lake Condah. Book a guided tour at Budj Bim or Tae Rak ahead: the meaning of the place is in what the guides show you.
- Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve · By the 20th century the crater had been cleared and grazed bare. When it was replanted from the 1960s on, the guide was an 1855 painting of Tower Hill by Eugene von Guérard, so detailed that botanists could identify the plants in it.
- Tower Hill Visitor Center · The low building on the island in the crater was designed by the architect Robin Boyd as a natural history centre. Today it is run by the Worn Gundidj, who lead walks and explain the plants their ancestors used.
- Yambuk Lake · The coast around Yambuk is Deen Maar, an Aboriginal-owned Indigenous Protected Area. Its name comes from Deen Maar Island offshore, which in Gunditjmara belief is where the spirits of the dead pass on.
- Tyrendarra · Tyrendarra lies on the lava flow that ran 50 km from Budj Bim to the sea. Along it the Gunditjmara cut channels that guided migrating eels into holding ponds and woven traps — work dated to more than 6,600 years ago.
- Budj Bim · The volcano was renamed from Mount Eccles to its Gunditjmara name, Budj Bim, and in 2019 the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape became the first place in Australia inscribed by UNESCO only for its Aboriginal cultural values.
- Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and Café · Tae Rak is the Gunditjmara name for Lake Condah, which settlers drained in the 1950s. The community fought for the land, rebuilt a weir and brought the water back, and the café now serves smoked kooyang, the short-finned eel the traps were built for.
Getting to Port Fairy and getting around
- Warrnambool Railway Station · The end of the line from Melbourne, 20 minutes east; a coach runs on to Port Fairy
- Visitor Centre bus stop, Bank Street · The coach to Warrnambool stops by the information centre
Cheap eats in Port Fairy
Port Fairy eats from its wharf and its farms: crayfish, fish and abalone from the boats on the Moyne, and the dairy, lamb and potatoes of the volcanic plains inland. Lunch is easy and good — a bakery pie, fish and chips on the wharf, a deli plate on Sackville Street. Prices are those of a holiday town, and in January and at festival time everything is busy.
- Port Fairy Bakery · Pies and sausage rolls on Bank Street, about A$6-8
- Gipps St Fish n Chips · On the wharf beside the boats, about A$15-20
- Village Bakehouse · Bread, pastries and coffee, about A$5-10
- Port Fairy Seafood Cafe · Fish, calamari and chips, about A$15-25
- Koda Deli & Rotisserie · Roast chicken and salads to take away, about A$12-20
- Rebecas Cafe & Ice Creamery · Breakfast or a cone on Sackville Street, about A$6-20
- Poco Artisan Gelato · Gelato made in town, about A$6-9
Museums in Port Fairy
- Port Fairy History Centre · The old courthouse; whalers, migrants and the port
- Budj Bim · World Heritage eel-trap landscape; take a guided tour
- Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and Café · Gunditjmara-run; tours and smoked eel
- St John's Anglican Church · Bluestone church in the old grid
Nature and day trips near Port Fairy
- Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve · A crater with emus, koalas and short walks
- Griffiths Island Lighthouse · The island loop; shearwaters at dusk September to April
- Logans Beach Whale Watching Platform · Whales with calves, June to September
- Childers Cove · Quiet limestone stacks east of Warrnambool
- Yambuk Lake · An estuary lake and a walk to the dunes
Things to do in Port Fairy with kids
- Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village · In Warrnambool, 25 minutes; a whole port village to explore
- Battery Hill · Cannons to climb around and tunnels to peer into
- Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve · Emus walk right up to the car park
- Killarney Beach · Calm shallow water behind the reef
- Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail · Flat cycling; do a short stretch from town
Where to eat in Port Fairy
- Merrijig Inn · Fine dining in a tiny old inn; book well ahead
- Caledonian Hotel · The old pub on James Street; counter meals
- The Stag · Modern cooking in an old house on Sackville Street
- Coffin Sally · Wood-fired pizza and a bar
- The Star Of The West · Pub dinners on Bank Street
- Bank St + Co · Brunch into early dinner
Frequently asked questions about Port Fairy
What is there to see in Port Fairy?
The top sights in Port Fairy are Port Fairy History Centre, St John's Anglican Church and Merrijig Inn. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Port Fairy?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Port Fairy without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Port Fairy?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Port Fairy, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Belfast, the town that changed its name.
How do you get to Port Fairy and get around?
The main ways are Warrnambool Railway Station and Visitor Centre bus stop, Bank Street. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Port Fairy, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Port Fairy that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Port Fairy for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.