The Yarra Valley holds a special place in my heart, and we had the best time exploring it recently on a long overdue trip! We have many fond memories in the valley, we got engaged and married here, so it was so nice to revisit places we’d been before, and discover new places too. There is so much to love about this incredible cool climate Australian wine region, from the beautiful scenery to the stunning wines. This Yarra Valley travel guide covers the highlights from our trip to help you plan your own, from where to stay and where to eat, to our favourite cellar doors.
Getting to the Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is located about an hour’s drive out of Melbourne in Victoria, which makes visiting it very easy. If you’re flying in, grabbing a hire car from the airport is the best option, and what we did. If you don’t want to drive, you can also do day trips to the Yarra Valley on organised tours. But having a car is a great option as it makes it much easier to visit the different wineries and sights of the area. It also means you can do more than one day, as I think one day is not enough!
In terms of location, the Yarra Valley spans a few different towns, so it can be a little bit confusing know what is part of the Yarra Valley. The two main towns are Yarra Glen and Healesville. The wineries also span past this down to Coldstream.
Yarra Valley travel guide: where to stay
We’ve stayed in a few places in the Yarra Valley, and this time was the first time we decided to stay in Healesville. Normally we stay out of the main towns, instead opting for an Airbnb or winery hotel. But this time we thought it would be good to be in town, and it was a great decision. There are plenty of Airbnbs available in Healesville, and the best part? There’s a lot to do in the town itself. There are plenty of cellar doors within the town itself (including some big names like Giant Steps and Four Pillars), meaning you can walk to them instead of driving, but there are also so many restaurants to enjoy. This means you don’t need to worry about enjoying a wine with dinner, and you can also have a break from cooking!
If you don’t want to stay in town, I recommend staying between Yarra Glen and Healesville so you aren’t too far away from the main wineries.
Yarra Valley travel guide: where to eat
We ate well this trip, so I wanted to highlight a few of our favourites. Most of them are located in Healesville as that’s where we were staying, but there’s plenty of other options outside of the town too!
Levantine Hill
We visited Levantine Hill for a very memorable lunch on one of the days of our stay. It’s in a beautiful setting in the light filled cellar door. We had the Family Paddock lunch with matched wines and it was incredible. They also have an a la carte option if you don’t want a set menu, so there’s plenty of choices when you visit. The food was delicious, and the wines went beautifully with the meal. This is a special occasion spot, but perfect if you’re looking for something a bit fancier.
No. 7 Healesville
We had a great dinner at No. 7 Healesville. It has a nice atmosphere and a good wine list too with plenty of options. They have a smaller menu designed for sharing, and everything is delicious. There’s an option to choose from the menu or let the chef decide for you, which was also quite affordable as an option. All the dishes we had were incredible, from the cured meats to the delicious honey dessert.
Herd Bar and Grill
We had our wedding welcome drinks at Herd Bar back in 2021, and so I wanted to revisit and have dinner there. It was so nice to go back, as the same owners still ran the restaurant, and remembered us too! This is a great option if you want something a little more casual than some of the other fine dining options in Healesville. The food is delicious and the service is great. It was the perfect spot to go after a day of wine tasting!
Jayden Ong Cellar Door
Jayden Ong is on the outskirts of Healesville and from the outside doesn’t look like much, but on the inside is a working winery. They have set up a restaurant at the front, which is so fun as you’re dining amongst the barrels. They’ve also been able to make a large warehouse feel very intimate. Their food is mainly grilled outside, so there are plenty of tasty options of skewers and grilled meat and vegetables on the menu. I also loved that you could enjoy a wine tasting with your meal, allowing you to try some of their wines while you dine.
Yarra Valley travel guide: cellar doors
We visited a lot of cellar doors on our trip, so I decided to narrow my recommendations down to just 5 so we aren’t here all day! There really are so many wineries to visit in the Yarra Valley, and you can’t really go wrong. But here are some of the most memorable ones of our trip.
Pimpernel
We are long-time fans of Pimpernel, so it’s no surprise that we enjoyed our visit there once again. I always find the cellar door staff at Pimpernel to be so friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. I always leave having learnt something new after a great conversation. And the wines are beautiful too! They have two options of tastings, and I really recommend opting for the more premium tasting where you can try some of their different Pinots and their Chardonnay. These are some of my favourite wines they produce, and worth visiting for! But they also have plenty of other wines to enjoy too, you really can’t go wrong at this cellar door!
Payten & Jones
This was our first visit to Payten & Jones and we had the best time. This cellar door is very vibrant and fun, which makes it stand out from a lot of the other cellar doors in the area. They aren’t afraid to have a bit of fun with their wines and have some of the most memorable labels for their wines (including a few nods to the difficulties of the pandemic). I love how many wines they have to try, including several Spanish and Italian varietals as well as imported wine too! It was really interesting to compare the wines at the cellar door and see the difference. We ended up spending ages there chatting away and enjoying all the wines on offer. It’s also located in Healesville so if you’re staying in town you don’t have to worry about driving (and you can pop into Four Pillars across the road on your way home).
Coldstream Hills
We had another great visit to Coldstream Hills, a winery we’ve visited a few times now. We adore their Chardonnays, and this time we got to try a number of them side by side which was a great experience! They also have several different sites for their Pinots, so tasting them side by side was a great experience too. The staff were great to talk to and even though they were busy, they still kept it very personalised.
Yarra Yering
We’d never visited Yarra Yering before which feels like a bit of a crime given how many times we have visited the Yarra Valley. My husband has always been against the higher cost of their tasting, so I’ve never been able to convince him to add them to our list. But this time I decided to book it without telling him, and he just turned up for an awesome tasting experience. At $50 per person for their tasting, it is more expensive than some of the other cellar door tastings in the region. But having finally done it, I do have to say it’s worth it. It’s a generous tasting, and the wines are incredible, as you would expect! So if you are on the fence, I recommend you just book the tasting! You won’t regret it. I was blown away by how many different wines they had to try, and the difference between them.
Giant Steps
Giant Steps was another winery that we had never visited before, and I’m so glad we made it this time. The cellar door is located in Healesville, meaning if you’re staying in the town it’s easy to walk to. The cellar door is a lovely space, and the staff are lovely and very knowledgeable. We loved trying the wines, especially as we’d only had one of their Chardonnay’s in the past. It was great to experience more of their range, and the wines were all delicious.
In summary: Yarra Valley travel guide
Whether you are planning a trip or dreaming of a future trip, I hope this Yarra Valley travel guide helps inspire you. There is so much to discover in this wonderful wine region, and you can’t go wrong! I loved discovering new favourites as well as revisiting some places we’ve been to before. Whether it’s beautiful food, scenery or incredible wine, you’ll have a great time discovering the Yarra Valley!