New day trip offers overseas visitors a slice of rural Australia

International visitors to Melbourne are about to be offered a day tour to the Murray River and a river trip on a traditional paddle steamer. 

Day tours from Melbourne take overseas tourists to Phillip Island, Puffing Billy, the Great Ocean Road, Ballarat and the Yarra Valley - but this will be the first to offer a typical Murray experience. 

Melbourne-based tour company Local Way Tours, established in 2022, is to launch a day tour from Melbourne to Echuca, where guests will enjoy a one-hour cruise on Murray River Paddlesteamers’ historic PS Canberra.

Starting from June 1 the full-day ‘Murray River Paddlesteamer and Wine Tour’ is designed primarily for international guests. 

Limited to just 15 guests per day, the small-group experience aims to offer an authentic taste of classic Australian countryside, blending river heritage, native wildlife, award-winning wine, and the Australian bush.

The 11-hour itinerary takes in Hanging Rock, the painted silos at Rochester, a cruise on Australia’s longest river, the Murray, native wildlife at the Kyabram Fauna Park and wine tasting at Mitchelton Wines on the way back to Melbourne.

The new trip will run every Wednesday to Sunday from Melbourne with a standard cost of $230 per person, or $190 for children. 

Until July 15, bookings will receive a 20% discount, with adult fares $184 and children $152. Quote ‘launch fare’ when booking direct with Local Way Tours on + 61 417 887 234. 

Local Way Tours managing director Ray Staindl said: “Day tours from Melbourne to other places like Phillip Island and Puffing Billy have become busy and everyone was offering the same thing so we decided to feature a destination no other day tour included and that was the beautiful Murray River. 

"Our new tour offers an immersive insight into the classic landscape of the Australian bush, with majestic river scenery, sweeping horizons, colourful history and our famous fauna and wines all featured in a stress-free, well-paced day and in small group comfort." 

Visit www.mrps.com.au

Rolling on the river - solo

 

Solo travellers can snap up some heavily discounted voyages on the Murray River.

Murray River Paddlesteamers have scrapped a 60% solo surcharge on three-, four-, and seven-night cruises aboard the famous paddle steamer Emmylou this January, February, and June.

The special offer is available until January 31, or until sold out.

The 16-guest PS Emmylou starred in the hit 1980s TV mini-series All the Rivers Run, starring Sigrid Thornton, and is one of the most recognisable paddle steamers in Australia.

Powered by a restored 1906 steam engine and totally refurbished with deluxe cabins and en suites, the riverboat offers all-inclusive journeys along the Murray with stops to visit wineries, historic farm stations, indigenous sites, wildlife along tributaries and country towns.

PS Emmylou offers a range of three-, four- and seven-night cruises on the Murray from Echuca on the Victoria/NSW border.

Each cabin has a private en suite, air-conditioning, and wifi and opens directly onto the paddle steamer's timber deck.

Guests can enjoy meals on deck or in the saloon, as well as riverside picnics and a campfire dinner on the riverbank under the stars.

Each evening, PS Emmylou ties up at tranquil and remote moorings, allowing guests to experience the bush at night.

With solo surcharge removed, solo fares are available from $1800 for a three-night sailing.

Cruise fares aboard Emmylou and sister vessel Australian Star include all on-board meals, daily shore excursions, selected beers and wines with dinner and soft drinks, bottled water and tea/coffee throughout the journey as well as coach transfers during the cruise.

Emmylou’s sailings this June will be her last under her current program. Joining the Murray River Paddlesteamers fleet this winter is the brand new, bigger, five-star, overnight vessel, PS Australian Star, currently under construction.

See www.mrps.com.au