Unforgettable gardens to visit in the Yarra Valley and its surrounds

Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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How do those secret gardens grow? Wander through the lush gardens of these rolling hills and find out.

A popular escape for many Melburnians, the Yarra Valley is also thrillingly close to Melbourne. In a blink, the roads pass from suburbia to a verdant oasis. With hills gently rolling between more than 70 cellar doors, and fresh produce at every turn, it has long been an obvious weekend retreat for those living in Victoria’s capital. And much the same can be said about the neighbouring Dandenong Ranges.

But wineries and scenic landscapes aside, it’s the marvellous gardens of the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges that deserve a turn in the spotlight. Read on to uncover the best.

vineyard, Yarra Valley gardens
One of the many vineyards striping the fertile Yarra Valley.

The Yarra Valley

Coombe The Melba Estate

Open to the public since 2014, the manicured three-hectare gardens at Coombe Estate , Yarra Valley, were once a well-kept secret, hidden behind a notably lengthy cypress hedge (some 600 metres long, to be precise). Today, they’re accessible only via guided tour, which is bookable alongside morning or afternoon tea, or lunch at this beautiful winery estate.

Feted opera singer Dame Nellie Melba – whose face you might have seen on the $100 note – took shelter from the bright lights of the stage here in the early 1900s. And it’s not hard to imagine how she may have found sanctuary among the leafy grounds, with its rare plants and old-world trees.

Explore her ultimate secret garden and you’ll trace winding cobbled paths, venture through hedge tunnels, view a succession of terraced lawns, wander through a rose arbour, and visit native, Italian and vegetable gardens.

It’s little wonder Coombe Estate houses one of the Yarra Valley’s best gardens: the blueprint was drawn up by none other than William Guilfoyle, architect of the Victorian Royal Botanic Gardens.

D - Block Pinot vines, Coombe Yarra Valley
Commanding views of Coombe Yarra Valley’s D Block Pinot vines. (Image: redfishbluefishphoto)

Alowyn Gardens

Alowyn Gardens is a two-decade dedication to creating almost three stunning hectares for visitors to enjoy. There are eight display areas here, including an edible garden, a French garden featuring a lavender field and a flower field, a birch and casuarina forest, a dreamy Instagram-friendly 100-metre-long wisteria arbour, and a mesmerising ornamental parterre garden that features box hedging laid out in symmetrical shapes.

So extensive and impressive are the grounds here, that you could easily dedicate an entire afternoon to their exploration.

Alowyn Gardens
Take a refreshing walk along the beautiful Alowyn gardens.

Feeling inspired by the level of horticultural craftsmanship? Visit the Yarra Valley garden’s onsite nursery and pick up a few bulbs to plant at home.

Worked up an appetite from all the touring? Stop by Alowyn Gardens’ maple courtyard cafe and enjoy a freshly baked scone and a flat white.

Wisteria Archway, Alowyn Gardens
Gaze in awe at the stunning wisteria archway of Alowyn Gardens.

The Dandenong Ranges

Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden

Tucked alongside the small village of Olinda, the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden (formerly known as the National Rhododendron Garden) is no small patch of grass.

Nearly 40 hectares of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and other natives and exotics reside here, with the star of the show – the 15,000 multi-coloured Rhodies – popping into flower as spring reaches the Dandenongs and transforming the hillsides into a veritable sea of colour. It is, in fact, the largest collection of its kind in Australia.

This botanic garden is prime picnic real estate, so pack a hamper and set up a blanket on one of the lush green lawns.
And if you’d like to explore more of the park in your post-prandial daze (but don’t quite have the energy), hop on board the ‘Garden Explorer’ – a small electric open-air bus that offers a guided 25-minute tour of the grounds.

Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden
Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden is home to 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 3,000 camellias and 250,000 daffodils.

Cloudehill Nursery and Gardens

The hills come alive with bright flowers and woodlands at Cloudehill , which adjoins a nursery. The collection housed at this Dandenong Ranges garden is really rather eclectic, from giant 80-year-old European beech trees to Japanese weeping maples, cool temperate bamboos, so-called ‘wedding cake’ shrubs, ornamental grasses, bluebells and plenty more.

Cloudehill Nursery, Yarra Valley Gardens
Take a moment to unwind at the tranquil setting of Cloudehill Nursery and Gardens.

Between December and March, the venue hosts a number of twilight events, capitalising on the soft evening light that summer promises, not to mention the glorious green surrounds; in previous years the programme has included productions of Shakespeare, operatic performances, and string ensembles.

Cloudehill Nursery and Gardens is also home to a rustic restaurant, Seasons, that offers a beautiful outlook and promises fresh, seasonal produce grown in the property’s own kitchen garden.

lavenders in full bloom, Cloudehill Nursery at Yarra Valley gardens
Lavenders in bloom at the sight of spring.

Skyhigh Maze

If you like views with your gardens, then you’re in luck at the hills’ (literally) top spot, overlooking the city skyline and the towering Dandenong Ranges National Park.

one of the entry points at SkyHigh Maze, Mount Dandenong
Uncover the secrets of SkyHigh Maze.

The maze has four secrets to uncover, including (spoiler alert) sculptures, butterflies and illusions; it’s like brain training inside a lilly pilly hedge puzzle. And besides its namesake attraction, SkyHigh is also home to an English garden with mature blackwoods.

a wooden eagle sculpture at SkyHigh Maze, Mount Dandenong
You’ll find sculptures scattered across the maze.

If you’ve got kids then keep an eye on SkyHigh Maze’s website , as the Mount Dandenong attraction also hosts a series of ‘Children’s Festivals’ throughout the year that features activities and games.

the SkyHigh Maze in Mount Dandenong
Sky High maze will tickle your fancy if you love solving puzzles.

Events to look out for

Tesselaar Tulip Festival

More fun than you can poke a tulip at, the Tesselaar Tulip Festiva l is home to more than a million flowering blooms, plus market stalls and entertainment.

This annual event typically takes place between mid-September and mid-October, and across its four weeks of opening there’s a host of different themes to choose from, such as Turkish Weekend (expect Turkish art, dance, music and food), Children’s Week (think live shows from Kung Fu Panda, craft workshops and a petting zoo), and a Food, Wine and Jazz weekend (featuring complimentary wine tastings, naturally).

There’s also a tractor-train ride available, aimed at those with limited mobility issues, and children. BYO picnic and graze away your day on the lawn while overlooking the sea of flowers.

majestic floral carpet, Tesselaar Tulip Festival
Hundreds of colourful flower bulbs bloom during the Tesselaar Tulip Festival.

Warratina’s Harvest Lavender Festival

This four-hectare lavender farm in Wandin North, on the southernmost fringes of the Yarra Valley, plays host to a Harvest Festival every November to celebrate the start of the farm’s lavender season.

Aside from wandering through fragrant rows of the lilac plant, Warratina’s Harvest Lavender Festival also promises live music entertainment, a local maker’s market and more.

Warrantina's Harvest Lavender Festival
Lavender in full bloom.

Yarra Valley Spring Plant Fair

Only avid and aspiring gardeners need apply for this springtime event, held at Romantic Nursery in Wandin North.
More than 5,000 varieties of plants, many of them rare and not normally available to the general public, will be available to purchase during the two-day Yarra Valley Spring Plant Fair . The fair also offers a variety of talks by gardening experts and professional horticulturalists.

Yarra Valley Spring Plant Fair
Spruce up your space with some greenery from the Yarra Valley Spring Plant Fair.

Cherryhill Blossom Festival

Forget Japan: this family-owned orchard is awash with a flurry of cherry blossom petals for just two fleeting weeks come spring, typically between late September and early October.

Visit CherryHill’s 34-hectare Wandin East orchard to witness these beautiful blooms in person, and enjoy the annual festival ’s food vans, live music, craft stalls and house blossom gelato.

ripe cherries, Cherryhill Orchards
Sweet and ripe cherries freshly picked from Cherryhill Orchards.

Details

Getting there

The Yarra Valley lies to the northeast of Melbourne, and the Dandenong Ranges to the east. Both destinations are approximately an hour’s drive from Melbourne.

Staying there

Stick with the garden theme, plus added wine, at Chateau Yering Hotel , the grand dame of the Yarra Valley.

fancy suite, Chateau Yering Hotel
Sleep like royalty at Chateau Yering Hotel’s fanciest suite.

This historic homestead’s 32 suites all feature a hefty dose of country estate chic, many offering garden views from their private balconies and verandas. The jewel in the crown of this estate’s gardens is the towering Chilean Wine Palm, which is classified on the National Trust Heritage Register.

There are worse places to hole up in than Beechmont Garden Retreat . Located in lovely Olinda, this spacious and stylish four-bedroom, three-bathroom home features naturalist nods throughout (think wallpaper featuring dragonfly and butterfly prints, floral arrangements in each and every direction, plants dotted throughout the property, and cushion covers with floral motifs).

But better still, it’s planted on a four-hectare estate that accommodates formal and rambling gardens.

Beechmont Garden Retreat
Beechmont Garden Retreat is a charming oasis surrounded by lush greeneries.
Discover 18 of the best things to do in the Yarra Valley.
Chloe Cann
Chloe Cann is an award-winning freelance travel and food writer, born in England, based in Melbourne and Roman by adoption. Since honing her skills at City St George's, University of London with a master's degree in journalism, she's been writing almost exclusively about travel for more than a decade, and has worked in-house at newspapers and travel magazines in London, Phnom Penh, Sydney and Melbourne. Through a mixture of work and pleasure, she's been fortunate enough to visit 80 countries to date, though there are many more that she is itching to reach. While the strength of a region's food scene tends to dictate the location of her next trip, she can be equally swayed by the promise of interesting landscapes and offbeat experiences. And with a small person now in tow, travel looks a little different these days, but it remains at the front of her mind.
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Explore historic wine towns and sculpture trails on a 3-day self-guided Murray River cruise

    Ricky FrenchBy Ricky French
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    Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place. 

    Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat. 

    After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.    

    Murray River
    The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

    Setting sail from Mildura 

    Murray River birds
    Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

    A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.  

    My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.  

    Stop one: Echuca  

    19th-century paddlesteamers
    A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.  

    The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.  

    Stop two: Barmah National Park 

    Barmah National Park
    Camping riverside in Barmah National Park, listed as a Ramsar site for its significant wetland values. (Image: Visit Victoria/Emily Godfrey)

    Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.  

    The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.  

    Stop three: Cobram 

    Yarrawonga MulwalaGolf Club Resort
    Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange. 

    The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.  

    Stop four: Albury-Wodonga 

    First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk
    First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

    Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country. 

    A traveller’s checklist  

    Staying there

    New Mildura motel Kar-rama
    New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

    Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town. 

    Playing there

    BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura
    Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

    Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists. 

    Eating there

    Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.