1 day Puffing Billy Steam Train and Wildlife Tour from Melbourne

Fun day trip on Puffing Billy train.

Vintage train ride was fun. Animal sanctuary was very interesting. Driver/guide was friendly and helpful. Nice scenery along the way.

Best Trip & Guider Ever

Amazing guider! He made the trip so much better and fun, he got us into the train even though they cancelled our ticket the same day. He also knew everything about all the places and gave us directions on how to enjoy it to the max. Nice type of music too, all the best my brother Safaripete.

Puffing Billy and Phillip Island Tour

Myself and my two friends had a fantastic time on the Puffing Billy and Phillip Islands yesterday! Our tour guide, Matt, was absolutely wonderful. His friendly and enthusiastic nature, along with his great sense of humor, truly made the day for us! Would definitely recommend this tour.

Ryan's the best!

Ryan was our tour guide + bus driver and he was EXCELLENT. He was knowledgeable, witty, and engaging. We really enjoyed our tour and had an amazing day in Melbourne that day. Thanks Ryan and team!

Great

Well organised and informative tour. Mat was a great tour guide. Highly recommend this tour to anyone who's interested in exploring these locations.

Very good and fun

The whole trip is excellent and fun especially the puffing billy steam train. The driver Matthew has sense of humour and keep entertaining us

Enjoyable time

Had a good time on the tour, very informative and engaging. The train ride is a different experience.

Great day out

An amazing experience! Our guide Shane was so lovely and friendly which really added to the experience! The views were beautiful (even with the weather not being the best). Would definitely recommend.

Fabulous

Had a fantastic day from start to finish. Mark our guide was very helpful. Was great fun on the Puffing Billy with lovely scenery along the way. Healsville was fab and the bonus being so close to the animals.

Matt is the best!

We had a lot of fun in Puffing Billy and the Sanctuary and nice views of the Yarra Valley. Matt was a great guide. The bus was also comfortable.Thanks!

Puffing Billy Trip

We enjoyed a great day trip with our guide/driver, Gina. Providing extensive cultural background awareness during our trip, she made sure we were in the right place at the right time for our events, and especially our Puffing Billy experience.

Enjoyable day.

The rain forest walk was a bit short (about 15 minutes) but was a still a highlight of the tour. Also, the visit to the wildlife sanctuary was very enjoyable.

This trip is definitely a must try😃

The Puffing Billy was so much fun..this combined trip of Puffing billy and healesville sanctuary was just perfect. Explore Australia booked us on the perfect puffing billy train ride.

Puffy Billy tour-fun day!

It was an amazing day, full of positive emotions. Our tour guide Mathew made it special. Funny, knowledgeable, organised, patient he pointed in his speach to the most interesting facts and places to pay extra attention to. I enjoyed the trip a lot!

Great memories

Tremendous day trip we had. We were picked up by Ryan, who explained a large group had to pull out due to flight changes, meaning there were only 4 people on the trip. Ryan was very knowledgeable and great company with us all day. We had a fantastic time and took lots of great pictures. As an extra treat on the way home we visited a chocolate factory in the middle of vineyard country and the views as well as the ice cream and chocolate were exceptional. Great day and made better by Ryan who was an excellent host.

Great tour!

I did the one day Puffing Billy steam train and Penguin Parade tour! Our guide (Ryan I think?) was so lovely and explained so much while keeping things light hearted and relaxed! We saw a lot more than I thought we would which was great! We made stops at Cowe on Phillip island as well as a beautiful beach and the nobbies boardwalk! It was a long tour but the day flew in and was a lot of fun!

Fantasy with Nature

An amazing experience! A must try if anyone visits Melbourne. The train journey is surely a treat not only for the kids with you but also for the kid within you !

Exceptional Tour

Went on the Puffing Billy and Penguin full day tour. The family really loved it. From the time we were picked up to the time we were dropped off the service was exceptional. Ryan our driver and guide for the day could not have been better. Very knowledgeable and drove that Big Purple Bus with ease. Could not have asked for a better host/driver. Highly recommend this company.

Awesome Guide, Gina!

It was not a good day during our tour (as it was raining and small disasters along the way) BUT thanks to our amazing and resilient tour guide, Gina, the tour turned out to be great despite all that! Also, a big plus on their cute van!

Well recommended

The puffing billy train ride was the highlight of the trip. Comfortable transport to and from. Had just long enough in the wild life sanctuary. Near the beginning of the trip you are taken to a separate area with a gift shop, that could’ve been skipped to spend longer elsewhere.

Good experience!

Margaret is excellent! Will recommend it to other people . Also the schedule was good, smooth movement & unforgettable experience

Puffing Billy and Penguins

Our guide Matt was lovely made a long day very enjoyable!! Enjoyed puffing billy (top tip sit on the right hand side of the train for the best view going over the bridge.) Unfortunately we didn’t see many penguins coming up the beach but was a great experience all in all!!

Great tour

The tour was great, Matthew is a great host funny she witty and not at all over the top, went with my family and enjoyed a lot.

Great tour with guide Ryan

Great tour with lively tour guide Ryan. Highly recommended and will book again. Very comfortable tour with great views.

Puffering Billy

Ryan has very good explaining. The appointment was punctually and he is a very friendly guide. If I will make another tour, then only if he can be my guide.

A Fun Journey with a Few Minor Detours

My friend from Melbourne wanted to show me around the nature parts near Melbourne and found this tour which was a half day exploration of mainly the Puffing Billy Steam Train and Wildlife Tour. Here are a few notes from the tour!: *Lunch was a bit tough to get as the lunch area at the Healesville Sanctuary ran out of food quickly and took a bit of time, cutting into time at the Sanctuary. I know this isn't controlled by the tour company, but my friend had mentioned that it would be prudent to possibly stop by another eatery that the tour company could work with to create a more smooth experience. *The tour guide noted that due to some of the rain that came a few days before, some aspects had to be cut down like the Puffing Billy Steam Train which only went halfway. We were given a neat different area to look at which was one of the botanical garden which was lovely. *The Puffing Billy Steam Train is an absolute delight, even if it was cut down in half. Loved hanging the side with my legs out and going through the area. One of the best parts of the experience for sure. *Healesville Sanctuary was fun as well. Definitely following the tour guide's advice in seeing things like the bird show are well warranted. All-in-all, I had a memorable experience. The tour guide was pretty good about keeping us entertained and informing us of relevant deadlines.

Smooth tour

Smooth tour! Mr. Mark our tour guide was very hands on, when we went to puffing Billy. He took video and photos for us. Very approachable tour guide. Gave us a lot of information as well regarding the places. Recommended tour guide and company.

Great Australian animals and a fun steam train ride

We loved Healesville and all the amazing animals. Wish we could have spent more time there. The quick Dandenong stop was lively too. Puffing Billy was great fun, but the animals are tops on our list. Mark our driver/ guide was great! Funny, congenial, knowledgeable. Definitely recommend!

Amazing steam train ride and stunning view of nature

Never been to the Puffing Billy. The steam train ride was amazing. Will definitely return again next time. 🥰🥰🥰

Great day going on the train and sanctuary

The trip to the sanctuary was amazing as we went to see so many diverse types of animal. The experience was much better thx to our lovely tour guide Mark who was very friendly with a great sense of humour. I’m sure that working in such a dry and hot environment it would be hard to be so positive and it is because of that that i think Mark is so great being so positive and having a great spirit all the time.

Find mark as your tour guide

Mark is so nice and he’s very friendly to everyone and he’s driving skill is insane which make me still can sleep for those zigzag road

Best Tour Guide

The tour guide is Awesome his name is Mark. Really appreciate his being our tour guide. Responsible, Cheerful and patient.

Very nice, highly recommended.

Very nice experience, the tour guide was very professional and engaging with the crowd. The train ride was good and the wildlife park was nice.

Enjoyed most of the day

Pleasant day - long day out. Pick up was at 9 am and drop off was almost 6 pm. The first stop was the gardens, which was my least favorite stop of the day. This isn’t a manicured and well kept garden. It is more like an area in the woods where someone put up a fence for a garden. Stuff was over grown and you couldn’t read the flower and plant signs. It was definitely a “natural garden.” We were there for 45 minutes plus the time it took to drive there- probably 2 hours. The rest of the day was fun with the train ride and time at the wildlife area.

Great for families

The great thing about the tour is that you get to do 3 different things, not just the puffing Billy and you don’t have to take the train both ways which can be too long for children. We went on a really hot day so missed out on a few key attractions at Healesville sanctuary, the driver/guide also told everyone initially the wrong meetup time at the end which caused us to reach the final end point much later than predicted. Other than that,I would definitely recommend the tour over booking it directly with the puffing billy which means you have to take the train ride both ways

Terrible service

I am mum with 2 kids as by plan from explore need to reach the mentioned location at 9 am today which was 10 mins away from my hotel. My Uber driver cancelled my trip before 1 min at 0850hrs. At 0855 driver rang me and asked how far are you? I mentioned driver to wait 10 more minutes or pick up from my hotel. But main office rang me and mentioned driver can’t wait for me. I paid 170$ to Uber reached to main puffing Billy train reached 45 mins before bus arrives. Staffs doesn’t have humanity 😕.

Truly worthy experience....

Truly worthy experience. Especially the Puffing Billy Steam Train. Margaret was the best tour guide!

Good experience

Perfect tour, our guide Margaret did a great job, I love it. It is a pity that we couldn’t do the Koala experience, but still have a super nice family time

Not a tour, just transport

This was a nice day out, and Puffing Billy is an amazing experience, however apart from driving the van, the tour guide provided absolutely no additional information on anything. It wasn't a tour as much as just transportation to Puffing Billy and the zoo. We also didn't feel enough explanation was provided on where and when would be the best times to take lunch, and it all felt rushed. The driver also ran out of time, and would not drop us off at the location closest to our hotel.

Great day out

Overall the tour was great . We achieved what we wanted to by visiting the Healside sanctuary and highlight of the day the Puffing Billy railroad. Disappointed with our driver & tour guide who did very little to enhance the day … in fact they spent most of the journey in private conversation with each other about weekend plans . We were also 20 mins late leaving whilst waiting for someone . When he arrived his partner wasn’t with him so they arrange to pick them up at a train station en route .. another 15 mins delay … unfortunately this had a knock on effect and meant we had a reduced time at the sanctuary. Would definitely recommend both the sanctuary and puffing Billy …

Great Tour

What an excellent Trip with a guide who was of full and jokes and very knowledgeable. Jai made every minute of the tour worth it. Thanks heaps explorer Australia and JAI Jai 😎

Heavy rain didn't stop our tour and experience

Both, the Sanctuary and Puffing Billy Train were awesome experiences under heavy rain. Due to that most of the informative talks at the Sanctuary were canceled, but that didn't stop us to walk around and sit on the carriage sills once we boarded the train.

Brilliant day exploring countryside with warm guide!

Trip included a stop in the temperate rainforest in Sherbrooke, before heading into the Puffing Billy railway, and finally an afternoon at Healsville Sanctuary. Margaret was our guide for the day and her warmth, passion and love for nature truly impressed us. She was also knowledgeable and gave us a lot of useful tips and information - guiding us through the forest walk and what to look out for the zoo. She even managed to catch our Puffing train at the intersection and shot amazing photos for us! Overall, a brilliant day, beautiful countryside and warm human touch. Truly Aussie experience.

Amazing tour with fantastic guide

Well planned tour indeed. Our guide Margaret is nice, always around and willing to help at anytime. Reasonable time was given at each stop albeit a day tour setting. The Healesville Sanctuary was amazing and I really hope we could stay there a bit longer to look at the amazing animals before getting back to Melbourne for dinner!

Definitely suggest!

I took my grandma with me because this seemed like a perfect tour for us - we were not disappointed! There was a nice quick hike in a rainforest (she wanted to skip that one but enjoyed the area she was in), the train was fun and enjoyable (all the workers made the experience wonderful), and the reserve was nice to go through. There was on and off rain but it didn't deter us one bit. Our tour guide, Margaret, was phenomenal, personable, and knowledgeable. Highly suggest!

Awesome experience

Trip and pick up went on smoothly. Had enough time to explore and walk around in each venue. Thumbs up for our guide Mathew - knowledgeable and entertaining.

Haha

It was a wonderful trip with nice weather. The tour guide Alena gives us good time span for every spots

Nice day trip to see the animals

I was very happy that I could get a day trip out of Melbourne to go to Healesville Sanctuary, home to many Australian animals. While there I had plenty of space and time to myself. Puffing Billy train ride was an entertaining addition I wouldn’t have otherwise done. It was enjoyable though a bit too jam packed with selfie-taking tourists for my taste. Doesn’t anyone just enjoy the ride - and the scenery - anymore? Expire Australia did a great job

Lovely trip enjoyed a lot

The bus driver shane was so amazing. Thanks to shane for making our trip amazing he is so helping and wonderful personality.

Great tour and great guide!!

This was a great tour! Our guide was really nice and even offered to take photos of us at the train station. He also provided lots of information and kept the tour exciting and upbeat. The train ride, forest walk, and sanctuary were all great stops. This is a great tour for all ages. I would highly recommend it!!