10 of the best things to do along the Murray River

From houseboats and pink lakes to sandboarding rust-colour sand dunes and tasting local whisky, this part of Australia has it all.

Besides snacks, podcasts and energy drinks, all good road trips have three key elements; amazing scenery, unique attractions, and comfortable, modern places to stay. The Murray River region boasts all three and more.

PS Pevensey, Echuca Paddlesteamers, things to do along the Murray River — Tick a famous paddlesteamer ride off your bucketlist.

The longest river in Australia, the Murray, coils and meanders for 2500km from the Upper Murray in Victoria, to form the border with New South Wales and finish in South Australia’s Great Australian Bight.

As you would expect, there is a tonne of things to do along the Murray River (including putting at one of the 37 golf courses or sinking a line literally anywhere from the shore), but for something a little different, book in a few of these attractions to take your road trip to the next level.

1. Get a bird’s eye view of Lake Tyrrell pink salt lake

A spiritual site of the Wergaia traditional owners, Lake Tyrrell is a gloriously, expansive pink, violet and white salt-crusted basin. Seeing it from up on high with Murray Darling Scenic Flights is a must for any photography buff as it allows you to also experience the mirror effect when the surface perfectly reflects the sky. Not surprisingly, sunset tours are popular.

2. Take command of a luxury houseboat

If you fancy being called Captain, consider hiring out a houseboat from specialists in Echuca Moama or Mildura. You don’t need a boat license to drive (but if you prefer, they can offer pilot assistance) so you can feel free to explore the river at your leisure. They even have pet-friendly houseboats, or for something smaller, try a kayak, canoe or SUP board.

Houseboat on the Murray River — Don the captain’s hat onboard your own hired houseboat.

3. Visit the Walls of China in Mungo National Park

Not only are Mungo National Park’s Walls of China formations famous for their stark beauty, but they also tell of a time when large megafauna roamed these lands. The ancient lakebeds also reveal evidence of Indigenous culture dating back 36,000 years. Today, you can get up-close-and-personal from the wheel-chair accessible viewing platform and lookout.

Mungo National Park Wall of China — Watch the sunset change the colours of the earth at Mungo’s Wall of China. (Image: Tyson Mayr)

4. Go sandboarding at Perry Sandhills

Located just six kilometres from the small border town of Wentworth, the Perry Sandhills are both starkly beautiful and rich in heritage. Formed over thousands of years and used as the backdrop for movies and TV, they are also extremely fun to ride down on a sandboard. Don’t own one? Hire one 40 minutes up the road at Intersport in Mildura.

Get your heart racing by sandboarding down Perry Sandhills. (Image: Tyson Mayr)

5. Hop on a mountain bike trail in Murray Valley Regional Park

This diverse regional park is home to Deniliquin and its three Mountain Bike Trails . The terrain is mostly flat, winding through the tranquil red gum forest, and you’ll find a trail with a length to suit you: a 7.6km, 12km or 15km loop. If you don’t have a bike strapped to your car, stop by the Deniliquin Visitor Centre and hire one for free.

Get on your bike in Murray Valley Regional Park. (Image: Ain Raadik)

6. Learn the art of weaving from the Wemba Wemba people

Hosted by the Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre staff and Elders, this weaving workshop is hands-on so come prepared to be creative. Not only will you be instructed in the Wamba Wamba traditional weaving technique, but you’ll also begin to understand the importance of weaving in the local economy. Come away with a beautiful mityat (basket in Wamba Wamba).

7. Jump on a Paddlesteamer in Echuca

Arguably the most famous feature of the Murray River is the paddlesteamers that puff up and down its waters at Echuca. Travel in elegant, olden-day style as you take a long or short river cruise. Join the new sunset offering from Echuca Paddlesteamers to experience the river as the sky lights up pink and orange.

8. Sizzle up a steak on your very own BBQ boat

A man–made reservoir, Lake Mulwala is famous for its clean, glassy water and eerie river red gums poking out of the surface like a Tim Burton film. Sure, you could water ski, kayak or windsurf this lake, but you could also hire a BBQ boat and cook up a feast out on the water with Lake Mulwala Barby Boats . No boat license is needed.

Lake Mulwala Barby Boats — Fire up the BBQ on board a Lake Mulwala Barby Boat.

9. Sample some of Australia’s greatest whisky

Home of the Wiradjuri People, Corowa has a long and varied historical heritage, but these days it’s fast becoming recognised for its whisky. The Corowa Distilling Co is Australia’s first whisky distillery using locally grown ingredients. Housed in a heritage-listed 1920s flour mill, the distillery serves up world-class food and offers whisky tasting and behind-the-scenes tours.

Sip on Australia’s first whiskey with homegrown ingredients at Corowa Distilling Co.

10. Buy local at the Albury Wodonga Farmers Market

When you buy fresh vegetables, preserves, sourdough bread or even a pie at the Albury Wodonga Farmers Market , you’ll be buying directly from the local farmers, chefs and artisans from the Albury-Wodonga region. This popular market is held every Sunday. Our pick? The Peaks Artisan Cheesemakers , Ian’s Dumplings and the Hachibee Honey .

Hachibee Honey, Albury Wodonga Farmers Market — Pick up some Hachibee Honey at the farmer’s market.

Find out more and start planning your Murray River road trip at visitthemurray.com.au .

The charm of Mildura is hidden in plain sight along the Sturt Highway. The capital of Tropical North Victoria is in a league of its own.

From the moment you arrive in Mildura , the warm air and palm trees invite you to slow down. While most Australians might drive right past it, Mildura is full of surprises. Here you’ll spend one day witnessing over 50,000 years of First Nations history in a UNESCO-listed National Park, and the next dining in a hatted restaurant after wandering through 12,500 fireflies as the outback sunset bursts to life above. From roadside fruit stalls and family-run wineries to houseboats and galleries, it’s time to explore Mildura.

Feast Street, at the heart of Langtree Avenue in Mildura. — Taste, wander and be surprised in Mildura.

Taste Mildura’s produce

It makes sense to start your trip by addressing the most important question: where to eat. In the beating heart of Australia’s food bowl, sample the local produce directly from the source. And then, of course, experience it through the menu of a hatted chef. Or sandwiched between pillowy slices of Nonna’s ciabatta.

Rows of orchards and olive groves invite you to spend the day traipsing from farm to farm. Taste olives propagated from Calabrian trees brought over in the 40s, oranges picked right from the tree and squeezed into juice and spoons full of honey . Bring the holiday back to your kitchen by stocking your pantry at roadside produce stalls, or calling into the ‘silver shed ’ (Sunraysia’s gourmand Mecca).

Thanks to the warm, balmy air and fertile soils, the wineries dotted along these hills produce award-winning local wines. Like Chalmers , a family-run, innovative winery dedicated to making their wines as sustainable as possible. And picturesque Trentham Estate offers views of the snaking Murray River as you sample their vintages.

Venture beyond the gnarled shadows of olive groves and fragrant rows of blossoming fruit trees and you’ll find an otherworldly side to Mildura. With Discover Mildura as your guide, visit Murray River Salt’s Mars-like stacks. The naturally pink salt is formed from an ancient inland sea and evaporated entirely by the sun to create one of the region’s most iconic exports.

Start your day with just-squeezed sunshine.

Hatted dining & Italian history

Mildura is home to a proud community of Calabrians and Sicilians. This, paired with the exceptional local produce, means that you can find paninos on par with those in Italy. The Italian is a Paninoteca serving up made-to-order, hefty, authentic Sicilian paninos. Nonna Rosa’s pork meatballs, slowly cooked in tomato ragu and served in a crusty, fluffy roll topped with gratings of Grana Padano cheese and salsa verde, will call you back to Mildura for the rest of your days.

To find hatted dining in Mildura, simply follow the staircase down into the basement of the historic Mildura Grand Hotel to find Stefano’s . Following the muscle memory and instinct of his Italian roots, he delivers on the principle of ‘cucina povera’. That is, the Italian cooking ideology that turns simple, local ingredients into magic.

Things to do in Mildura include dining at the acclaimed Stefano’s, where simple local ingredients are transformed into Italian culinary magic beneath the historic Grand Hotel. — Bite into Mildura’s Italian heritage.

Discover a thriving culture scene

The city is alive with culture. Whether it’s painted on the town’s walls, told in ancient yarns, or waiting for you in a gallery.

The Mildura Arts Centre was Australia’s first regional art gallery. Behind the walls of Rio Vista Historic House, you’ll find a lineup of ever-changing exhibitions. The gallery’s wall space pays tribute to the art and songlines of local First Nations People, the region’s awe-inspiring landscapes and more. Outside, on the gallery’s lawn, find 12 contemporary sculptures in the Sculpture Park.

Mildura’s streetscapes are a punch of colour. Swirling strokes of paint blend the winding artery of the Murray River, red dirt and local characters into a story you can see with your own eyes, thanks to the Mildura City Heart’s Mural Art Project . Pick up a copy of the Murals of Mildura guide from the Visitor Information Centre.

Follow the border of NSW and Victoria on a map and you’ll see it hugs the curves of a tiny island on the Murray. That’s Lock Island, where, as the sun and moon trade places, the island comes alive as darkness falls. The island is dotted with 12,500 firefly lights that lead you on a meandering path through the outback sunset. The installation is known as Trail of Lights and was created by the same visionary who dreamt up Field of Light at Uluṟu, Bruce Munro.

Things to do in Mildura include exploring its rich cultural scene. From vibrant street art and ancient stories to exhibitions at the Mildura Arts Centre, Australia’s first regional gallery. — Find culture around every corner.

Wonder at ancient landscapes

The landscapes of Mildura feel almost transcendental. The skyline bursts to life with reds, pinks, and deep, sparkly night skies.

The nature will leave you in awe. See hues of pink water changing with the weather at Pink Lakes inside Victoria’s largest national park, Murray Sunset National Oark. Cast a line into Ouyen Lake. Watch the sunset against 70-metre tall red cliffs that reflect the setting sun. Or get the heart racing and sandboard down the Perry Sandhills dunes, formed 40,000 years ago at the end of an ice age.

Just don’t leave without following the twists and turns of the Murray. Stroll or ride along the Shared River Front Path, or jump onboard a boat for a scenic ride.

Your itinerary will be incomplete without a visit to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mungo National Park . Head out with an Indigenous ranger to witness ancient campsites and footprints, before standing in awe of ancient civilisation near the discovery site of Mungo Man—Australia’s oldest human skeleton at 42,000 years old.

Mungo National Park at night is a vast, silent landscape where ancient dunes glow under moonlight and stars blanket the sky in breathtaking clarity. — Walk in the footsteps of ancient civilisation.

Meet your home away from home

On equal par with planning your meals and adventures, is finding the perfect place to relax at the end of each day.

Sleep inside a Palm Springs postcard at Kar-Rama . A sleek boutique hotel complete with a butterfly shaped, sun-soaked pool. Here you’re staying right in the heart of Mildura but you’ll feel worlds away. Or if you really wish to connect with nature, a night glamping under the stars at Outback Almonds will have you spellbound.

When in Mildura it’s only right to stay on one of the Murray River’s iconic houseboats . Wake up each day to the calm waters of the Murray lapping outside your window. Enjoy days full of river swims, fishing and exploring. All boats are solar-powered and can be self-skippered or moored along the river.

A solar-powered houseboat on the Murray River in Mildura. — Stay and play on the Murray in a solar houseboat.

Start planning the perfect getaway at mildura.com .

10 things you must experience on your Murray River road trip