Daylesford and the Local Region
Hepburn Springs, Daylesford and the local region in a few words are beautiful, relaxing, intriguing and your visit can be as quirky, adventurous, therapeutic or luxurious as you want it to be.
Both towns have stunning heritage buildings, unique accommodation opportunities, many natural therapy options, delightful cafes and restaurants, mineral springs near picnic areas and walking trails with very scenic views.
Daylesford and the local region includes nearby Hepburn Springs and surrounding historic towns like Trentham, Castlemaine, Newstead, Clunes and Creswick which are all a short drive away. Each town is quite different in character and size but all worthy of visiting and exploring the many shops and cafes, admiring the streetscapes and immersing yourself in the local history.
These towns all have heritage buildings, built with the wealth from gold mining in the mid to late 1800s. Many of these buildings like town halls, post offices, hotels and a variety of shops are still being used and admired inside and out. All these towns are within a 30 minutes drive or less from Daylesford so they are easy to visit, you could visit several of them while you are on a day trip to the surrounding towns.
Clunes is a very popular historic town to visit
“Clunes is a small ‘gold mining town’ with lots of character and heritage buildings, the main street is very wide and is lined with historic buildings like several banks, hotels, the museum and a variety of small shops. Nearby are the old post office, town hall and other significant buildings and attractions of interest. Since 2007 Clunes has turned into a ‘Book Town’ for a weekend in May, the very popular ‘Clunes Book Town Festival‘ has recently attracted 15,000 people for the two day festival.“
Further afield are the gold mining towns of Maryborough, Maldon, Avoca and the regional cities of Ballarat and Bendigo which also have many heritage buildings and streetscapes, excellent art galleries, scenic lakes and gardens.
Ballarat has the beautiful Lake Wendouree, world famous Sovereign Hill, the Gold Museum, Ballarat Tramway Museum, Ballarat Wildlife Park and much more. Bendigo’s attractions include the Vintage talking tram, the Central Deborah Goldmine, the Golden Dragon Museum and the Bendigo Pottery which has been in operation since the mid 1860s, both cities are exciting with plenty of things to do and see for everyone.
About forty kilometres east of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs is the Mount Macedon Ranges which includes Kyneton, Macedon and Mount Macedon, Malmsbury, Gisborne, Hanging Rock and many more interesting towns to visit.
The Mount Macedon Region is perfect for a day trip from Daylesford, the views are magnificent, there are gardens, wineries, studios and galleries and so much more to do and places to explore.
There are plenty of picnic areas in beautiful locations including ‘Hanging Rock‘ which was made world famous in the 1970s movie ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, if you have seen the movie you may find yourself keeping an eye out for for the school girls and their teacher that mysteriously went missing.
Nearby is the Hanging Rock racecourse which holds two races a year on New Year’s Day and Australia Day. When I visited the area my most memorable place was seeing the huge and mesmirising ‘Memorial Cross’ which stands over twenty metres high on the top of Mount Macedon.
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The ‘Memorial Cross‘ was organised by a local man, a father who had lost his son in World War 1. The ‘Memorial Cross’ is a place to honour and give thanks to all the Australians who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. It is only two hundred metres from the car park and the views are magnificent. Of course there is much more to see and explore in the area. |
If you are interested in taking a day trip from Daylesford or Hepburn Springs there are many interesting options within an hours drive. Where ever you go you will find a variety of stunning views, many historical buildings, unique shops and cafes, plenty of forest, wildlife, winding roads and rolling hills.
Use the Daylesford and the local region map below to help you decide which beautiful towns or attractions you are going to visit, some towns are close together so you maybe able to visit several in a day. Each time you stay in Daylesford and the local region you will be able to enjoy another road trip to different towns in the local surrounding area.
Here are a few suggestions or ideas for touring the local area
Touring to Creswick, Clunes and Smeaton
Driving to Newstead, Maldon and Castlemaine
Road Trip to Kyneton, Woodend, Macedon and Trentham
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Daylesford and the Local Region