Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley | Victoria
Dandenong Ranges
For over 100 years the Dandenong Ranges have been an idyllic retreat for Melburnians wanting to take the mountain air and escape the bustle of city life. Today visitors flock to the romantic hilltop villages for luxury hideaways, beautiful gardens, and magnificent tall forests and views.
Visit Olinda and the National Rhododendron Gardens, home of 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 250,000 daffodils, native birds, and spectacular panoramic views of the Yarra Valley and distant ranges. Spend a relaxing afternoon browsing through the many art, antique and handicraft galleries and sampling a famous Dandenong Ranges Devonshire cream tea.Take a ride on Puffing Billy, Australia’s oldest steam railway, through thick forests, fern-filled gullies and past gorgeous villages with poetic names like Belgrave, Gembrook and Emerald.
Home of spectacular tall forests, the Dandenong Ranges National Park is the perfect place to unwind and relax. Over 300 kilometres of walking tracks meander through lush gullies and misty mountain ash forests to magical places such as Sherbrooke Forest, Dongalla Homestead and the Thousand Steps.
For those looking for a romantic getaway, choose from one of the many B&Bs hidden amongst the hills, garden-fringed guesthouses and self-contained cottages offering spa baths, open fires and panoramic views of city lights, and lush forests and valleys.
Yarra Valley
Under an hour’s drive from Melbourne, the Yarra Valley is famous for its wine, fresh food and breathtaking scenery.
The place where Victorian winegrowing started, the Yarra Valley is now home to over 55 wineries, most of which offer cellar door tastings and sales. Many are as serious about food as they are about their harvest, matching the wine they make with local produce in restaurants located in beautiful vineyards.
The Yarra Valley is richly endowed with some of the most beautiful countryside in Victoria. Distant blue ranges, rolling hills strung with vines, towering trees, and verdant valleys with pristine rivers make up the spectacular scenery on offer around Marysville and Warburton.
For a fresh and exciting view of the valley, take to the dawn skies in a hot-air balloon before gently descending into a vineyard to enjoy a breakfast of sparkling wine and local produce. Visit Healesville Sanctuary wildlife park, home to native Australian birds and animals like platypus, koalas, Tasmanian devils, lyrebirds, echidnas and more.The region’s vibrant calendar of seasonal events includes the annual Grape Grazing Day, when over 20 wineries combine to host a summer celebration of wine, food and outdoor musical performances.
Where better to retreat from the bustle of life than at one of Yarra Valley’s boutique B&Bs, self-contained cottages or luxury five-star hotel. Melbourne’s Yarra Valley – you’ll never want to leave.
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