Start from 35 curated places around Hunter Valley, AU, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
EXP. Restaurant
Two-hatted and a past SMH Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year, EXP. is a husband-and-wife operation that makes heavy use of fermentation — house misos, garums, vinegars — to build flavour without fuss. The six-course tasting menu reads quietly but lands hard; the cellar runs deep on natural and Hunter drops. Dinner for a long, attentive Friday night with one good bottle.
Muse Restaurant
Perched at the entrance to Pokolbin inside Hungerford Hill Winery, Muse has held two chef's hats for over a decade — a rarity outside Sydney. The five-course set menu changes with the season and skews toward the Hunter's produce: oysters, lamb, wattle-seed desserts. Best on a Saturday evening when the six-course tasting option opens up.
Trails & outdoors
Werakata National Park Loop
An 8.7km moderate loop near Nulkaba that gives you what the vineyard-district landscape can't — actual bushland, spring wildflowers, and reliable birdwatching without driving 40 minutes out of the region. The trail takes about two hours, is well-signed, and quiet enough that you'll hear the birds rather than other walkers. A solid half-morning before a cellar door lunch.
Pokolbin State Forest Walk (Broken Back Road Trail)
The most demanding walk in the immediate Hunter Valley — a 23km out-and-back through Pokolbin State Forest that climbs to a trig tower with views across the full vine-covered basin. Most walkers do a shorter out-and-back to the first viewpoint (around 8km) rather than the full distance. Best in dry conditions; the track gets slippery after rain.
Things to do
Balloon Aloft Hunter Valley
The Hunter Valley's longest-running balloon operator takes off from Lovedale at dawn, floats above the Pokolbin vine rows for about an hour, and lands somewhere in the valley before a champagne breakfast at Peterson House Winery. On a clear morning with low cloud in the valley the visual is hard to match — a patchwork of vines, gum trees, and the Brokenback Range in the early light.
Hunter Valley Cheese Factory
Inside the McGuigan Wine Complex on McDonalds Road, the Hunter Valley Cheese Factory is an artisan operation open seven days — you can watch the cheesemaking through a viewing window, taste through the range with a tasting plate, and buy direct from the factory. A sharper, more hands-on alternative to the gift-shop cheese experience at most cellar doors.
Landmarks & sights
Tyrrell's Wines
Established in 1858 and still family-owned across five generations, Tyrrell's holds some of the oldest still-producing vines in Australia. The Vat 1 Semillon is Australia's most-awarded white wine — tasting through the back vintages at the cellar door is the closest the Hunter gets to a living wine museum. The guided tasting at set times gives the history and the depth that self-guided visits miss.
Audrey Wilkinson Vineyard
Perched on the crest of a foothill of the Brokenback Range, Audrey Wilkinson has 360-degree views across the Hunter Valley that are hard to match anywhere in the region. The first vineyard planted in Pokolbin in 1866, it runs through the history of the estate in a small winemaking museum in the original cellar. Open daily 10am to 5pm — arrive early on weekends because tasting slots book out.