The Best Things to Do in the Yarra Valley

Well-loved for its world-class wines, there’s more to the Yarra Valley than meets the eye.

It only takes an hour or so to drive from Melbourne to one of Australia’s best wine regions and while some come for day trips to the cellar door there are many more things to do in the Yarra Valley beyond enjoying a top drop.

1. Let Driven Indulgence be your designated driver on a winery tour

Go on a winery tour with Driven Indulgence.

Your vehicle or theirs, take the stress out of wine tasting by booking a private tour from your Yarra Valley accommodation with Driven Indulgence . Design your own itinerary or choose one of their ‘hidden gems’ tours, then sit back and enjoy a day meandering around Victoria’s first wine region home of more than 90 cellar doors.

2. Wander through inspirational gardens

the Coombe Estate in Yarra Valley — Coombe Yarra Valley, the former estate of operatic legend Dame Nellie Melba, invites you to experience its historic charm. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Alwoyn Gardens in Yarra Glen is the seven wonders of the Yarra Valley’s gardening scene.

With seven distinctive gardens including a formal parterre with its tightly clipped geometrical shape, The French Provincial featuring lavender and sunflowers, and a glorious central archway planted with highly scented wisteria and Pierre de Ronsard roses, it’s a gem for garden lovers. Across at Coombe Yarra Valley , Melba’s garden tour will send your heart singing, literally. As the former home of operatic legend, Dame Nellie Melba, and still under the stewardship of her direct descendants, expect to be wowed by old world trees (including an oak more than 180 years old), terraced lawns and rambling roses.

3. Pick up a treasure from a farmers’ market

the exterior of Punt Road Winery, Yarra Valley — Don’t miss the Yarra Valley Farmers’ Market at Punt Road Winery. (Image: Visit Victoria)

In a region based on growing and making, it stands to reason there are great farmers’ markets. The Yarra Glen Racecourse Market oozing with charm and creativity is held on the first Sunday of the month. Wander around the labyrinth of stalls where everything sold needs to pass muster on the market’s philosophy – ‘fresh, home-made, good value and great quality’. If you’re in the Yarra Valley on the third Sunday of the month, don’t miss the Yarra Valley Farmers’ Market held in the scenic grounds of Punt Road Winery where handmade goodies abound and you’ll have the chance to meet the makers. Additionally, keep your eyes open for honesty boxes where you can pick up fresh produce from farm gates.

4. Step back in time at Gulf Station

the Gulf Station, Yarra Valley — The historic Gulf Station in Yarra Glen is one of the country’s oldest farms.

A self-guided tour around one of the oldest and most intact farms in the country is a snapshot into the life of the pioneers of agriculture. Simply known as the Gulf , the station was built in the 1840s and was owned by one family for over 100 years. Now under the care of the National Trust, you can plan a visit on the first Thursday and last Sunday of the month in addition to one of the special events including ‘lost traditions’ day, where demonstrations include butter churning, sheep shearing and horses working the fields.

5. Drive over the Black Spur

a white car driving along the Black Spur — Winding between dense nature, Black Spur offers a scenic drive in the region. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Starting in Healesville, this classic drive winds along 27.5 kilometres of lush forest linking the Yarra Valley with the mountainous areas of Northern Victoria. Lined with the tallest flowering tree on the planet – mountain ash, towering above iridescent green ferns the road zig-zags its way up the Great Dividing Range. Along the way make a stop at Badger Weir to breathe in the scent of the forest and listen to birdsong. The 1.5km walking trail will take you amongst ancient tree ferns along Coranderrk Creek, or there’s a more difficult 3km loop. At the base of the Black Spur, relax at Fernshaw a spacious picnic area surrounded by forest.

6. Cook up a storm

Seasonal menus with an Italian or French flair are the signature of the Yarra Valley Cooking School hands-on cooking sessions. Gaze across rows of grapes from the purpose-built kitchen as you learn the tricks of the trade during the three-hour class culminating in dining on the fruits of your labour with delicacies like; carrot and mascarpone galette, salt-crusted sea snapper with summer salad, followed by peach clafoutis. Book well ahead and for extra fun, gather a group together and make a day of it.

7. Groove along to one of Rochford Estate’s legendary concerts

If you think most of the action in the Yarra Valley happens during the day, a concert at Rochford Estate will soon have you rocking. Set amidst the family-owned architectural masterpiece, with a capacity of 12,000 people, the Rochford Estate amphitheatre is the home of live music in the Yarra Valley. Over the years, blockbuster names like Elton John, Simple Minds, John Farnham, Cold Chisel and Simple Minds have graced the stage, and fans wait with bated breath (with fingers on speed dial ready to book) when a new concert series is announced. The indoor Rochford Concert Lounge adds another dimension to the music scene with dinner shows featuring local talent playing tribute song lists.

8. Have a berry nice time

a hand holding blueberries, Yarra Valley — The summer season is the best time to pick blueberries. (Image: Getty/Iuliia Pilipeichenko)

Go for the blueberries, and stay for the fun-filled gardens including the super kid-friendly dinosaur trail, and the miniatures garden dedicated to gnomes. Tucked away in Steels Creek, minutes away from Yarra Glen, Oasis Theme Gardens and Blueberry Farm welcomes visitors over the summer season. Once you’ve tasted blueberries straight from the farm, there’s no going back.

9. Take to the skies in a hot air balloon

a hot air balloon over Yarra Valley — Hot air ballooning is a unique experience that is not to be missed when visiting the Yarra Valley. (Image: Visit Victoria)

If you’ve ever dreamt of taking a hot air balloon ride, the Yarra Valley is the place . Protected by the surrounding mountain ranges, stable climatic conditions create the perfect scenario at sunrise to take to the skies float above the valley filled with a patchwork quilt of vineyards, farmland and forests. Make up for the early start by adding in the post-flight breakfast and toast the day with a glass of sparkling.

10. Admire TarraWarra Museum of Art’s fine collection

a man sitting while admiring art inside TarraWarra Museum of Art — TarraWarra Museum of Art presents stimulating and innovative exhibitions. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Designed by acclaimed Australian architect, Allan Powell, to harmonise with the contours and colours of the landscape, the not-for-profit TarraWarra Museum of Art is a work of art in itself. Within the rammed earth walls, the gallery is home to one of the country’s most important collections of Australian art from the 1930s to the present day with pieces by artists including Arthur Boyd, Fred Williams, Charles Blackman, Brett Whitely and Sidney Nolan. The gallery has a robust calendar of exhibitions and with TarraWarra Estate next door, book a table for a lunch where you’ll enjoy an innovative menu featuring local produce.

11. Meet all your favourite Australian animals at Healesville Sanctuary

kangaroos at Healesville Sanctuary — See some of Victoria’s cutest wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Loved by locals and visitors alike, sprawling across 28 hectares of bushland, Healesville Sanctuary is ‘the’ place to connect with around 140 species of Australia’s unique wildlife.

Meander through the various habitats to spot everything from kangaroos to lyrebirds, Tasmanian devils, green-bellied parrots and platypus. Hear from experts about the plight to fight the extinction of native species, book a close-up experience with an animal, go to a keeper talk, or avoid the crowds and take the VIP Sanctuary Tour that includes reserve seating at the ever-popular Spirit of the Skies bird presentation.

12. Connect to Country

Hand in hand with learning about Australian animals, Healesville Sanctuary also focuses on Indigenous history. The Yarra Valley is home to the Wurundjeri people from the Kulin Nation, and the self-guided Wurundjeri Walk was created in consultation with present-day Elders and spiritual custodians of the land. Celebrating the life of revered Elder, and accomplished artist, William Barak, the self-guided walk passes an ancient scar tree and bark canoe in conjunction with soundscapes of four generations of Elders reflecting on family stories. If you go on a Sunday, you can listen to Murrundindi (Wurundjeri Elder) play the didgeridoo, and find out what makes a boomerang come back.

13. Visit a winery and an Indigenous art gallery at the same time

an aerial view of Hubert Estate, Yarra Valley — The Indigenous art gallery is surrounded by vineyards. (Image: Visit Victoria)

One of the stalwarts of the valley, Hubert Estate has been making wine for over 100 years and along the way adding innovative experiences for visitors to enjoy. Initiated by Adam Knight and Gerry Ryan OAM, who share a passion for Australian Indigenous art, the Hubert Gallery of Art houses works from more than 20 Indigenous communities and includes paintings, sculptures and Marebu (woven mats). The gallery is open seven days a week and conveniently located in the same building as the stylish cellar door.

14. Taste cheese straight from the farm at Yarra Valley Dairy

farmhouse cheeses at Yarra Valley Dairy — Sample a range of fresh cow and goat milk cheeses at Yarra Valley Dairy. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wine and cheese are a winning combination, and in the Yarra Valley, you can taste both directly from the source. At the Yarra Valley Dairy fresh cow milk from resident cows and goat milk from the neighbouring region of Mansfield are used to create a range inspired by the farmhouse cheeses of France and Italy. Take a seat by the window and watch the world (and cows) go by over a cheese plate with local baked bread and charcuterie.

15. Have a Willy Wonka moment in a real chocolate factory

edible art on display at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery — Some of the edible art on offer at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery makes more than 400 different chocolate products, and thanks to the large viewing windows you can watch their chocolatiers at work before enjoying a free chocolate tasting. Learn how to make your own chocolate in one of their hands-on classes, or if you’re travelling with kids, they can lick their fingers in the Junior Chocolatiers class for six-to-12-year-olds. For an off-the-scale chocolatey experience, make it a date for one of the special Chocolaterie High Teas, a decadent twist on a classic.

16. Be-GIN instead of wine

a array of Four Pillars Gin bottles on display — Since its launch in 2013, Four Pillars has become Australia’s most famous spirit. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wine isn’t the only drink winning awards, as one of Australia’s leading spirit houses, Four Pillars has a long list of international gold and best gin awards to its name. Centrally located in Healesville, the impressive building is a hive of activity seven days a week. Delve into the intricacies of distilling on a behind-the-scenes tour; snag a table in the mezzanine bar for a Four Pillars signature tasting flight, or go all out and book ahead for a distillery gin masterclass and leave with a generous goodie bag to keep the good vibes rolling. And thanks to their Bandwagon range, non-drinkers can enjoy alcohol-free cocktails.

Discover the best restaurants in the Yarra Valley.

Originally written by Amanda Woods and updated by Jocelyn Pride

Video credit: Visit Victoria/Tourism Australia

The Grampians just might be the ultimate antidote for the metropolis, writes one returning Aussie ready to disconnect from the modern world and reconnect to the Great outdoors.

There are no kangaroos back in Chicago: they’re all here in the Grampians/Gariwerd . In the heart of the Grampians National Park’s main gateway town, Halls Gap, pods of eastern greys are eating grass beside my parked rental car beneath the stars. Next morning, when I see the backyard of my rented villa on the edge of town for the first time, there are kangaroos feeding beside a slow-moving creek, lined with river red gums.

Five hundred metres up the road, 50 or so of them are eating by the side of the road in a paddock. I pull over to watch and spot three emus. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos fly overhead towards the tall green mountains just beyond town.

‘Kee-ow, keee-oww’… their calls fuse with the maniacal cackle of a kookaburra (or 10). Gawd, how I’ve missed the sound of them. Far above, a wedge-tailed eagle watches, and there you go: the ‘great birds of Australia’ trifecta, all half a kay from the town limits.

Exchanging city chaos for country calm

kangaroos near Halls Gap, Grampians National Park — The park is renowned for its significant diversity of native fauna species. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)

I’ve come to the Grampians to disconnect, but the bush offers a connection of its own. This isn’t just any bush, mind you. The Grampians National Park is iconic for many reasons, mostly for its striking sandstone mountains – five ridges run north to south, with abrupt, orange slopes which tumble right into Halls Gap – and for the fact there’s 20,000 years of traditional rock art. Across these mountains there are more than 200 recorded sites to see, created by the Djab Wurrung, Jardwadjali and Gunditjmara peoples. It’s just like our outback… but three hours from Melbourne.

I’ve come here for a chance at renewal after the chaos of my life in America’s third-largest city, Chicago, where I live for now, at the whim of a relative’s cancer journey. Flying into Melbourne’s airport, it only takes an hour’s drive to feel far away from any concept of suburbia. When I arrive in Halls Gap two hours later, the restaurant I’m eating at clears out entirely by 7:45pm; Chicago already feels a lifetime ago.

The trails and treasures of the Grampians

sunrise at Grampians National Park /Gariwerd — Grampians National Park /Gariwerd covers almost 2000 square kilometres. (Image: Ben Savage)

Though the national park covers almost 2000 square kilometres, its best-known landmarks are remarkably easy to access. From my carpark here, among the cockatoos and kangaroos on the fringe of Halls Gap, it only takes 60 seconds’ driving time before I’m winding my way up a steep road through rainforest, deep into the mountains.

Then it’s five minutes more to a carpark that serves as a trailhead for a hike to one of the park’s best vantage points, The Pinnacles . I walk for an hour or so, reacquainting myself with the smells and the sounds of the Aussie bush, before I reach it: a sheer cliff’s edge lookout 500 metres up above Halls Gap.

walking through a cave, Hollow Mountain — Overlooking the vast Grampians landscape from Hollow Mountain. (Image: Robert Blackburn)

There are hikes and there are lookouts and waterfalls all across this part of the park near town. Some are a short stroll from a carpark; others involve long, arduous hikes through forest. The longest is the Grampians Peaks Trail , Victoria’s newest and longest iconic walk, which runs 160 kilometres – the entire length of Grampians National Park.

Local activities operator Absolute Outdoors shows me glimpses of the trail. The company’s owner, Adrian Manikas, says it’s the best walk he’s done in Australia. He says he’s worked in national parks across the world, but this was the one he wanted to bring his children up in.

“There’s something about the Grampians,” he says, as he leads me up a path to where there’s wooden platforms for tents, beside a hut looking straight out across western Victoria from a kilometre up in the sky (these are part of the guided hiking options for the trail). “There are things out here that you won’t see anywhere else in Australia.” Last summer, 80 per cent of the park was damaged by bushfire, but Manikas shows me its regrowth, and tells me of the manic effort put in by volunteers from town – with firefighters from all over Australia – to help save Halls Gap.

wildflowers in Grampians National Park — Spot wildflowers. (Image: Visit Victoria)

We drive back down to Halls Gap at dusk to abseil down a mountain under the stars, a few minutes’ walk off the main road into town. We have headlamps, but a full moon is enough to light my way down. It takes blind faith to walk backwards down a mountain into a black void, though the upside is I can’t see the extent of my descent.

Grampians National Park at sunset. (Image: Wine Australian)

The stargazing is ruined by the moon, of course, but you should see how its glow lights up the orange of the sandstone, like in a theme park. When I’m done, I stand on a rocky plateau drinking hot chocolate and listening to the Aussie animals who prefer nighttime. I can see the streets of Halls Gap off in the distance on this Friday night. The restaurants may stay open until 8pm tonight.

What else is on offer in The Grampians?

a boat travelling along the Wimmera River inDimboola — Travelling along the Wimmera River in Dimboola. (Image: Chris McConville)

You’ll find all sorts of adventures out here – from rock climbing to canoeing to hiking – but there’s more to the Grampians than a couple of thousand square kilometres of trees and mountains. Halls Gap may be known to most people, but what of Pomonal, and Dimboola, and Horsham? Here in the shadow of those big sandstone mountains there are towns and communities most of us don’t know to visit.

And who knew that the Grampians is home to Victoria’s most underrated wine region ? My disconnection this morning comes not in a forest, but in the tasting rooms and winery restaurants of the district. Like Pomonal Estate, barely 10 minutes’ drive east of Halls Gap, where UK-born chef Dean Sibthorp prepares a locally caught barramundi with lentil, pumpkin and finger lime in a restaurant beside the vines at the base of the Grampians. Husband-and-wife team Pep and Adam Atchison tell me stories as they pour their prize wines (shiraz is the hero in these parts).

dining at Pomonal Estate — Dine in a restaurant beside vines at Pomonal Estate. (Image: Tourism Australia)

Three minutes’ drive back down the road, long-time mates Hadyn Black and Darcy Naunton run an eclectic cellar door out of a corrugated iron shed, near downtown Pomonal. The Christmas before last, half the houses in Pomonal burnt down in a bushfire, but these locals are a resilient lot.

The fires also didn’t stop the construction of the first art centre in Australia dedicated to environmental art in a nature-based precinct a little further down the road (that’s Wama – the National Centre for Environmental Arts), which opened in July. And some of the world’s oldest and rarest grape vines have survived 160 years at Best’s Wines, outside the heritage town of Great Western. There’s plantings here from the year 1868, and there’s wines stored in century-old barrels within 150-year-old tunnels beneath the tasting room. On the other side of town, Seppelt Wines’ roots go back to 1865. They’re both only a 30-minute drive from Halls Gap.

Salingers of Great Western — Great Western is a charming heritage town. (Image: Griffin Simm)

There’s more to explore yet; I drive through tiny historic towns that barely make the map. Still part of the Grampians, they’re as pretty as the mountains behind them: full of late 19th-century/early 20th-century post offices, government offices and bank buildings, converted now to all manner of bric-a-brac stores and cafes.

The Imaginarium is one, in quirky Dimboola, where I sleep in the manager’s residence of an old National Australia Bank after a gourmet dinner at the local golf club, run by noted chef and teacher, Cat Clarke – a pioneer of modern Indigenous Australian cooking. Just south, I spend an entire afternoon at a winery, Norton Estate Wines, set on rolling calico-coloured hills that make me think of Tuscany, chit-chatting with owners Chris and Sam Spence.

Being here takes me back two decades, when I lived here for a time. It had all seemed as foreign as if I’d driven to another planet back then (from Sydney/Warrane), but there seemed something inherently and immediately good about this place, like I’d lived here before.

And it’s the Australian small-town familiarity of the Grampians that offers me connection back to my own country. Even in the better-known Halls Gap, Liz from Kerrie’s Creations knows I like my lattes with soy milk and one sugar. And while I never do get the name of the lady at the local Ampol station, I sure know a lot about her life.

Kookaburras on a tree — Kookaburras are one of some 230 bird species. (Image: Darren Donlen)

You can be a local here in a day; how good is that? In Chicago, I don’t even know who my neighbour is. Though each day at dusk – when the kangaroos gather outside my villa, and the kookaburras and the black cockatoos shout out loud before settling in to sleep – I prefer the quieter connection I get out there in the bush, beneath these orange mountains.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

Sleep beside the wildlife on the edge of Halls Gap at Serenity .

Playing there

abseiling down Hollow Mountain — Hollow Mountain is a popular abseiling site.

Go abseiling under the stars or join a guided hike with Absolute Outdoors . Visit Wama , Australia’s first environmental art centre. Check out Dimboola’s eccentric Imaginarium .

Eating there

steak, naan bread and beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap — Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap serves a great steak on naan bread.

Eat world-class cuisine at Pomonal Estate . Dine and stay at much-revered icon Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. The ‘steak on naan’ at Halls Gap brewhouse Paper Scissors Rock , can’t be beat.

Dunkeld Arboretum in Grampians National Park — The serene Dunkeld Arboretum.

For Halls Gap’s best breakfasts head to Livefast Cafe . Sip local wines at Great Western’s historic wineries, Best’s Wines , Seppelt Wines and Norton Estate Wines .

two glasses of beer at Paper Scissors Rock in Halls Gap — Sink a cold one at Paper Scissors Rock.

16 of the best things to do in the Yarra Valley