Road Trips Just Outside of Town to Fill an Entire Day Out
Nine day trips close enough to squeeze in before dinner, from high tea in a 1904 hydropathic retreat to a solar-powered treetop park in the Otways.
A good day trip has to clear one bar: close enough that you're not losing the whole day to driving, but different enough from home that it still feels like you've gone somewhere. That's a heritage hotel on an escarpment, a working dairy shed turned bakehouse, or a coastal walking track that takes you past a blowhole and a set of cathedral-like rock formations — not just a longer commute.
A few of these pair naturally with a second stop nearby, so the day stretches out without much extra driving: fish and chips before a coastal walk, one bakery leading into another. Presented by Honda ZR-V, here are nine road trips worth setting a full day aside for.
Read other guides in our A to Z with Honda ZR-V series:
Fish and Chips to Take Down to the Water on a Warm Evening
Kid-Friendly Spots Where the Whole Family Will Love Spending Time Together
Markets Where You Can Do Your Whole Weekly Food Shop in One Go
In partnership with
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Things to DoTweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre
2 Mistral Road, South Murwillumbah
A recreation of two rooms from Margaret Olley’s real studio, rebuilt down to the doors and windows, sits in the hinterland.
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BarThe Paddock
422 Binna Burra Road, Beechmont
A chef-hatted restaurant set on the grounds of a remote luxury lodge serves unpretentious food shaped around Scenic Rim produce.
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CafeThe Baker's Duck
124 Campbell Street, Toowoomba City
Award-winning croissants pair naturally with a stop at Ravensbourne’s The Dairy, now a bakehouse in its own right.
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Things to DoRose Seidler House Tour
71 Clissold Road, Wahroonga
Harry Seidler’s first commission, designed for his own parents in 1950, opens to the public as a museum every weekend.
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HotelThe Hydro Majestic Hotel Blue Mountains
52-88 Great Western Highway, Medlow Bath
This 1904 hydropathic retreat still serves high tea beneath floor-to-ceiling windows, with the Megalong Valley filling the view.
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CafeDiggies Kiama
1 Blowhole Point Road, Kiama
Fish and chips with a sea breeze sets you up for a 20-kilometre coastal trail past the Blowhole and Cathedral Rocks.
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RestaurantZoncello Yarra Valley
316-334 Maroondah Highway, Healesville
The team behind Zonzo Estate opened a whole second venue around one drink — limoncello spritz — in the heart of the Yarra Valley.
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Things to DoLive Wire Park
180 Erskine Falls Road, Lorne
One of the world’s largest treetop adventure parks runs entirely on solar power, deep in the Otway hinterland above Lorne.
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Things to DoAbout Time Bathhouse
27 Baines Crescent, Torquay
A 1,000-square-metre bathhouse fills Torquay’s former Quiksilver headquarters, right where the Great Ocean Road begins.
