This dispatch covered the weekend of 18–19 July. The next edition lands Sunday. Browse everything on now instead.
Peninsula This Weekend - 18 to 19 July
July sits in the quieter stretch of Peninsula winter, and that is the point. The lead booking is a truffle hunt at Red Hill. Sunday is for the sculpture park at Pt. Leo.
Refreshed 13 July for the weekend of 18–19 July. A new dispatch lands weekly for the weekend ahead.
July sits in the quieter stretch of Peninsula winter, and that is the point. The reward for coming down on a cold weekend is the version of the Peninsula that runs at a different pace.
The lead booking
Red Hill Truffles: Winter Truffle Hunt Season
- When
- Saturday 18 or Sunday 19 July, sessions available
- Where
- Main Ridge
Peak Périgord black truffle season runs through July, and Main Ridge is where to spend it. The guided hunt-plus-lunch at Red Hill Estate puts you in the grove with a trained dog, and at a table afterwards. It is the most considered way to spend a cold Peninsula morning. Saturday spots do fill - check what sessions are available and book before you head down.
Sunday
Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park
- When
- Sunday 19 July, open daily 11am to 5pm
- Where
- Pt. Leo Estate, Merricks
Sixteen and a half acres, more than sixty contemporary works, two walking loops through a working Merricks winery. No booking required. Come mid-morning and walk the outer loop first to get your bearings, then slow down for the inner. The sculpture park earns its reputation - it rewards a slow pace rather than a ticked list.
If the weather changes
MPRG Winter Program
- When
- Saturday or Sunday, Tue–Sun 11am–4pm
- Where
- Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Dunns Road, Mornington
- Price
- Free
MPRG has opened its winter season with Helen Britton and Natalia Milosz-Piekarska among the new exhibitions. The gallery is in central Mornington, which means good coffee is close. A grey Saturday morning here is a reasonable plan in its own right. The winter program runs through July and beyond. Confirm current hours and what is on before you go.
Peninsula This Weekend is our weekly dispatch: the plan we’d actually make for the weekend ahead, the booking worth locking in, and the bit of weekend thinking we’d happily do for you.
July sits in the quieter stretch of Peninsula winter, and that is the point. The reward for coming down on a cold weekend is the version of the Peninsula that runs at a different pace. There is less traffic, more room at the table, and the seasonal things that only happen now.
This weekend, the lead booking is a truffle hunt at Red Hill. Sunday is for the sculpture park at Pt. Leo, which asks nothing of you except a coat and a couple of hours.
The booking worth locking in
Red Hill Truffles: Winter Truffle Hunt Season
Peak Périgord black truffle season runs through July, and Main Ridge is where to spend it. The guided hunt-plus-lunch at Red Hill Estate puts you in the grove with a trained dog, and at a table afterwards. It is the most considered way to spend a cold Peninsula morning.
The hunt and the meal are booked together; check what sessions are running before you reserve. Périgord black truffles are at their peak right now, with the season running through late August, but Saturday spots do fill.
The Sunday move
Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park
Sixteen and a half acres, more than sixty contemporary works, two walking loops through a working Merricks winery. Open daily from 11am to 5pm, no booking required.
Come mid-morning and walk the outer loop first to get your bearings, then slow down for the inner. The sculpture park earns its reputation on the Peninsula; it is the kind of place that rewards a slow pace rather than a ticked list.
If the weather changes
MPRG Winter Program
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has opened its winter season, with Helen Britton and Natalia Milosz-Piekarska among the new exhibitions. Confirm current hours and what is on before you go.
The gallery is in central Mornington, which means good coffee is close. A grey Saturday morning here is a reasonable plan in its own right. The winter program runs through July and beyond.
The quieter alternative
Flinders Truffles: Winter Truffle Hunt Season
Flinders Truffles runs farmgate days without a booking, and the draw is truffle soup and a toastie by the fire. A lower-key version of the seasonal ritual, on the southern end of the Peninsula near the coast. Check their schedule before heading out, as farmgate days can vary.
Weekend shape
Lock in the Red Hill truffle hunt for Saturday morning; the lunch at the restaurant completes it. If you want a Saturday afternoon move, Pt. Leo Estate is about forty minutes south. Sunday, head to Pt. Leo from 11am, walk both loops, and eat at the winery before heading home. If the weekend turns grey from the start, swap Saturday to MPRG in Mornington. Flinders Truffles needs no booking, so it works as a Sunday morning add-on for anyone staying south.
Red Hill Truffles: Winter Truffle Hunt Season
Saturday 18 or Sunday 19 July · Main Ridge Booking required: redhilltruffles.com/hunts
Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park
Open daily 11am–5pm · Merricks No booking required: ptleoestate.com.au/experience/sculpture-park
MPRG Winter Program
Tue–Sun 11am–4pm · Dunns Road, Mornington Free entry · No booking required
Flinders Truffles: Winter Truffle Hunt Season
Farmgate days through the season · Flinders No booking required · Check dates: flinderstruffles.com.au/events/
Prices may change. Confirm current rates directly with each operator before booking.
Also running
Other things on this weekend
Pulled live from our events index. The dispatch above is what we'd actually book; the list below is the wider field.
Bass & Flinders Gin Masterclass
Three hours at the still in Dromana.
Foxeys Hangout Vegetable Feast (Morning Sun Vineyard)
Chef Bernard McCarthy's all-vegetable, multi-course feast at Morning Sun Vineyard in Main Ridge, matched to Foxeys wines.
Peninsula Hot Springs Daily Studio Yoga
Daily 45-minute studio yoga at Peninsula Hot Springs (16+), a paid add-on to a bathing session.
Peninsula Hot Springs Yoga (Complimentary)
Free 25-minute outdoor yoga by the amphitheatre pools, included with bathing admission.
Peninsula Hot Springs, Sound Healing Sessions
Monthly sound healing immersion at Peninsula Hot Springs through autumn and winter.
Polperro Cellar Table, Private Dining Experience
Polperro's private dining room below the winery.
Questions readers actually ask
FAQ
What is the best thing to do on the Mornington Peninsula this weekend, 18–19 July?
The lead booking is a guided truffle hunt at Red Hill Truffles in Main Ridge - peak Périgord black truffle season, with a guided hunt and lunch option. Saturday spots fill, so book via redhilltruffles.com before heading down. Sunday, the Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park in Merricks is open daily from 11am with no booking required: sixty-plus contemporary works across sixteen acres of a working winery.
What should you do on Sunday 19 July on the Mornington Peninsula?
The Pt. Leo Estate Sculpture Park in Merricks is the Sunday move - open daily from 11am to 5pm, no booking required. Two walking loops through a working winery with more than sixty contemporary works. Come mid-morning and take your time; the sculpture park rewards a slow pace.
What is the best rainy-day plan on the Peninsula this weekend?
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has opened its winter program, with Helen Britton and Natalia Milosz-Piekarska among the new exhibitions. Free entry, no booking required, and central Mornington means good coffee is close. A grey morning here is a reasonable plan in its own right.
Past dispatches
The archive
Each week's dispatch stays online at a stable archive URL.
- 10 July Peninsula This Weekend - 11 to 12 July A proper wet winter weekend concentrates everything. The answer on a day like this is one indoor booking with some real weight to it - truffle country, a long lunch, or the pools when the air outside is genuinely cold.
- 29 June Peninsula This Weekend - 4 to 5 July The first full school-holiday weekend of winter is simple: one booked truffle hunt, one Sunday heritage train run, and one indoor family plan that does not feel like a fallback.
- 22 June Peninsula This Weekend - 27 to 28 June The solstice crowd has gone home. This is the quiet winter weekend of truffle hunts, local markets, and the final Sunday Sessions at the springs.
- 15 June Peninsula This Weekend - 20 to 21 June The solstice weekend moves from Sorrento's festival foreshore on Saturday to the stillness of the springs and the forest on Sunday.
- 7 June Peninsula This Weekend - 13 to 14 June The week after King's Birthday: truffle season at its most available, cellar doors open and unhurried, and the Peninsula genuinely itself again.
- 31 May Peninsula This Weekend - 6 to 7 June King's Birthday is the loudest winter weekend on the Peninsula. Two clear moves, and the rest of the weekend kept open.
- 24 May Peninsula This Weekend - 30 to 31 May Autumn closes and winter opens on the same patch of Main Ridge on Saturday: the Peninsula marking its own calendar.
- 17 May Peninsula This Weekend - 23 to 24 May The Saturday markets are dark and truffle season is a week away: what's left is the Peninsula in its most deliberate register.