10 Incredible Things to Do in Rutherglen

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For such a small town, Rutherglen is a wine-making giant. But this is not a one-stop, one-drop town. Here are 10 things you should do and know.

The history of the Rutherglen wine region goes back to the late 1850s when Lindsay Brown planted his four-acre vineyard as the Gold Rush drew prospectors to the area. He’s been credited with saying: “Dig gentlemen dig, but no deeper than six inches, for there is more gold to be won from the top six inches than from all of the depths below."

Rutherglen

Thirty years later, Rutherglen was considered a wine power with some of the largest estates in the world. Many are still flourishing today, including Morris, Chambers Rosewood, All Saints Estate, Campbells, and Stanton & Killeen.

But it’s not a one-stop, one-drop town. Here are 10 things you should do in Rutherglen.

1. Try Fortified Wine

Save time to explore the township of Rutherglen where the welcome sign ‘Sydney may have a nice harbour, but Rutherglen has a Great Port’ gives some indication of how proud the region is of its fortified wines.

2. Walk the Main Street

Main Street Rutherglen
Walk down the iconic Main Street.

A cairn marks the spot where gold was found in the 1860s in what is now Main Street and the town still retains much of its Victorian architecture and outback country town charm. Check out any of the antique and boutique stores before you pop into a café for a spot of lunch.

3. Visit the Rutherglen Wine Experience & Visitor Information Centre

The Rutherglen Wine Experience and Visitor Information Centre, built in 1862 as a drapery, is a great place to start. Chat to any of the local volunteer staff to give you the best advice on what to see and do in the area. They’ll know where to start on your wine tour or the best spot to grab some lunch. You’ll also find an array of local produce, wines and souvenirs.

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4. Take a Tour

When you’re looking for a history lesson you can’t go past the Rutherglen Historical Town Guided Tour. An array of Historical Society members will take you on an informative stroll around the town. The tour takes 90 minutes and only costs $10, which includes a tour booklet and a bottle of water.

But if you’d rather go at your own pace, pick up a self-guided historical walking tour brochure. The track includes the 1872 Common School Museum and 1864 St Stephen’s Rectory, as well as several gold-era Victorian pubs.

5. Taste your way through the Corowa Whisky and Chocolate Factory

Corowa Whisky and Chocolate Factory
Wander through this 1920’s renovated flour mill for a taste of crave-inducing organic chocolate and licorice.

The factory resides in a renovated 1920s flour mill. Head through the space on a guided tour, grabbing samples of organic chocolate and licorice created by the sister company Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory. Next, you’ll head through the whisky distillery. Watch from start to finish the makings of high-quality Australian whisky.

When you’re starting to feel a little peckish, grab a seat in their restaurant and order up an indulgent gourmet meal. Serving breakfast and lunch, no matter what meal it is, you can’t leave without trying their iconic hot chocolate.

6. Ride a Bike

You can also rent bicycles and helmets here to explore the wineries via the Murray to the Mountains rail trail. Choose between the mountain bikes, tandems and e-bikes available. Go through the town in your own pace and explore what Rutherglen has to offer. The rental also includes a map, if you’re going old school.

Do not ride the bikes while under the influence.

7. Visit Gooramadda Olives and Wicked Virgin Boutique Winery

And if you need a break from wine tasting, Gooramadda Olives and Wicked Virgin offer home-grown olives, olive oils and various tapenades just outside of town. Wicked Virgin are also known for their boutique wines, giving tastings for a range of reds, whites and fortified. While at Gooramadda, their signature dish is Morris Muscat Olive Oil Ice Cream, try it if you dare.

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8. Eat at Parker Pies

Parker Pies Rutherglen
Head to Parker Pies for some amazing, and quite unique, flavours.

Named ‘Australia’s greatest pie shop,’ giving a big reason to head down and try these home-made beauties. With traditional, gourmet and just crazy flavours available, this is for the true blue Aussies.

You’ve got the Chunky Beef, Bacon and Cheese pies and the Emu, Kangaroo and Crocodile pastries. Filled with fresh ingredients, these will bless your taste-buds.

9. Check out Rutherglen’s New-School Winemakers

Rutherglen’s wine region is like none other. These new school wineries are coming up with innovative new wine styles that definitely turn heads. They aren’t just tweaking the classics, they’re blowing them out of the water. Everything is a mix of old and new there. Head along to each vineyard and test the absolute best in reds and whites.

10. Walk to the Big Wine Bottle

Big Wine Bottle Rutherglen
Rutherglen’s biggest landmark.

Australia is known for their love of big monuments, from the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour to the Big Prawn in Ballina. But Rutherglen has got one of their own to add to the list, the Big Wine Bottle. Standing at 36 metres tall and only a 15 minute walk from Main Street, this landmark used to be the town’s water tower (since a new reservoir was created in 1945, this became a backup). Have a picnic beneath the bottle and look out onto the vast land ahead.

If you’re planning on spending time in Victoria’s High Country, click here to check out our guide.

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From coast to bush: these are Gippsland’s best hikes

    Michael Turtle Michael Turtle
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    Video credit: Tourism Australia

    From coast to mountains, hiking in Gippsland offers a stunning array of landscapes, with trails that take you deep into the region’s heritage.

    I step out onto the sand and it cries out underfoot. Kweek! I take another step and there’s another little yelp. Screet! Picking up the pace, the sounds follow me like my shadow, all the way down to the water. It’s obvious how this spot got its name – Squeaky Beach – from the rounded grains of quartz that make the distinctive sounds under pressure.

    For many, Wilsons Promontory National Park is the gateway to Gippsland, and the best way to explore it is by walking its network of hiking trails, from coastal gems such as Squeaky Beach through to the bushland, among the wildlife. But it’s still just a taste of what you’ll find on foot in the region.

    Venture a bit further into Gippsland and you’ll discover the lakes, the rainforest, and the alpine peaks, each changing with the season and offering summer strolls or winter walks. Just like that squeaky sand, each step along these trails has something to tell you: perhaps a story about an ancient spirit or a pioneering search for fortune.

    The best coastal hikes in Gippsland

    sunset at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Wilsons Promontory National Park is a sprawling wilderness with many coastal bushland trails. (Image: Mark Watson)

    Wilsons Promontory National Park (or ‘The Prom’, as you’ll end up calling it) is an easy three-hour drive from Melbourne, but you might ditch the car when you arrive, with much of the park’s 50,000 hectares accessible only by foot. From the inky water of Tidal River (dyed dark purple by abundant tea trees), I like the easy walks along the coast, among lichen-laden granite boulders, to golden beaches and bays.

    a couple on Mount Oberon
    Panoramic views from the summit of Mount Oberon. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    The trail to the panoramic views at the summit of Mount Oberon is a bit harder, up steep timber and granite steps, but it’s a popular 6.8-kilometre return. The more remote hikes are found through the open banksia and stringybark woodland of the park’s north, or along the multi-day Southern Circuit, which ranges from about 35 to 52 kilometres, with sunrises and sunsets, kangaroos and cockatoos, and maybe even whales.

    a golden sand beach at Wilsons Promontory National Park
    Walk ‘The Prom’s’ golden sand beaches. (Image: Tourism Australia/Time Out Australia)

    You might also see whales on the George Bass Coastal Walk, even closer to Melbourne on the western edge of Gippsland. This dramatic seven-kilometre trail along the clifftops takes in sweeping views of the wild ocean, occasionally dipping down from grassy green hills to coastal gullies and a secluded beach. It also now links into the Bass Coast Rail Trail for an extra 14 kilometres.

    the George Bass Coastal Walk
    George Bass Coastal Walk trails for seven kilometres along clifftops. (Image: Visit Victoria/Time Out Australia)

    Over at the eastern edge of Gippsland, in Croajingolong National Park, you can wander along the lakeshores beneath koalas and around goannas (I keep my distance since one chased me here!). For those who are even more adventurous, the park is also the starting point for the 100-kilometre Wilderness Coast Walk, usually done over seven days.

    the Croajingolong National Park, Gippsland
    Wander along the lakeshores in Croajingolong National Park. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    The best bush hikes in Gippsland

    the Baw Baw National Park
    The alpine heath of Baw Baw National Park. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Deep in the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine at Walhalla, mining guide Richard tells me how this small town in the mountains east of Melbourne boomed when prospectors found gold here in 1862. These days, you’ll find most of the town’s treasure – its heritage – above ground, with the Walhalla Tramline Walk a wonderful way to explore it.

    Just seven kilometres long, the walk takes you through decades of Gold Rush history, following the original rail trail from lush bushland to the mining sites, and through the charming village of just 20 residents with its wooden cottages and old shopfronts adorned with turn-of-the-century advertising posters. Blazing a trail where trailblazers once opened up the region, this is also the starting point for the 650-kilometre Australian Alps Walking Track.

    Nearby, Baw Baw National Park has walks through gnarled snow gums and alpine heaths that show off the colourful wildflowers in summer and the pristine carpet of white in winter. Several trails are perfect for snowshoes, including a 45-minute route from St Gwinear up to vast views across the Latrobe Valley.

    Further up into the mountains, the Toorongo and Amphitheatre Falls Loop Walk is an easy 2.2-kilometre path that serenades you with the sound of flowing water as you pass mossy rocks and tree ferns en route to two sets of waterfalls cascading over boulders in the remote wilderness.

    The best cultural hikes in Gippsland

    the Mitchell River National Park, Gippsland
    Hike the Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    Across a pool in a natural sandstone amphitheatre, deep within a cave behind a waterfall, it’s said the Nargun has its lair. A fierce creature, half human and half stone, that abducts children and can’t be harmed by boomerangs or spears, the story of the Nargun has been told around the campfires of the local Gunaikurnai people for generations.

    As a culturally significant place for women, hikers are asked not to go into the Den of Nargun, but a 3.4-kilometre loop walk leads you through a rainforest gully to the entrance where you can feel the powerful atmosphere here in Mitchell River National Park, along Victoria’s largest remaining wild and free-flowing waterway.

    the bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park
    Bee-eaters at Mitchell River National Park. (Image: Parks Victoria/Grace Lewis)

    The Den of Nargun is part of the Bataluk Cultural Trail, a series of important traditional Gunaikurnai sites through central Gippsland. Another location is Victoria’s largest cave system, Buchan Caves Reserve, with trails to important archaeological sites of human artefacts up to 18,000 years old. The FJ Wilson Interpreted Walk includes the naturally sculpted white limestone steps of the 400-metre-long Federal Cave, while the Granite Pools Walk goes among tall timber and moss-covered gullies.

    the ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park
    The ancient rainforest of Tarra-Bulga National Park. (Image: Josie Withers)

    Also important to the Gunaikurnai people is Tarra-Bulga National Park, known for its ancient myrtle beeches and enormous mountain ash trees. Just 40 minutes return, the Tarra Valley Rainforest Walk offers a taste of this verdant landscape, while the Grand Strzelecki Track takes you deep into the lost world of forest giants on an epic 100-kilometre trail rich with tradition.

    A traveller’s checklist

    Staying there

    the WildernessRetreats in The Prom
    Wilderness Retreats in The Prom. (Image: Christian Pearson)

    Wilderness Retreats in Wilsons Promontory offers glamping-style tents with luxurious queen beds. Star Hotel is a reconstruction of a Gold Rush-era hotel from 1863 in the heart of heritage Walhalla. Caves House is a historic three-bedroom house with views over the Buchan River.

    Eating there

    the Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    Enjoy a post-hike lunch at Carrajung Estate. (Image: Everyday Nicky)

    Kilcunda General Store serves great coffee and meals of local produce at the George Bass Coastal Walk. Alpine Trout Farm is located near Toorongo Falls in Noojee. Fish for your own lunch and barbecue it with the provided cookware.

    Carrajung Estate is a short drive from Tarra-Bulga National Park. The winery’s restaurant offers a seasonal menu of regional ingredients and you can stay at The Lodge.

    a seafood feast at Carrajung Estate, Gippsland
    The table is set for a seafood feast at the estate.

    Video credit: Tourism Australia