Never ending rows of vines framed against a dramatic backdrop of the Great Dividing Range. Sweeping architectural lines, awarded restaurants, people and cellar doors – some in tucked-away places – quietly finessing their craft. This is the Yarra Valley – a region of spectacular scenery, extraordinary restaurants and exciting artisan producers. Turn a corner and you’ll smell fresh bread baking, local roasted coffee pouring, beer hops baking and internationally awarded gin distilling. The Yarra Valley is truly alive and vibrant with choice, opportunity and flavour.
Move up the hill and you’re in the Dandenong Ranges. Patchwork quilt views of gardens and paddocks until your eyes stretch out to the horizon where you can see all the way through Melbourne skyline. The Dandenong Ranges is a haven of hidden delights with scenic winding roads to quaint villages, an abundance of artist studios, craft stores, tea rooms, and antique shops. Visit some renowned gardens and take a walk on the many walking trails through mountain ash forests and refreshing mountain air. The most popular attraction is the famous Puffing Billy Steam Railway, fun for the whole family.
TAKE A BREAK
When we think about the need to ‘take a break’, what we are often wanting is a change from our usual surrounds, or maybe a break from the routine we are bound to, some overdue relaxed time with friends – or simply – we need a restorative change of pace. Mid-Week in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges offers all of this with room to move.
Indulge a little – or a lot!
Grab a great table at an award-winning restaurant such as Oakridge Winery, Levantine Hill, Healesville Hotel and TarraWarra Estate with ease. Wander the back roads and discover places with friendly staff ready and able to share local stories and taste your way through the day. Nibble the chocolate at the extraordinary Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery, sip the wine and enjoy the local beer and cider.
Take advantage of ‘bucket-list’ activities that are available mid-week, such as feeding a wombat or walking with a dingo at The Healesville Sanctuary. You could even swim with a platypus! Fly in an antique airplane or glide in a morning balloon flight finished with a breakfast at one of our stunning wineries.
Healesville Sanctuary
Top Walks
When you need to slow down to a walking pace, The Dandenong Ranges are the place to go. Walking through the trails, tracks and parkland of the Dandenong Ranges is the perfect way to unwind, get fit and connect with nature.
A captivating space to indulge the senses in the grandeur of towering Mountain Ash trees, cool temperate rainforests and marvel at the sumptuous lush and soft green gullies that flank the well made walking tracks. Experience vast tracts of National Park that are made up of sprawling glades, mountaintop viewing areas and some trails where you can almost feel yourself following in the footsteps of the regional pioneers.
Listen out for the intriguing and elusive Superb Lyrebird imitating the diverse life surrounding it as you walk through the beautiful woodlands. Make your way to the thundering Sherbrooke Falls. Hear the rustling of the forest inhabitants as many of the rare and unusual animals shuffle about their home. Quiet and gentle of foot you may observe wallabies, wombats, echidnas and a wide variety of birdlife such as cockatoos and rainbow parrots.
Cool Climate Gardens
Gardens in the Dandenong Ranges are sensational! Natures opera, there’s drama, colour and movement. They punctuate our seasons perfectly and inspire all those that view them. Curated to entice us to walk through and imagine ourselves in a story we author whilst others tell the tales of this place, it’s vast history and the people that helped settle it.
Art Lives Here
Find your self in a gallery without the crowds or an arts centre without the queues. We are home to the award winning Burrinja Gallery and over half a dozen public culture spaces that host creative such as the Melbourne Ballet Company, Orchestra Victoria and our rich mix of local talent that includes actors such as John Wood and Michael Veitch (you may have seen them online on our Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges Facebook page). With a gallery as magnificent as TarraWarra Museum of Art there is no shortage of ways to find your personal culture hit.
This is your time and we’re open and ready for you to discover us at your leisure. Find Your Self Mid-Week in the Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges.
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