Daylesford is my absolute favourite country town. Located 115 kilometres North West of Melbourne, it has everything I look for in a weekend escape destination. Fresh air quality food, a town nicely situated on a hill overlooking a lake, walking tracks, a sophisticated, yet relaxed atmosphere and proliferation of mineral spas for when you feel like a good soak. As a local’s guide, I give you a list of the best Daylesford has to offer.
Food & drinks: Walters_3460 (best for coffee and a walk around Lake Daylesford), Cliffy’s Emporium (best for breakfast), Wombat Hill Cafe (best for pastries & bread), Bistro Merenda (best for drinks & food), Hepburn Harvest Vietnamese Kitchen (outstanding Vietnamese in the RSL), The Argus Dining Room, The Surly Goat, The Farmers Arms, Bistro Terroir, winespeake cellar + deli, Hepburn Distillery (best for a pre-film martini at The Phoenix Cinema) and Sweet Decadence at Locantro.
Best spas: Mineral Spa at Peppers or the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa.
Walks: Take a stroll around the lake, along a section of the Goldfields Track or up the steep hill to the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. There is so much nature to see all around Daylesford from the deciduous trees in autumn to the rosellas and black cockatoos. One option is book a Secret Forest Walk, a GPS tour of the surrounding forest that includes a number of hidden art installations.
Venue/Art Gallery: Daylesford Historical Museum, The Convent Gallery and Bromley & Co.
Shopping: Manteau Noir, Daylesford Records, Paradise Bookshop, Brick Lane Bazaar, The Mill, Artedeco and the four op shops in town.
Live music: Hepburn Palais, Daylesford Hotel (pizza and beer while you listen)
Sunday markets and vintage train ride.
While in Daylesford, we also like to make the trip to the nearby towns of Hepburn Springs, Trentham & Kyneton.
Accommodation: DayGet, a local accommodation booking service, manage most of the better accommodation options in Daylesford.
You can read about the history of the Daylesford area here.
