Peterborough sits at the mouth of Curdies River, with Port Campbell National Park on the eastern side of the river and the Bay of Islands Coastal Park to the west. 

Peterborough's proximity to the major attractions of the region, makes it an excellent centre for exploring the area.

Attractions and activities in Peterborough and surrounding area include:

Peterborough Beach

​​






Peterborough Beach is hemmed between cliffs and has a feeling of some solitude. It is family friendly and readily accessible and ideal for swimming, fishing and surfing. You don’t need to negotiate steep tracks like some others in the area.


Bay of Islands Coastal Park

The Bay of Islands Coastal Park is a 33km long, narrow strip of coastal heathland that runs alongside a series of secluded coves. The park offers spectacular ocean views and many other memorable features and few tourists explore this amazing landscape. Several car parks lead to spectacular lookouts - some best at sunrise and others at sunset, short, maintained walking tracks link most car parks and lookouts throughout the park.

The Bay of Martyrs is the first car park, at the outskirts of housing in Peterborough, and is an ideal place to see the Bay of Islands at sunset. The islands and Massacre Point are backlit by the sun.


Port Campbell National Park

Famous for the Twelve Apostles and historic shipwrecks, Port Campbell National Park has a diverse range of coastal environments includes woodlands, dunes, wetlands, coastal cliffs, limestone stacks and arches. 














The Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles are located along the spectacular Great Ocean Road and is a high profile tourist site and offers sealed paths to viewing areas, and a large sealed car park with designated accessible parking spaces.

The Twelve Apostles are stacks made of rock formed up to 20 million years ago and were created by the sea gradually eroding the soft limestone cliffs away. The Coastline is slowing changing therefore small rock fall occur frequently.

























Loch Ard Gorge

Wind and sea along the rugged limestone coastline have shaped Loch Ard Gorge, situated within Port Campbell National Park. Sudden storms, great seas and gales are part of the natural order on a shore, which took the iron clipper "Loch Ard", and the lives of all but two of her passengers and crew. A stairway on the eastern wall of Loch Ard Gorge goes down to the beach. The beach at Loch Ard is breath taking, but undertows and big tides make it dangerous to swim in the surf.

Three self-guided walks have been developed around the Loch Ard Gorge area:

The Wreck of the Loch Ard - the Loch Ard Shipwreck walk interprets the tragic story of the Loch Ard shipwreck from the wreck site to the cemetery

Geology - another walk looks at the geology of the coastline and the forces that shape it. 

Living on the Edge - discover life on the edge of these sheer cliffs.
Local Attractions