Not wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
Infants aged under 3 years old are welcome to attend free of charge providing they do not occupy a seat. If a seat is required for the infant, please purchase a child ticket for them.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 240 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

cdbk4junk

Rafi our tour guide enhanced the scenic trip with timely insights, stories and experienced information that was not only easy to understand, find proper meeting locations, see points of interest but was also quite witty and entertaining. The transport portion is not the shortest but the views were great and we are glad we booked this experience.

Reviews

4.5

59 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 59 reviews

Fabulous experience

Robert_B, Apr 2024

We were impressed with our friendly tour guide and driver. Raffie made us feel comfortable as a group of like adventurers no matter where we originated from. We were like a band of close friends when we departed at the end of the experience. We had been celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with a week in Melbourne and your tour was something we will remember with a smile, the train trip with arms and legs hanging out the carriages and the tiny penguin's antics were fabulous,. Again thank you for the day. Bob and Marilyn

Best Trip for our kids....

chalinee_r, Apr 2024

Best Trip for our kids. They really love it. Good Service and The driver was nice and well explained

Memorable and enjoyable trip

Steven_L, Apr 2024

Russell who leads the tour is very friendly and service orientated, that makes the trip a memorable one and enjoyable.

Average experience but the penguins were cool

Jasmine_P, Apr 2024

Raf was our guide. Tour start and end time shifted by a few hours due to the penguins and weather (no fault of the tour company). Both occurrences were communicated in advance. Puffing Billy was a fun ride to see some Australian countryside/backyards/small towns. Raf gave a short talk about the history of Puffing Billy but nothing about the coal train/steam engine. Watching penguins come out of the ocean was a bit of a zoo (crowded amphitheatre layout) and watching the penguins along the boardwalk was better. I would suggest starting with the boardwalk and then go to the amphitheatre after the crowd leaves (we still saw penguins come out of the ocean after the crowd left) and bring binoculars.

Great tour

Vicki_C, Apr 2024

Great experience. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful. All attractions exceeded expections

Good - Covers 2 points of attraction

Ngan_N, Mar 2024

Raffie - good tour guide from Wine Hop & Coastal Tours. If you travel from overseas and will not have mobile roaming or change to an Australian sim, update the tour provider since they will text you the night before via standard text message. The time departure can be later as the penguins are coming onto the beach later.

Personable guide and great fun!

Tham_E, Mar 2024

Ben shared so much about his personal knowledge and history of the puffing billy! The puffing ride was enjoyable despite the warm weather, we got a glimpse into history and were glad to be part of it. The penguin experience, though magnificent, was overcrowded and commercialized, we much preferred our penguin viewing in NZ. Nonetheless, nothing to do with the tour. Ben, was patient and assisted our group (wheelchair), guided us and made sure we were comfortable. Thanks for sharing with us the best penguin spots. Our favourite.. was his jokes! 😂 Our only gripe though.. was the AC on the bus. Even at full blast, the air is warm and humid, made the ride from puffing to penguin island quite unbearable. Perhaps the vehicle is due for servicing?

Perfect way to spend a day in Melbourne

Wendy_W, Mar 2024

Wow! What a fantastically fabulous day. Perfectly organised and executed and excellent value for money. Our tour guide Ben was very informative, happy and easygoing which was just what a long travelling day needs. My absolute favourite part was when the penguins came out of the water and onto the beach and up to the sand dunes. Nature at its very best. Puffing Billy was awesome too with everyone hanging their legs out and a wonderful scenic trip to Lakeside. Thank you for such a awesome experience

Fun trip in phillips island

Victor_L, Mar 2024

Had a great day in Puffing Billy and Penguin Parade in Phillips Islands! The tour guide Raphy was funny and made the whole trip so much fun and enjoyable. The Puffing Billy steam train experience was unique and memorable and the Penguins in the Phillips Islands were adorable and lovely, not to mention the entire island was so pictureque. Definitely a must-go destitation in Melbourne!

Rafi our tour guide...

cdbk4junk, Mar 2024

Awesome experience with a very fun and caring giide

Chuphei_H, Mar 2024

We’re a group of four joining this tour for Puffying Billy train, the Nobbies and penguin parade on Phillips Island. The trip was an amazing experience. Our guide Kellie was knowledgable in wildlife and her fun jokes made this long trip very enjoyable. We really appreciate she’s been giving us great tips to see the penguins throughout. And she’s caring to offer extra drop off points on our way back as it’s nearly midnight by the time we returned to Melbourne. Definitely would recommend this tour to those who want to make the most within a day outside Melbourne.

Well worth the money

David_H, Mar 2024

Raffi certainly kept us entertained , we were kept informed of everything we would be doing and also times to be back at the bus so we could keep to the timescale needed. Puffing Billy was a laugh and beautiful scenery and the penguin's were adorable we had a lovely day

Awesome

YuHan_L, Mar 2024

It’s worthy to book this tour. Our driver and tutor was so welcoming and gave us many great guidance. It’s almost a 12 hours tour. The view on the train is really nice and never have such experience to sit by the window. The penguins parade is also awesome. I will book this again next time!

Relaxing and exciting

Georgia_F, Feb 2024

We loved this tour because it took the weight of our shoulders for travelling around by ourselves and packed so many memorable activities into 1 day. Our tour guide Nick was cheerful, relaxed and clearly loved his job and made the experience even better.

Tour guide was on time at...

Balaji_N, Feb 2024

Tour guide was on time at showed all locations . Made every one comfortable through out the trip. Gave us commentary and was easy to follow .

A great day out

margaret_p, Feb 2024

Enjoyed train ride and trip to see the penguins. However I was not expecting such a long day. Phillip Island, the home of the penguins is a two hour drive from Melbourne. Did not return till about 11.30pm. Did not see times when booking. Fortunately our cruise ship was in port overnight. Guide/driver was friendly, efficient and very knowledgeable. A great day out. Take a jumper - it’s cold after dark!

Great trip.

Martin_H, Feb 2024

The trip started off with Nick, our driver, who was so welcoming and friendly and continued to be so for the whole of our 14 hour! trip. We were well looked after and guided the whole day. The itinerary was fairly good but would’ve been better to have incorporated a visit to something else such as a Wildlife Centre after leaving Puffing Billy because it felt a little flat in the middle. The trip to the “caves” wasn’t that interesting.

A great day out!

Abi_H, Feb 2024

We would thoroughly recommend this great trip to the Puffing Billy train, The Nobbies and Penguin Parade. The long day was worth it all, especially watching the penguins walk out of the sea and in their natural habitat. Shout out to Ben our guide for the day, he was great at keeping us entertained and safe throughout. Highly recommend!

Still after all that I recommend this tour

Allan_H, Feb 2024

I have always given honest feedback. So here it is. Unfortunately yesterday's tour guide was on his first day on the job. He does have the character and charm to be a great guide/driver but did lack a few basic skills and experience on the job training should have provided before my trip. The laughable points are trying to unlock another tour bus, after getting us a bit lost getting to our destination and finally when leaving the penguin parade drove nearly 20 minutes before arriving back at the penguin parade 😳, with no mention of this error we went round the roundabout and continued to get lost on the road back to Melbourne. What should have taken 1 hr 50 minutes ended up taking 2hr 35 minutes. Getting us back to our drop off at 00.45 am in morning. Very long day 😴 The bonus and why we luaghed at all this was, the lad couldn't be more helpful and took great effort to tell us all about this country. Puffing Billy was something to behold, it was awesome DO NOT MISS IT and the penguins was a must see. Overall a great day even with the errors.

Fun adventurous day

Georgia_W, Jan 2024

The trip on the Puffing Billy was fantastic. Had a great day, our bus driver Nick was excellent, very friendly and made the whole day memorable. The penguins were adorable, the whole day was well organised and fun.

Likely to Sell Out