Warrnambool Hotels

Warrnambool is a regional city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia, located in the municipality City of Warrnambool. It is at the western end of the Great Ocean Road, but is more quickly reached along the Princes Highway, 265 kilometres and 3 hours from Melbourne by road or rail. 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 treacherous coast near the city is known as the "Shipwreck Coast" and evidence suggests the first ships to arrive were among the earliest international explorers. The legend of the Mahogany Ship is strongly linked to the city. Many believe the first Europeans to discover the area were Portuguese sailors, who surveyed the coastline nearby and possibly marooned near the site of the present town as early as the 1500s, however this is currently unproven. French explorer Nicholas Baudin recorded coastal landmarks in 1802. The area was frequented by whalers early in the 19th century. Matthew Flinders sailed the coast in the Investigator, and Lieutenant James Grant in the Lady Nelson also explored the area. 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. Post Offices opened at Warrnambool South in 1937 (closed 1973), Warrnambool East in 1946, and Warrnambool North in 1947 (closed 1975).