19 of the Most Beautiful Regional Towns in Australia
Australia hides some of its best stories in its smallest towns. From convict-built bridges and gold-rush relics to cool-climate wine country, rainforest villages and old timber settlements reborn as foodie havens, here are nineteen regional towns worth going out of your way for, and what makes each one quietly remarkable.
Town selection inspired by the feature “19 of the most beautiful regional towns in Australia” by Carla Grossetti for delicious. Read the original here.
All descriptions below are independently researched and originally written.
01 / 19
Central Tilba, New South Wales
A National Trust village frozen in the 1890s, built to serve the goldfields and dairy farms below sacred Mount Gulaga. Painted timber shopfronts, a cheese factory making award-winning rounds since 1891, and the 1895 Dromedary Hotel pouring beer brewed on site.
02 / 19
Mudgee, New South Whales
Moothi, the Wiradjuri called it, the nest in the hills. Henry Lawson grew up just north of here, and vines planted in 1858 make this the country's third-oldest wine region. Wide colonial streets, sixty-odd cellar doors and a serious dining scene.
03 / 19
Gundaroo, New South Wales
A near-intact colonial village on Ngunnawal country with one of the last working town commons in the state. The 1865 Royal Hotel once staged bushranger hold-ups for busloads of tourists; today it's Grazing, one of the region's finest restaurants.
04 / 19
Bowral, New South Wales
A genteel Southern Highlands retreat where Don Bradman spent his boyhood and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers spent hers. Beneath Mount Gibraltar, its spring Tulip Time festival now plants some eighty thousand blooms in Corbett Gardens.
05 / 19
Yungaburra, North Queensland
On the cool Atherton Tablelands, with more heritage buildings than any town in regional Queensland. Spot wild platypus at dusk on Peterson Creek, marvel at the 500-year-old Curtain Fig, and swim in the volcanic crater lakes nearby.
06 / 19
Montville, Queensland
A mountain village on the Blackall Range, once bunya-pine country and originally named Razorback. Renamed in 1897 after a town in the USA, it now charms with cottage gardens, galleries and valley views, with Kondalilla Falls close by.
07 / 19
Uki, New South Whales
A tiny creative village set inside an ancient volcanic caldera, beneath the sacred peak of Wollumbin. A former dairy town turned arts pocket, with a 1909 post office reborn as a roastery and a bakery famous for award-winning pies.
08 / 19
Daylesford, Victoria
Australia's spa capital, sitting atop the country's densest cluster of natural mineral springs. Swiss and Italian gold miners left a European flavour; today there are bathhouses, a lake, botanic gardens and the celebrated Lake House.
09 / 19
Milawa, Victoria
The heart of Victoria's first official gourmet region, anchored by the Brown family winery since 1889. Cycle the gourmet trail between cellar doors, mustard makers, cheese rooms and a wood-fired bakery, all backed by High Country mountains..
10 / 19
Olinda, Victoria
A misty hill village in the Dandenong Ranges, wrapped in towering mountain ash and fern gullies where lyrebirds call. Its botanic garden holds a famous collection of rhododendrons and azaleas that blaze into colour each spring.
11 / 19
Richmond, Tasmania
One of Australia's most complete Georgian towns, near Hobart. Its convict-built sandstone bridge, finished in 1825, is the oldest still in use in the country. Around it, a preserved gaol, early church and a valley full of cool-climate wineries.
12 / 19
Ross, Tasmania
A sandstone garrison town from 1812 whose crossroads famously marks temptation, salvation, damnation and condemnation. Its 1836 convict-carved bridge is so finely worked the stonemason won a pardon. Don't skip the bakery's vanilla slice.
13 / 19
Cygnet, Tasmania
Named by French explorer d'Entrecasteaux for the black swans on its bay, this Huon Valley orchard town is now a free-spirited hub of galleries and cafes, at the centre of Tasmania's cider revival. The January folk festival fills the town.
14 / 19
Murray Bridge, Tasmania
South Australia's largest river town, grown around the first bridge ever built across the Murray, opened in 1879. Drift the broad river by houseboat or paddle steamer, watch the pelicans, and pair local cheese and wine less than an hour from Adelaide.
15 / 19
Stirling, South Australia
The oldest German settlement in Australia, founded in 1839 by Lutheran refugees who named it for their ship's captain. Half-timbered buildings, an elm-lined street, handmade smallgoods and beer, all set in the cellar-door country of the Adelaide Hills.
16 / 19
Stirling, South Australia
The leafy heart of the Adelaide Hills, planted with grand exotic trees that turn red and gold each autumn. A stylish main street of chocolatiers and homewares, surrounded by cool-climate vineyards, just twenty minutes from the city.
17 / 19
Bridgetown, Western Australia
Timber country on the Blackwood River, ringed by towering karri and jarrah and spring wildflowers. A heritage main street, river paddling and forest trails, and a community that embraces winter with a festival cheekily rebadged Fridgetown.
18 / 19
Esperance, Western Australia
Squeaky white sand and unreal turquoise water on the edge of the Southern Ocean, named for a French ship that sheltered here in 1792. Kangaroos lounge on the beach at Cape Le Grand, and the Great Ocean Drive links one stunning lookout to the next.
19 / 19
York, Western Australia
The first inland settlement east of the Darling Range, founded in the 1830s and grown wealthy on wool and wheat. One of the west's most intact historic streets, a grand town hall and old flour mill, framed by hills that turn yellow with canola in season.
From convict-built bridges in the Tasmanian midlands to turquoise bays on the edge of the Southern Ocean, these nineteen towns prove that some of Australia's best experiences are found well off the highway. Whether you're chasing cool-climate wine, heritage streetscapes, rainforest air or simply a slower pace, each one rewards the detour, and most are closer than you think. Pick a direction, fill the tank, and go find your favourite.
This piece was inspired by the original feature "19 of the most beautiful regional towns in Australia" by Carla Grossetti for delicious. See the whole article at delicious.com.au.