USD 
Steaming mineral waters, mouth-watering morsels and mindful walks are all essential parts of a luxurious weekend escape in Daylesford, in Victoria’s Central Highlands. Here are our top picks to ensure you make the most of a regional escape in this historic town, just 90 minutes’ drive from Melbourne.
Ready for a wellness weekend? Read on for our guide for your next escape to Daylesford.
Day One
Morning: A walking tour and coffee kick-start
Get acquainted with Daylesford on a walking tour of the town with Lynda Poke of Alice’s Journeys. Lynda has lived in Daylesford for more than two decades and her knowledge of the region is as evident as her passion. Lynda holds the keys to the city, literally, and will take you to some of the most historic buildings in town. Start by grabbing an espresso at café, restaurant and bar, Hotel Frangos, which started life as a bank before it was turned into a coffee palace in 1888. On your Daylesford weekend away, head to one of the five churches, all within a few minutes of each other, that were built in the boom of the mid-19th-century.
Visit the former courthouse and stand inside the old police lock-up, a tiny brick building with concrete cells that wasn’t decommissioned until the 1960s. If the coffee has kicked in and you’re wanting to keep walking, don’t miss the easy 2.8-kilometre stroll around Lake Daylesford. Walk at your own pace to the birdsong and look out for the many swans, cormorants, ducks, sulphur-crested cockatoos, multicoloured parrots, and tiny wrens that call the lake home.
Afternoon: The magic of minerals
Grab your bathers and head to the historic bathhouse, Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa, where you can soak your weary body in the warm mineral waters of this famed spa region. Less than five kilometres from the centre of Daylesford, this award-winning luxury spa has welcomed bathers to its therapeutic mineral-rich waters since 1895. Try your own private mineral bathing experience with either a magnesium mineral bath, royal Moroccan milk mineral bath or thermal mineral mud bath. There are also a myriad of massages, steam therapies and water therapy treatments on offer. End your experience with Devonshire tea at the historic Hepburn Pavilion Café.
Evening: Dinner never looked so good
Lake House’s reputation precedes itself and it’s a name synonymous with the region. Credited with kick-starting regional destination dining at the time, owner Alla Wolf-Tasker is undeniably the doyenne of regional dining in Australia. Lake House Restaurant holds two chef hats in the Good Food Guide and the lakeside property includes luxury accommodation, a spa and vast country gardens. The menu is a seasonal degustation incorporating vegetables and edible flowers from its sister property, Dairy Flat Farm, less than 10 minutes’ drive away. Like the cover of a Country Living magazine, Dairy Flat is as pretty as a picture. There is an immaculate farm that has hot houses, olive groves, and a rolling vineyard with pinot noir and chardonnay, frequented by the free-range guinea fowl.
Day Two
Morning: To market we go
Every Sunday since 1981, up to 110 stallholders gather for the Daylesford Sunday Market. Run by volunteers and open until 3pm, it’s a one-stop shop for local artisan products. Stock up on cheese from Goldfields Farmhouse Cheese made with Holstein-Friesian and Jersey cow milk sourced from single herds in the Central Highlands and Western District volcanic plains; grab some gourmet mushrooms from So Mush Goodness and wash it down with Daylesford Cider, made using English heritage cider apples grown organically on the property.
Afternoon: Stop to smell the flowers
Keep the outdoor theme going at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm, an 100-acre sprawl that looks as though it was plucked straight from the countryside of Provence. Time your visit for when the lavender is in full flourish (the flowers are at its peak from January until late autumn) to see gardeners harvest the purple blooms by hand. Pick up some of the distilled aromatherapy products, like oil and soap, to create your own spa atmosphere at home, and sit down to a serve of the lavender scones at onsite eatery Maria’s.
Early evening: Pre-dinner drinks
Cheese and wine, anyone? winespeake cellar + deli in the heart of Daylesford is a wine shop and bar with more than 700 wines. The focus of its products is on natural, minimal intervention, organic and biodynamic wines, so you needn’t feel guilty for indulging. As well as a wine shop, there’s a bar, delicatessen, artisan baked goods and cheese tower.
Evening: a French twist
Far from his family’s favourite holiday spot of Daylesford, Matthew Carnell made his mark in Paris, before returning home to open Bistro Terroir. Originally from Melbourne, Matthew trained at two Michelin-starred Sur Mesure restaurant under the guidance of Thierry Marx, and then returned to Australia, bringing a touch of France with him. Even the restaurant has a French café feel. The menu features decadent dishes such as tempura snails, Sher Wagyu rump with café Paris butter, and crème brulée.
