1

Apollo Bay and Lorne are nice, the former is probably closer to the halfway markso maybe a late lunch at Lorne, Cumberland River as a stop and walk after that and then onto AB. AB has some nice BnB places to stay in. I'm pretty certain I stayed in Room with a View and it was great. There are caravan park options as well.

2

I second Apollo Bay, especially if you're going to take your time and explore the GOR area properly.

3

agree with the other two.

4

There're a lot of factors like when and where in Melbourne you are leaving from for both can affect the ammount of traffic you could encounter.

If you're doing it away from school holidays and during the week in the cooler months of the year, traffic on the GOR itself should not be so bad and if you have your own car and can time your departure so as you miss the morning peak in Melbourne, that will also make a huge difference to time needed.

If you do get away early and are through Geelong by 9 or 10 am. , you'll have the sun behind you or overhead for the coast hugging part of the GOR from Anglesea on.
Anglesea to Apollo Bay is only about 80 km. though probably 2-3 hours driving time should be allowed so Lorne or Apollo Bay could be reasonable lunch stops.
Not far after Apollo Bay, the road goes inland a bit through the Otway National Park and on to Lavers Hill before heading back down towards the coast.

Some people like to stop closer to Port Campbell so as they can get to view the apostles with a sunset and a sunrise the following morning.
Princetown offers that opportunity and a number of accomodation options there.
http://www.travellerspoint.com/guide/Princetown_(Victoria)/

Your plan also ought to take into account what is intended after Port Campbell, quite a ways from being a City btw and more another small fishing village.
If you want to get back to Melbourne on Day 2., it is quite a drive too and in that case, the closer you are to PC on day 1., the better.

5

I'll be driving on rented car to GOR in early May. I suppose that period is a low season.
I'll be spending 3 days on GOR, with 2nd night at Port Campbell.
On return via Colac and back to Melbourne.

6

You should be OK with minimal traffic as I think the school holidays for this time of the year were all around Easter.
If you have three days, that is ample time and to add a little something more to your trip, you could find a drive down the Mornington Peninsula all the way to Point Nepean of interest and then taking the vehicular ferry from Sorrento across to Queenscliff of value, Queenscliff being a historical kind of town and you could stay the first night there.

You are nearly to the start of the GOR and a whole day would be ample for travelling as far as Port Campbell and you could do the sunset and sunrise from there before heading back towards Melbourne.
If you manage the car hire to be able to have the third night with it, an interesting stop and night would be http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/sound-light-show/

You can head basically north from Port Campbell, up through Cobden, Camperdown and Cressy to Ballarat to get there and you will likely find the traffic so much lighter than heading back through Colac and Geelong.

7

Try a cabin at Wye River Caravan Park, meal at the pub or self cater, I would put AB before Lorne if you decide on either of these 2

8

We've done this trip twice on a motorbike, awesome! We stayed at Apollo Bay the first year, at Pisces Holiday Park. They are a little out of own, but good range of accomodation and awesome view of the water. Nice restaurants and breaky spots too. We stayed 2 nights there, travelled out to Port Campbell and back, doing the lighthouse, 12 apostles and other sights as we rode. Lunch at the pub in Port Campbell is good, spectacular view!! Even if a late lunch as we did :-)
Don't rush the trip, there are lots of things to see, and if you can afford, I would recommend the helicopter flight over the apostles - spectacular!
We headed inland from Apollo Bay and came back to Melbourne that way, which is pretty scenery, but is a drag once you get to Geelong and the main road - never much fun on a bike!

Enjoy!!

9

It really depends on your budget as I would agree with the others and say either Lorne or Apollo Bay but they can be pricey. Maybe an alternative would be Skenes Creek or even Pennyroyal where there are lovely b&bs or at a push Anglesea (which is the Melbourne side).
While you are down that way, don't forget to check out the Otway Fly!
http://www.otwayfly.com/

It is an amazing part of the world and if you drive from Port Campbell to Colac to go back to Melbourne it will save you time off the trip that you could be spending somewhere else?

10

Lorne is my absolute fav along GOR. I go there at least once a year or more often if I can. It is imo the best place to stop along GOR. Only 45 minutes are saved by staying in Apollo Bay.

Recommended stops are the light house, Moonlight head and Otway fly. Kenneth River is another for guaranteed Koala spotting on the road next to the camping area. If you get there early enough you might see the owner of the shop feed the Kookaburras!

If you could afford it I can't recommend the http://www.greatoceanecolodge.com/ the whole experience was amazing and you are guaranteed to see kangaroos. The walk with the owner is fab.

As you are stopping in Port Campbell you can explore all the stuff around there another day. Make sure to get there before sunset - that way you get the area in both dusk and dawn light. I HIGHLY recommend the helicopter flight (there's one at the centre and another 5km away). Don't forget to hike down "Gibson steps".

The bit between Port Campbell and Peterborough have a lot of walks that are all worth stopping at imo. It took ages though.

I adore Sovereign Hill. However the lightshow sucked for an adult.