Johnny Ripe

Cafe

Traditional apple pies meet modern-day cronuts at this home-style bakery.

Merricks General Wine Store

Cafe

An iconic 1920s homestead offering food, wine and art.

Green Olive

Restaurant

Come for a paddock-to-plate lunch, stay for a farm tour.

Red Hill Cheese

Cafe

Take your tasting platter onto the deck. You might spot a koala.

Montalto

Restaurant

After retiring, John Mitchell started growing and making wine as a hobby. Things quickly grew out of hand. Now, Montalto encompasses seven vineyards and more than 30 acres of vines. As a retirement project, it’s unquestionably a failure: Mitchell and his wife Wendy are busier than ever. By every other metric though, Montalto is a resounding success – it’s one of Red Hill’s must-visits.

Mock Cider

Bar

Sample biodynamic apples and their many liquid expressions.

Foxey’s Hangout

Cafe

A day at Foxey’s Hangout is as laidback and easygoing as the wine it produces. It’s set on a spacious estate with an open kitchen, cosy dining room and sunny outdoor deck. The varied share plate-focused menu is a good match for the easy-drinking wines here.

Bass & Flinders Distillery

Bar

At this regional distillery, you'll learn how to make your gin – and enjoy it afterwards. If you'd rather leave it to the experts, there's a great bar serving G&T; paddles, gin-forward cocktails and grazing platters.

Endeavour Fern Gully

There are many walking tracks woven across the Mornington Peninsula, but Endeavour Fern Gully is particularly special. This two-kilometre round-loop trail winds through the Peninsula’s oldest patch of rainforest, allowing a rare look-in at the region’s indigenous vegetation. It’ll take you 30–45 minutes to explore the 17.5 hectares of lush forest and fern-filled gully. You’ll pass kangaroos resting in the shade, deep hollows in trees where Aboriginal peoples used to smoke eels, and plenty of towering manna gums and stringy barks in this diverse habitat. The track is open every day (except on days of total fire ban) and enclosed footwear is recommended. Make sure to leave a gold coin donation to support revegetation and preservation of the property.

Tree Surfing at the Enchanted Adventure Garden

The last time you were on a high-ropes course was probably a school excursion. Reminder: climbing around on ropes and trees is still a whole lot of fun. The Enchanted Adventure Garden at Arthurs Seat offers tree-surfing courses for both adults and children, with more than 50 aerial obstacles and bridges, including a Tarzan swing and five zip-lines to test your balance, strength and courage. Courses run for one or two hours, and there’s a maze, canopy walk and tube slide for even the most adrenaline-seeking punters.

Red Hill Community Market

The Red Hill Community Market had just 28 vendors when it opened in 1975. Now it boasts more than 300 stalls selling handcrafted goods and homegrown produce. It’s a mash-up of seasonal produce and craft, and leans towards being more of a makers market with a handful of farmers positioned throughout. But there’s plenty of food and drink options, too – from homemade lemonade and savoury tarts, to paella, tacos and those spiralled potatoes on a stick. There’s a strict policy that the stallholder must be the maker or grower, so you know you’re speaking to the person who grew the apples or made the cheese before you buy it. Grab a coffee and a canelé and wander through the maze of stalls before picking up some handmade pasta for dinner.

Horseback Winery Tour

Red Hill is ripe with wineries. One novel way to travel from tasting to tasting is on horseback. Horseback Winery Tours depart from Main Ridge and over a two- or three-hour walk, visit the cellar doors of T’Gallant, Green Olive, Mantons Creek, Red Hill Estate, Mock Orchard and the company’s own Prince Hollow Estate. The team at Horseback Winery Tours will match you with a horse and teach you all the basics for mounting, steering and stopping, so you can quickly become acquainted with your steed and turn your attention to eyeballing the lush, leafy vistas between vineyards. Tours operate every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Jackalope Hotel

Accommodation

Jackalope, named after a mythical jackrabbit with antelope horns, is a testament to the eccentric taste of young owner Louis Li. On site there are 45 glamorous rooms, a 30-metre infinity pool, countless surreal artworks and a destination fine dining restaurant named Doot Doot Doot, one of the best in the state. And the vineyard is still going strong. This is a rabbit hole you’ll want to fall down.

Cape Schanck House

Accommodation

A grand beach-shack out of a futuristic dream.