Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges Guides Attractions Events in Victoria

Coldstream is a small town 50 kilometres east of Melbourne. It is best known as the place where Australia's most famous opera singer Dame Nellie Melba lived. You can still see Coombe Cottage where it stands on the juncture of the Maroondah and Melba highways. Stop at the Museum of Lilydale and learn about Melba's life in a fascinating exhibition. Explore the surrounding country on two wheels – cycle the Warbuton Rail Trail that extends 38 kilometres from Lilydale through grazing land and spring wattle to Warburton. Earn your wings at the Coldstream Airfield where the Royal Victorian Aero Club operates a Flight School. While in Coldstream, stop at a local brewery or winery and taste superb local produce.

Healesville is at the heart of the Yarra Valley wine and food region and is known for its wildlife sanctuary, home to more than 200 species of Australian native animals.

Healesville Sanctuary, where you can see iconic Australian animals like platypus, koalas, Tasmanian devils, lyrebirds, kangaroos, emus, wallabies, dingoes and echidnas, has played a leading role in the long-term care and protection of Australian wildlife. At the Australian Wildlife Health Centre, experience a working animal rescue centre and hospital and follow the journey of an animal, such as an injured or orphaned baby wombat, through the process of rescue, care and rehabilitation.

Healesville is an important food and wine centre and host to the annual Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival. Visit local vineyards to sample locally produced wines and talk to their makers at cellar doors. Don’t miss renowned local wineries including Rochford’s Eyton, Domaine Chandon and Coldstream Hills.

Healesville is surrounded by scenic countryside. Enjoy a picnic at the peaceful Badger Weir Park then take a short stroll through fern gullies and mountain ash.

Learn about local Aboriginal culture and shop for Indigenous artefacts and souvenirs at Bundjel, the Aboriginal Cultural Display and Gallery. Ride in a motorised, open air trolley on the Yarra Valley Tourist Railway. The original trolleys were used by workmen checking the line.

Healesville is 60 kilometres or just under an hour east of Melbourne on the Maroondah Highway. Travel north-east on the Eastern Freeway and Maroondah Highway.

Nestled in the foothills of Melbourne's closest ski fields, and surrounded by waterfalls, Marysville is well known as a gateway to year-round outdoor activities. Marysville was established in 1863 as a stopover for diggers on the way to nearby goldfields.

Make your way to Lake Mountain for winter cross country skiing or family fun in the snow. In spring and summer wander local walking trails through wildflowers.

Marysville is 96 kilometres east of Melbourne. The two hour drive along the Maroondah Highway winds through Black Spur to the turn off at Narbethong.

Mountain ash forests in the region, and the Marysville community itself, are experiencing a period of regrowth and regeneration, subsequent to the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

Visit the Marysville region and be a positive part of its regeneration. Wrap up and head outdoors for snow play or a scenic walk – or snuggle up indoors for locally-made, winter warming foods.

Many businesses in the Marysville region are open and ready to welcome you.

One of the highest villages in the Dandenong Ranges, Olinda’s gardens and scenery reflect its pronounced seasons, with spring blooms, autumn colours, crisp summer days and occasional light snowfalls. Spend a relaxing afternoon browsing through the many art, antique and handicraft galleries and sampling a delicious Devonshire tea.

Explore some of Australia's most beautiful public and private gardens, including the National Rhododendron Gardens and the mystical sculptures hidden among the ferns at William Ricketts Sanctuary. Go walking among tree ferns and look for lyrebirds in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, wander through the magnificent forest in RJ Hamer Arboretum or trek to Olinda Falls.

Stop at roadside stalls selling home-made preserves, garden produce, flowers, eggs, chestnuts and plants. Look out for wildlife as you tour the area, including emus, wombats, possums, echidna and lyrebirds.

Search for antique treasures in Mt Dandenong and Sassafras villages. Browse the many local galleries and craft shops selling jewellery, glass, pottery, leather and ceramics made by local craftspeople.

Olinda is 44 kilometres east of Melbourne or just over an hour’s drive. Travel on the Burwood Highway and then turn off onto the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road. Alternatively, travel along the Monash Freeway, onto Ferntree Gully Road, then along the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road.

Leafy Warburton is a place of wellbeing, as well as a base to sample the best of Yarra Valley food and wine. A charming town surrounded by tall forests, Warburton offers alternative medicines and therapies and an escape from the bustle of everyday life.

Located on the upper reaches of the Yarra River, prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Woiworung Aboriginal people.

Cycle or walk the wonderfully scenic Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail. The 38 kilometre trail follows an old railway line built in 1901 to transport local produce and timber to Melbourne.

Embark on one of the many outstanding forest walks which radiate outwards from the town into the forests of mountain ash. Stroll through myrtle beech rainforest to the Ada Tree. More than 300 years old, this mountain ash is thought to be one of the largest known flowering trees in the world.

Stride out into the canopies of giant eucalyptus trees along the treetop skywalk at Mt Donna Buang Rainforest Gallery, a great way to see beautiful heritage rainforest. During the winter months play in the snow at Mt Donna Buang.

Swim and fish in local rivers, explore the area on foot, or watch for local and rare birds in summer.

Popular local events include the Warburton Film Festival and Warburton Winterfest in June.

Warburton is approximately 1.5 hours from Melbourne. Travel north-east along the Eastern Freeway, then the Maroondah Highway and turn right at Lilydale onto the Warburton Highway.

Yarra Glen is an agricultural and dairy town in the heart of the Yarra Valley wine and food region and is an ideal base for enjoying cellar door tastings and sampling local produce.

Just a short distance from Melbourne, Yarra Glen is a popular weekend getaway. Meet the winemaker and sample wines at the cellar doors of some the state's best known and award-winning wineries, like Yering Station, De Bortoli and TarraWarra Estate.

Dine on regional produce or visit the Yarra Valley Dairy for lunch and enjoy handmade cheeses, local wines, coffee, desserts and excellent views. Taste and purchase locally grown produce at the Yarra Valley Regional Food Group Farmers' Market on the third Sunday of each month.

Take a sunrise balloon flight over the picturesque valley. Later, take a picnic or walk the 18 kilometre trail in Sugarloaf Reservoir Park.

One of Yarra Glen's most impressive historic buildings is the Grand Hotel in Bell Street. Built in the late 1880s, this beautiful two-storey stuccoed hotel has a tower, parapet and cast-iron verandah. It also operates as the cellar door of the Yarra Glen Vineyard.

In addition to the monthly farmers’ market, popular local events include the Yarra Glen Agricultural Show in March, and the Yarra Valley Expo held at the Yarra Glen Racecourse in April.

Yarra Glen is 51 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, or just under an hour on the Melba Highway. Travel north-east on the Eastern Freeway and Maroondah Highway.