March has some of the most beautiful weather of the year in Victoria, so on the weekend my boyfriend and I decided to make the most of it with a day trip to the Daylesford & The Macedon Ranges. Initially, we planned to do a hike in the Macedon Ranges, have a picnic by Lake Daylesford and then stop in at a winery or two on the way home for a wine tasting, but we ended up adding in a visit to Daylesford Cider Co and ran out of time for the wineries. The Macedon Ranges are only a fifty minute drive outside of Melbourne, so it’s an easy day trip. I’ve visited the Macedon Ranges before, when I went to Gisborne Peak Winery and Hanging Rock Winery with my friend Liv, but neither my boyfriend or I had visited Daylesford before.

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. And it was about $10 cheaper than it would have been in Melbourne! I love that in Victoria, you can find a decent coffee pretty much anywhere.

Mt Macedon & Camel’s Hump Lookout

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. I haven’t been to Hanging Rock yet, as I’ve heard it’s a little touristy and overcrowded, since it’s 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 about a forty minute drive from Mt Macedon, and had we had more Internet reception we might have thought to check where the wineries were first. Unfortunately, we didn’t realise until later in the day that the two wineries we were planning on visiting, Cloud 9 Farm & Paramoor Estate, were right near Mt Macedon. We didn’t fancy driving back from Daylesford to Mt Macedon later in the day, so we’ll save those for another day trip.

I wasn’t too disappointed anyway, because Daylesford Cider Co was such a beautiful spot to stop. 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.

I haven’t drunk cider in years (see: cider headache), but I would definitely order these ciders if I saw them when I’m out – they’re only available in Blackheart & Sparrows or from their online store in retail, but they’re on the drinks lists at Atlas Dining in South Yarra, Fitzrovia in St Kilda and Kirks Wine Bar in the Melbourne CBD.

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.

I’m going to plan a few day trip itineraries for around Victoria and keep them up my sleeve, so next time we do a spontaneous day trip the planning is already done. If you have a favourite Victorian day trip please let me know in the comments!

Have you been to Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges? Would you like to? If you have any tips for the region, please leave them in the comments!