Southern Highlands
Nº 36 · 34.5°S 150.4°E · Sydney 100 km
Search across Southern Highlands
The Southern Highlands rise from the coastal plain like a breath of cooler air, their sandstone escarpments catching the westerlies that Sydney's harbour suburbs never feel. This is country that breathes differently—where European trees planted by homesick settlers in the 1860s now tower over main streets, and where winter mornings bite with a sharpness that sends locals reaching for woollen coats stored away since last July. The altitude matters here, lifting Bowral, Moss Vale, and Berrima into a climate that supports proper deciduous gardens and the kind of crisp nights that make fireplaces essential rather than decorative. The region's character emerges not from any single drawcard but from an accumulation of small-scale enterprises that resist the homogenising pull of coastal development. Centennial Vineyards occupies the site of an old dairy farm outside Bowral, its cellar door housed in converted stone buildings that speak to the area's agricultural inheritance. Further west, Artemis Wines works fruit grown on red basalt soils that vine-growers elsewhere eye with envy. These are family operations, not corporate ventures, and they reflect a broader pattern across the Highlands where scale remains deliberately modest and personal relationships still govern how business gets done. The seasonal swing defines how locals move through their year. April brings the wine harvest and the first serious frosts, when the exotic trees that dominate Bowral's streetscape begin their slow transformation into the autumn colours that draw Sydney day-trippers by the carload.
Best time to visit
With cool-climate vineyards driving much of the region's identity, cooler months suit the pace here — cellar doors run tastings year-round, but the slow ripening that defines these wines points to autumn harvest and spring growth as natural high points. Given the bush and heritage-garden settings, milder shoulder seasons avoid both summer heat and the coldest highlands mornings.
What sets it apart
Few Australian regions pack sixteen wine, beer and spirits producers into a handful of small towns the way this one does, with cellar doors doubling as cafés, wedding venues and even barrel-investment schemes. That density sits oddly against a near-total absence of standalone dining and a thin craft scene — one bistro, three makers. Culture is concentrated almost entirely in Bowral, where a cricket museum and several galleries sit within walking distance of each other, making the town a clear hub against a wider spread of vineyard-dotted villages.
Where to start
Generated from 34 verified listings · Last updated 6 July 2026
In season · October
- Cherry harvestProduceOctober–February · Australian season; local picking is usually shorter
Ladders down the rows, and fruit that will not wait — cherries are picked by hand and sold within days.
Source
Towns & localities
Guides to Southern Highlands
Wine regions in Southern Highlands
Geographical Indications — the legal names a wine may carry. Each number is the producers on the Atlas here, placed inside the GI by their own coordinates.
Collections in Southern Highlands
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A selection of standout places across Southern Highlands
Surveyor General Inn
The Surveyor General Inn has stood in Berrima since 1834, its Georgian…
ShopsWariapendi Nursery
For forty years this Colo Vale nursery has made a quiet case for going native,…
MakersLoopline Pottery
At Balmoral Village in the NSW Southern Highlands, a former railway-era…
NatureFitzroy Falls
In Morton National Park on the edge of the Southern Highlands, Fitzroy Falls…
Wine & spiritsDawning Day Winery & Distillery
When the 2020 harvest came in smoke-tainted from the Morton bushfires, Mike…
Museums & galleriesRetford Park Bowral
A Victorian Italianate homestead in 'Portuguese Pink', built in 1887 by the…
Wine & spirits
Artemis Wines
Mittagong, NSW
Family-run winery and distillery in the Southern Highlands known as Pinot Noir pioneers. The cellar…
Bendooley Estate
Berrima, NSW
Two centuries of ownership changes landed here: a 200-acre Southern Highlands property where a…
Bowral Cellar Door
Bowral, NSW
At The Mill on Bong Bong Street, this cellar door pours boutique cool-climate wines from the…
Centennial Vineyards
Bowral, NSW
The Southern Highlands' cool climate slows ripening to a crawl — lower temperatures, more even…
Cherry Tree Hill Wines
Sutton Forest, NSW
Family-owned for over 30 years, this Southern Highlands winery produces award-winning premium cool…
Coburns
Burrawang, NSW
Australian single malt whisky matured high in the Southern Highlands, released one single-barrel…
Dawning Day Winery & Distillery
Exeter, NSW
When the 2020 harvest came in smoke-tainted from the Morton bushfires, Mike turned the grapes into…
Eden Brewery
Mittagong, NSW
Craft brewery bringing beer back to its roots in the Southern Highlands, using the highest quality…
Eling Forest Winery
Sutton Forest, NSW
One of the Southern Highlands' more established cellar doors, Eling Forest sits on historic…
Joadja Distillery, Tourism, Historic Site
Joadja, NSW
The valley has history: an 1870s Scottish shale-mining settlement whose workers ran sly-grog stills…
Millsheds Distillery & Bar
Bowral, NSW
A distillery and bar in Bowral, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
PepperGreen Estate
Berrima, NSW
Grapes grown in the rocky sandy loam of Canyonleigh — a rugged pocket of the Southern Highlands —…
Museums & galleries
Bradman Museum & International Cricket Hall of Fame
Bowral, NSW
Bradman's batting average of 99.94 — nearly twice that of the nearest Test batsman — is the fixed…
Ngununggula Regional Gallery
Bowral, NSW
Set on the grounds of Retford Park in Bowral, this Southern Highlands regional gallery occupies a…
Orchard Street Gallery
Taralga, NSW
Jo Morris and Bob Withers met at design school in Wellington, made a tree change to the Southern…
Retford Park Bowral
Bowral, NSW
A Victorian Italianate homestead in 'Portuguese Pink', built in 1887 by the Hordern family and…
Throsby Park Historic Site
Moss Vale, NSW
A colonial homestead and farming estate near Moss Vale, roughly 140 kilometres south of Sydney,…
Makers
A Silver Circle Design
Bowral, NSW
Corinne Snare designs and hand-makes A Silver Circle from a home studio in the Southern Highlands,…
Loopline Pottery
Balmoral Village, NSW
At Balmoral Village in the NSW Southern Highlands, a former railway-era schoolhouse holds one of…
Mark Honoré Leather Goods
Avoca, NSW
Mark Honoré makes leather goods on a small-run basis from a workshop at Avoca, in the NSW Southern…
Sturt Gallery & Studios
Mittagong, NSW
Winifred West founded Sturt in 1941 on the grounds of her Mittagong cottage, and it has been…
Places to stay
Earlsbrae
Bowral, NSW
Farm Club Australia
Werai, NSW
Hideout Cabins
Sutton Forest, NSW
Mona Farm
Braidwood, NSW
An award-winning rural retreat featuring seven historic guest houses nestled within expansive…
Morvern Valley Farm Cottages
Bundanoon, NSW
Moss Manor
Moss Vale, NSW
Oldbury Cottage Berrima
Berrima, NSW
A sandstone cottage on Oldbury Street, Berrima, restored to expose its original Australian…
Osborn House
Bundanoon, NSW
George and Dinah Osborn built this property in 1892, opening it to guests by the early 1900s. After…
Scribbly Farm Premium Geo Dome Bush retreat Southern highlands
High Range, NSW
Geodesic dome accommodation on Wombeyan Caves Road in the Southern Highlands, pitched against bush…
The Hidden Door
Bowral, NSW
Shops
Mittagong Garden Centre
Balaclava, NSW
A Southern Highlands garden centre on the Old Hume Highway at Balaclava, just outside Mittagong,…
Mossy Store
Bowral, NSW
A design-led furniture and homewares store across two Southern Highlands shopfronts, in Moss Vale…
Mt Murray Nursery
Moss Vale, NSW
A Southern Highlands nursery tucked off Berrima Road at Moss Vale, trading under the line 'for…
The Bookshop Bowral
Bowral, NSW
A Bong Bong Street fixture since 1992, at the centre of book-buying in the Southern Highlands. The…
Wariapendi Nursery
Colo Vale, NSW
For forty years this Colo Vale nursery has made a quiet case for going native, tucked into the…
Welby Garden Centre
Welby, NSW
On the corner of the Old Hume Highway and Bendooley Street, this is the largest retail nursery in…
Food & dining
A Touch of Tea
Bowral, NSW
A tea shop in the Southern Highlands town of Bowral stocking loose-leaf teas alongside exotic tea…
Berrylicious Strawberries
Buxton, NSW
Rows of strawberry plants hang at chest height inside covered tunnels on this Buxton property, an…
Bistro Sociale
Bowral, NSW
Inside Bowral's century-old Berida Hotel, Bistro Sociale serves European bistro cooking with a…
Centennial Vineyards Restaurant
Bowral, NSW
Looking over the vines on Centennial Road in Bowral, this Southern Highlands restaurant builds…
Eschalot Restaurant
Berrima, NSW
A fine-dining destination set in a heritage-listed stone cottage in historic Berrima, a short drive…
Flour Bar
Moss Vale, NSW
Set in a restored Argyle Street building in Moss Vale, this all-day room folds a working bakery,…
Franquette Creperie
Bowral, NSW
A family-run Breton creperie and bistro on Bong Bong Street, the Besnards turning out paper-thin,…
Onesta Cucina
Bowral, NSW
A family-owned Italian restaurant that has anchored central Bowral since 2006, cooking to a…
Paste Australia
Mittagong, NSW
Bee Satongun was helping her mother cook in Thailand from the age of five, and two decades later…
Raw & Wild Market & Cafe
Bowral, NSW
A certified-organic wholefood market and licensed cafe that has anchored the top of Bong Bong…
Surveyor General Inn
Berrima, NSW
The Surveyor General Inn has stood in Berrima since 1834, its Georgian sandstone walls bearing the…
Also in Southern Highlands
Tours & walks
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