Which Peninsula town is right for you? A plain-English suburb guide

Thirty-eight suburbs is a lot to compare. Start with who you are.

Families with school-age kids

Mount Eliza (big blocks, Toorak College and Peninsula Grammar nearby), Mount Martha (two beaches, The Briars, leafy streets), Mornington (every service, Main Street, the most choice) and Somerville (newer homes, the train, the freeway) are the four to look at first. Dromana and Rosebud have everything you need for less.

Commuters

Anything north of Mornington. Mount Eliza and Baxter are the closest to the city; Somerville, Tyabb and Hastings are on the Stony Point line to Frankston; Safety Beach and Dromana sit at the end of Peninsula Link.

Downsizers and retirees

Rosebud has the hospital, the plaza and the most units and villas. Rye and Mornington have walkable centres and flat streets near the beach. Sorrento and Flinders are the premium versions.

Holiday house buyers

Sorrento, Portsea and Blairgowrie on the bay; Balnarring Beach, Somers and Merricks Beach on Western Port; Rye and Tootgarook if you want the beach without the premium. Read buying a beach house first.

Surfers

St Andrews Beach, Rye (back beach), Sorrento and Portsea for the ocean; Point Leo and Flinders on the Western Port side.

Space, horses, vines

Red Hill, Main Ridge, Merricks North, Moorooduc and Tuerong for the hinterland; Boneo, Fingal and Baxter for larger holdings.

Value

Crib Point, Hastings, Bittern and Capel Sound are usually where the Peninsula's more affordable houses are, and Capel Sound is the one of them on Port Phillip.

Every suburb has its own profile page on REMP with its beaches, current listings, local agents and — where we have a reported figure — its median prices.