STUDY IN GEELONG
What's in this student city guide?
Quick facts about Geelong
📍 State
Victoria
📆 Established
1837
🌆 Area
1329 km2
👪 Population
269,508
🌥 Climate
Oceanic
👋 Welcome to Geelong
Victoria’s second largest City, Geelong, offer students a unique coastal lifestyle and education options with affordable cost of living.
Here is a student guide about Geelong. We hope you enjoy reading it.
Reasons to Study in Geelong
🏆 Second Largest City
Geelong is Victoria’s second largest city after Melbourne, so it has all the major amenities required in the city area.
🌮 Distance to Melbourne
It takes around an hour to reach Victoria’s largest city, Melbourne by train or car.
🏀 Regional Area
Although closer to Melbourne and decent size, Geelong is still considered as a regional town.
🎨 Relaxed Lifestyle
Geelong is known for its coastal lifestyle and great culture, history and architecture.
🏛 Affordable
Comparing to some major cities like Melbourne, Geelong is definitely a much affordable alternative due to its lower cost of living.
🎨 Victoria’s best attraction
Great Ocean Road, Bell’s Beach, Apollo Bay and Twelve Apostle are some attractions you can visit regularly from Geelong.
💡 Did you know?
People from Geelong were once known as “Pivotonians” due to Geelong’s key role for shipping and as a rail hub in Victoria.
Universities and Vocational Education in Geelong
🏛 Universities in Geelong
Here is a list of universities in Geelong:
Geelong is home to only one university i.e Deakin University. It has a campus in Geelong CBD with Waterfront Campus and Waurn Ponds Campus. University deliver various courses to both local and international students in these campuses. The university also has on-campus accommodation facilities for the students.
✍ TAFE and other education providers
The Gordon Institute of Tafe – Gordon Tafe provides various vocational and skills based training to the students. The Tafe is known for delivering high quality education for over 130 years. There are range of courses including certificates, diploma and advanced diploma courses.
Deakin College – Part of Deakin University, Deakin College offers two types of qualification including Foundation courses and Diploma courses leading to degree programs.
Transport in Geelong
📌 How to get to Geelong from airport?
The closest airport to Geelong is Avalon airport. But most of the international flights land in Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport.
To get to Geelong, you can take a Skybus to the Melbourne city’s Southern Cross station and then hop on a V-line train to Geelong. It can cost around $30 to $40 for the whole trip and can take 2 to 3 hours depending on the time of the day.
If you want to reach Geelong quickly, then catching a taxi or ride sharing option might be your best bet but it can cost you between $100 to $200.
🚌 Public Transport
Geelong’s public transport network consist of trains and buses. If you want to travel within Geelong area, then buses are your best bet. The trains are helpful if you are travelling to Melbourne etc.
To get around Geelong, you will be using the same ticket like Melbourne, which Myki card. It costs $6 to buy MYKI card.
The cost of travel will vary depending on how many times you travel and if you are travelling between other cities.
🚖 Other Transport & Concessions
There are plenty of bicycle lanes for those prefer to cycle around. You can also hire a taxi or use the ride sharing services to travel around.
Concession on public transport is not available to all overseas students.
You need to be studying an undergraduate program at one of the institutions that is a part of iUSEpass program to avail 50 percent concession on your yearly ticket.
💡 Did you know?
Geelong is Australia’s first and only UNESCO City of Design due to creativity and innovation used for building more sustainable, resilient and inclusive communities.
Key Events During The Year in Geelong
🎾 January
New Year on the Waterfront
Watch Spectacular show of fireworks on Geelong’s waterfront with huge crowds, food and entertainment.
🏎 January
Festival of Sails
See thrilling sailing actions, boat regatta and other water events on Geelong’s waterfront during Australia Day’s long weekend.
🏈 February
Pako Festa
This festival celebrate the dress, music, dance, language, art, food of people from multicultural backgrounds
🏏 November
Toast to the Coast
Enjoy the best of wines, gourmet food from Victoria’s finest regions with live entertainment.
🏇 October
Royal Geelong Show
This 150 years old show features various exhibitions of animals, machinery, art, entertainment, food and fireworks.
Free Things to do in Geelong
🏛 Eastern Beach
Especially during summer season, get a chance to dip in the Eastern beach. Winter might be too cold for it.
🖼 Geelong Waterfront
This is without a doubt Geelong’s most magnificent part and most visited as well.
🏂 Geelong Botanic Gardens
Geelong’ Botanic garden is home to beautiful plants, old trees and well maintained lawns.
🚋 Geelong Gallery
Featuring over 6000 pieces of art, Geelong Gallery is a go to place if you are Art-loving person.
🍿 Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre
Watch didgerido performances and learn Australia’s aboriginal culture in this unique centre.
🏁 Other places to explore
Apart from the list above, there are many other places to explore and visit in Geelong. Here are some of them:
Gold Coast
Melbourne
Perth
Adelaide
Sydney
Darwin
Brisbane
Canberra
Hobart
Newcastle
Geelong
Wollongong
Sunshine Coast
Cairns