Warrnambool means spectacular stretches of coastline with fantastic beaches and sparkling water, beautiful parks and gardens, long stretches of seaside walking and bike trails, visiting whales, notorious shipwrecks, unique volcanoes, great food and exhilarating sports and a thriving city centre.
Warrnambool has an outstanding variety of accommodation, a large range of cafes and restaurants to tickle the tastebuds and an abundance of year-round events and entertainment.
Warrnambool is the best place to discover the Great Ocean Road.
The word Warrnambool comes from the local Indigenous Australians name for a nearby volcanic cone. It has been interpreted to mean many things including “land between two rivers”, "two swamps" or "ample water".
The first settlers arrived in the 1840s in the Lady Bay area, which was a natural harbour. The town was surveyed in 1846 and established soon after, the Post Office opening on 1 January 1849.
During the Victorian Gold Rush, Warrnambool became an important port and grew quickly in the 1850s, benefiting from the private ownership of nearby Port Fairy.
It was gazetted as a municipality in 1855 and became a borough in 1863. Warrnambool was declared a town in 1883 and a city in 1918.
Warrnambool is home to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, which is arguably the most prestigious race in Australia. Drivers from all over Australia and America come to Warrnambool on the Australia Day long weekend to claim the trophy.
Warrnambool has a horse racing club, the Warrnambool Racing Club, which schedules around twenty race meetings a year including the Warrnambool Cup and Grand Annual Steeple three-day meeting in the first week of May.
The Wunta festival is held in Warrnambool every February. Warrrnambool's Wunta Fiesta is one of South West Victoria's major community festivals.
The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum includes a model of an 1800s port village and collections of material salvaged from some of the shipwrecks in the area, most notably the Minton peacock salvaged from the Loch Ard.