Southern Highlands, NSW, Travel Information

Highland Fling

In the late 19th century, wealthy and influential Sydneysiders created a little corner of the Mother Country in the Australian bush. Today, the Southern Highlands still bears a slightly out-of-this-world appeal.

Luxury guesthouses & cottages Southern Highlands, NSW

The collection of small towns and villages attracts visitors with its magnificent garden festivals, antiquarian bookshops, antique stores, pretty teashops and cosy accommodation choices that range from Laura Ashley-inspired country hotels and guesthouses to B&Bs, motels and quietly stylish resorts.

Spring and autumn are the busiest times in the Southern Highlands, located a leisurely 90 minutes’ drive from Sydney and Canberra, and connected via the Illawarra Highway with Wollongong, the Shoalhaven and the South Coast. Bowral is the commercial centre of the highlands, as well as home to the late cricketing legend Sir Donald “the Don” Bradman. The Bradman Museum at Bradman Oval is a magnet for sports enthusiasts from around the world.

Berrima is a living museum of the colonial days, established along the lines of an English village with a central common. One of the first hotels, built in the early 1830s, is listed as the oldest operating hotel in New South Wales. The remarkable sandstone courthouse and the nearby jail, both completed in the late 1830s, highlight the town’s early importance.

Today, Berrima is alive with craft shops, art galleries, restaurants and coffee shops. The village of Bundanoon lies near the 191,000 hectare Morton National Park, established in 1938.

Mittagong is the northern gateway to the Southern Highlands from Sydney, while Moss Vale is the southern gateway. The self-catering cottages found at The Pines Pastoral at Moss Vale, situated on an historic 285 hectare cattle property, represents the modern face of the region’s tourism charms.

Other notable places to visit include Robertson, the location for the magical film, Babe; and Sutton Forest, which was the site of the area’s first land grants, conveyed by Governor Macquarie in 1819.