The Cosmopolitan Hotel

Only a 70-minute drive from Melbourne, Trentham is easy enough to get to — yet it's still most definitely a country town. At the heart of it all is The Cosmopolitan Hotel, with its 150-year history making it a chance for you to step back into the past. Renowned for serving up robust Australian pub classics, the pub's timber-clad building is perfect for a wintertime jaunt.

The Cosmopolitan works with some of the region's top producers, including the highly respected Sher Wagyu, which supplies the pub's beef from the nearby community of Ballan. There's also a woodfired pizza menu, and you can end the meal with a cheese plate loaded with fruit loaf, quince paste and muscatels. If you're staying in the area, make sure you take a short hike up to Victoria's highest waterfall — Trentham Falls — which should be flowing heavily come wintertime.

Images: Visit Victoria