New research reveals Aussies are swapping packed itineraries for peaceful small-town escapes.
Australians are officially slowing down. According to new research from Wotif, half of Aussies (50 per cent) say they’ll trade the stress of over-planned getaways for a gentler pace in 2026, where small towns, fewer crowds and easy access to life’s simple pleasures reign supreme.
The travel site’s latest Unpack ‘26 report has revealed this year’s five official Slow Down Towns. Each spot offering the perfect mix of calm, charm and community, inviting travellers to hit pause and soak it all in.
Trading hustle for harmony
Aussies are craving slow mornings by the beach. (Image: Destination NSW)
Forget the jam-packed city break. Aussies are craving slow mornings by the beach, easy afternoons wandering local shops and evenings spent dining somewhere that knows your name. Wotif found that 80 per cent of travellers value smaller crowds, while 78 per cent appreciate when everything they need is close by.
It’s not just about slowing down; it’s about feeling better for it. The report revealed that visiting a slower-paced destination leaves most Aussies relaxed (67 per cent), less stressed (54 per cent) and genuinely recharged (52 per cent).
Where to slow down in 2026
The charm of these destinations isn’t just in what you can do, but what you don’t have to. Each of the Slow Down Towns offers the kind of setting that encourages a deep exhale, whether that’s a quiet morning coffee with the locals, an unhurried afternoon exploring boutique shops or golden-hour moments by the water with nowhere else to be.
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1. Nagambie, Victoria
The pace in Nagambie is dictated by the sun and the scent of shiraz.
Just 90 minutes north of Melbourne, Nagambie is a peaceful lakeside escape in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley region. The pace here is dictated by the sun and the scent of shiraz, with scenic drives and boutique stays rounding out the experience.
2. Trinity Beach, Queensland
The vibe is laid-back in Trinity Beach. (Image: Tourism and Events Queensland / Tourism Tropical North Queensland)
Fringed by palm trees and hugged by rainforest, this laid-back beach village north of Cairns is the kind of place that makes time slow down naturally. With the Great Barrier Reef offshore and the Daintree Rainforest nearby, it’s a perfect base for relaxed adventure, or doing absolutely nothing at all.
3. Huskisson, NSW
Huskisson is where the South Coast’s easy rhythm comes to life. (Image: Dee Kramer)
Set on the shores of Jervis Bay, Huskisson is where the South Coast’s easy rhythm comes to life. Days melt into one another with dolphin cruises, snorkelling in turquoise waters and lazy afternoons wandering the main street’s cafes and boutiques. It’s a town where sandy feet are the norm and sunset dinners by the bay feel like a nightly ritual.
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4. Robe, SA
Robe perfectly captures the essence of coastal SA. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)
With its pastel heritage cottages, limestone cliffs and relaxed seaside air, Robe perfectly captures the essence of coastal South Australia. Visitors linger over fresh lobster and local wines before wandering down to Long Beach, where you can drive right onto the sand. It’s no wonder Robe is beloved by those in the know.
5. Mollymook, NSW
Linger longer in Mollymook. (Image: Destination NSW)
Mollymook’s coastal charm is complemented by a strong culinary scene, think Rick Stein at Bannisters and beachside cafes serving up fresh local produce. Between ocean swims and coastal walks, the town’s rhythm invites you to linger. To sip, savour and soak in South Coast sunshine at its most effortless.
Whether it’s a weekend by the coast or a few days lakeside, these towns prove that sometimes the best trips aren’t about doing more, they’re about slowing down.
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Emily Murphy is Australian Traveller's Email & Social Editor, and in her time at the company she has been instrumental in shaping its social media and email presence, and crafting compelling narratives that inspire others to explore Australia's vast landscapes. Her previous role was a journalist at Prime Creative Media and before that she was freelancing in publishing, content creation and digital marketing. When she's not creating scroll-stopping travel content, Em is a devoted 'bun mum' and enjoys spending her spare time by the sea, reading, binge-watching a good TV show and exploring Sydney's vibrant dining scene. Next on her Aussie travel wish list? Tasmania and The Kimberley.
Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.
Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.
But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.
The rise of Macedon Ranges wine
Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.
Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.
Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.
Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.
Meet the new generation of local winemakers
The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.
Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.
Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”
The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.
Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.
Come for the wine, stay for the food
Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.
For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.
The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.
The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.
Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.
Drinking there
A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.
Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Playing there
Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.
Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)
Slow down in Australia’s most charming little towns - Australian Traveller
