The elegant spa town of Daylesford & the surrounding Macedon Ranges make a perfect day trip from Melbourne. On our first day trip to Daylesford & the Macedon Ranges, David & I had brunch at a Macedon cafe, enjoyed a very short but rewarding hike to the Camel’s Hump Lookout on Mt Macedon, enjoyed some sunshine and live music while doing a cider tasting at Daylesford Cider Co, and finished with a picnic by Lake Daylesford. The Macedon Ranges are only a fifty minute drive outside of Melbourne, so it’s an easy day trip!
Brunch at Mr
We stopped for coffee and toasties in Macedon, at a cute cafe called Mr. The cafe could have been at home in the heart of Melbourne, except for that it was totally peaceful and quiet, even when it was full. I love that in Victoria, you can find a decent coffee pretty much anywhere.
Camel’s Hump Lookout, Mt Macedon
We’d planned to walk the Forest Ecotourism Walking Trail, but when we arrived we found that it was closed for pest management. There’s not much reception up on Mt Macedon, and we were lucky to be able to get signal long enough to find a nearby alternative, the walk to Camel’s Hump Lookout. It starts at Camel’s Hump Car Park, which is near the start of Cameron Drive. Signage throughout the Macedon Ranges is pretty few and far between, so it’s worth doing your research before you arrive.
The walk is only 500 metres to the lookout, so while it wasn’t the longer walk we had in mind, it was a beautiful lookout spot and steep enough that I didn’t feel guilty about completely skipping out on exercise. Next time we go on a day trip, I’m going to plan a little more carefully before we get in the car.
Camel’s Hump is the highest point in the Macedon Ranges, with views to the north and west, including the legendary Hanging Rock, the setting for Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, which also has a 1975 film adaptation.
It might have been a short walk, but it was still a beautiful trail up the mountain!
Daylesford Cider Co
Daylesford Cider Co is such a beautiful spot. Set on idyllic grounds, Daylesford Cider Co’s cellar door is set in barn-like grounds and on the day we visited, had live music playing on the terrace. We sat in the sunshine with a cider tasting paddle to share and wished we were hungry enough for lunch. Next time I’d love to bring a picnic blanket or deck chairs and sit out on the grass with one of their English-style ciders and woodfired pizzas.
The tasting paddle has 7 ciders, with a variety of still and sparkling ciders. Daylesford Cider Co has won awards for their craft ciders, and primarily use heritage cider apple varieties. Most of their ciders are in the English style, which I really love – funky, farmhouse style cider rather than sweet and fizzy commercial varieties, which always give me a headache.
A Picnic by Lake Daylesford
We stopped in the charming spa town of Daylesford next, which is about a ten minute drive from Daylesford Cider Co. The main street is lined with heritage buildings, harking back to it’s Gold Rush days, and later success as a spa town. Daylesford and nearby Hepburn Springs have some 65 mineral springs between them, accounting for 80% of Australia’s mineral springs. I’d absolutely love to come back for a weekend and stay at one of the bathhouses – it would be perfect in the colder months!
We picked up some delicious focaccias from Daylesford Bakery, and then went to Lake Daylesford down the road for our picnic. My lack of research really showed when we got to Lake Daylesford. On Google Maps, the sprawling lake is fringed by green space. Coupled with multiple recommendations online to picnic by the lake, I assumed that there would be plenty of grassy places to picnic around the edge of the lake. Wrong.
We were lucky to find a small patch of grass, beside the Boat Shed Cafe, which nearly looked onto the water – there was a tree between us and the view, but it was a nice shady spot. I didn’t take too many photos here, but I’d love to hire out one of the paddle boats next time and take some photos from the water – it’s such a beautiful spot.
We saw just a small slice of the region and I can’t wait to go back throughout the year. We are seriously spoilt in Victoria for the sheer number of day trips you can do from Melbourne.
Hello! I’m an Australian travel blogger, living in Melbourne, Australia. I grew up in Brisbane, studied in Paris, lived & worked in New York City and now live in Melbourne, Australia.
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