Top Towns for 2022: Behold the beguiling town of Beechworth

Jo StewartBy Jo Stewart
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After growing at breakneck speed during the Victorian goldrush, Beechworth is booming again, finds Jo Stewart. Discover what made Beechworth into your Top 50 Aussie towns list.

Find the complete list of the Top 50 Aussie Towns here.

As a historic goldmining town that was once the stamping ground of infamous bushrangers, Beechworth could stray into contrived tourist-trap territory. Instead, the north-east Victorian town is experiencing a renaissance thanks to an entrepreneurial community of new and veteran business owners whose exceptional food, beer and wine offerings are giving out-of-towners fresh reasons to visit. 

The 1892 Beechworth fire station
The 1892 Beechworth fire station is still intact up to this day.

Eating there

Start the day with a latte made on a baby-pink La Marzocco coffee machine at Tiny of Beechworth , a cute coffee haunt that also serves cocktails after 4pm. Around the corner, Project 49 stocks panini, salads and soups, plus a top range of local wines, olives and pantry essentials sourced from small-scale, local producers. 

If you think all honey tastes the same, the Beechworth Honey Shop will certainly set you straight. With more than 40 single varietal honeys to try, this is Australia’s largest collection of liquid gold. Here, you’ll learn that scented ash honey has hints of violet while spotted-gum honey has a strong caramel flavour. You’ll never view a jar of honey in the same way. 

Pastry fans shouldn’t miss a local heavyweight of the old-school bakery scene. From humble origins, the Beechworth Bakery  brand has grown to include outposts in Bright, Bendigo and beyond, but the Camp Street original remains as busy as ever.

Inside, you’ll find classic country bakery standards such as meringues, iced doughnuts and lamingtons overflowing with cream. The Ned Kelly meat pie topped with bacon, cheese and egg is hard to go past – well over 1000 are sold each month at this bakery alone.  

outdoor view of the Beechworth Bakery
Don’t miss a trip to the Beechworth Bakery.

Wet your whistle with an afternoon beer on the breezy balcony of the grand, old Empire Hotel or visit Bridge Road Brewers  for woodfired pizza and award-winning ales in an 1800s coach-house.

cold beer at Bridge Road Brewers
Visit Bridge Road Brewers for beer. (Image: Phoebe Powell)

A behind-the-scenes brewery tour runs daily at 11am, so book in to see how the malty magic happens. 

woodfired pizza at the Bridge Street Brewers
Savour woodfired pizza at the Bridge Street Brewers. (Image: Phoebe Powell)

A giant of the national drinks scene, Billson’s Brewery  has flown the flag for Australian beverages since 1865. Its striking, historic home on Last Street has a taproom, bar, tasting room, pooch-friendly beer garden and cellar-door shop to explore. Make your way to the factory-viewing platform to see the inner workings of this enterprise that has been tied to the town for more than 150 years.  

On Camp Street, Billson’s Soda Bar  proves you don’t need alcohol to have a good time. Behind the ornate gold lettering on the front window, you’ll likely be greeted by a dapper gent dressed in a vest and tie. Cordials, mocktails and ice-cream spiders are all on the menu here, providing a cool spot for a hangover-free night out.  

Staying there  

A stay at The Hive Apartment at Beechworth Honey puts you in a sweet spot. Right in the centre of town, the historic building was once a bank manager’s residence and gold office. Now it’s a lovely, light-filled three-bedroom short-stay hotel with a subtle bee theme.

cosy bedroom at the Hive Hotel
The Hive Hotel is a sweet spot in town. (Image: Richard Iskov)

One kilometre out of town, The Benev  is a welcome addition to Beechworth. What was once an asylum is now an upscale spa hotel that’s a destination in its own right. Described as a ‘child and screen-free haven’, a stay in a signature wellness suite (complete with freestanding stone bath) is just the ticket if you’re looking to unwind in peace, sans kids.  

Playing there 

Spend two hours completing the Beechworth Gorge Walk circuit around the town’s fringes for a dose of nature and local history. The Kelly Gang took cover in these tracts of bushland that are littered with goldrush remnants, including the Powder Magazine, which was built to store the explosives used to blast the landscapes in search of gold.  

Beechworth Cemetery is where many other notable locals have been laid to rest. From a victim of a bushranger shootout to an American Civil War veteran who died of alcoholism, a wander around the cemetery reveals much about the social fabric of the town in the 1800s. Many Chinese miners were also buried here, with the cemetery’s distinctive burning towers once used for burning prayers and gifts for the afterlife.

In 2016, a community buyback of the imposing Old Beechworth Gaol  led to the historic property serving Beechworth in a brand-new way. Book ahead to learn about the gaol’s grim past and see the cell that once housed the one and only Ned Kelly – a pre-booked tour is the only way you can see inside for yourself.  

cafe at the Old Beechworth Gaol
The Old Beechworth Gaol is now a buzzing spot, too.

What was once a house of pain (eight men were executed here in the 1800s) now houses a co-working space, cafe, event spaces and a hub for rural entrepreneurship. Despite its transformation from a place of detention to a space for innovation, the gaol’s heritage has been retained and honoured. Just like the town itself, Old Beechworth Gaol straddles the past and the present with aplomb.

Explore more of Beechworth in our travel guide or find out which other towns made it into your Top 50.
Jo Stewart
Jo Stewart is a freelance features writer who pens stories about nature, pop culture, music, art, design and more from her home in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria. When not writing, you can find her trawling through vinyl records and vintage fashion at op shops, antique stores and garage sales.
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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

    Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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    Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

    We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

    A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

    inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes
    Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

    holding Portarlington mussels
    See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

    It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

    As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

    The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

    blue mussels off Portarlington
    Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

    Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

    Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli
    Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

    “Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

    a hand holding a Portarlington mussel
    Mussels are a sustainable food.

    Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

    But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

    guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard
    Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

    According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.