Discovering wineries in the southern Highlands and things to do and see

We were recently lucky enough to spend a whole month in Australia, visiting our son who was working out there for a year, but also of course, discovering Australian wines, Australian wineries and Australian wine tourism!

We were based in the beautiful New South Wales wine region of the Southern Highlands, the closest wine region to Sydney, just 90 minutes drive away and often referred to as Sydney’s ‘Hamptons’.

With over 60 vineyards and 17 cellar doors, there’s a lot to see and do in the Southern Highlands and because the region’s towns, cellar doors and sights are all within easy driving distance of each other, touring here is easy!

This is a region waiting to be discovered! It’s also a gastronomic paradise - read on to discover more!

About the Southern Highlands NSW

The Southern Highlands is a classy, affluent, laidback, unspoilt parcel of rural Australia - little known to international tourists, but an increasingly popular all-year round destination for Australians and visitors alike. In recent years, it has become a magnet for Sydney city dwellers to escape to at weekends and holidays and ultimately, where to retire.

The Southern Highlands region sits on the Great Dividing Mountain Range of NSW, lying at an altitude of between 500-900m above sea level. It is a region of mountains, valleys, escarpments, rolling hills, bush wilderness, national parks and rich organic soil farming, with horse studs, sheep and cattle farms, olive groves and of course vineyards. It’s also known for its country towns, chocolate-box villages, classic colonial architecture, lifestyle and antique shops, museums and art galleries, golf courses, spas and country manors. The natural scenery isn’t bad either!!  You can visit magical waterfalls at the stunning Fitzroy Falls in magnificent national parks such as Morton National Park (see later).

The Southern Highlands is a higher altitude region and as such is cooler, on average some 7 degrees cooler than nearby Sydney. It also has 4 clear seasons - this is very attractive to many, who find the intense heat of many other parts of Australia just too intense.

Additionally, this is a part of Australia which has a major focus on sustainability and clean energy.

Where is the Southern Highlands?

The Southern Highlands is located just 90 minutes south of Sydney and 2 hours north of Canberra. The closest airport is Sydney and the centre of the Southern Highlands can be reached easily by motorway and also by train from here. See here for options on how to get to the Southern Highlands.

This beautiful region is perfectly located to attract people from within the triangle of Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong and offers great options for day trips, especially from the hugely popular city of Sydney.

Map of the Southern highlands

The towns and villages of the Southern Highlands

The major towns of the Southern Highlands are Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale and they are all within easy reach of the region’s many beautiful villages - said to be the Highlands’ “best kept secret”. Each village has its own unique personality, aesthetic and appeal, offering something for everyone. We especially loved the historic Georgian village of Berrima, the English style Exeter and the picture-postcard village of Robertson. (see later).

A gourmet region for outstanding food and wine experiences

The Southern Highlands is a highly regarded gourmet region - a place to discover some excellent cool climate wines, some wonderful local produce, excellent acclaimed restaurants, a thriving café culture, trendy eateries and lovely cosy, country pubs. 

A new generation of food-makers, wineries, retailers and hoteliers is helping make the Southern Highlands NSW the ideal destination to rewind, refresh and rejuvenate. The Southern Highlands is definitely a foodie paradise - you’ll find yourselves spoilt for choice here! We have recommended various places to enjoy some excellent food and dining experiences throughout this article.

 About the Southern Highlands wine region

The Southern Highlands is a cool climate, high altitude wine region in New South Wales, with 17 cellar doors, offering a range of wine and wine tourism experiences for visitors.  The first vine plantings date back to the 1870s and were located around the pretty village of Berrima (see later).

The fertile soils, high altitude and seasonal changes, with cool winters and warm summers, are ideal for cool climate vineyards. The range of soils across the region is diverse, so there is a large range of wines to enjoy here.

There are approximately 140 hectares of vineyards in the Southern Highlands.

Southern Highlands wine

A broad variety of cool climate wines are now being produced in the Southern Highlands, by a young, energetic, innovative wine community. Wines produced include (but aren’t limited to): Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grapes like Pinot noir can only be grown successfully in cooler climate regions and the Southern Highlands is having increasing success with it, where the terroir and climate is perfect for producing excellent Pinot noir wines. A lot of sparkling wines are also produced here.

Wineries in the Southern Highlands

The diversity of soils and vineyards and the close proximity of the cellar doors to each other mean that the Southern Highlands is a great wine region for a wine tour! You can experience something different at each winery and cellar door, be that the types of wines, or the wine tourism experience on offer. There are the large wine estates which offer different wine tasting options as well as dining - some of these are very popular wedding venues too. Then at the other end of the scale, are the smaller, family-run wineries where you can taste the wines and maybe chat to the winemaker and walk around the vineyards. Common to all is the warmth of the welcome and the superb hospitality.

There are 17 cellar doors in the Southern Highlands (at time of writing) and you can learn about all of them here.

Southern Highlands wine tour

During our time in the Southern Highlands we visited most of the cellar doors. See our write up of each below, by location:

Southern Highlands wine tour - around Bowral:

Southern Highlands wine tour - around Berrima:

Southern Highlands wine tour - around the village of Sutton Forest:

Southern Higlands wine tour - around the village of Exeter:

Southern Highlands wine tour - around Moss Vale:

Planning a trip to the Southern Highlands

As mentioned earlier, getting to the Southern highlands is easy - from both Sydney and Canberra - and it’s a superb region to explore, even just for a few days. Travelling round is easy as everything is located quite close together.

When to visit:

The Southern highlands has so much to offer - whatever the time of year! We visited in early autumn and it was beautiful. Yes cooler, darker evenings, but lots of sun and no oppressive heat. There is lots going on here too during the winter months and a very popular time to visit is during the annual Tulip festival in Bowral, during late September. 

Accommodation in the Southern Highlands

There’s lots to choose from in terms of accommodation in the Southern Highlands - see here for ideas.

We can personally recommend 2 excellent options:

The Berida Hotel in Bowral

A privately owned hotel next to the golf course in Bowral, the Berida Hotel has 46 rooms, a fabulous whisky bar and an excellent restaurant, an indoor pool, a spa and treatment rooms and a games room. The hotel is tastefully and elegantly furnished throughout. 

Moss Manor Hotel in Moss Vale

If you’re looking for a luxury, boutique hotel, centrally located and you love art, then Moss Manor Hotel in the centre of Moss Vale is for you! Moss Manor is a boutique art hotel, offering 8 luxury and individually styled rooms in a beautiful old Georgian building dating back to the 1890s. There are lots of lovely personal, thoughtful touches in each room and the ambience is very relaxed and elegant, making for a wonderful place to use as a base whilst exploring the Southern Highlands.

Things to do in the Southern Highlands

Visit its towns and villages

We would definitely recommend you visit the main town of Bowral, with its historic buildings, boutiques, antique and vintage stores, homeware shops and great cafés and restaurants.

Great places to eat including Caffé Rosso for its breakfasts, excellent croissants and selection of fresh breads, Italian restaurant Onesta Cucina and Eccetera Trattoria Pizzeria.

Just 10 minutes from Bowral is the small, rural town of Moss Vale. This is home to a new, contemporary restaurant called Birch. We also loved eating at an excellent Thai restaurant in Moss Vale, Thai Som Boon.

A must is to visit one or more of the lovely southern Highland villages:

Berrima has to top this list, with bags of character, charm and history, awarded best small village in NSW and widely recognised as the best preserved example of a Georgian village on the Australian mainland.

Spend time strolling the picture-postcard main street, with its lovely Georgian buildings, the General Store and the Berrima Village Pottery shop. Visit the Berrima gaol and the Berrima Vaults just opposite and the Surveyor General Inn - Australia’s oldest continuously licensed inn. Enjoy a lovely riverside walk along the Wingecarribee river, then head for a meal and a glass of wine in one of the lovely cafés and restaurants, including the award-winning Eschalot, considered one of the finest restaurants in the Southern Highlands.

See here for the Top 5 things to do and see in Berrima!

Also take time to visit the village of Robertson, known as ‘the Green Heart of the Highlands’, due to Its rich red fertile soil providing an abundance of rural farmland. It’s also known as a bit of a foodie magnet!! Make sure you have breakfast or a snack in the popular café Moonacres (the bread is incredible here), or enjoy a pie in the famous Robertson Pie shop, or some cheese and wine at Pecora Dairy!

Visit the Joadja distillery

Visit and take a tour of the historic Joadja distillery, once the site of the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Company and home to an expansive shale mine and Scottish mining settlement during the late 19th century. Now it’s home to a very successful and award-winning distillery, producing aged spirits, whisky, brandy and rum and also gin and vodka. In fact a gift of Joadja gin was presented to the late Queen to celebrate her platinum jubilee, on behalf of the people of NSW.

Joadja is unique in terms of sustainability,  having its own spring water supply and barley crop and it is also solar powered. Visit the remains of the Scottish mining settlement - now a ghost town - and the fascinating distillery. We found it a unique and highly enjoyable experience!

Visit Fitzroy Falls and Morton National Park

Under 30 minutes away from Bowral, Fitzroy Falls is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Australia. Set in the beautiful Morton National Park, there are excellent walking and hiking trails and lookout points as well as a visitor centre.

Visit Retford Park and the Ngununggula art gallery in Bowral

Retford Park is the former home of James Oswald Fairfax AC, of the Fairfax newspaper publishing empire and is now owned by the National Trust of Australia. You can visit the beautiful house and gardens and also at the same time visit the Ngununggula regional  art Gallery. ‘Ngununggula’ means “belonging” in the traditional language of the Gundungurra First Nations people and through this wonderful art collection we learned a lot more about Australia’s Aboriginal People and their culture.  

Planning your Southern Highlands wine tour:

Hopefully we have given you lots of ideas, information and inspiration to plan your own Southern Highlands wine tour - here are some other great ideas for you:

• An excellent wine trail you can follow, which includes a lot of the wineries/cellar doors included above (there is also a ‘pie’ trail, celebrating the great Australian pie!

• Also a suggestion for a 3 day tour itinerary, giving you a perfect introduction to the beautiful Southern Highlands;

• A suggestion of the ‘must-try’ experiences in the southern Highlands;

• Or - take away the hassle and let us plan the perfect tour for you!

  We partner with an expert, local organisation called ‘Wild Food Adventures’, operating private, luxury, group tours and overnight stays in the Southern Highlands. We can propose a fabulous ‘1 day private wine tour, visiting several top wineries, with lunch included, departing from either Sydney or Canberra’. Alternatively we can create and propose a totally bespoke wine tour and travel experience for you in the Southern Highlands! Contact us to find out more!

Summary and personal highlights

We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a few weeks in NSW, based in the Southern Highlands and we absolutely loved our time and experience there. We discovered some wonderful cool climate wines - so very different to the normal perception of Australian wines - we enjoyed some amazing sights and scenery and we enjoyed the most friendly and welcoming hospitality wherever we went. The Southern Highlands is definitely a wine region that’s ‘under the radar’ but we would really encourage you to visit, especially as it’s the closest Australian wine region to beautiful Sydney!

More information: 

• Pick up maps and local knowledge from the Southern Highlands Welcome Centre in Mittagong; 

• Check out the events calendar to find out what’s on, from festivals and shows to concerts and exhibitions;

• See Visit NSW and VisitSouthernHighlands for lots more ideas and information about getting the most out of your visit to the New South Wales’ Southern Highlands!

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