Warrnambool ( ; Maar: Peetoop or Wheringkernitch or Warrnambool) is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 32,894. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Allansford) marks the western end of the Great Ocean Road and the southern end of the Hopkins Highway.
History Origin of name The name "Warrnambool" originated from Mount Warrnambool, a scoria cone volcano 25 kilometres northeast of the town. Warrnambool (or Warrnoobul) was the title of both the volcano and the clan of Aboriginal Australian people who lived there. In the local language, the prefix Warnn- designated home or hut, while the meaning of the suffix -ambool is now unknown. William Fowler Pickering, the colonial government surveyor who in 1845 was tasked with the initial planning of the township, chose to name the town Warrnambool. The traditional Indigenous owners of the land today are the Dhauwurd Wurrung people, also known as the Gunditjmara.
Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are thought to have been occupying the site of Warrnambool for at least the last 35,000 years. The vicinity around the Merri River was inhabited by people known as the Merrigundidj, part of the larger Gunditjmara nation. They spoke a language called Bi:gwurrung, which was a dialect of the Dhauwurd Wurrung language. These people constructed large stone and timber weirs called yereroc across various waterways in the region in order to facilitate the trapping of eels. The area at the mouth of the Hopkins River was known as Moyjil. At the beginning of British colonisation of the region in 1841, there were approximately 400 Aboriginal people living around the coastal parts of the Merri River including a number of Koroitgundidj people residing in a village at what is now known as Tower Hill. There are several Maar placenames for locations in the area including: 'Kunang' referring to a waterhole on present-day Koroit Street which was a celebrated place for kangaroos to drink, 'Wirkneung' referring to the site of Warrnambool cemetery, 'Puurkar' referring to the Western Hill area of Warrnambool, and 'Peetoop' which is one of the names for the area meaning 'small sandpiper'.
European maritime exploration A popular legend is that the first Europeans to visit the region were Cristóvão de Mendonça and his crew who surveyed the coastline nearby and were marooned near the site of the present town as early as the 16th century, based on the unverified reports of local whalers' discovery of the wreck of a mahogany ship. The ship's provenance has been variously attributed to France, China, Spain and Portugal. There is no physical evidence to suggest that it ever existed.
The first documented European exploration of the area occurred under Lieutenant James Grant, a Scottish explorer who sailed the along the coast in December 1800 and named several features. This was followed by that of the English navigator Matthew Flinders in the , and the French explorer Nicholas Baudin, who recorded coastal landmarks, in 1802. The area was frequented by whalers early in the 19th century.
British settlement British settlement of the land in the region began in 1838 when Captain Alexander Campbell, a whaler based at nearby Port Fairy, took possession of 4,000 acres around the mouth of the Merri River. He set up a farm there and built his main hut where Warrnambool now stands. The township was planned and surveyed in 1845, with the first allotments being sold in 1847. A Post Office opened 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).
Climate
Warrnambool has a temperate Mediterranean climate (Csb) that closely borders the Oceanic climate (Cfb), and is characterised by mild, dry summers with frequent cold fronts and cool, rainy winters with moderate cloud cover. Annual and especially winter rainfall is much higher than in Melbourne due to being west of the Otway Ranges.
During the 2026 heatwave in southeastern Australia, Warrnambool recorded a maximum temperature of on 27 January 2026 at the airport site, while the highest minimum temperature remained recorded on 21 January 1900 at the post office. Summers can also get cold on occasion, having dropped to on 4 February 1963 near the beach.
The airport is slightly north and inland of Warrnambool, featuring warmer days and cooler nights.
Cityscape The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street (north), Japan Street (east), Merri Street (south) and Henna Street (west). In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of Warrnambool. However, Liebig Street has since become the main street of the central business district (CBD). The Warrnambool CBD is particularly notable for its number of roundabouts.
Outside the CBD, the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens feature wide curving paths, rare trees, a lily pond with ducks, a fernery, a band rotunda, and was designed by notable landscape architect, William Guilfoyle.
Eleven suburbs surround the CBD of Warrnambool: North, South, East and West Warrnambool, Brierly, Sherwood Park, Merrivale, Dennington, Woodford, Bushfield and Allansford, though only the four latter are recognised as localities of the city.
Culture
Wunta Fiesta, a festival held in Warrnambool over the first weekend of February annually, is one of south-west Victoria's major community festivals. It incorporates a wide range of entertainment (mostly music) for all ages.
The Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum is in Warrnambool built on Flagstaff Hill that also holds the original lighthouses and Warrnambool Garrison. Its most prized item in its collection is the Minton peacock salvaged from the Loch Ard. Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village is built around the original lighthouses and now operates as a heritage attraction and museum of shipwreck and maritime trade artefacts.
The Lady Bay Lighthouse complex is on the Victorian heritage register due to its significance as an example of early colonial development. There has been a flagstaff on top of Flagstaff Hill since 1848, and the current lighthouses were moved to the site in 1878. They still operate as navigation aids for the channel into Warrnambool harbour.
The Warrnambool foreshore is a popular swimming area, and is adjacent to the Lake Pertobe parklands. A number of caravan parks are also located in the area.
Baritone Robert Nicholson recorded the song Back to Warrnambool in 1924.National Film and Sound Archive: Does your town have its own song?
Warrnambool is the setting and filming location of the 2015 film Oddball, starring Shane Jacobson.
Warrnambool's Bathing History
Warrnambool has a rich history when it comes to outdoor bathing. The city has been a popular destination for beachgoers for 150 years, with the first public bathing area built in 1876 on the south end of Gilles Street, and was later moved to the current location with the advent of the railway. The sea baths were filled with water drawn from Lady Bay, initially by windmill and later by gas pump.
Over the years, Warrnambool' s outdoor bathing facilities evolved, with the introduction of new amenities and features. In 1881, the sought after Hot Sea Baths opened, and people travelled to Warrnambool to receive the benefits of bathing – noting their 'wonderful creative powers', and their being a 'tonic for the feeble'.
Today, Warrnambool continues to be a popular destination for bathing, with world class facilities available for locals and tourists alike. The Deep Blue Hot Springs offer two bathing experiences and, although no longer using salt water drawn from the sea, their Indoor Bath House and Outdoor Bathing Sanctuary offers naturally warm geothermal water, drawn from the Dilwyn Aquifer, below the earth's surface.
Media Warrnambool is served by one daily newspaper, The Standard, which is owned by Australian Community Media. The local commercial radio stations are 94.5 3YB and 95.3 Coast FM, both owned by Ace Radio. There is also a community radio channel, 3WAY FM. The ABC also owns a radio station, ABC South West Victoria, which is based in Warrnambool.
There is also the Warrnambool Weekly, a free weekly newspaper (produced by Western District Newspapers) that is supplied every Friday to several local businesses.
Warrnambool is also served by local transmission of free-to-air television networks (on relay from Ballarat) ABC, SBS, Seven, Network 10 and WIN.
Out of those networks, WIN Television produces the only local television news bulletin, WIN News, which uses resources from their Ballarat and Warrnambool newsrooms.
Sport Warrnambool is home to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, a race which attracts Australian and international drivers on the Australia Day long weekend, especially because of its position in the motorsport calendar.
The city is also the finishing point of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic cycle race. It is the longest one-day bicycle endurance race in the world, held every October since 1895 to be the world's second oldest bike race.Race History: The First Race . Melbournetowarrnambool.com. Retrieved on 18 August 2011.Boost for Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic. Legislation.vic.gov.au (12 October 2006). Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
Warrnambool has a horse racing club, the Warrnambool Racing Club, which schedules around twenty race meetings a year including the Warrnambool Cup and Grand Annual Steeple three-day meeting in the first week of May. The Woodford Racing Club also holds one meeting at Warrnambool racecourse. The Grand Annual steeplechase has 33 jumps, more than any other horse race and is one of the longest steeplechases in the world.
The Warrnambool Greyhound Racing Club holds regular greyhound racing meetings on most Mondays and Thursdays. The Greyhound version of the Warrnambool Cup is held on the first Wednesday of May. The club also holds the Seaside Festival over the Christmas and New Year period providing great entertainment and value for money for both kids and kids at heart. The club is located centrally in the Warrnambool Showgrounds Precinct on Koroit Street and opened on 27 July 1978.
Warrnambool is home to the Premier Speedway, a dirt track oval speedway located approximately 5 km east of the town. As well as hosting various Victorian state championships, Premier Speedway has hosted Australian championships for Sprintcars, Super Sedans and Street Stocks. Premier Speedway has also regularly hosted rounds of the World Series Sprintcars, being one of only five tracks to host a round of every series run since its inception in 1987. Since 1973 the speedway has been home to the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic, the biggest single sprint car racing meeting in Australia, and on occasion has outdrawn the famed Knoxville Nationals in the United States for number of competitors entered, as better known drivers enter both races. The Classic is traditionally run the weekend before the national title meeting. The speedway has hosted the Classic / Australian Championship double on six occasions – 1979, 1986, 1994, 1999, 2003 and 2011, with Sydney's 10 time Australian Champion Garry Rush the only driver to win the double at Warrnambool in 1986 when he won his 6th Classic and a week later his 7th national title.
Gunditjmara Bulls and North Warrnambool Warriors play rugby league in NRL Victoria.