The best food and wine road trips in Australia

Carla Grossetti Carla Grossetti
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Some road trips lead to the most memorable food and wine experiences in Australia. Foodies, take note.

Here are 11 of Australia’s best food-and-wine-focused road trips to inspire you from our special 100 Amazing Road Trips around Australia series.

Food and wine road trips

84. Hunter Valley winery trail, NSW

Its vast rolling landscape has been cultivated for wine production since the early 19th century, making the Hunter Valley the country’s oldest wine region. Home to 150-plus wineries (including Dalwood Estate, the ‘birthplace of Hunter Valley wine’), this picturesque region is also renowned for its excellent dining, making it a satiating road trip for the eyes and stomach. Venture beyond the main hub of Pokolbin (home to highly acclaimed Brokenwood Wines and two-hatted Muse Restaurant) to the lesser visited regions of Broke and Wollombi for a slower-paced journey through countryside dotted with farm gates touting produce, historic buildings and quaint towns, and boutique cellar doors that you’ll likely have to yourself.

Chief Winemaker Stuart Hordern, Brokenwood Wines, Pokolbin, NSW, Australia
Sample wines from the country’s oldest wine region, Hunter Valley. (Image: Destination NSW)

Distance:

85 kilometres round trip from Pokolbin.

Stay:

Redleaf, set on 40 hectares near Wollombi, is a charming Italian-style manor that sleeps 12.

Words by Megan Arkinstall

85. Noosa Country Drive, Qld

Just like the quandong gin and lavender vodka being poured at 2020 Distillery in Cooroy, a journey through the pastoral folds inland from Noosa Heads distils the creative essence of the hinterland. How about gin blended with hopped H2O, being poured at the bar at Pomona Distilling Co? Or a frosty local from the iconic Kin Kin Hotel, which is currently undergoing a significant renovation? Sniff, swirl, sip, then snooze in sustainable luxury at Mayan Farm – the rammed-earth villas at the working farm run by Slow Food ambassador Jodie Williams in Kin Kin.

Distance

89.5 kilometres

Aerial view of Noosa Country Drive, QLD, Australia
Saunter along the Noosa Country Drive to try different pubs and restaurants. (Image: Destination NSW)

Words by Celeste Mitchell

86. The Tasmanian Whisky & Spirits Trail

Though you may need to nominate someone else as the designated driver for this journey, those with a passion for handcrafted tipples can make this the driving force behind a trip around Tassie. The Tasmanian Whisky & Spirits Trail links the island state’s artisan distillers, from trailblazer Lark Distillery in Hobart to Australia’s southernmost whisky distillery McHenry on the Tasman Peninsula, to Southern Wild, Tasmania’s newest gin distillery, on the wild north coast.

Tassie Whiskey Trail
Those with a passion for handcrafted tipples should make their way to Tassie. (Image: Destination NSW)

Distance:

380 kilometres north to south.

Stay:

Spend the night in the Devil’s Lair Cabin on site at McHenry Distillery for a whisky nightcap washed down with a side of dark sky stargazing from an observatory inside a converted barley silo.

87. Melbourne to Macedon Ranges, Vic

This is more multi-weekend treasure hunt than one-off Saturday spin (unless you want to bunch brunch and lunch). It seems every small-town bakery in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges and its peripheries lays claims to having ‘the best’ baked good of some variety, be it pie or sourdough.

Best selling baked goods, Macedon Ranges, Australia
Every small-town bakery in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges has baked goods worth trying. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Brothers Ryan and Chan Khun from Kyneton’s Country Cob Bakery regularly sweep the board at Australia’s Best Pie Competition. Trentham’s RedBeard is so confident of its natural wild yeasts and lactose bacteria that it offers sourdough making workshops. North-west of the ranges, the Bridgewater Bakehouse has won the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph twice (2018 and 2019). Towns like Woodend and Lancefield are just two more towns worth a sweet little pit stop.

Interiors of RedBeard Bakery, Trentham, Australia
Trentham’s RedBeard offers sourdough making workshops. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Distance:

90 kilometres one way from Melbourne (route dependent).

Words by Steve Madgwick

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88. Melbourne to Gippsland, Vic

You’ll find good food without much fanfare in egalitarian Gippsland. Take the M1 south from Melbourne towards Lang Lang’s Howler Brewing Company for next-level burgers and brews. Further south, Inverloch’s Dirty Three Wines offers top drops. Visit Prom Country Cheese in Moyarra and overnight in Meeniyan, known for its annual garlic festival. The next day, take the windy-yet-wondrous Grand Ridge Road to Warragul to browse the farmers market or splash out on the six-course tasting menu at Hogget Kitchen. Go out with a bang at Farmer’s Daughters, a landmark Melbourne eatery that champions Gippsland producers.

Platter from Dirty Three Wines, Gippsland, Australia
Inverloch’s Dirty Three Wines offers top drops.

Distance:

372 kilometres round trip.

Stay:

Ross Farm’s stripped-back aesthetic is just the tonic.

Ross Farm, Interiors, Victoria, Australia
Guests love Ross Farm’s stripped-back aesthetic. (Image: Lachlan Moore)

Words by Jo Stewart

89. Adelaide to Barossa Valley, SA

Hit the road northeast from Adelaide to indulge in some of Australia’s most renowned food and wine experiences, beginning at the western end of the Seppeltsfield Road precinct with its striking Avenue of Palms crying out to be cruised along. This five-kilometre trail of Canary Island date palms that now number more than 2000 was originally planted by Seppeltsfield workers during the Great Depression; visit the historic winery today to taste your birth year’s tawny, have lunch at destination diner Fino or even swap four wheels for two on a vineyard Segway tour. Other nearby epicurean highlights include Appellation and Hentley Farm restaurants and Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop. If this only whets your appetite for more, embark on the Epicurean Way: a decadent road trip through South Australia’s four iconic wine regions.

Landscape view of vineyards, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Indulge in some of Australia’s most renowned food and wine experiences.

Distance:

Adelaide to Seppeltsfield Road is 80 kilometres.

Stay:

In the heart of the Seppeltsfield Road precinct, The Villas – Barossa provides an architecturally striking and environmentally sensitive base for road-tripping the region.

90. Orange winery trail, NSW

An easy meander from Sydney – four hours’ drive over the mountains and onto the Central Tablelands – a trip to Orange and its bucolic surrounds is the stuff long weekends are made of. This dynamic regional city blends heritage and the fruits of its rich volcanic soils with more than a dash of the new to create exceptional food and wine experiences.

Bottles of Wine from Nashdale Lane, Nashdale, NSW, Australia
Find boutique family-owned wineries like Nashdale Lane (Image: Destination NSW)

Base yourself in its heritage heart (check out Yallungah Boutique Hotel or The White Place) and spend your days on country drives to villages such as Nashdale, where you’ll find boutique family-owned wineries Nashdale Lane and Printhie Wines; historic Molong, home to cellar doors including the eclectic Heifer Station Wines; and Millthorpe, with its destination fine diner Tonic. But if you’re still in the mood for more, there are plenty more wineries to visit in Orange, and breweries and distilleries.

Distance:

256 kilometres

Countryside Canowindra, NSW, Australia
Base yourself in its heritage heart and spend your days on country drives to vineyards. (Image: Destination NSW)

91. Adelaide to McLaren Vale, SA

The Saturday farmers market in Willunga packs up at noon, but even after a sleep-in and a crossword I still arrive with time to spare thanks to the wormhole-like Southern Expressway that whisks me through Adelaide’s southern suburbs to McLaren Vale. Growers and makers of every type cram into the local schoolyard, and I follow my nose (and the crowds) to the toastie stall for a gooey late breakfast.

Fresh green pears from Willunga Farmers Market
Grab some fresh pears at Wilunga Farmers Market. (Image: Karen Walker)

The friendly community vibe continues five minutes away at the McMurtrie Road ‘share house’, where three fabulous smaller wineries (Lino Ramble, Bondar Wines and Sherrah Wines) have a room each. Continuing east, the sea of vines parts as if for Moses and reveals a path to Gemtree Wines’ solar-powered cellar door where perfumed biodynamic grenache vies for my attention with glorious views out towards a sea the colour of Peter O’Toole’s eyes.

A tasting at Gemtree Wines, South Australia, Australia
Go on a tasting at Gemtree Wines. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Distance:

100 kilometres round trip.

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Stay:

Lean into slow living at CABN X William, located between Gemtree’s vineyards and thick bush.

Words by Alexis Buxton-Collins

92. Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast

In the aftermath of the Black Summer fires, friends Erin Boutros and Eleanor Baillieu started an Instagram account to remind their friends and followers to visit affected areas and shop local in the hope of helping communities recover. They called it @emptyesky, and a grassroots food and tourism movement was born. The idea of grabbing an empty esky and filling it with produce and products from Nowra to Kangaroo Island to Gippsland quickly caught on, with organised tours by the likes of AAT Kings making it even easier to get involved.

Class at Eastwood's Deli and Cooking School, NSW, Australia
Learn from the pros at Eastwood’s Deli and Cooking School (Image: Destination NSW)

Then the pandemic struck and the movement was forced into iso like everyone else. But with regions and borders now open, and with a lot of recovery still to be done, charting one of Empty Esky’s self-drive itineraries is the ultimate altruistic adventure. May we suggest the four-day Best Regional Donut drive, starting in Melbourne and tracking along the coast through Morwell (Powerhouse Donuts) and Lakes Entrance (Big Bear Donuts), onto Bermagui (Eastwood’s), Berry (The Famous Berry Donut Van – an Australian Traveller favourite) and the Central Coast (Daily Dough Co) in NSW, and finishing off in Buderim (Dough Ho) on the Queensland Sunshine Coast. Local communities and your taste buds will thank you (if not your waistline).

Box of doughnuts from The Famous Berry Donut Van, NSW, Australia
The Famous Berry Donut Van is a crowd favourite. (Image: Destination NSW)

Distance:

2075 kilometres

Stay:

There’s nothing more satisfying on a long drive than pulling into a roadside motel, and all the better if it has classic mid-20th century bones and a seriously modern refit. Case in point: The Berry View, with its signature 1950s long-slung style now enhanced by joyful shots of orange and a classic Palm Springs-esque aesthetic.

Interiors, Berry View Hotel, NSW, Australia
With its signature 1950s long-slung style, you’re in for a stylish stay at the Berry View Hotel. (Image: Destination NSW)

93. Sydney to Canberra via Yass

The drive from Sydney to Canberra possesses many side trip opportunities, including the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan near Campbelltown or the loveliness of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands (seriously consider stopping at Bendooley Estate in Berrima for lunch along the way), but continuing on the Hume Motorway towards Yass is the most rewarding long-way-round proposition.

Bendooley Estate in Berrima, NSW, Australia
Have lunch at Bendooley Estate in Berrima. (Image: Destination NSW)

Driving down the main street of this big country town, its former prosperity, built on the sheep’s back, is writ large in the grandiose heritage buildings that line it on both sides: grab coffee at Cafe Dolcetto or Trader & Co and take a stroll. Heading out of town will take you through cold-climate wine country along the Barton Highway before delivering you onto Canberra’s wide boulevards at journey’s end.

Distance:

340 kilometres.

Stay:

Little National Hotel Canberra in the suburb of Barton does pint-sized with sleek aplomb.

Stopover during The drive from Sydney to Canberra, Australia
There are plenty of side trip opportunities on the drive from Sydney to Canberra (Image: Destination NSW)

94. Margaret River region, WA

It’s time to get a bit funky in the Margaret River region along the Lo-Fi Wine Trail, where you will find legendary winemakers dedicated to producing low-intervention wines. Taste lesser-known varietals at the Blind Corner, Goon Tycoons and Stormflower Vineyard.

Vineyards in Margaret River, WA, Australia
Find legendary winemakers dedicated to producing low-intervention wines. (Image: Frances Adrijich)

Intrepid oenophiles will also enjoy world-class wineries and stunning district views along the Tom Cullity Drive where Dr Tom Cullity planted the first vines at Vasse Felix in 1967. Restock your esky at the Providore Margaret River and Margaret River Chocolate Company and find a spot to set up a picnic and enjoy a spread of local ingredients. Supplement your itinerary with a few wildflower walks, hikes through national parks and swims in sheltered bays.

Lunch menu at Vasse Felix, Margaret River, WA, Australia
Have lunch at Vasse Felix in Margaret River. (Image: Stefan Gosatti)

Distance:

The Lo-Fi Wine Trail stretches for about 20 kilometres, while Tom Cullity Drive includes eight wineries dotted along five kilometres of Margaret River’s backroads.

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Carla Grossetti
Carla Grossetti has written across print and digital for Australian Traveller and International Traveller for more than a decade and has spent more than two decades finding excuses to eat well and travel far. A prestigious News Corp cadetship launched her career at The Cairns Post, before a stint at The Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald gave way to extended wanders through Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America, Asia and Europe. Carla was chief sub editor at delicious and has contributed to Good Food, Travel & Luxury, Explore Travel, Escape. While living in London, Carla was on staff at Condé Nast Traveller and The Sunday Times Travel desk and was part of the pioneering digital team at The Guardian UK.
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Discovering Bendigo’s unique heritage through incredible foodie experiences

    Kate Bettes Kate Bettes
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    Tuck your napkin firmly in place and get ready to dive into Bendigo’s history.

    It’s an internationally recognised fact that Bendigo food experiences prove this region knows how to wine and dine. After all, its shiraz-laden landscape was named Australia’s first UNESCO Creative City and Region of Gastronomy. But what visitors lured in by this shiny label might not know is how deeply its culinary scene sits within the gold-rush town’s colourful past.

    Whether you’re eating in a grand colonial bank or nibbling through a gold miner’s garden, grab a big plate. In Bendigo, every meal is served with a huge helping of heritage.

    Take a food tour

    foodie walking tour in bendigo at Ms Batterhams restaurant Bendigo foodie experiences
    Join a Foodie Walking Tour to local highlights like Ms Batterhams.

    Start in the capable hands of Bendigo Guided Tours. Named as the 2025 Victorian Best New Tourism Business, they run two 12-person options. A Taste of Bendigo – Foodie Walking Tour will see you tasting seasonal dishes and sipping wine, craft beer and cocktails made with regional spirits over two-and-a-half hours, with stops at Ms Batterhams, Wine Bank on View, The Dispensary and Bendigo Brewing.

    You can up the ante a notch or two with the Four Hats of Bendigo – a night of fine-dine hopping with the experts across Terrae, Le Foyer, Alium Dining and The Woodhouse.

    Book a table

    Terrae restaurant in bendigo victoria
    Dine at Terrae.

    Alternatively, see Bendigo’s stars under your own steam. There’s Terrae, where produce from the owners’ own farm kitchen garden and orchard is plated up inside what was once a bank, while cocktails are poured in the underground bar below. For something special, book a private table in old bank vault. Rather less wholesome? The bullet hole in the window – a throwback to Victoria’s wild gold rush era.

    Another former bank-turned-eatery, Alium Dining, goes full art nouveau inside a 1908 building overlooking the Alexandra Fountain in the heart of Bendigo. Here, Alium’s Asian-meets-European flavours run all the way from duck leg croquettes with mandarin marmalade to raw trevally with coconut and nước chấm, to pork milanese with anchovy and stout mustard.

    Beneath an old school hall at Mackenzie Quarters, Ms Batterhams serves southern European-inspired dishes inside a 19th-century basement bar and restaurant. Beyond its sourdough crumpets (smeared with taramasalata, paprika and parsley oil, if you must know) is the origin of the restaurant’s name: Winifred Batterham, the owners’ mother’s former kindergarten teacher. Honour her properly with a ‘Winifred’ cocktail.

    Alium Dining in bendigo victoria
    Alium Dining offers a unique setting inside a 1908 building.

    Carnivores, get ready to bang your sharpest knives on the table. Bendigo’s only dedicated steakhouse, The Woodhouse, specialises in Wagyu sourced from surrounding farms. They’ve got beef every which way – from tartare topped with Giaveri Oscietra caviar and wagyu toast to porterhouse dry-aged and grilled over redgum.

    Your next bank stop on the food circuit is Bunja Thai. Housed inside the former Colonial Bank, it’s all Victorian-era Australian grandeur, from the enormous arched ceilings to the detailing overhead. Thai Singha and local craft beer jostle for attention – but both are perfect quenchers when you’re sharing barramundi baked in banana leaf beneath all that old-world opulence.

    If your trip through Australia isn’t complete without a country pub stop, make it The Bridgewater Hotel on the Loddon River. Renovated since its 1942 beginnings, but the establishment still retains its Art Deco charm. It’s the kind of place where steak burgers come stacked with bacon, egg, cheese and dripping beetroot relish, and are best handled in the riverside beer garden.

    Pour a glass

    Heathcote Wine Hub bendigo food experiences
    Find over 180 local wines at Heathcote Wine Hub.

    Your plate’s been stacked. Now it’s the glass’s turn – ideally with the famously bold shiraz and cab sav grown here. Early settlers in Bendigo and Heathcote were onto something when they first planted vines in the area’s mineral-rich soil, and their legacy still pours strong across more than 60 cellar doors today. Start big at the Heathcote Wine Hub, where more than 180 wines from nearby vineyards sit beneath the rafters of a restored former wooden church, with 16 available to taste by the glass.

    Heathcote Winery might have become one of the area’s first commercial wineries in the seventies, but its story started way before its courtyard tastings. Back in 1854, it operated as a miners’ produce store during the gold-rush years. Other cellar doors aren’t immune to reinvention under the wine wave either. At Munari Wines in Heathcote, charcuterie boards are presented in their newly renovated cellar, originally the stables of the former sheep station.

    Discover local events

    the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk in bendigo
    Time your trip for the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk

    Time your trip right and watch the parks, gardens and buildings fill with food and drink. Fans of the malt: mark 29 August  2026 for Bendigo On The Hop, when craft breweries take over venues throughout the CBD. Brews make way for history at the Heritage and Hidden Spaces Wine Walk (17 October 2026), where bottles are opened inside some of the city’s most interesting buildings – including rarely opened spaces. In November, the Regional Gin Gala raises spirits in Mackenzie Quarters with a boozy celebration of its homegrown distilleries, including Noble Bootleggers, Envy Distilling and In Good Spirits. Explore wine, food and live music at Heathcote on Show (6 – 8 June 2026).

    Take it all in

    bendigo tram cafe Bendigo foodie experiences
    Tram meets tasty at Bendigo Tram Cafe.

    Takeaway means something different in Bendigo. At Australia’s oldest operating Tram Depot, the Tram Cafe sits aboard an out-of-service 1916 N-Class Tram that serves tea and scones. Once you’ve polished off the last crumb, you can even pop into the driver’s cab and try the controls yourself.

    Peppergreen Farm continues Bendigo’s long connection to Chinese market gardens, first established here by immigrants in the 1850s. Today, the not-for-profit farm invites visitors to pick up organic produce, alongside jars of honey harvested from its own hives.

    Indulge in retail therapy

    Bendigo Pottery
    Elevate your at-home dining experience after a trip to Bendigo Pottery.

    If there’s still room in your bag among the clanking jars and bottles, stop by Uniquely Bendigo inside the Old Post Office. Sharing space with the Bendigo Visitor Centre, it’s a one-stop shop for favourites like Bendigo Brittle, Bridgeward Grove and Tea Associates.

    If you’d rather leave your fingerprints on your Bendigo souvenir, there’s a place for that too. At Bendigo Pottery, visitors can try their hand at shaping clay while taking part in another tradition of evolving old spaces – creating works of art within Australia’s oldest working pottery.

    Start planning your Bendigo adventure at bendigotourism.com.